A/N: Here's to another chapter. Sorry for the lateness of this chapter and taking so long. The holidays were upon me, before I knew it. Thankfully, everything is now over. So here is something to start the new year.
Disclaimer: See chapter 1. Reviews are welcomed, flames are not.
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Chapter 8
Dumbledore stood looking out of his office's window at the distant village known as Hogsmeade, and beyond that, the small train station where the Hogwarts Express would be arriving in a few hours. He often did that the first day of a new school year, pondering which kind of new and old students the train would bring to the school.
But his mind was mainly concentrated on one thought – Harry Potter would be arriving on that train. He wondered what the boy would be like. The reports he had received from Arabella said that Harry was a biddable child and got along well with the neighborhood children. The uncle was a strict but fair man. It was strange that Petunia was rarely mentioned.
It was also strange that Hagrid hadn't been needed to bring Harry his letter. He had nearly been sure that it would be difficult to make the Dursleys accept that Harry had to attend Hogwarts. Did that mean that Petunia had let go of her disappointment for being a squib? Did she take Harry to the Alley to get his supplies?
Minerva didn't say anything about Harry having accepted his place at Hogwarts. But that didn't have to mean anything negative. She was very busy with the new first-year visits. And if something was terribly wrong, she would have informed him. Probably she simply considered Harry accepting his place as business as usual. She did say that they were getting a pair of magical twins. He wasn't certain what that meant, but it would be cleared up during the sorting, he was sure. Perhaps another pair with a connection like Fred and George Weasley?
Then his thoughts drifted into a darker direction.
It seemed that Sirius Black, once he had escaped from Azkaban, had managed to stay hidden, despite the efforts to find him by the Ministry of Magic. Still, he hadn't shown up in Little Whinging, Albus was certain that Arabella would have mentioned that in her reports. The Blood Wards must've done an excellent job keeping him out. It only proved his theory that Black was a Death Eater, after all, and had betrayed the Potters. He was right to seal their will.
At least Ollivander had reported that Harry was chosen by the second wand with Fawkes' feather. The first one had been bought by Tom Riddle, who had later become Voldemort. And now the second one belonged to Harry Potter. That fact also proved, in his opinion, that the boy and Tom were connected somehow, and the prophesy was still in play.
His musings turned towards the new term and the item hidden within the bowels of the school. The old headmaster knew that this was going to very an interesting year. He had great plans, which would finally start, now that Harry was returning to the Wizarding World. Hopefully he had made friends with some children of the right sort of family, like the Weasleys.
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In her office, Minerva McGonagall was going over the list of the new first-years one last time. She smiled as she remembered her visit with Mr. Namikaze. He had done a fine job raising Lily and James' son as well as his own son.
She still hadn't mentioned to Albus that Harry Potter no longer existed. 'Served the man right,' she silently mused. She had repeatedly told him that the Dursleys were the worse sort of muggles but did he listen? That man never listened if the advice went against what he wanted to do. She was looking forward to see his face when he figured out that somebody had dared to interfere with his plans.
Well, tonight's sorting would be interesting.
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The Namikaze boys had the train cabin all to themselves. A seal slapped to the door saw to it. Neither of them was feeling very social at the moment, and were already missing Tou-san, Tally and Snuffles. Although they spent their days at the Consulate School, it was a day school. They returned home every night. This time, this was different.
Tou-san had taken them to platform nine and three quarters a bit earlier than most families went there, to have a bit of piece and quiet while saying goodbye to his sons. Snuffles had decided that it was safer to stay at home and had said his goodbyes to the boys before they left for London. He had given them a few bits of advice, among them not neglecting having fun over doing well in classes. After all, Sirius and Haru's birth father had managed to do both while they were there.
They would have preferred to continue their education the same way as before, being day students, but there was one problem. Tou-san had promised Haru's birth parents that he would attend Hogwarts for at least one year. And he wouldn't be going alone. Thankfully, Naruto inherited his magic from tou-san, so that he could attend with his little brother. Their magic bonding that Christmas enhanced whatever little magical potential Naruto did have, which became stronger, allowing him to attend Hogwarts.
