Chance Meeting at the Ink Pot
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.
A.N.: I have spent many years living, studying and working in Japan, and I decided to use some of my knowledge and experiences for this story. Most of this story will play at a wizarding school in Japan, however, with close contact to Hogwarts.
There will be five OC persons in this story, Headmaster Abe, his wife Mami, their twin children Kazumi and Kenji and Professor Ito, professor for Laser Magic. I am sure, however, that you will already be good friends with them very soon. Enjoy!
At Heathrow Floo Port, Severus pulled Sirius out of the fireplace and handed him a small phial. Seeing his son critically eye the lime green potion, he sighed. "It's a stomach calming draught." Severus downed one himself, before he explained, "The next means of travel might not be too pleasant, so I suggest you take the potion as well."
Sirius quickly gulped down the cool liquid and handed the phial back. "Thank you, Severus."
They queued behind at least fifty other people, and it took fifteen minutes before Sirius was even able to see the fireplace they were going to travel from. After another twenty minutes it was their turn.
"Very well, Sirius; fortunately, this fireplace is as large as the one at Hogwarts, so that we can travel together. Just stay with me," his father instructed him and motioned Harry to follow him into the fireplace. Sirius glanced at the inscription right over the fireplace that announced, 'Intercontinental Floo.'
"Are you ready?" Severus asked softly, before he shouted, "Narita International Floo Port."
The journey took several minutes, and Sirius felt extremely grateful to his father for the stomach calming potion. 'I'd surely be sick by now,' he thought. After what seemed like an infinite time, the journey finally ended.
The ending of the motion pulled Severus out of his thoughts. During their journey, bits of his earlier conversation with Dumbledore had filled his mind.
(Flashback – a week earlier)
"Albus, I wish to retire from my post by the end of this month."
"Ah but Severus..."
"Headmaster, I mean it."
"Severus, please, think of your son..."
"I am thinking of my son. That's why I'm going to leave Hogwarts. I will not have him grow up together with an offspring of 'Potter'."
"Sirius could be good friends with Harry. Don't you think it's time to put an end to the grudges..."
"No Albus. It's too late anyway. I have accepted the post of Potions Master at another school that takes children from the age of eight, and my son is already registered as a first year from the first of April onwards."
'Thank Merlin I chose his date of birth so wisely. One week later, and Sirius would have had to wait a whole year until he'd have been able to become a student.'
(End of flashback)
A very thin man with black hair and golden half moon glasses suddenly stepped in front of them, bowing slightly. "Welcome to Japan, Professor Snape, Mr. Snape. I hope you had a pleasant journey."
"Good morning, Headmaster Abe. This is my son Sirius. Our journey was agreeable; however, it is very reassuring that you kindly came to meet us here, since neither of us speak any Japanese yet."
"I shall accompany you now to 'Mirai School of Wizardry and Technology' in Tsukuba by Portkey." The Headmaster pulled out a chain that had the form of the dog constellation Canis Major from his robe pocket and explained, "This is Canis Major, the constellation, which is our school mascot. Well, this one here is my private Portkey."
He motioned for Severus and Sirius to hold on to the Portkey and mumbled something in Japanese that they could not understand.
Sirius soon felt a strange pull behind his navel, and the world began to revolve. When the movement finally stopped, he looked around with interest. They had arrived in a round office, 'probably the headmaster's office,' he thought. From the form, it resembled that of Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts; however, it was kept in very bright colours and had a somewhat futuristic touch to it.
The Headmaster motioned for them to take a seat and asked, "Would you prefer Japanese green tea or black tea, Mr. Snape?"
"Black tea, please," Severus replied, glancing at Sirius.
The Headmaster chuckled. "Our students use to drink cold wheat tea, Mugicha; however, ever since you introduced me to pumpkin juice in England, we're also having pumpkin juice here at the school. Sirius, do you like pumpkin juice?"
"Yes please. Thank you, sir," Sirius replied shyly.
