Disclaimer: If we owned Naruto, Yondy would have a name and a voice by now (dangnabbit animate the Gaiden!). And if we owned Harry Potter, well, we'd own Book Six and we'd know what's coming and we'd be laughing at all of you!
Authors' Notes: Not a lot to say here, other than many, many thanks to our wonderful beta Phoenix of Eternity, who has saved us from too many pitfalls to count. Thanks also to those who've reviewed for your encouragement and praise and criticism. Yes, Jiraiya's coming; no, we do not intend to focus on romantic pairings (we have plot, peeps!); yes, Hinata still has a slight tendency to downplay herself (with three teammates like that, I sure as heck would); and no, Neji is not Niraiya (that's the second coming of Jiraiya, for those of you who are injoke-challenged). Oh, and Shikamaru, Naruto, and Hinata are 19; Neji is 20. (I thought we mentioned that clearly enough in the first chapter, but apparently not… Sorry!)
And now, on to the story!
Masks and Shadows
Chapter Three:
In Which Neji Gets A Fan Club and Lupin Has Visitors
The room was, to put it mildly, packed. Prepubescent to almost adult, the dining hall was lined with children, all wearing robes and pointy hats, all talking so much that the noise became a drone of sound.
Shikamaru found it all much too troublesome.
Behind the ANBU mask, the genius shinobi swept his gaze over what was called the Great Hall, noting the long tables set up in four rows, the way the students at one side of the Hall glared at the students on the far other side of the Hall, and the way all of them were trying (but failing) to discreetly catch a glimpse of the four robed and masked figures standing, two on each end, at the head table. At the other end, he caught Naruto looking at him and then looking away, back out over the crowds. The kage bunshin at his side, henge'd into a red-haired version of Sakura, was doing the same, while the black-haired Shino kage bunshin beside Shikamaru just kept staring straight ahead, over the head table.
Hinata and Neji sat at the head table, Neji with a skinny woman covered with shawls who kept looking at him out of the corner of her eye, and Hinata with a woman wearing a strange hat farther down the table from her cousin. It was odd seeing Hinata sitting there with her disguise. Dumbledore had used a strange jutsu—Spells, they're called spells here, Shikamaru reminded himself—to mask Hinata's blank eyes. Seeing the girl with black pupils was as strange as meeting moving armor and talking paintings. Neji, it had been decided, could go without the disguising spell, because if the woman with the shawls was any clue, Divination teachers were strange enough that pure white eyes wouldn't cause any kind of stir.
Shikamaru scanned the head table once more, eyes lingering for an extra second on a teacher who, though surrounded by others, appeared to be sitting alone. There was a small, though noticeable, gap between the chairs around him that wasn't there between the other teachers. The man looked fairly young, despite his lined face and graying hair, but he picked at his food wearily, like an old man. His eyes looked worn but still full of life, and there was a twinge of something whenever he looked at the ANBU. The genius shinobi wasn't quite sure what to make of the man, but he found his own gaze continuously returning to the teacher, mainly for the fact that he always felt the man's eyes on him. Naruto must have felt the same way, because the loud ninja kept glancing back towards that area of the table as well.
Maybe the man found them interesting because of their reactions to that singing hat from earlier? When it had begun talking—something about houses and helping each other and some other things Shikamaru hadn't much cared for—Naruto had nearly jumped, his head whipping around, staring at nothing but the hat until the last of the new children had taken their seats at the tables. Shikamaru had raised an eyebrow beneath the mask, but other than that had made no outward display of surprise at the piece of clothing. Honestly, all Shikamaru learned from the rhyming thing was that somehow the hat told the children where to sit. He would bet all Naruto learned was that there was a cool talking hat.
Eventually the chatting in the Hall began to die down as the students started eating in earnest, the food having appeared on the tables as soon as the hat finished talking.
Shikamaru imagined he could hear Naruto's stomach growling.
For his part, Naruto showed no signs of his probable hunger, recovering from his shock at the hat and now standing tall and straight, head moving slightly as he took in the hall in long, sweeping gazes. However, long, sweeping gazes became boring after a time, and as the kage bunshin beside him began to fidget, there was a clinking sound from the head table and Shikamaru turned his head to see Dumbledore standing up.