At the moment, Haru was sitting upside down on the cabin ceiling, reading his potions book. Naruto was busy sitting on the wall, throwing conjured senbons at a target on the other side.
A knock at the door caused the boys to look over at the sealed door. A bushy-haired girl was trying to get in. She seemed annoyed.
After exchanging a look with each other, Haru sighed and murmured something in Japanese, dropped to the floor and went to open the door.
"What were you doing? How did you do that? Can anyone do it?" she screeched, trying to step into the cabin, but she was hindered by Haru blocking the door, "I've never seen anything like it!" she fired one question after another without giving Haru a chance to speak.
"Gomen," Haru said with a slight bow. "Uh. . . Are you always this rude?"
"Huh!? What do you mean rude?" she asked, lowering her tone slightly, "I happened to know I have perfect manners!"
"No, you don't –ttebayo," Naruto argued as he dropped down unto the seat below him. He stood and removed the senbons from the wall. "At least, I know you first introduce yourself. And you don't fire questions like a machine gun, which will prevent that anybody can answer one of them. Hmm, my aim's a little off with all this moving around."
"But. . . how did you?" she asked, looking at the spot where Naruto had been sticking on the wall.
"Sticking charms. Now what did you want?" Haru asked. He wasn't about to tell her about chakra and their secret training.
"I'm looking for a toad."
The boys exchanged a look. They have seen a lot of toads over the years. Their tou-san could summon them with ease.
"What kind of a toad?" Naruto asked, suspiciously.
She huffed and placed her hands on her hips. "A magical toad that belongs to a friend. It escaped from his compartment."
Haru frowned and then shrugged. "Nope, haven't seen it."
"Did you ask a prefect if he can be summoned? The spell is a fourth-year spell –ttebayo."
"Huh? What does that mean?" she asked.
"It means 'you know' or 'believe it.' Now, if nothing else?" Haru slammed the door on her and resealed it. He shook his head as he returned to his seat.
"Some people," Naruto huffed as he bit his thumb and slammed it down on the train floor saying "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
"Hey Gamatatsu, how are things?" Haru asked, in Japanese, as he peered down at the yellow toad with a blue vest that appeared in front of Naruto. Although Naruto had signed the contract last Halloween, it was conditional because of his age. He was really too young for it; for now, he could only call on certain young toads. Mainly Gamakichi and Gamatatsu, the sons of the chief Gamabunta.
"Can't complain, Har-chan," the yellow toad replied back in perfect Japanese, as it hopped up onto the bench seat next to Haru. "Why did you call me? Got any more candy?"
"Seems one of the kid's magical toad decided to do a walk about," Haru replied as he fished out a piece of taffy and tossed it up into the air. "Can you find it and bring it here?"
The toad caught the unwrapped bit of processed sugar with his elongated tongue and pulled it into his mouth. The toad then popped out and back in a few seconds.
"Says he's called 'Trevor'," Gamatatsu translated. "Man, he has a strange accent. He was looking for some water and maybe a few flies to tie him over until he can get where ever they were going. Says his kid isn't too bright. Got any more candy?"
Naruto pulled out and unwrapped another piece of taffy and tossed it into the air. The little toad snatched it as he did the first.
"Thanks, Gamatatsu. We'll take it from here," Haru said with a grin.
The little toad gave a nod and poofed away.
"Well Trevor, we can't deal with flies, but I think we can deal with some water," Haru told the toad as he conjured a small terrarium with wet soil, small green plants and a small pool off to the side. "This work for now?"
The toad gave a croak and hopped into the small glass container, happy.
They could feel the summoning spell hit their seal and bounced off. The two boys gave a sheepish look as both chuckled.
"Oops?"
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Trevor's owner turned out to be Neville Longbottom.
