I do not own Bleach or Harry Potter the both belong respectively to Tite Kubo and J.K. Rowling
Upon their return to the Burrow Mrs. Weasley was sure to give each of the kids one of her famous hugs, though given how tightly she was holding them Harry had the feeling she was just trying to reassure herself that they had all come home safe and sound.
"When the clock said you were in mortal peril I didn't know what to think" Mrs. Weasley muttered, holding onto her husband for support.
"We're all ok, Molly. We're all perfectly fine" Mr. Weasley said soothingly. "Why don't we have some tea."
Entering the kitchen, Harry was surprised to find Sirius and Remus sitting at the table. Apparently Molly wasn't the only one worrying as Remus explained that she had called them over once she saw the Weasley family clock signaling they were in trouble.
Unfortunately, Mr. Weasley thought it a good idea to tell his wife about Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's involvement in the riot at the Quidditch Cup. Needless to say Molly was not pleased to hear that the children had put themselves in danger like that. Thankfully Sirius' comment of them being better than the Ministry Aurors (except Tonks of course) made him the new target of her wrath.
So while Mrs. Weasley was tearing into Sirius for encouraging dangerous behavior the kids all took the opportunity to escape upstairs with Harry and his friends gathering in Ron's room.
"Wow don't think I've ever seen mom turn that red before" said Ron.
"Tell me about it. She'd blow a gasket if she ever learned about the Fullbringers" said Ginny, earning a weird look from the others for her use of a clearly muggle saying. "What? Harry lives in muggle London; I hear things."
"Anyway just wanted to say thanks for backing me" said Harry.
"Well we couldn't leave you to try and save that family by yourself" said Hermione. "On that note; since when have you been able to use your Soul Reaper powers in human form?"
"Not long I just figured it out last week. It's not as strong though."
"Either way it still helped a lot Harry" said Ginny. "I just wonder who used it and stunned poor Winky."
"Crouch shouldn't have done that" Hermione grumbled, referring to the man's callous dismissal of the house elf. "I mean she was in tears and after sending her to save his seat, knowing she was afraid of heights."
"Ok one fight at a time Hermione" said the Weasley girl, not feeling up to a rant from her friend.
"I just can't wait to see Malfoy strung up like the scum he is" said Ron, he hadn't forgotten what the man had done to his sister.
A knock at the door brought an end to the night as Mrs. Weasley ordered them all to bed.
A few days later everyone was gathered around the table enjoying one of Mrs. Weasley's delicious breakfasts.
"Thanks again for letting us join you for breakfast Molly" said Remus. Noticing that his friend was too busy stuffing his mouth to remember his manners the werewolf gave the dog animagus a painful nudge in the ribs, causing him to cough on his morning coffee.
"Yeah thanks, Molly" said Sirius, glaring at his best friend, ignoring the barely stifled laughter of his godson and his friends.
"It was no trouble at all. I just wish Percy would've stayed longer for breakfast." said Molly, turning her attention to the kids she handed each of them a shopping bag from Diagon Ally. "I took care of the school shopping while you were all at the Cup."
Looking inside the kids were surprised to each find a set of dress robes, though if you asked Harry the only real difference from plan everyday ones seemed to be the color. As for the Weasley children they were simply surprised by the good quality.
"Did dad get a raise or something?" asked Ron, eyeing the nicest looking robes he had ever owned. When Arthur denied as such the room's attention was now entirely on Molly, who actually looked a little embarrassed.
"I'm sorry Ron, Ginny" she apologized, though Ron and Ginny had no idea why their mother would need to say sorry. "When I went to the vault I had thought the extra galleons were from your father's paycheck. I had no idea you two took a summer job."
"Summer job?" they echoed, much to their mother's confusion.
"Yes the goblins said the deposit was from something called Gotei" said Molly, now looking closely at her children.
"Oh yeah!" Harry exclaimed, drawing Mrs. Weasley's attention. "They helped me out at my part time job and my boss decided to reward them."