The Hall went silent.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," he said warmly, smiling. "If I may, I have a few announcements to make. Mr. Filch would, as always, like to let you all know that a list of forbidden items is posted on his door, and he would ask you all to become well acquainted with it. Also," his eyes flashed to one of the far tables, situated by one of the walls, and Shikamaru's eyes followed right after, "we would like to remind all students that the Forbidden Forest is, as always, completely and entirely off-limits to students. Those trespassing have only their lives at risk."
Shikamaru's eyebrow flew up beneath the mask. A death forest? Here? With no training or testing grounds? His gaze wandered over the students and he gave a mental shrug. From what he'd seen of these wizards, he didn't think anything like a chuunin exam was used to train them. So then why such a dangerous forest?
"And," the elderly wizard continued, pulling Shikamaru's thoughts back, "as you have undoubtedly noticed, we have some new faces with us tonight, and some not so new." He gestured with a silver goblet at the teacher who had been watching Naruto and Shikamaru. "I trust that some of our older students remember Professor Remus Lupin, who will be returning as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was cheering from the table Dumbledore had singled out earlier. "We would remind all of you that these are dark times, and as such, certain taboos once held cannot be continued. Please treat Professor Lupin with the same respect you would treat any other teacher."
At the other end of the table, Shikamaru noticed Naruto's back straighten and knew the boy was trying to pay extra attention. He wasn't sure how much Naruto understood of what Dumbledore was saying, but something in his tone must have alerted the young ANBU. As for himself, Shikamaru made a mental note to investigate this Professor Lupin more closely. Something about the man made the hairs on his neck stand up, and he hadn't survived ANBU this long by not trusting his gut feelings.
"Also, in our efforts to combat the dark, we have asked assistance from our friends in the East. Professor Neji Hyuuga has agreed to be the first guest professor in Hogwarts' history. He will be joining in with Divination classes, watching and giving his own insight to your studies." Shikamaru sighed at the way these Westerners couldn't say names the correct way. But a flutter of activity from the tables caught his attention, and the genius noted that a few girls were now staring at Neji. In what he was sure would be an uncomfortable way, should those gazes be focused on him.
Women.
"We also have the young Miss Hinata Hyuuga here, Professor Hyuuga's cousin and a medi-witch in training. Due to the events of last year, Madam Pomfrey has displayed a concern about lack of help in the hospital wing, and Miss Hinata is our answer to that, at the request of both myself and Professor Hyuuga. Treat her with the same respect you would Madam Pomfrey.
"And of course, I come now to those who have, undoubtedly, caught your interests through dinner." He gestured at Naruto and Shikamaru and the two kage bunshin, who all stood there at attention. "The Aurors have all been called to duty at this time, and I am afraid Minister Bones cannot spare any to help guard us full-time. While they will be making routine visits to help ensure our safety, I have taken precautions of my own, and have requested the aid of these guards. They all have the skills of any of our top Aurors, and they will be patrolling the school, watching out for your safety. You will be able to recognize them by their robes and masks." There was a hushed silence over the Hall as Dumbledore looked out at his students, a small smile passing over his face. "They would also like me to inform you that they would appreciate if you did nothing to put them on their guard, as they are more likely to kill you than deal with you alive." Shikamaru, Naruto, and the clones all nodded their heads in acknowledgement. The hushed silence was palpable.
As the Great Hall froze up at Dumbledore's words (Shikamaru never should have let Naruto request the Headmaster to say something), the Deer ANBU noticed that a group of students at the table Dumbledore had frequently glanced at were huddled together, talking among themselves in low voices. They were the only ones in the Hall not looking at the four ninja, and Shikamaru smirked beneath the mask.
Five to one, he'd just found Hogwarts' Naruto.
"Unfortunately, that is all I have for announcements this year, as much as I know it pains you all to have to stop listening to my voice." There were a few chuckles throughout the Hall, and some of the teachers tried to hide smirks behind their hands. "Therefore, I wish you all a good night, and luck with your studies this year.
"You are all free to go."
The mass exodus from the Great Hall was indeed something to see.
Once the last of the students were gone, along with most of the teachers except Lupin, the scrawny witch who looked like she wanted Neji's head on a pike, the older, regal McGonagall they'd met the other night, and a black-clad wizard who looked as friendly as Ibiki on a good day, Shikamaru turned and walked over to Dumbledore as Naruto did the same.