The Headmaster snipped his fingers, and a tiny house-elf appeared, who bowed so deeply that his ears flapped onto the floor. The elf uttered something in Japanese, and even if neither Severus nor Sirius could understand a word, it sounded very soft and polite. The Headmaster replied in a much harsher tone, and instants later, their drinks popped up on the table along with a plate of sandwiches.
"First of all, I'll explain a little about our school. We're still a small school and only have a few subjects so far. As you know from the name of our school, we're a wizarding school; however, we specialize in technology, especially future technologies such as laser technologies and thus laser magic. Later on, I'll introduce Professor Ito to you. He is teaching Laser Technology and Healing, and he acts as our healer as we lack anyone else to take over our hospital, since there is no one with experience in laser magic. Therefore, as the Potions Master, you will have to work closely together with him. We also have, of course, Potions classes, which I taught so far. However, I'm glad to be able to fully concentrate on my headmaster's and administrative tasks from now on."
Severus lightly inclined his head, while Sirius listened with interest. 'Laser magic; I wonder what that is; it sounds cool anyway,' he thought.
"We also have Math classes for the younger students from eight to ten years as well as Charms and Astronomy classes just like at Hogwarts, and Sports classes, which partly involve magical animals." Seeing that Sirius was throwing him a curious look, he explained, "In your country, you play Quidditch, don't you?"
Sirius nodded, smiling.
"Very well then, here in our Sports class, you play Quidditch on brooms; however, you also play Hippolo, which means that you ride on Hippogriffs while you play Quidditch. You learn horse riding on unicorns, which is more difficult than it sounds, etc."
'Wow, that sounds really cool,' Sirius mused, throwing his father a happy glance.
Before the Headmaster could explain more, two children of about Sirius' age stormed into the room. There was a girl with long, black hair and black eyes, and she was smiling mischievously. The boy, apparently her twin brother, had extremely short hair and seemed a bit shyer than his sister, who let fly a stream of words in Japanese that caused the Headmaster to roll his eyes.
"I am so sorry," he suddenly began to apologize. "These are my children, the twins Kazumi," he pointed to the girl, "and Kenji. They just reminded me that it is Sirius' birthday, and everyone is waiting for us in the Planetarium to eat his birthday cake." Turning to Sirius, he explained, "I am sorry. I was so excited to finally have managed to talk your father into teaching at our school that I completely forgot about your birthday, which is very important for an eight-year-old as my twins taught me last month when they turned eight."
"Oh, it's no problem," Sirius replied, feeling slightly confused. "I didn't even think about it, because we left in the evening before my birthday."
"Here, we are nine hours ahead from the time in Great Britain," Severus added softly, causing Sirius to nod in understanding.
'Strange; we skipped a whole night, but I'm not even tired,' he thought.
"By the way, Sirius" the Headmaster continued, "our students live together in small rooms with two persons. I have paired you and Kenji, although you'll only be in the Mercury class together after you've passed your first Japanese class, which I assume will be after the summer holidays if you try really hard. He'll be able to help you if you ever have questions. You're also very welcome to come to me at any time. If you prefer to stay in your father's quarters, you're free to do so of course; however, I believe that it'll be easier for you to adjust to our school, if you live together with your classmates."
"Yes sir, thank you very much sir," Sirius replied, feeling very grateful for the man's consideration.
Kenji came over to Sirius and held out his hand to him. "Let's have much fun together."
Sirius chuckled as he lightly took his new friend's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sirius."
"Hello Sirius. I'm Kazumi. Come, let's go and have some birthday cake!" With that, the girl pulled him out of the headmaster's office and along a flight of stairs, until they reached the Planetarium, a Hall that reminded Harry of the Great Hall, even if it was much smaller. However, it was a circular room and not only the ceiling, but also the walls were charmed and showed the sky along with thousands of little stars and planets. "You can see the stars better when it gets dark. The light adjusts to the light outside," Kazumi explained eagerly.
