Hey there, hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! With the holidays over, hopefully we will get back to our regular publishing schedule.

For those of you who like Uryu, you get a bit of him being…well, Uryu.

And as always, Arei and I do not own either Bleach or HP.

Chapter 12

"Because if he vos not a guest of Fleur's I vould duel him here and now, for vearing that filthy sign upon his chest!"

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"What?" Ichigo said as his head whipped around to look at Luna's dad.

"Sign?" Uryu said with a frown as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Huh?" Harry said with a confused blink.

They all looked over at Viktor then, a bit surprised that a pendant of any kind (other than a pendant of the Dark Mark and no one loyal to Moldy-mort was stupid enough to wear something like that. Hell, Ichigo thought it was pretty damn dumb to put a magic tattoo on someone like Moldy did as it made it easy to find his most loyal sycophants. Yank up the left sleeve and boom, instant evidence) would elicit such a strong reaction in the normally very calm and easy going Seeker.

"Why? What's wrong with it?" Uryu finally asked him.

"Grindelvald. That is Grindelvald's sign," Viktor said as he indicated the pendant Luna's father was wearing.

"Grindel – the dark wizard Professor Dumbledore defeated years ago?" Ichigo asked slowly, frowning.

It was that very battle that had caught not only his grandfather's attention, but the attention of a hollow. Dumbledore had apparently held his own against the thing long enough to impress the Old Man and he had done his duty and intervened to save the Headmaster. It was the day that meddling old pair had first met and Ichigo found himself fighting back a sigh. Those two could be worse than the Twins... Dumbridge herself was subject to their darker meddling moments.

"Yes," came the curt reply from Viktor. He seemed to shake himself and turned to look at the group. "Grindelvald killed many people, my grandfather included. He vos never powerful in this country as it vos said he feared Dumbledore and vould not dare attack his rivals home. And he rightly feared your Headmaster, seeing how he vos finished. But that is his symbol, I recognized it at vonce. Grindelvald carved it into a vall at Drumstrang ven he vas a pupil there and used it throughout his campaign."

Harry and the others looked at each other, perplexed. It was highly unlikely that Luna's father was a supporter of the Dark Arts or more properly, a supporter of those who would force themselves into power in order to 'dominate the world' and actively used the Darker spells for ill purposes. The man was little bit off his rocker, yes, but to be hiding a 'Dark' mind? Also, no one else at the gathering appeared to have recognized it.

"Are you sure it's Grindelwald's mark?" Ichigo asked even though he was pretty sure of the answer.

"I am not mistaken," Viktor said stiffly, "I valked past that sign every day of every year I spent in that school. I know it vell enough to recognize it at a glance."

"Well, there's a chance he doesn't know what it actually means," Harry said slowly, "the Lovegoods are – unusual. He could easily have mistaken it for something else."

Krum snorted and eyed Harry with an almost glare as if he wanted to take affront to Harry's defense of one of his friend's father.

"There's another explanation as well," Uryu said, putting a finger to his glasses and shifting them up his nose, "the symbol could actually be older than Grindelwald and have an entirely different meaning. It's not unusual for rulers and despots to take symbols – ancient ones – and co-opt them. If it's for something evil – then that's what that symbol becomes remembered for. The best known case of this is actually the Swastika."

They looked at him with shock – except for Ichigo and Tatsuki, who had also taken Ancient Runes.

"That's right," Uryu nodded with a grin, "I thought you'd be familiar with that one, seeing as how the War dragged even the Wizarding World into it, especially Japan." Uryu coughed into his hand and everyone shared bemused looks when they realized that the Ravenclaw was entering his 'lecture mode'.