Harry felt bad for lying but he didn't want to worry the Weasley parents. He already didn't like the fact that his friends got dragged into his Soul Reaper responsibilities. Though now he guessed Ron wouldn't mind helping him out if the captains would continue to reward him.
"Still I apologize" said Molly, neither she nor Arthur would ever willingly and knowingly take money from their children.
"Don't worry about it Mom" said Ginny.
"It's just money" Ron added, surprising his brothers with the show of maturity.
"Ok what happened to the little Ronniekins we know and love?" asked George
"I don't know brother of mine but it seems ickle Ronnie might be…." Fred began.
"Gred you don't mean."
"Afraid so Forge. Ickle Ronnie is growing up."
"Noooooooooo!" George cried dramatically, falling to his knees getting a laugh from the room with the exception of Percy and Mrs. Weasley who quickly pulled him back into his seat.
"Enough of that boys. Maybe you should be learning from Ron" Mrs. Weasley lectured, though there was a brief twinkle in her eye that made Harry think she found it funnier than she'd like to admit.
Sadly, the good times weren't meant to last as Mr. Weasley received his morning paper and from the look on his face it was obvious that it wasn't good news.
"What's wrong, Arthur?" asked Mrs. Weasley.
"Pettigrew has escaped Azkaban" Mr. Weasley announced.
"That little rat!" Sirius growled, war drums pounding in his head practically demanding he rip the traitor to pieces.
"Let the Auors handle it Sirius" said Remus, as if reading his friend's mind.
"Because they did such a good job last time" the dog animagus scoffed.
"Sirius, Remus is right. They didn't know about him before but they do now" said Arthur.
"You need to think about Harry" Molly reminded him, causing the boy to blush as he could feel everyone watching for his response.
"I think you should just leave it alone, Sirius" said Harry. "We lost enough time."
Harry felt bad about bringing up his godfather's time in prison but he needed Sirius to understand that if the Ministry made another mistake he could end up right back in Azkaban.
"Alright fine" Sirius groaned, he hated to admit it but they were all right. If he went after Pettigrew it might not end well for him. He just got his freedom he couldn't risk that now. Not to mention if anything did happen to him Remus now that his status as a werewolf is out, they'd never let him keep custody of Harry.
The bad news seemed to just keep piling up as the fireplace flared to life and everyone turned to see a Mr. Diggory's head in the flames.
"Sorry to interrupt your breakfast but I need to speak to Arthur" said Mr. Diggory. "It's urgent something's happened with Mad-Eye."
"I'm here Amos" said Mr. Weasley, as he moved to kneel by the fire. "What's happened?"
"It's Mad-Eye. He's up to it again."
"Ugh tell me this doesn't have something to do with today's paper" Arthur groaned.
"I wish that were all. He's on his way down here to complain" said Mr. Diggory. "You see one of his Auror contacts told Mad-Eye that they're discussing Malfoy's release."
"What?!" the room shouted in outrage, reminding both Ministry employees that they weren't alone.
"Let me guess he bribed his way out" Mr. Weasley scowled.
"Afraid so Arthur. He got Fudge with the old Imperius excuse again." Mr. Diggory explained, his tone making clear that couldn't believe such a stupid mad was made Minister. "You can see why I can't have Mad-Eye down here slinging curses every which way. He's done enough damage jinxing his neighbor's trash bins.
"Right" Mr. Weasley sighed, giving his wife an apologetic smile. And like always Molly just assured him that she understood. "I'll be right there to talk him down.
With Mr. Weasley forced to head into work it fell to Molly and the other adults to get the kids to the station. Nothing a quick floo to Baker Street followed by a taxi ride couldn't solve. They had just reached the steps outside the station when Harry's combat pass went off.
"What's wrong Pup?" asked Sirius, noticing the look on his godson's face.