'Oh right; that's why it is so bright in here now,' Sirius mused. "I have just realised you are speaking English," he said in surprise.
"Oh, we lived in the USA for two years. Our father was a guest professor at the Massachusetts Magical Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts," Kazumi explained quickly.
The Headmaster introduced his wife Mami, a small woman with orange hair and the same smile on her face as Kazumi. She was the Charms teacher. Professor Ito, the professor for Laser Technology and Healing, was heavily built. His hair was extremely short like Kenji's, and he looked very friendly. "Our Astronomy and Sports teachers are still on holidays," Headmaster Abe explained.
Sirius felt himself being pushed onto the seat next to Severus, before Kazumi sat down on his other side and urged her mother to distribute the cake, before she turned to Sirius. "I hope you like strawberry cheese cake. It's my favourite."
"I like every kind of cake," Sirius replied softly, 'especially as this is my first birthday cake ever,' he thought to himself.
'Is everything all right, son?' Severus telepathically communicated, and Sirius glanced at his father, unobtrusively nodding his head.
Sirius happily munched his cake, noticing that his eyes suddenly became very heavy. It became more and more difficult to keep them open, and he was utterly relieved when he heard the headmaster's wife say, "I believe it's time for Severus and Sirius to take a nap. They spent the whole night travelling and must be extremely tired."
"Very well," the headmaster agreed. "I'll show you to your quarters." On the way, he explained that the students' rooms were closed over the holidays, so that Sirius had to stay in his room in Severus' quarters for the week until the beginning of the school year.
Too tired to look left or right or even remember the way, Sirius let himself sink onto the bed and drifted off to sleep instantly. When he woke up, his father was sitting on the edge of his bed, engrossed in a Potions journal.
"Good morning, son. Would you like to have a look at your presents, before we have to go back to the Planetarium for dinner?" Severus asked, smirking, causing Sirius to sit up quickly.
"Is it that late?" he asked in disbelief, sleepily rubbing his eyes.
"Yes it is, and you have messages from Aunt Poppy and Aunt Minerva on the wiz2wiz parchment," Severus replied in amusement, holding out the parchment for Sirius.
'Hello Sirius, Happy Birthday. All the best for your stay in Japan, and Aunt Poppy and I will make sure to come and visit you one day. Minerva.'
'Dear Sirius, have a nice birthday in your new school and take care of yourself and your father. Don't forget to write back. Poppy.'
Sirius smiled. "I'm going to miss talking to them when I have to stay with the other students," he said in a small voice, causing Severus to grin.
"Sirius, I made a copy from the master parchment. This parchment here is yours for you to keep and communicate with them and also with me if you need me during the night."
Sirius listened in amazement, before he said happily, "Thank you so much, Dad; you're the best!"
At Hogwarts...
Albus Dumbledore looked around the staff room. Everyone had arrived for the extraordinary staff meeting – everyone except for Severus Snape. He let out a long sigh, before he addressed his colleagues. "Up to the last minute, I had hoped that Severus was only bluffing, but he seems to really have left us together with his son Sirius. This is a grave loss, considering that he was my most trusted spy. How could he do that to us? It seems a bit ungrateful after all we have done for him."
"No Albus," Minerva objected sternly. "Yes, you have done a lot for him, but he has returned much more than he ever received, and, I'm sorry, but you've hardly treated him better than a house-elf. I can only hope that he'll have a better time at his new school, and I'd like to advise you to treat Harry Potter better and don't take everything for granted like you did with Severus."
"I fully agree with Minerva," Pomona Sprout spoke up. "Minerva, please tell Severus that I wish him all the best for the future."
"I agree also," Poppy stated.
"Very well," the Headmaster replied with a very disappointed look on his face. "For the time being, I am going to teach the Potions classes. However, I'd like all of you to support me in the search for a new Potions Master."