"The Swastika actually dates back to ancient times and has been found in ruins dating as far back as Paleolithic Europe. Many civilizations have a version of it – Turkey, Iran, India, Nepal, China, Japan," he gave Ichigo an amused look as he continued, recalling the guard design on his friend's Bankai, "Korea and Europe. It is widely used in the Indian religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. We use it as a rune of Auspiciousness and it is also used as a symbol of luck. If you've heard of Pokemon," most of the wizarding group not from Japan or not Muggle shook their heads, "Simply put it's a card game and one of the cards, 'Koga's Ninja Trick', originally had that symbol on it. They had to reprint it for international release because of the negative view surrounding what was originally a good symbol. Point in fact, it's translation from the original Sanskrit literally means 'it is good.'"

"Ah..." Krum blinked at them almost owlishly a little overwhelmed with the information that was being thrown at him.

"So you see, it's more than likely the symbol came from elsewhere," Uryu concluded with a shrug. "Lovegood just simply isn't the type of wizard to follow the Dark Arts and may very well be wearing that pendant with the intent to respect the symbols' origin."

From the expression on his face, Harry half expected Viktor to just say "Vhat?" and force them all to sit through that explanation again – if Ichigo didn't cover his friend's mouth with his hand or shove a cocktail napkin into said mouth. Uryu did have a habit of being a know-it-all (He was only a little less intense then Hermione. He had the benefit of age and had learned something called 'tact' a lot earlier on in comparison to the bushy haired girl), and while he lectured, Ichigo always rolled his eyes and eventually cut him off - usually by acting before Uryu had finished his lecture.

They sat in a rather uncomfortable silence at that point while Krum tried to digest Uryu's lecture.

"This girl is very nice looking," Viktor said suddenly, pointing at Ginny, who had just joined Luna. The others all shot him various incredulous looks at the sudden subject change.

Ichigo coughed in order to hide a laugh and glanced at Harry. "Erm, that is Ginny Weasley – she's Harry Potter's girlfriend."

"Ah," Viktor looked around at that, "Is he here? I expected to see him in all honesty."

"He's – keeping his head down, these days," Harry said, vaguely.

"Of course," Krum nodded. "I vanted to see how he vas doing, how he vas handling everything. This is not an easy time and I do hope he is doing vell."

They all looked at him quietly and then Harry said, "I'm sure he'd appreciate that. If we see him, we'll tell him you were asking after him and wished him well."

Krum nodded and stared at the dance floor, tapping his wand against his leg thoughtfully. Harry stared at it for a long moment before a light bulb went off on in his head.

Gregorovitch! Of course! That's where he'd heard the name! He could barely contain his excitement, especially when Krum asked about Orihime and Rukia, who had joined Ginny and Luna. He wanted to share what he had figured out but... well he couldn't just drag the group away from Viktor though. One; he wasn't that rude and two; he didn't want to do anything overly suspicious.

"Orihime is dating a friend of ours – Neville Longbottom – I don't know if you recall him from when you were at Hogwarts," Harry said in a rush.

"And Rukia – the very petite one – is my fiancé," Ichigo said, standing as he spoke and walking over to where the four girls had clustered.

He held out his hand to her, and with a slight smile, she slipped her hand into his and let him lead her onto the dance floor. Uryu chuckled in response to the scene in front of them and shook his head slowly with a wry smile.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked him with a blink, curious.

"He'll dance to the slow ones, but play a fast song – and he'll be off that floor so fast you'd think a hundred Dementors were after him," Uryu answered with another laugh.

Krum sighed softly as he eyed the dancing crowd wistfully.

"Vhat's the point of being a vorld-famous Quidditch player if all the pretty girls are already taken?" he said, leaving them to their own devices.

Tatsuki looked at the other two with a frown and eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Have I just been insulted?" she asked them, her voice rising slightly.

Viktor had never even looked at her once in all the time they'd been conversing. Harry and Uryu glanced at each other and shrugged. They really didn't know how to field this one.

"Ah –" Harry started slowly.

Fred rejoined them at that moment and Harry found himself relaxing in a manner that had him wondering when he'd tensed up so completely under the older girl's glare.

"Coward," Fred teased her as he sat down next to her. "How dare you leave me to fend for myself."

