A/N: After reviewing this chapter, it took a bit longer to clean it up then I would have liked, so I apologize for the delay. I hope you like it.

Chapter 9: A Day for Condemning

The Unknown Captain: A Day for Condemning

The new day brought new problems, and not just for Dumbledore. Arius, who had been going by said name for over three centuries, was now forced to use the one he had cast aside, and thus face the masses that he hadn't seen in the same amount of time (not that he was upset about not seeing them mind you). The whole experience was something he would much rather avoid, but one rarely gets their way in the larger scheme of things.

Waking up at half-past five, Arius immediately got into his morning routine, doing his ritual pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, weight lifting with books spells to be heavy and the butterfly. Now, Gin thought he was crazy doing all of those, especially in the numbers that he did. 400 pull-ups, 300 sit-ups, 500 push-ups, 250 jumping jacks, 15 minutes of pushing the books up and down in the air, another 15 doing the butterfly stretch. Now, he wasn't one to brag (coughLiarcough), but that was his warm-up.

After that he would practice his swordsmanship, whereby he would go through every kata he knew in a particular style that he had chosen the previous week. And of course he would wrap up by doing a jog, which in this case would be around the lake. In short, suicide for one Ronald Weasley who had been tasked to follow him to make sure he hadn't gone dark, not that Dumbledore didn't already think this, he just needed "proof" for everyone else, as they weren't likely to take his word for it in this case after the debacle with the necromancy ritual.

As he came to a stop at the end of his run, he turned around and promptly fell to his knees holding his gut as he laughed at the sight of the wheezing Weasley.

When he was able to talk without laughing again, he looked at the red-haired teen while wiping a tear from his eye from laughing so hard. He had passed the Weasley on his second lap, as Ron hadn't managed to even make it halfway around the lake. Further composing himself, he wiped away all remnants of laughing from his face and stared blankly at the backstabber, "What do you want, Weasley?" Ron shivered at the neutral voice, as even without emotion it still intimidated him.

"N-nothing, just out f-for a run, you know, good for the lungs and all." Sweet Merlin! He was rambling like Hermione!

Arius continued to stare at the child, "You actually expect me to believe that you came out here to exercise at the exact same time as me? When you have never done something like this before?"

Ron nodded hesitantly, "Y-yeah. I mean, come on, Harry! You can't expect me to stay out of shape forever, can you!" He was getting more confident the longer he went on. "After all, I have to keep in top shape for Quidditch!"

Arius stared at him blankly, "Ron, I made sure you were aware last year that if you didn't buck up in your studies I would ban you from the team."

The youngest Weasley male looked at him confusedly, "Well yeah, but you were just joking! I mean, we're best mates, Harry! You don't do that to best mates!" (Ron seemed to have momentarily[?] forgotten that Harry wasn't the captain anymore)

Arius scowled at the repeated use of his former name, and it only deepened at Ron's bold, yet foolish, proclamation, "You really think we're mates?" at the red-head's exaggerated nod he glared at the brat, "You actually think we're still friends? I know everything! I know you stole money from my vault under the guise of needing more money for supplies while your mother took out an even larger chunk for her own personal uses! Mates don't do that! And don't get me started on what you took from my vaults via Dumbledore when he paid you with MY MONEY to spy on me! I don't know about you, but that excludes you from best mate status or anywhere near mate. You made your choice a long time ago, and it wasn't with your friend who stood by you all those years. No, it was to your obsession to have something that the rest of your family didn't and then shove it in my face whenever you got the chance! Like Lavender for instance! Did it ever cross your mind that I simply wasn't ready for a relationship?

"I doubt it, and even if it did, you wouldn't have cared. I know you left me to die back in Hogsmeade, and I never forget the faces of killers, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and you just as good killed me."

By this point Ron was shaking like a leaf and was gazing up with terror-filled eyes at Arius who was unconsciously releasing his spiritual pressure, which was so oppressive that it drew the attention of Toshiro and Ichigo who rushed outside to see what was going on only to see him terrorizing a student, albeit one of the rudest students they had ever met but a student nonetheless.

Toshiro, being the short one, was the first person to reach Arius, with Ichigo slowly making his way toward the new captain. Honestly he didn't care what Arius was doing as long as he kept that brat's trap shut. Plus he felt that the kid deserved it after learning that he was partly responsible for his now-comrade's original death. Although how Arius remembered that was a mystery to him, he just chalked it up to magic and moved on.