At the Mirai School
After dinner in the Planetarium, Kazumi and Kenji invited Sirius to visit them in their quarters. Sirius threw Severus a questioning look. "May I?" he mouthed. 'I've never been invited to visit other kids; they're really nice,' he thought in excitement.
"If their parents are all right with it and they accompany you back to our quarters so that you won't get lost, I don't mind," Severus replied, smirking.
"Of course Sirius is welcome, and we'll take him home before bedtime," their mother replied softly.
The three children had much fun, talking and playing in Kenji's room, until their mother came to tell them that it was bed time. Sirius didn't feel tired at all and interestedly observed his surroundings when the professor walked him home to Severus' and his quarters. He found himself in a small corridor with walls completely painted in white and the left wall completely made of glass, allowing the view onto the grounds and a huge lake. 'Just like at Hogwarts,' he thought. In surprise, he realised that Professor Abe stopped in front of a door that was just a few doors further down the corridor from her own quarters.
"The teachers' quarters are all here on the same floor," the professor explained gently as she motioned for Sirius to put his hand against the door, so that it would open for him.
"Thank you, Professor. Good night," Sirius said gratefully.
"You're welcome, Sirius. Good night," the professor replied and exchanged a few words with Severus, before she invited him to come and visit them at any time, before she returned home.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
During the next few days, Sirius spent much time with the twins, while Severus prepared his classes. Even if he could mainly utilise the lesson plans he had used at Hogwarts, he had to consider that the youngest students were three years younger than those he had taught at Hogwarts. Therefore, he needed to adjust his plans accordingly. Instead of being Head of Slytherin he would now be the head of the fourteen and fifteen year old students. 'Well, that's probably not so much of a change,' Severus thought. 'The eight-year-olds would be much more difficult.'
On Saturday morning at ten o'clock, around one hundred and twenty students arrived on the grounds near the lake by Portkey. The Headmaster quickly waved his wand, casting a temporary charm over the group that would enable the students to understand each other's languages. Unfortunately, this charm was only temporary and was going to wear off after twelve hours. Experience had shown that it was better the students learned the Japanese language properly, so they could assimilate the culture and traditions involved.
"All eight-year-old students come here," Kazumi's and Kenji's mother shouted, and Sirius, the twins and nine other students gathered around her. "Welcome to Mirai School of Wizardry and Technology. With five exceptions, students will mainly attend the Moon class in order to learn Japanese, and all of you will belong to the Mercury class. I am Professor Abe, and I'm your head of year. I'll be responsible for you out of class; so whenever you have problems, feel free to come to me. I suggest that we withdraw to your common room, where we you can introduce yourselves to one another."
The professor led the first years into the building and in a direction, in which Sirius had never been before. They walked into a huge, round room with a large, white table in the middle surrounded by ten white chairs. One wall was covered by bookshelves, and one wall consisted completely of glass that permitted the view onto the lake. 'Is that a real window, or is it magical?' Sirius pondered but was unable to decide on an answer. 'I'll ask the twins later on,' he decided and followed the others as the professor led them to a corner with comfortable looking sofas that were arranged around the fireplace. On the two sides of the room, Sirius could see four doors. Three of them were fitted with name plates; the fourth seemed to be a bathroom.
"I suggest that you introduce yourselves to each other, before I tell you a little more about the school," Professor Abe said gently, motioning Kazumi to begin.
Sirius looked around in shock. 'What am I going to tell them?' he thought, terrified. However, the twins' introductions were so funny that everyone was laughing and in a good mood when it was his turn, so that he forgot all his anxiousness and quickly told the others that he had come to live with his father after his mother died and that his father had accepted a post as a teacher at Mirai school and had brought him with him.
"I love to read and to learn, and I'm very much looking forward to attending classes here," he finished, inwardly sighing in relief.
"Sirius Snape? Are you perhaps related to Severus Snape, the Potions Master at Hogwarts?" the only student that looked European and spoke accent-free English like Sirius asked curiously.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for your kind reviews!