"Sorry, but if one more person asked if we were going to be next..." she grumbled as she blew her bangs back.

Fred peered at her with a small frown, seeing something in her expression. "What's wrong?" he asked slowly.

Harry quickly told him what had happened which had Tatsuki blushing within seconds, which in turn caused Fred to grin and chuckle softly in a way that caused his girlfriend to shiver. Harry could only watch with a kind of confused fascination at the interaction between the two.

"Oh, chin up, Lady-o-mine," he teased, "he didn't look at you because I already warned him off, remember?"

Tatsuki blinked at him. "Huh? No? When?"

"When he got here. Nobody was really standing around looking like a couple, so I figured when he found out Hermione was no longer available, his eyes would start roving and he would go on the prowl. I let him know in no uncertain terms that you were taken. You were standing nearby, maybe five, six feet away; I thought you overheard us talking. You even waved back at me when I indicated you to him."

Tatsuki blinked again, and then said quietly, "oh" with a slight flush to her cheeks.

Harry smirked and chuckled before standing and holding out a hand to Tatsuki but looking back and forth between her and Fred.

"Well, could I uh, borrow Tatsuki for a few minutes?" he asked, "Ginny appears to have disappeared and it really isn't safe for me to dance with her too much otherwise people will start to get suspicious."

Tatsuki cocked her head curiously, glanced at Fred who shrugged and then shrugged herself.

"Sure, why not?" she said as she stood and took Harry's hand.

"Do you see Ichigo at all?" Harry asked quietly as they walked out on the dance floor.

Tatsuki nodded and led the way to a spot near Ichigo and Rukia. She then turned to let Harry – a bit awkwardly – place his hands hesitantly on the waist as they started to sway with the music. Well, she started swaying, Harry just sort of froze in place.

"I won't break," she said under her breath.

When Harry flinched slightly but still refused to move, she sighed and took control of the 'situation', leading him in the dance and adroitly directing their movements until they were dancing right next to the Soul Reapers. The pair gave the other two an amused look, mostly amused with Harry's stilted movements as Tatsuki pulled him along.

'I need to talk to you,' Harry mouthed to Ichigo.

Ichigo sighed softly at that and then nodded in agreement.

"Ron and Hermione..." Harry started, only to get cut off.

"This way," Ichigo said, keeping a hold of Rukia and leading the way through the crowd to where Ron and Hermione were dancing.

Hermione saw them coming and smiled faintly before she turned and whispered something to Ron, who glanced behind him and saw the approaching group. When Ichigo jerked his head, to indicate that they should follow, the pair did so without question.

"What's so urgent?" Ron asked quietly.

"I remembered who Gregorovitch was," Harry said with a grin.

They all leaned forward at that announcement.

"He's a wand maker," Harry continued. "He made Viktor Krum's wand – I just remembered that Ollivander mentioned it during the wand weigh in during the Tournament."

"Why is he looking for another wand maker?" Tatsuki asked, voicing the group's confusion. "To get another wand?"

"Maybe, because of the way yours are connected," Ichigo said, frowning. "Maybe he didn't like the answers he got from Ollivander and wanted a second opinion."

#

The evening wore on and Harry got the chance to dance with Ginny once or twice and Hermione once. He avoided Tatsuki as he didn't want to get yanked around. Luna either danced alone or danced with Uryu, politely refusing those who braved approaching her despite the Quincy's near-lethal glare. Rukia stayed glued to Ichigo's side and Orihime managed to chase off anyone showing signs of wanting to dance with her by starting up bizarre conversations that only Neville, Luna, and surprisingly, Luna's father, could follow. The first few times it happened Harry thought it was just Orihime being... well, Orihime. It was after the fourth time when he caught Neville and Orihime sharing a conspiratorial grin that he realized she was doing it on purpose this time 'round.

