Chapter 1: Meeting the Lion

10 years later

"Just concentrate, meditate and all will be revealed..." repeated Iris for the hundredth time as she tried to meditate, sitting with her sword on her lap, not yet worth to be known as a Soul Cutter.

She wondered if she would ever get any answers from her sword, just as she worried if she would ever be able to use her magic, and not just the "Demon Way" of the Soul Reapers. "It's like my magic is there, inside me, I can feel it, but it's locked away somehow!"

"Some Soul Reaper I am, don't even have a Soul Cutter!" Iris grunted in a rather un-lady like manner out of frustration.

As if on cue, Iris felt a sudden force yank her inwards. Opening her eyes, Iris found herself standing on the field between the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts, turning around, Iris spied the impressive castle, but something was wrong. The spires weren't as big, and it seemed smaller.

"You're wondering why Hogwarts doesn't look as grand as it should." Said a rough male voice behind her.

Iris turned around and her eyes widened in shock, there, standing in front of her was none other than Godric Gryffindor!

He was tall, and imposing, standing a good seven feet high, his face swallowed by an enormous shaggy orange beard and hair that fell in waves across his back and shoulders, he was wearing a shining plate breastplate with a roaring, shimmering golden lion proudly displayed on the front, the rest of his clothes where hidden beneath a thick black wizards robe, his hands where hidden behind his back.

Godric chuckled, "Now you're probably thinking that I look like Godric Gryffindor, one of the legendary founders, but I am NOT HE!" he boomed the last, silence fell around them, and Iris jumped a little with shock.

Finding her voice, Iris asked, "But then, why do you look like him?"

"Good question!" yelled the man, Iris had a thought that he only knew how to talk at certain decibels. "Can you not think of who I might be lass?" he asked.

Frowning, Iris regarded the man and thought. "I was meditating before I came here, I didn't feel a portkey or an apparation, I was yanked inside... So I am inside my mind then."

"We're in my mind." Started Iris, the man nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"He apparently lives inside my mind, but he doesn't feel bad or wrong like Voldemort did when I learned how to feel his Horcrux, he wasn't here before I came to Soul Society, or even after. He only appeared when I joined the Soul Reaper Aca..." Iris' eyes widened in surprise and she triumphantly pointed a finger at him and exclaimed: "You're my Soul Cutter!"

He started clapping, "Well done!" he boomed again, if there where birds around, they would have undoubtedly flown away by now. "You're smarter than you give yourself credit for lass!" he finished, Iris could see gleaming white teeth beneath his jungle of a beard, he was grinning broadly.

"But... What's your name?" asked Iris, who was regarding her Soul Cutter shrewdly, "And why are you male? All the Soul Reaper's I've talked to say girls get female Soul Cutters..." Iris trailed off, blushing furiously, it was a rather awkward question to ask after all.

The man started laughing, the kind of laugh you would hear at a rather crowded inn, a deep full belly laugh that would echo across the room and rattle any windows. Wiping a tear from his eye ,the man briskly walked up to her and without warning, enveloped her in a bone crushing bear hug and lifted her several feet off the ground. "Mrs. Weasley could learn a thing or two from him!"

He gently put her down after a few tense seconds, and Iris started wheezing and coughing, trying to get her breath back.

"All good questions to ask lass, but I can only answer one I'm afraid, my name is something you'll have to find yourself." he answered with uncharacteristic sombreness.

"Okay..." Iris didn't really know how she could ever guess, she straightened herself and started brushing dirt off her dark grey and red Soul Reaper Academy uniform, and adjusting her new glasses on her nose, the half-moon spectacles flashed reflecting the sun from her mindscape.

"As for why I'm male." Continued the giant, he paused for a moment. "Let me ask you this; Aside from your obvious gender, what about you is even remotely womanly?"

The blunt question completely threw her off, "W-what?" she sputtered.

"Think about it, the way you look, the way you dress, the way you walk, even the way you talk, all masculine. Not surprising really, all your adult role models growing up where male, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, even Snape to an extent, all contributed heavily to your development." he rambled on.

"But." interrupted Iris hotly, she was fuming with indignity. "What about McGonagall, a-and Mrs. Weasley." She said in a soft voice.

"Please!" he scoffed, "McGonagall intimidated you, she was a strict disciplinarian, not a friend. And you never let Mrs. Weasley in, she desperately wanted to be a mother figure to you, but you thought she was too overbearing, just like a boy would!"

Iris was silent, "He's right." She thought bitterly.

"Even the way you treated your friends, you spent more time goofing off with Ron instead of with Hermione. And finally, your Patronus, was it not a stag? A stag that was your fathers Patronus too?" He finished.

"So what does that mean?" She asked eventually, afraid of the answer.

"Nothing!" he chuckled, surprising her. "All it means is that you're a tomboy!" he laughed again, and Iris blushed with embarrassment.

Smiling hesitantly, Iris regarded her rather strange Soul Cutter. Who was standing resolutely before her, with Hogwarts behind him, which was looking mightier than when she arrived. A gentle breeze sprung up out of nowhere, tousling his hair and completing the picture.

"He rather looks like an old red lion... "Wait." Iris felt something, shift inside her, some hidden knowledge that she suddenly understood, some forgotten tidbit that came to her at an unexpected moment. The man winked at her, and she felt a rush.

Opening her eyes, Iris found herself back inside her room in the Academy. Checking the clock on the wall, Iris saw that a few hours had past. Standing up, Iris began stretching her sore muscles, which creaked and cracked at appropriate intervals.

After finishing her short exercise, she began running towards the training grounds, her Soul Cutter held in his scabbard by her left hand. Vaulting the 4 foot tall railing separating the training grounds from the rest of the Academy. Iris landed neatly on a bamboo mat. Regarding her surroundings, Iris noted with satisfaction that she was alone.

Drawing her Soul Cutter with on sift motion, Iris saw that it had changed somewhat. Before the handle was a bland grey in colour, now it was a vibrant red with golden octahedron studs in-bedded between the leather, known as menukii. The hand-guard or tsuba was also golden in colour, with an intricate lion motif. Iris felt a rush of pride and joy, this was her Soul Cutter, and it's the best of all of them!

Letting instinct take hold, Iris felt herself brandish the blade across from her with both hands, with the edge of the hand-guard resting on her lips and the blade pointing up, the edge angled forwards.

"Roar, Red Lion!"

A rush of power enveloped her, she could feel it spinning around her like a violent hurricane, and with a final guttural lions roar, the transformation was complete. Iris beheld his majesty. The Soul Cutter had now changed, what was a standard Japanese style Katana, is now a larger medieval long-sword, approximately 100 centimetres in length with a good 5 centimetres width. The hilt ornate and highly polished, with brilliant rubies embedded into the metal.

Iris was laughing with joy, for she was reunited once again, with the Sword of Gryffindor, now a boisterous Soul Cutter, known as Red Lion.

Thanks for reading!

I've decided to space out Iris' time in Soul Society, the following chapters will focus on her growth as a Soul Reaper, and the friends she meets at the Academy. And we'll be seeing that old man again soon, I have something special planned for him!

A big thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story, your faith is heartwarming to me! And a special thanks to all my reviewers, you guys are the best, I'm always looking for constructive criticism, so please don't hesitate to speak your mind, I really want to improve as a writer!