XXVII
"Why do you want to see Dumbledore?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked, tiredly pushing his scrambled eggs from one side of the plate to the other. He yawned with his mouth wide open. Then he put a fork full of egg and bacon between his teeth and started chewing so slowly, Kakashi thought he might fall asleep while eating.
Kakashi didn't know how to explain his plight. "It's just a lot to take in," he answered vaguely.
"You know Professor Sprout is there for you? She's our house teacher. Do you want me to show you the way to her office?"
That wasn't what Kakashi had asked for. He frowned, unhappy with how Justin just ignored his initial question. "I'd rather talk to Dumbledore about it."
Curiously, Justin glanced through the locks of his curly dark hair at Kakashi who only smiled back without giving anything away. "Well, whatever," Justin shrugged. "If you think…But I can't help you, I have no idea where Professor Dumbledore's office is."
Kakashi gaped at him. How could he not know the location of the headmaster's office?
"I'm sure, Cedric can help you," Justin spoke up again, just as Cedric passed them by.
The prefect stopped immediately, looking down at the two third-years at the breakfast table. "Help you with what?" he asked.
"Charlie wants to talk to Dumbledore," Justin explained for Kakashi. He yawned as he spoke making it difficult to understand him.
Cedric's eyebrows rose to his hairline. He eyed Kakashi. "Yeah, I can show you the way."
"Great," Kakashi exclaimed, glad that at least some people here knew the way to the headmaster's office. "Can we go right away?"
"Don't you have classes in a few minutes?" Cedric asked. "You shouldn't miss your first class."
Kakashi had to admit that it probably left a bad impression. He already had a lot of subject matter to catch up to. Kakashi had only little interest in most of the subjects. He knew he wouldn't be able to use magic. He was curious about learning more about magic, but the classes weren't the reason why he was here.
"What's your first subject?" Cedric added.
"Muggle Studies, apparently."
Kakashi turned around when somebody came up from behind him to lean over and grab a glass of pumpkin juice. He found Ernie standing above him, gulping the juice down as if he was dying from thirst.
"Yep, Muggle Studies, first thing today," Ernie announced. "Me too. Eat up, Charlie, so we can go."
Kakashi was about to refuse. He'd rather go with Cedric to the headmaster than learn more about Muggles – at the moment, one was clearly more important than the other. But he didn't know how to explain that to the other boys, and he didn't want to give off the impression of a kid who didn't care for his studies at all.
"Meet me during lunch," Cedric said before he left. "Then I'll show you the way to Dumbledore's office."
However, it didn't come to that. Kakashi and Ernie were about to leave the Great Hall when a teacher called out his name.
"Mr. Major!" A squat little witch hurried down the corridor between the tables towards the two boys. "Do you have a moment?"
"That's Professor Sprout," Ernie whispered before Kakashi could ask. "Head of our house."
By now, enough of his classmates had mentioned Professor Sprout, that Kakashi didn't need the last information. The Herbology teacher was shorter than Kakashi himself but much broader in stature. She waddled as she walked – just enough to be noticeable. Her short and wavy grey hair was half-hidden behind a big-tattered hat. There was earth on her clothes.
"Ah Mr. Macmillan," she smiled at Ernie briefly, "I see you're showing our new student around?"
"We were about to go to Muggle Studies," Ernie answered. The blond shuffled with his feet, clearly impatient and not wanting to be too late to their first class of the year.
"Yes, yes, of course. I need a moment with Mr. Major here," she winked at Kakashi in a kindly way, like a grandmother sharing a secret with her favorite grandson. Kakashi immediately blushed. The last time he had felt that flustered, was when Kushina had invited him to dinner, as he was supposed to keep her safe…
And look how that had ended for her.
Desperately, he shoved the memory aside. Professor Sprout also reminded him a bit of Mrs. Weasley, which was a much safer memory to think about.
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad," Professor Sprout added with a small frown. She had noticed Kakashi's lapse and mood drop. "Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to you."
How that was supposed to reassure Kakashi, he didn't know. He suspected that Dumbledore had figured out who had probed his wards the day before. He'd question Kakashi and then kick him out of the school…Then Kakashi would have to come up with a new plan how to capture Peter, prove Sirius' innocence, and evade the Dementors. The scenario Kakashi had in mind didn't fit Professor Sprout's kindly smile.