"I'm sorry you all had to stand around like that," Dumbledore said to the four standing ANBU. "There is food prepared in your rooms."
"Thank you," Naruto said in heavily accented English. The dark-clad teacher raised an eyebrow.
"You hired guards who can't even speak our language, Headmaster?" His voice was scathing, and Shikamaru didn't need any form of ninja sense to know the man hated them right off the bat.
"Now, Severus," the ancient wizard said calmly, "is that any way to treat our guests?"
The man—Severus—looked as though he was going to say something, but he bit it back before bowing and stalking out of the hall through a door near the head table. Dumbledore watched him go, as did all six ninja.
"You must forgive Professor Snape," the Headmaster said once the man was gone, turning back to the ANBU. "He is very distrustful, and with good reason. But please, don't let me keep you all here. Sibyll, Poppy, if you would please show Mister Neji and Miss Hinata around your sections of the school…"
The woman named Poppy—Isn't that a type of plant…?—seemed happy enough to show Hinata around the infirmary, but Sibyll gave a curt nod and beckoned Neji to follow her. Shikamaru found himself rolling his eyes at how the woman was doing her best to stay as far away from Neji as she could without actually looking like she was trying to.
Which left Shikamaru and Naruto with Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Lupin. The genius gave the younger teacher a look, trying to gauge as much as he could with only sight alone, but the other man bowed to his two elders, a small smile playing with the corners of his lips.
"I am afraid I must get back to my rooms, Headmaster, Professor. I have much unpacking left to do, and a lesson plan to write up. If you will excuse me?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Dumbledore said, smiling beneath his beard. "We all have much to do. Goodnight to you."
Lupin nodded to the other two wizards, then turned and smiled at the four masked guards. "I suppose I will see you later as well? If you ever need anything, please feel free to stop by my office. As the new Defense teacher, I feel I should offer any aid I have."
Shikamaru nodded. "Understood." This man talked much faster than Dumbledore, and it was harder to understand everything he said. While Shikamaru still had to focus to understand the Headmaster, he felt he had a rather firm grasp on most of what the man said. But hearing Lupin speak reminded him just how much he didn't know and how much more he'd have to work to understand everyone else.
And he really wasn't looking forward to that fact.
Once Lupin was gone, Naruto looked around the room cautiously, then dispersed the two clones with a poof of smoke from each of them. While two kage bunshin weren't too much of a strain on chakra reserves (and Hokage knows, Naruto had plenty of that), holding them for hours on end wasn't the most restful thing ever. McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the sight, but said nothing about it. She hadn't asked what they would do to cover for their two 'missing' guards when she'd announced Neji and Hinata had to sit at the table, but apparently she approved of their solution.
"Headmaster," she said, nodding briefly in his direction, "shall I escort our guests back to their rooms?"
"Yes, Minerva, please do." He smiled at the two ninja. "I do hope to see you all around. And if you need anything or have any information, please do not hesitate to alert me at any time."
"Understood," Shikamaru replied, bowing his head as the Headmaster turned and left the room, leaving the two newcomers with the elderly teacher.
"So gentleman, shall we?"
"Actually," Shikamaru cut her off, holding up a hand. The words sounded slurred to him, both due to the mask and his own accent. "We will scout."
McGonagall gave him a look, then simply nodded. "As you wish. Food will be waiting for you in your rooms when you are ready. Until then." She gave a quick, final nod of her head and swept out of the hall, robes trailing behind her.
-
Neji had decided a long time ago that fate was something to be hated. In fact, he'd spent the better portion of his life railing and fighting against it. And so, when he found himself sitting in a room made to look like a forest wilderness, with trees around the walls and stumps and boulders placed haphazardly over the mossy ground, stuck between a half-horse, half-man and a very irritated looking woman, he wondered if he'd done such a good job of fighting after all.
His initial meeting with the other creature—'Centaur,' Dumbledore had told him, but Neji couldn't quite grasp the difference between centaur and demon yet—had sent chakra raging through Neji's system, and he'd gripped the wand Dumbledore loaned him almost hard enough to break. He knew this school was strange, knew there were customs here that a ninja of Konoha would never understand, but to let a demon teach a class…
He most definitely wasn't made to feel any easier when the creature had turned and looked right at him, raised an eyebrow, and turned away again, muttering something too soft for Neji to understand. But before he could even think of a question, let alone ask it, Trelawney had barged into the classroom, followed by about ten students, and Neji found himself sitting between the two teachers.