The highlight of the party, if one could actually call it that, was the conversation Harry ended up having with Elphias Doge – the writer of Professor Dumbledore's obituary. They actually had a rather interesting conversation, before it was rudely interrupted by Aunt Muriel's over loud insults.

Until then, he had not known about the Dumbledore family and as much as he outright detested Reeta Skeeter, he had an urge to read her new book about Dumbledore. He was sure he would have to take it with a grain of salt though, she had a habit of... if not outright lying, take a possible truth and twist it out of proportion.

He watched as Muriel ruthlessly badgered poor old devoted Doge, eliciting a feeling of pity in him, though he wasn't sure how to intervene on his behalf and stop the older woman.

The most important thing he learned however was that both the Dumbledores and Skeeter's source of information, who was also the author of the Hogwarts magical history text books, had lived in Godric's Hollow: Where his parents and he had lived before that dreadful and life changing Halloween.

Doge had had to bang him on the back as he choked on his butterbeer when he heard that.

Godric's Hollow.

He sat there in a stupor, still feeling stunned by the revelation, when something large and silver fell through the canopy to fall right in the middle of the dance floor.

The lynx Patronus landed lightly on its feet, drawing everyone's attention to it as it stood tall and spoke loudly in Kingsley's deep voice. The words were anything but comforting and sent everyone into a panic.

"The Ministry has fallen. Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming."

Author's Notes

The swastika (aka the gammadion cross) is a symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross, with its four legs bent at 90 degrees. It is found among the ancient Celts, Indians, and Greeks, as well as in Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Nazism, among other cultures and religions. Its use in India dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization city of Harappa, and came to represent Vishnu in Hinduism. In Chinese Taoism, it is a symbol of eternity. For Tibetan Buddhism, it is emblematic of the element of Earth. It is a common practice for Hindus to draw Swastika symbols on the doors and entrances to their houses during festivals, and is believed to symbolize an invitation to goddess Lakshmi. The symbol has a long history in Europe reaching back to antiquity. In modern times, following a brief surge of popularity as a good luck symbol in Western culture, it was adopted as a symbol of the Nazi Party of Germany in 1920, which used it as a symbol of the Aryan race. A swastika was incorporated into the flag of the Nazi Party, and then made the state flag of Germany during the Nazi era, after Hitler came to power in 1933. The swastika then became stigmatized as being associated with Nazism and related concepts like anti-Antisemitism, hatred, violence, death, and murder. Because of this it has been outlawed in Germany and other countries if used as a symbol of Nazism. Many modern white nationalist and Neo-Nazi groups such as the Russian National Unity still use stylized swastikas or similar symbols.

http colon /en dot wikipedia dot org /wiki / Swastika

The first versions of Zangetsu's Bankai form have a Swastika symbol on the guard (post and pre Dangai). We have yet to see Ichigo go Bankai after his visit to the King's Realm and it's re-forging, so we don't know if the symbol will still be there.

*Arei coughs* At this point I would like to advise that images of Ichigo's Double Zangetsu are now view-able online at the time of my editing this chapter. Each 'sword' appears to be guard-less and seems to have no particular marking that stands out to mark either blade as unique. Each blade appears to be just a solid piece metal with no true 'hilt', not even a wrap like the meat-cleaver version.

Replace all spaces with a period and you can get this image of Ichigo's new 'swords'. 'Those Zangetsu's'...

dailyanimeart files wordpress com/2013/06/ ichigos-new-zangetsus png

*Eradona replies* Agreed, but we don't really know if he was in Shikai or Bankai at that point; and it appears to have been Shikai based on the usage in Soul Society. It just has not been made clear yet.

*Arei nods* This is true. I hope to see more of the story soon because if that ISN'T a replacement Bankai then I am eager to see what other form 'those Zangetsu' might take. So many things going on with this arch!

And if you would like to learn more about Durmstrang, JKR has added some new writing to the Goblet of Fire section about the school in POTTERMORE. If you haven't signed up for it yet, I highly suggest it – there's a LOT of extra information that wasn't in the books...