"Dumbledore?" Ernie asked when Kakashi didn't come up with a response. "That was quick. How did he know Charlie wanted to talk to him?" Suspiciously, Ernie's eyes traveled from Kakashi to Professor Sprout.
"Who?" Professor Sprout blinked confused. "You want to talk to the headmaster?" When Kakashi nodded, she clapped her hands. "Well, that's great timing, I'd say. How about I lead you to him. And you, Mr. Macmillan, hurry along. Professor Burbage is always so excited about her first lessons with the third years."
For a moment, Ernie seemed caught between his curiosity about what Kakashi and the headmaster had to talk about and his resolution to be on time for his first class. Ultimately, he pulled the strap of his satchel up on his shoulder and left the Great Hall.
"What is it about?" Kakashi asked when he and Professor Sprout were alone.
"Ah, don't worry Mr. Major. Madam Pomfrey, our school nurse, informed us about your run-in with the Dementors. There are just some follow-up questions." She held the door open for Kakashi and waved him to follow her. Going through the castle, Kakashi was still struggling with finding his path, so he couldn't keep concentrating on the conversation. However, he doubted that the reason the teacher had named was all there was to it.
"And you?" Professor Sprout asked after a while.
"Me?" Kakashi asked, too distracted to understand what she wanted to know.
"Why do you want to talk to Professor Dumbledore, Dear?" For a moment Kakashi thought she had called him a stag. "If something is troubling you, I'm here for you."
"I know," Kakashi said. He couldn't begin to count how many times somebody had told him just that in the last 12 hours.
Professor Sprout waited for almost a minute for him to tell her the reason why he wanted to talk to Dumbledore. Eventually, she sighed. "I understand this is difficult for you. You're suddenly thrust into this new world. That can be frightening. I'm here to help you."
Kakashi looked at her quizzically. "I know." He felt oddly fuzzy at her words. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad."
Professor Sprout chuckled. "Nothing major, Mr. Major?" With that, she stopped in the middle of one of the long corridors. Kakashi knew there was a wall in front of them and something that seemed like a statue, but he couldn't make out more than the crude stone structure. "Peppermints!" Professor Sprout announced.
"Excuse me?" But the words weren't meant for Kakashi, as just in that moment, the statue he could see with his Sharingan moved to the side revealing a passage behind it.
Once he was able to see the castle – if Dumbledore didn't kick him out of the school instead of helping him – Kakashi should consider cataloging the many secret passages of the castle.
"I have to go to my class," Professor Sprout said while Kakashi was still gaping at the stairs that had appeared in the hidden pathway. "Just follow the stairs all the way up." She gave Kakashi an encouraging pat on his shoulder. "Or do you need me to come along?"
From her tone, he knew she meant it as an honest question, but he took it as an insult. Decidedly he took a step forward and onto the twisting staircase. It slowly rotated upwards into the unknown. As soon as he stepped through the passage, it closed down behind him, separating him from Professor Sprout.
The whole way up, torches hung along the wall, shining the way, until the stairs came to a rumbling halt. He didn't know how high they had twisted, but surely, he was now above the height of the ceiling of the Great Hall. The castle didn't have any towers, Kakashi remembered. That too was only an illusion, though. With his Sharingan, he had roughly gaged the shape of the castle from the outside, and now, he was certain he was in a tower. Slowly, he walked the last few steps up to a broad wooden door.
Kakashi was worried. Despite Professor Sprout's reassurance, he couldn't imagine this meeting going well. Either Dumbledore had already figured him out and knew that he had tried to manipulate the wards – then surely, he'd be kicked out of Hogwarts before he could even prepare a case for his defense. Or Dumbledore found out he was a muggle, and then too, he'd have to leave the school. At best, Dumbledore really only wanted to talk about the Dementors, but as soon as Kakashi would bring up his trouble with the wards, he'd kick him out of the school then.
Kakashi guessed he should be thankful…After all, in the shinobi world, if he was caught trying to manipulate a stranger's seals– or even the seals of a foreign nation – he'd pay for that with his life. Even if Konoha wasn't at war, there would still be a demand for retribution. A shinobi village couldn't just allow their protective seals to be tempered with by anybody.
Getting caught on his first day was quite embarrassing. If that had happened on a mission, Obito would never let him live it down.
Obito is dead, he reminded himself.
"Come in," Dumbledore's voice came from behind the door before Kakashi had even knocked.