"Now, class," Trelawney began in what Neji knew she thought of as a mystical voice meant to draw in the students' attention. He also knew that half the students weren't paying attention to her. Because they were all fawning at him. Which did not sit well with the already touchy shawl-encased woman. "While I know lack of our tower classroom is a handicap to your Inner Eye—" beside him, Neji felt, more than heard, the strange horse-man grunt, and had she just mentioned an eye on the inside of people? "—we must make due with what Professor Firenze chooses. Being as he is the official Divination teacher." Neji could feel her chakra flare out at that. "However, I will also be here watching, so if anyone needs my guidance, please feel free to talk to me, or visit me in my tower at any time."
"Thank you, Professor Trelawney," the man-creature—Firenze—said as he circled behind the two seated humans. Neji knew he wasn't as good as he could be with this language—something that had to be rectified—but he was quite sure the other hadn't meant 'thank you' at all. Being well-versed in hiding what he really meant, Neji found detecting such deceptions was easy no matter the language they were in.
"Class, I am sure you were introduced to Professor Hyuuga at the dinner," Firenze said, and Neji noticed he spoke slightly slower than the Trelawney woman, and whether that was natural or because he knew it cost Neji extra concentration to understand faster speech, the ninja was not sure.
Somewhere, a girl sighed.
"Professor Hyuuga is here to give his own…insight…in the ways of divining. He is not here to teach you all you need to know. The same goes for Professor Trelawney." Beside him, Trelawney tried to hide her glare, and Neji thought he heard her whisper a word he'd never heard before. From the look on her face, he didn't think it was very fitting for a classroom setting.
A dark-haired girl raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Patil?"
The girl spoke so fast Neji could only catch every other word, but he was sure he heard his name and something that sounded like "teaching."
"Professor Hyuuga, I believe, can answer that question himself."
Neji's back stiffened as he processed what Firenze had said. Answer what? He couldn't very well answer a question he hadn't understood.
But he stood anyway, resisting the urge to glower at the way all the girls in the class instantly locked their eyes onto him. He wondered briefly if they would be so infatuated if they knew he could kill them in under five seconds and not even bat an eye, and then realized these were probably the types of girls who would, in fact, think that was something to admire.
"Hello," he began, trying to feel as steady as he usually did, despite the language barrier and the fact he could feel Trelawney's gaze boring into his back. One of his fingers twitched but he forced himself to remain calm. Anything less would court disaster.
And Neji prided himself on his ability to remain level-headed, especially since he had failed at that six years ago when he'd attempted to kill his cousin in the first chuunin exam.
"I am Professor Hyuuga." His voice sounded stiff and clipped, and while he was aware he had an accent, he also knew it was not as bad as some. "I will be teaching you in some of our Eastern Divination techniques." The pre-planned and practiced speech tumbled out as he gauged the students' reactions to him, kept an eye on his surroundings, and generally did what he did best—spying.
Someone raised a hand, which caused him to pause in mid-sentence. "Yes…?"
Her words flew by and Neji's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Please repeat that, I have…difficulties…still. With English." The admission was grating, and he had an irrational urge to blame Naruto for his newest problem. If the blond hadn't suggested he teach Divination…
"Um…" the girl began again, looking amongst her peers as though for courage. Neji was briefly reminded of Hinata. "Your eyes… Can you see at all…or only the Sight?" It took Neji a moment to realize what she meant by Sight, and then he realized she must mean how good his vision was.
"I see very well," he replied, voice clipped slightly. "I see like you."
"So like, do your eyes get color when you See?"
Neji blinked, running what she'd said through his head. By her obvious emphasis on first Sight, now See, and knowing the class they were in, it didn't take him very long to understand what she was talking about.
"No. They do not."
"What about pupils?"
The last word she said was unfamiliar but he could take a rather good guess. "Yes. In a way." Use of the Byakugan gave his usually pure white eyes more of a traditional definition, although he couldn't say he had pupils in the way she meant. However, if it would stop the flow of inane questions, he was willing to bend the truth a bit.