Haru and Naruto exchanged a look. They knew all about the Longbottoms. Their parents had been friends and co-workers. And, according to tou-san, Neville and Haru would've grown up together as god-brothers, if a certain old headmaster hadn't sealed the Potters' will.
Neville was very thankful to get Trevor back but was a little confused by the glass case.
"Toads are not like frogs," Haru explained. "They need earth with a bit of water to bathe in. Plants that will attract their next meal. They're also great listeners."
Neville blushed as Haru explained, with Naruto nodding in agreement. They talked for a while, with Neville trying to memorize their advice how to take better care of Trevor.
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As the first years waited to enter the Great Hall, a small fight broke out between two boys – one was a redhead, and another was a white-blond.
Seems they had a family vendetta going. Family vendettas were a serious thing in the Wizarding World, and not to be taken lightly. The brothers exchanged a bored looked. Not their problem.
The spat, in Naruto's opinion it wasn't much of a fight, as both boys had no idea how to actually cause damage to the other, didn't last long as Professor McGonagall, a stern-looking witch, broke them up. They were informed that everything was ready for them and to follow her. Soon they were all put into two lines and followed Professor McGonagall, into the Great Hall, where they found the rest of the school waiting for them.
When they were at the front of the Great Hall, with only the teacher's table being between them and the wall that held multiple tall windows, a rugged old wizard hat sang a weird song and afterwards the sorting began. Before long, Haru's name was called.
Haru felt weird speaking in his mind to a talking hat.
"I see," it said in his mind. "You're magically bonded to your adopted brother. I see you are Slytherin by nature, whereas your brother is Gryffindor to the core, and it would be very painful to separate you. Hmmm, a problem, indeed."
Haru closed his eyes and waited as the sorting hat thought, then heard it speak. "Naruto Namikaze come here!"
Gasps and mutterings filled the Hall as this was unprecedented.
Professor McGonagall sighed and announced to everyone, "I was warned this might happened. Both boys magically bonded themselves as magical brothers through accidental Christmas Magic. Mr. Namikaze, come here."
Soon Haru was joined by his brother and the hat continued to muse at his choices. "I see. Yes, that makes sense. I only have one thing to say –"
"Both are Gryffindors!"
When the sorting was over, and Minerva went to put away the hat and stool for another year, she was stopped.
"Professor McGonagall, we seemed to be missing a student?" came the headmaster's voice from the head-table.
Minerva smiled, having expected this, and sat the hat covered stool down and pulled out her list and checked it. "No. I called every student's name."
"No, I'm certain that Harry Potter is eleven. Surely he was on the list?" denied Dumbledore.
"Oh, he was on the list. I visited with his guardian while you were doing ICW business. He's here," she informed him.
Everyone looked around to see if they could find him. They hadn't heard his name being called either. Having a famous wizard attending school was of course a matter of interest for everybody, thus they tried identifying him among the newly-sorted first-years.
Suddenly the hat spoke, "I sorted him myself, along with his brother. They are not twins by blood, but by magic. To separate them would be a crime against Magic Herself, as She joined them at their request."
Albus Dumbledore paled as he looked over at the Gryffindor Table to the only non-identical twins that were sorted into that House. He was putting the clues together and didn't like where this was going. He suddenly saw a certain similarity of one of the boys to somebody else. Both boys smiled angelically up at him.
Haru stood, still with a grin that would rival that of his father, James Potter, after a successful prank, "My name's Haru James Potter Namikaze. I will answer to Haru or Mr. Namikaze and not to Harry or Mr. Potter. I will ignore you, if you do. I don't care if you are a teacher or a student. Harry Potter does not exist in real life, not any more. If you think I'm like anything in those fictional books or even the history books, you were deceived and should get your money back."
He sat back down as Naruto decided to do a finger count-down, when he reached one – the whole hall erupted into loud chaos.
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The boys are now at Hogwarts. Let the games begin.
Until next time. - GF