"What do you think you are doing!" The small captain shouted, "He's just a student! You have no right to attack him in this manner! I don't care if you are 50 years older than me, you will do it," Ron's eyes widened dramatically at that statement, "I am the senior captain here and the one in charge of this operation so do as I say now!"

Arius, blinking, turned to face Toshiro who was glaring at him and just stared at him for a second, before closing his eyes and waving in a very Gin-esque fashion. Hitsugaya face-palmed and Ichigo stared at him warily at the eerie familiarity of the gesture. In the meanwhile Arius's SP abated and Ron was able to breath easier, and summarily found he could move, along with having emptied his bladder, as evidenced by the wet spot on his trousers, and promptly ran back up to the castle shouting at the top of his lungs that "Potter's a demon!"

Shaking his head at the stupidity of his former friend, Arius began to make his way back as well when he felt a hand on his arm forcing him to stop and look down at the offending appendage, although he had to look further down considering who said-appendage belonged to.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was not having a good morning. First, his sleep was disturbed by the appearance of a Hell Butterfly and then it went on to tell him that Arius Pelagios, a relatively unknown entity, had defeated Kenpachi and was now the new captain of Squad 11. And if that wasn't enough it also told him that he was being assigned to his group to assist in defeating Voldemort. And then it told him the guy's alias, and it all went to hell in a handbasket. The guy that had appeared in a thunderstorm the previous evening and declared he was going to destroy Dumbledore... was his subordinate?

And to make matters worse, just after the butterfly disappeared, he felt a surge of Reiatsu from outside that was stronger than any he had ever felt before, besides Ichigo's and Captain-Commander Yamamoto of course. Yamamoto being obvious, Ichigo because he was a freak of nature. And now it seemed he had a buddy in monsterville.

Looking up at Arius, Toshiro growled out, "What the hell is your problem, Pelagios? You are a captain of the Gotei 13! Act like it! And in case you didn't realize it already, you aren't top dog around here, I am! And I don't appreciate you coming in and threatening the whole operation!"

Arius raised an eyebrow, "And just how am I jeopardizing the mission?"

Toshiro's forehead got a tick mark, "We need Dumbledore because he has information that we require! You can have him afterward if you want but not a moment before, am I understood?"

Arius shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid I can't do that."

"And why not?" the diminutive captain demanded, tick mark growing.

"Because as it just so happens very few people outside of Britain actually like him, and anyone that isn't a Newblood or Muggleborn as the medievalists around here call them as they are too new to society to know about all about his history or members of the "light-side" that are too suckered to realize that he does not shat flowers and no matter how much he might try to butter it up, he still uses Grindelwald's slogan "For the Greater Good". Shame he doesn't mean for ours though, cause I haven't seen anything good happen when he uses that line."

Some people in the crowd nodded at that. It was certainly true enough. He had used the line during the Chamber of Secrets incident a few years back when asked why he didn't do anything to find the perpetrator, but it was left to a second-year to solve the case and yet still somehow managed to make himself look good in the process.

"Besides, the Goblins were just waiting for an excuse to bring him down. He could have sneezed in their general area and they would have taken offense. And of course Rita Skeeter was all-too-pleased to sling mud at him after he let the fabled Boy-Who-Lived die while on a school outing that should have had better security after Voldemort's (cue shudders and a sizable number of screams) return had been officially verified.

And as for the brat that just ran away screaming his fear of me across the school grounds, he left me to die, I think scaring him into wetting himself was actually showing restraint, considering what I would really like to do, you should be proud of me, senior captain," he said mockingly. Sure he was taking his anger out on someone who had nothing to do with it, but right now he didn't particularly care.

The tick mark grew, "Whatever prejudices you have aside, you will respect me and my position in this operation, and I expect you to apologize to that young man. What he did is irrelevant right now and-"

"Wrong, what he did is very relevant, as he is part of the reason I died in the first place. Do you know how I died? I was killed by Death Eaters in a raid during a trip to Hogsmeade because they decided to have a bit of fun, and hey, the Boy-Who-Lived is here, let's kill him for our Lord and get a nice reward. And so in the fight for my life my friends deserted me. Ron ran the moment he saw there were more of them then us and the only answer I get is "Better you than me". What kind of friend does that? And you know what else? He even left Hermione stunned on the ground in his haste to get away. I'm sure he didn't tell her that when she woke up." As the story grew in brutality, a small crowd had appeared after hearing Ron running through the castle screaming, not many, due to the early hour, but it included members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, as they had just started practicing on the pitch, although it seemed that their former keeper was going to get a cold welcome from them. Of course, they were still slightly puzzled over how Harry was still walking out and about when he just said he did in fact die the previous year but set that aside for another time.