Ron panted heavily as they climbed the stairs to the North Tower. That's where Harry, Ron, and Hermione had their first class of Divination. Harry was excited. Truthfully, when they were asked about their elective in the last year, Harry didn't know what to pick. He hoped they had picked right. Ron and he had picked Divination and Care for Magical Creatures and Hermione…
"So, how does it work?" Ron asked between deep gulps of air. "You have Muggle Studies at the same time as Divination. You're here with us, so you'll miss Muggle Studies."
Hermione sighed exasperatedly. She'd tried to explain it all morning since they got their schedules, but in all honesty, Harry understood it as little as Ron did.
"I told you," she started struggling to speak through the exhaustion of climbing the stairs, "Professor McGonagall helped me with the schedule. It's all settled."
"You keep saying that." Ron panted. "But I don't get it. Do you or do you not have Muggle Studies now?"
Instead of answering, Hermione suddenly stopped. They had reached the top of the stairs to the seventh long staircase. There was a large painting of a meadow hanging on the opposite wall. "I think it's this way." She pointed down the corridor.
"No, that's south," Ron said looking out of a nearby window. "Look, you can see the lake outside."
Harry had no clue where to go. Instead, he watched the painting. A fat, dappled-gray pony came ambled onto the meadow and was grazing quietly. Harry always loved watching the subjects of the paintings leave their frames and go to nearby paintings. It was always fascinating even three years into his education at Hogwarts. Then a short knight came running after the pony. There were stains on his armored knees as if he had just fallen off his pony.
"Aha!" The knight yelled as he saw the students in front of the painting. "What villains are these, that trespass upon my private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!"
The knight drew his sword from its scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. He was already painted very little on the huge meadow, and the sword was too short even for him. Then he overbalanced and fell facedown into the grass.
"Are you all right?" Harry asked.
"Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!" The knight picked himself and his sword up again, but he had trouble with all the extra weight of the armor, so only seconds later he landed flat on his back.
"Listen, we're looking for the North Tower," Harry asked as the knight was still struggling to get up. "You don't know the way, do you?"
Instantly, the knight's rage vanished. Instead, he climbed back to his feet and shouted: "A quest! Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!"
He tried and failed to mount his pony, then he gave up. "On foot then, good sirs and gentle lady! On! On!"
And before Harry, Ron and Hermione could say anything else, he ran to the left side of the frame and disappeared only to reappear in the next painting down the corridor. Harry and the others hurried to follow him.
"Are you sure?" Ron asked suspiciously, but clearly, he didn't know where to go either, so following the knight was their best chance. Despite his prior exhaustion, the knight now seemed to overflow with energy. He ran at a speed that made it difficult for the teenagers to follow even though the knight was so much smaller and needed many steps for every one of Harry's. As he led the Gryffindors up a spiraling staircase, shouting cheers and encouragement, Harry wondered if paintings could even feel real exhaustion.
Finally, after they reached the top of the stairs, their new painted friend waved at them. "Farewell!" he cried out pompously. "Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"
"Yeah, sure," Ron muttered still reeling from their race up the stairs, "if we ever need someone mental." He only added the last part when the knight was already out of sight. Then he doubled over, bracing himself against his knees. "Why did we choose Divination again?"
"Cheer up!" Hermione exclaimed pointing to a circular trapdoor above their heads. "We're here." She was grinning despite the sweat trickling down her brow. Her face was glowing with the excitement of learning something new. Shaking his head, Harry followed her, feeling like he needed a shower already.
Immediately, as the trapdoor swung open, a waft of thick odorous air made it almost impossible to breathe.
"After you," Ron said, holding his nose, so Harry climbed the ladder first.
The Divination classroom didn't look like a classroom. Instead, it was a cross between an attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. It also smelled like that – even worse…as if somebody had burned the entire arsenal of the tea shop. Small circular tables were crammed inside and surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. The windows were closed, holding the perfume inside, and it was uncomfortably hot with the fire burning under the crowded mantlepiece.
Harry and his friends weren't the first to arrive. The whole class was quickly assembled around them. Only their teacher was still missing. Then a misty voice came from the shadows.
"Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last."
Professor Trelawney – Harry thought – looked like a large, glittering insect with her glasses that magnified her eyes to the size of saucers.
"Ah, Mr. Major," the headmaster greeted Kakashi the moment he entered through the door. His long silvery-white beard rested over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.
"There you are," Professor Snape added, sneering down his nose at Kakashi. The Potions professor leaned against the wall in the back of the office where Kakashi would've overlooked him if he hadn't already smelled the familiar scent of dungeons the moment, he entered the office.