"I've got a Hollow alert." said Harry, swallowing the mod soul pill. Now in Soul Reaper form, Harry took a moment to make sure Mick understood to stick with his friends before flash stepping way leaving Sirius unsure of what to do.
"What's keeping you?" asked Remus, walking over to the pair.
"Harry has some last minute things to take care of" Sirius explained, prompting a sigh from the werewolf.
"Of course. Alright let's just take Mick to the others. They can watch over him until Harry catches up."
Leaving King's Cross Station behind, Harry took to the skies extending his senses out in search of the Hollow's spiritual pressure. It didn't take long for him to get a lock on the monster. Flashing stepping down town to a local park, Harry spotted the spirit of a little boy running from what looked like a giant green skinned six legged beetle with a human like white mask.
The Hollow let out a fierce roar in anticipation of devouring the child's soul when suddenly it was forced to stop in its tracks as Harry appeared between it and its prey.
"Are you ok?" Harry asked the boy as he drew Nakatsukasa.
"Y-yeah" the boy stuttered.
Taking a glance at him, Harry guessed the boy couldn't be more than maybe five years old. A cold furry built inside him as he turned his focus back on the Hollow that had decided to try and add the Substitute Soul Reaper to the menu.
Apparently the Hollow had thought that Harry was too distracted by the boy's age to notice it was going for a sneak attack. It was wrong for before it could even move to pounce on him, Harry was already swinging his zanpakutō, cleaving the monster's head in two.
With the Hollow taken cared of Harry turned his focus back to the boy to explain how he was going to send him on to the Soul Society. But unbeknownst to him two figures were watching him from a nearby rooftop.
The first was a small black cat. The second was a man with messy blond hair and stubble, holding a cane, dressed in a dark green outfit under a dark coat. But the most striking feature of the man was his wooden sandals and his dark green and white striped bucket hat.
"He seems to be handling himself well. What do you think Yoruichi?" asked the man, looking down at his cat.
"I'd have to agree Kisuke. The kids got good reflexes" said Yoruichi in a deep masculine voice, revealing himself to not be an ordinary cat. "So tell me, why the sudden interest in the new boy?"
"There's been reports of a change in Harry Potter's spiritual pressure."
Now that certainly peaked the cat's interest.
"So is this like Ichigo and the Vizards?"
"Not sure yet. Unlike with Ichigo, Harry's powers like his mother's awakened in response to a threat. In addition, Harry has shown no signs of Hollowfication." Kisuke explained. "So the question is just what's causing this change."
"And you're telling me you don't have any ideas" Yoruichi said skeptically. "Forget it. I'm guessing you want me to help you look after the kid."
"Sharp as always. And while I do have some possible ideas in mind. I'd feel better if you were looking after him while I try to narrow things down."
"Fine Kisuke but tell me this. Why isn't Squad 12 handling this? After all I'd think Kurotsuchi would jump at the chance to examine a wizard."
"Turns out Lily Potter caught wind of the investigation and made it perfectly clear to Ukitake that she'd prefer me to do the investigation."
This was something that they both could understand given that without proper supervision the odds were good Harry would've ended up as one of the crazed Squad 12 captain's test subjects.
"So will you do it?" asked Kisuke.
"Yeah" Yoruichi agreed casually, stretching to release some tension in his back. it's been awhile since I've been to Scotland."
The two friends then returned to a comfortable silence as they watched Harry leave to respond to another Hollow alert.
Back on the platform the kids and Mick, currently occupying Harry's body had loaded their stuff onto the train and were in the middle of saying their goodbyes.
"So any chance you're going to be our new DA professor?" Ginny asked Sirius, aware that the ex-convict was currently living off his family's wealth and the Ministry's compensation.
"No way. Bad enough Moony went traitor" Sirius grinned. "But don't worry, you've got a good one this year."
"So you know who it is then?" asked Hermione.
"Hey no blabbing" said Charlie, pulling his sister in for a hug. "We don't want to take away from such an interesting year."