You see, without Harry and Hermione to help him, he slacked off to the extreme, and thought that his friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived would get him a permanent spot on the team. Well, he might have done passably well in the previous year, it had all gone downhill in the summer, due in part to the failed ritual and, again, his lack of motivation to actually practice. Not to mention his grades were abysmal.

"Ron left me to die and then he has the audacity to say that we're still friends? I don't think so! Don't expect me to apologize to someone who won't even confess to his own wrongdoings. You do know the proverb of the speck and the log, right? Good day Captain Hitsugaya, we will meet again." And with that he turned on his heel and walked back up to Hogwarts, the students parting to let him through.

The day only got worse from there.

Ichigo, in an attempt to figure out the new Shinigami took to following him around in what would have been sneaky fashion if he wasn't so obvious about it by running around in his Shinigami form with white cloak billowing behind him and cleaver on his back. Not to mention his bright orange hair that remained uncovered. Although, because Arius was in such a bad mood after the conversation, he did not notice him.

On top of that people kept calling him Harry, not that they knew his other name but that was beside the point. After that he had to eat breakfast while every pair of eyes in the Great Hall watched him. He decided to eat in the Kitchens from now on so he wouldn't have to deal with this again. Of course, the arrival of the mail put a stop to that as many found themselves either laughing or goggling and then laughing at the newspaper that had the image of a young Albus Dumbledore holding hands (and hoof) with a goat preparing to get married. It seemed the Daily Prophet had some friends with the Goblins.

Dumbledore was conspicuously absent for the rest of the day.

Once the meal was over he went to his first class which was NEWT-level Transfiguration, not that he had even participated in the exams last year but they felt he was good enough to get in. Unfortunately they didn't count on the fact that he hadn't used magic in over three centuries and thus was out of practice, although it didn't show because he was so calm and focused during the lessons, not that he was able to accomplish the tasks in the opening class, but hey, he tried. It wasn't like Kido was the same thing after all. Sure they are both classed as magic, but they have different sources and different ways to

Potions was a breeze in that he had been making his own food for such a long time and knew that adding things at particular times changed qualities of a meal as well as the ways to ensure the best flavor during the ingredient preparation, and so he made short work of the Blood Replenishing potion that Professor Slughorn assigned during class, earning a small vial of Felix Felicis, something he appeared to give out in the first class to the most promising brewer of the year, as after leaving the class the news was spread of his earning and many a glare was sent his way.

Hermione was upset because he didn't follow the instructions and Ron was wise in that he kept his mouth shut after the outburst this morning, not wanting to draw Arius's ire again. Fortunately for Arius, is that while he didn't follow the instructions, he wasn't following someone else's handwritten notes on the matter, thus saving himself from being attacked continuously, but that didn't stop the occasional dark look sent his way. Hermione never did take being outdone in classes well.

Herbology was a irritating in that none of the plants were willing to come anywhere near him, so with great reluctance Professor Sprout was forced to let Harry drop the class. It was likely due his nature as a soul reaper causing this, as plants are of life and his "aura" now radiates death.

Defense Against the Dark Arts, or as Arius liked to call it, Defense Against the Bat Lord, Arius made judicious use of his repertoire and fired a Shakkaho at him when called up for a demonstration of wand-less magic. Needless to say Snape didn't like that and took 30 points from Gryffindor because he didn't even have a wand. Shrugging it off, the class ended and he went to lunch, where he was mobbed by the now awake student populous who demanded to know where he had been all this time, to which he responded with a glare, picked up a sandwich, and shunpoed to an empty classroom where he finished his meal without interruption, not caring that he had left them even more determined to figure out what happened as they knew that you can't apparate within Hogwarts, well, everyone who had read Hogwarts, a History, did. So really only about 5 people.

When the time finally came for the day to end, Hitsugaya sent him a note, that had only one word written on it:

Hollows.

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