Dumbledore's office was a large and circular room with many windows. That was all that Kakashi could see of his surroundings. The walls looked cracked, and the windows broken, but Kakashi knew that were just the wards trying to fool him. The room was probably rather pompous. It had a high ceiling and Kakashi saw the remains of a big archway. He didn't waste too much energy trying to recognize his surroundings. Instead, he focused on the old man sitting at the big desk made from dark wood.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Kakashi asked stepping in front of the desk, only throwing the Potions master a passing glance.
"Indeed," Professor Dumbledore held his hands in front of his chest as his eyes settled on Kakashi's. Bright blue orbs behind half-moon-shaped glasses.
Kakashi had the odd feeling that the man tried to look past his eyes into his soul. Was that possible? Sirius had said that with magic people could theoretically do just about anything. Could Dumbledore read his mind or soul? If so, Kakashi couldn't allow that. He was willing to share some of his secrets with the headmaster so he would be allowed to see the castle – hopefully. He wasn't ready to lay his soul bare in front of this stranger.
Under the guise of the genjutsu he still wore surrounding his eyes he opened the sharingan.
Immediately, Dumbledore recoiled. He blinked in surprise, then shook his head as his eyes narrowed with suspicion. Still, he never lost the smile on his lips.
"There are actually three things I'd like to talk about," he continued almost unperturbed. If Kakashi's senses weren't quite so highly trained he might have missed the slight tremor in the headmaster's voice. "But first, I hope you slept well? This was your first night in the castle. How are you getting along with your classmates?"
Kakashi recognized this as a diversion technique to make him feel comfortable. "They seem nice," he replied neutrally. "They were welcoming. Thank you."
"That's very good. Your situation is quite unique. We'll try our best to make this as easy for you as possible, so if there are any issues, the whole staff is here to help you."
Snape's snort was almost inaudible, but Kakashi heard it regardless.
"You've already met Professor Snape?" Dumbledore continued nodding at the Potions professor. "He has a few follow-up questions I believe."
"Of course," Kakashi said, half turning to Snape when the headmaster nodded at the teacher to start.
Snape coughed slightly. His black eyes were fixated on Kakashi. "When we first met you said, you went to Horley to apply for a job in a bakery, Mr. Major. Is that correct?" he snarled in a tone that made it obvious that he wasn't actually waiting for a reply. He knew exactly what Kakashi had told him.
"Yes?" Kakashi said regardless, already suspecting what Snape wanted to ask about.
"I've gone through the effort," he pronounced the word as if it as a great annoyance for him, "to visit said bakery. It turns out…," he paused here as if purposefully drawing out the tension even though Kakashi already knew what he was about to say, "that nobody by the name Charlie Major or even somebody fitting your description applied for the position."
Black eyes glowered at Kakashi like a predator waiting for a sign of weakness.
Unperturbed, Kakashi blinked, feigning surprise. "Of course not," he said looking from Snape to Dumbledore as if he was confused by the question. "When I arrived there, the job was already gone. So, I didn't apply anymore. That would've only been embarrassing."
Snape looked taken aback. Kakashi was a good liar and clearly, Snape – although he probably still suspected that Kakashi was a liar – hadn't been prepared for such a calm response.
"You said you applied for a job in Horley," Snape snapped impatiently.
"I said I went to Horley to get a job and that it didn't work out," Kakashi corrected him. "I never said I actually applied, and nobody asked for details."
Snape seemed unhappy with the answer, but he couldn't prove the opposite. Kakashi had never said anything about applying after all. "How did you get to Horley?" he questioned through gritted teeth.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed then. "I walked. What is this? You don't believe me?"
"You walked 25 miles from London to Horley and then another 10 miles to Little Whinging?" Snape dug deeper. "Only to coincidentally meet Harry Potter of all people, just as he ran away from home."
Kakashi shrugged. "It's not that much," he replied calmly. With a small sneer of his own, he added: "You probably don't take longer hiking trips, but the trip to Horley can be done in a day. And then I went to Little Whinging the next evening."
Snape bristled at the thinly concealed insult. "And where did you sleep?" he pressed between thin lips.
"I think it's called wild camping."