"'Interesting year?' what're you guys hiding from us?" Ron demanded.
"Oh nothing you just might be seeing me sooner than you think."
"Why?" George asked impatiently.
"It's part of your 'interesting year'" said Bill. "I might have to take some time off to catch some of it."
"Some of what?!" Ginny and Ron exclaimed, but none of the adults were willing to give even a clue as to what they were talking about.
"I expect you'll find out this evening" said Mrs. Weasley. "It's going to be very exciting. Mind you, I'm glad they changed the rules."
"What rules?!" the kids exclaimed. But once again no one said anything. Instead they were forced back on the train and watched as Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Sirius, and Remus waved as the Hogwarts Express pulled away.
Once in their compartment Ron, Ginny, and Hermione couldn't help but worry about what was keeping Harry.
"Do you think he's in trouble?" asked Ginny.
"I don't know" said Hermione. "Does he usually take this long dealing with a Hollow?" she asked, turning to Mick for an answer.
"The Boss can usually make quick work of the average Hollow now" said the mod soul.
"And what about the not so average?" asked Ron.
"No worries if it was a something like a Menos class Hollow you'd definitely know it. I mean the spiritual pressure alone would knock the breath out of you. Odds are Boss is just being held up by a lot of Hollows in the area."
This calmed Hermione, Ron, and Ginny as they started to try and enjoy the train ride. During the journey the three friends decided to keep Mick away from the rest of the train remembering how the mod soul had gotten into some trouble with Fred and George the previous year.
But the peace couldn't last forever as Draco Malfoy and his cronies barged into their compartment.
"You've got a lot of nerve Potter! Thinking you can get away with humiliating my father!" Draco snarled, getting in the confused mod soul's face.
Hermione, Ginny, and Ron weren't sure what to do about the situation as Malfoy continued to run his mouth at Mick thinking he was Harry. All they could do was wait and see how the mod soul would respond.
"Are you threatening me?" Mick questioned, narrowing his eyes as he prepared to fulfill his prime directive of protecting Harry's body.
"I'd get out of his face if I were you Malfoy" Hermione warned.
"Quiet Mudblood! After Potter you're…ugh!" Draco stumbled back, his nose broken and bleeding after taking a low powered jab to face from Mick.
"You know you've got a big mouth" said Mick, not backing down as Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward to backup Draco.
"You're going to pay for Ah!" Draco screamed as Mick threw Hedwig's cage thankfully empty at his arm, hard enough to snap it on impact.
"Now get out before I get serious" the mod soul threatened. But Malfoy and his two stooges instead drew their wands forcing Mick to take things a bit more seriously.
Not even a full minute later the three Slytherin bullies were left a beaten and broken mess as they ran out of the compartment thinking they'd finally pushed Harry too far.
"That was brilliant" Ron cheered.
"I can't believe you did that Mick" Hermione scolded. "I know you're supposed to look after Harry's body but you can't just beat people to a pulp."
"Relax it was just Malfoy."
"She's saying that everyone will think Harry beat them up" said Ginny.
"And what's the problem there?" Ron questioned, thinking that Draco will finally learn to leave them alone. Or at least suffer greatly from the blow to his ego.
"But if Mick gets out of hand the professors will be all over Harry" said Hermione, making the mod soul feel like he let down his master. "Mick sometimes you need to prioritize defense over offense."
"Right, I get it. Let them get the first shot in, and then beat them down" said the mod soul, getting a laugh from the Weasley siblings and an exasperated sigh from Hermione.
"All things considered, I don't think Malfoy will be saying anything" said Ginny. "He'd have to admit that all three of them not only got beat by Harry (well his body) but he did it all without magic."
This seemed to calm Hermione as she realized that Ginny had a point about Draco's ego preventing him from admitting defeat. So the group of friends went back to enjoying the train ride as they awaited Harry's return.
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