Snape stared at him. "There is nobody who ever saw a—"
"Severus," Professor Dumbledore interrupted him finally. "I think that's enough." His tone was strict, but his eyes still rested calmly on Kakashi. Even though Kakashi was certain that the headmaster didn't try to read his mind or soul anymore, he still felt uncomfortable under the wise gaze of the old man.
"Headmaster, I'm certain Mr. Major is lying. Something isn't right," Snape insisted.
"It's enough," Professor Dumbledore repeated. "You've already checked for disguises in the ministry, didn't you? So, here we have a young boy who is clearly magical – as you told me just a month ago that you saw it with your own eyes…" The headmaster shook his head. "If you want, we can talk about this at a later date, but now, I think you have classes to give."
Snape stared at Professor Dumbledore as if he seriously considered hexing his headmaster, then he huffed and with a flurry of billowing robes, he rushed past Kakashi to the exit. The door banged shut behind him.
"I fear he doesn't like me," Kakashi said as the Potions teacher was gone.
"We're all on edge," Dumbledore sighed. "What with Sirius Black's escape, and he especially…" But he didn't finish the sentence and Kakashi didn't believe for a second that Snape's behavior was just because of Sirius.
After all, both Neville and Harry had already told him about the kind of teacher Snape was. Kakashi wasn't one to complain anyway. If Snape was a shitty teacher, who was he to say anything against that? In the Konoha Academy, the kids weren't coddled either. They were taught the tools to survive the world and the constant wars. No time for cuddling and fooling around. The way Professor Sprout had acted toward him – and even the curt first impressions he had of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey – had been very different from what Kakashi was used to. Even Minato-sensei, although Kakashi loved him dearly, hadn't had the freedom to treat them like children. It hadn't been sensei's job to make them feel good, it had been his job to help them survive to the chunin exams…
Of course, sensei had done his job well…And then Kakashi had taken over as commander, and just a year later they were all dead…
Distractedly, Kakashi looked to the stained and broken window glass. Was a dementor close by, he wondered, or where did this sudden downward turn of his mood come from?
"I apologize," Professor Dumbledore sighed. "Your story is a bit…unbelievable. However, as I was guaranteed by both Professor Snape and the ministry that you are indeed magical and that you are indeed 14 years old, the questions of where you come from and who you are, are somewhat secondary. You belong here. I would feel much better if I knew that you trust us enough to ask for help with any problems you might help, which prompt you to lie about your origins."
Kakashi considered this. Although Snape hadn't proven his lies, it was obvious, that they were all certain that he had lied even if they couldn't prove it. If the headmaster's statement was true, however, that he wouldn't kick Kakashi from his school even after learning the truth…Maybe he could risk it.
"Yesterday," the headmaster continued after a while. "Somebody tried to breach my wards. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
It was phrased as an open question, but the way Professor Dumbledore's eyes rested on his, Kakashi was sure that the headmaster already knew for a fact who the culprit was.
Embarrassed at being found out so easily, Kakashi glared to his feet. "That was me," he admitted.
"Can you explain to me, why you would try to breach my wards?"
Kakashi nodded. He only hoped that Professor Dumbledore would be willing to listen and help and not kick him from the school despite his words once Kakashi opened up to him.
"I did it because I think…Your wards believe me to be a muggle." Professor Dumbledore's eyebrows raised questioningly. "That is the only way I can explain it. Ever since I arrived here, I feel a strong need to leave again. It is sickening. However, what's even worse, is that I can't see the castle clearly. I can feel the magic surrounding me, which helps me navigate the castle, but I can't actually see what's around me."
The headmaster's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "You say you can feel the magic around you?"
"Yes." Kakashi nodded. "I can feel it and if I concentrate, I can see it too…Not the physical shape, just the magic itself." He wouldn't explain the Sharingan to Professor Dumbledore. How would he even do that?
Curiously, the headmaster looked even more bewildered after Kakashi's explanation. As if Kakashi was talking about something utterly foreign to him. Something occurred to Kakashi then…
"How does it feel? Or how does it look? When you feel or see magic…"
What a curious question… "It's a sort of energy. Very subtle, but I'm getting used to it the longer I am here…"
Kakashi didn't know how exactly to explain it. He still likened it to nature chakra the way Jiraiya-sama or Minato-sensei used for their sage mode. It was distinctly different, yet that was what it came closest to. However, he wouldn't know how to explain either nature chakra or even the feeling of normal chakra to somebody who couldn't feel or see it himself. And magic was the strangest and most unexplainable of them all… Which begged the question…
"You can't feel it?" Because that much was obvious. When Kakashi spoke about ' feeling magic' Professor Dumbledore acted as if it was an entirely new concept for him.
The headmaster hesitated, then he shook his head. "I've heard of magical creatures that can perceive magic. There are of course spells that help us reveal magic, and there are witches and wizards that are sensitive enough to feel a small tingling when passing through magical wards, of course… But for the most part…magic is something that is around us but invisible."
Kakashi blinked. How…? "But how can you use it, if you can't feel it and don't know if it's there?"
Professor Dumbledore looked down to where his hands laid intertwined over his lap. "We simply use it," he answered matter-of-factly. "We know that magic is a sort of energy…We know this, because at places with a lot of it, magic creates a sort of atmosphere that interferes with other kinds of energy – like the kind muggles use for their technology."
Kakashi shook his head still struggling to understand how a whole society could use a form of energy for their skills that they didn't perceive and likely didn't understand either. It reminded him of the bumbling foolery of a young Academy student with a lot of chakra, using it subconsciously without being aware that that was what they were doing.
He had naturally assumed, that whenever they used magic, they knowingly manipulated magical energy… But was their understanding of magic maybe just superficial? Did they use it without knowing how it worked? Did they even know the source of their power?
"This is fascinating." Professor Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "However, I fear all our musings about magical energy and how you're able to see it, won't help us solve our initial problem. For whatever reason, it seems the wards don't recognize you as magical." He shook his head as if it made no sense to him. "Which is rather odd. You can use magic, and you are even able to see it. How the wards don't recognize you as magical is beyond me…Curious…Quite curious."
Kakashi feared that even though the headmaster wasn't poking him with questions now, he would ask eventually.
"For now, however, I think we shall postpone our investigation. You have classes to attend. I shall see what I can do about the wards." He leaned forward a little, blue eyes sparkling with a need to know. It seemed to take some effort to postpone the issue. "One final matter…"
Kakashi waited for the headmaster to explain this last thing. He was just glad that he had solved the issue with the wards. If the headmaster would investigate further, Kakashi would have to decide whether he should feed him with some more information soon…But apparently, he still had time for that.
"Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall informed me about your run-in with a Dementor. I am beyond furious, that these creatures attacked one of my students – never mind on their first day in school. How are your injuries?"
Kakashi was surprised about the concern for an injury that was already treated and healed without a trace. He touched the spot on his neck where the bruises had disappeared hours ago. "It's fine. Madam Pomfrey healed it all."
"I'm glad." The headmaster nodded. "This morning, the minister informed me, that one of the Dementors complained about being attacked on the train." Kakashi ducked his head a little. He hadn't known that these creatures would go complaining to their superiors. He didn't have the impression, that the Dementor had even felt the cut.
"Dementors cannot be killed by physical attacks," Professor Dumbledore explained, "but they still detect the hostility and react accordingly. I understand that you felt threatened by them, and since you're not used to your wand, yet, it was to be expected, that you would try to defend yourself by other means…But I hope this was a lesson. I will not tolerate the Dementors attacking my students, but if students attack them while they do their duty, I can't guarantee your safety."
Kakashi nodded. "I understand," he agreed. "I won't do it again." However, he knew if it came to defending Sirius, he wouldn't stop to consider Professor Dumbledore's warning – though he had to find a different way to fight them.
"Do you still have the knife?"
Kakashi nodded.
"I fear I have to ask you to hand it to me. I'm sure you understand that I can't allow the students to run around armed with muggle weaponry."
Kakashi almost scoffed, fully aware that the wand was a more powerful weapon than any knife…Well, maybe not more dangerous than a kunai in the hands of a shinobi … In any case, Kakashi had enough kunai that he could afford to hand one over.
He pulled the knife out of his robes and put it on the desk.
"What an odd knife," Professor Dumbledore marveled at its shape. "Where did you get it?"
"I always had it."
Professor Dumbledore looked as if he wanted to ask a follow-up question, but then he simply smiled. "I see. Well, I fear I held you off for too long already. There's no point interrupting Professor Burbage's class ten minutes before it ends…Will you find your way to Transfiguration?"
Kakashi nodded, certain that they had passed Professor McGonagall's classroom on the way here. He had recognized the faint smell of cat.
"Excellent." He clapped his hands together, then the headmaster dismissed him with a smile. "I hope you enjoy your first day, Mr. Major. I'll take care of your problem with the wards."