"Well, then—!"
"Please," Firenze said from behind him, but Neji did not turn to look. "Enough questions. Professor Hyuuga will teach you all what he sees fit." The man-creature clopped up beside the ninja, and Neji looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Professor Hyuuga, you may be seated."
Neji nodded to the other teacher and took his place as Firenze began to teach. Even though the man-creature talked slowly, Neji understood barely any of what he said. Divination terms were not, obviously, taught in English handbooks.
So instead, Neji spent his time examining the classroom, watching the students closely, as well as the female teacher beside him. While most of the students seemed to be listening attentively to Firenze, he would catch one or two looking away from the non-human teacher, if only for brief seconds, and he smirked. This was beginning to remind him of his Academy days, back when he would see some of the other students try to find anything but Iruka to look at. Of course, these students wanted to be in this class—he'd been told he'd be attending a sixth-year class, and that meant the students all chose to take it—but then again, the same could be said of everyone in the Academy.
Of course, when he was in the Academy, none of the girls had looked at him like they were doing now. It was highly irritating and more than slightly unnerving.
His perusal of the students finished, Neji turned his eyes to Trelawney. She was trying hard not to glare, but failing badly. From what he'd learned, he knew she was the Divination teacher until last year, when she'd been fired. No one really explained any more to him, except that Dumbledore rehired her during the summer and allowed her to continue living on in the castle. Why they would have two Divination teachers he didn't understand, but he wasn't about to question the strange customs of such an odd school.
She noticed him watching her, though, and he quickly shifted focus when her eyes tried to bore holes into his head. With women like her around, he could completely understand Shikamaru's wariness of things of the female persuasion.
Firenze was still talking, the English sounding like the drone of noise he could hear in the forest while he trained alone. Being able to pick up one word out of five was annoying and frustrating, and only served to remind him how much he didn't know. He resolved to go to the library once he was free and pick up some more English language books. The inability to follow any conversation he ran into was a hindrance to his mission, and he refused to fail in any way.
"Well," Firenze said, and Neji blinked. The centaur had turned back to face the ninja, an unreadable expression on his face. "Professor Hyuuga, you will teach a section of next week's class. Please come prepared." He turned away then, and Neji's eyes narrowed. He knew a taunt when he heard one, and that this centaur thing had done so before his class did not sit well with Neji.
Neither did the fact that, all things considered, Neji knew next to nothing about traditional Divination techniques of the East.
…He was going to have to pick up some more books when he made his trip to the library.
-
Hermione breathed in the scent of the library, a smile turning up the corners of her lips. She missed the musty smell of the books and the comforting silence that came along with such a place of study. Despite everything that had happened last year, despite the fear and uncertainty in her family and friends and the wizarding world in general, the library never changed.
It was a fact she was infinitely glad for.
And so when the new male teacher—Professor Hyuuga, she reminded herself—came hurrying through the library and aimed straight for the Divination section, she couldn't help but be overly curious as to what would cause such a commotion in her favorite place. Setting her own book down—Archimedes and Arithmancy—she crept up to one of the shelves and then along it, trying to be as silent as possible as she followed the white-eyed teacher.
Maybe there was something to Harry's, Ron's and her speculations about the two new teachers after all.
Professor Hyuuga stopped suddenly in his perusal of the shelves and she froze, holding her breath. She was sure she'd been as silent as possible, but could he have heard her anyway? After a few tense seconds he appeared to relax, his attention drawn back to the bookshelf. Hermione couldn't read the titles from where she was, and she cursed under her breath at her inability to get closer. But if she'd almost been caught where she was, she wasn't going to try to get closer.
He grabbed another book before he headed towards another section of the library. Hermione found it odd that not only did a Divination teacher have to look for Divination books, but also that he knew exactly where they were, as well as the Foreign language section, while having been at the school for what she suspected was only a few days.
When he was gone from the Divination section, she crept over to where he'd been, scanning the shelves. She still remembered this section from years ago, when she'd actually attempted the stupid, pointless class, but, to her shame, she didn't remember the names of any of the books.
She'd have to work harder to figure out the names of the books he'd taken.
Over in the Foreign Language section, Professor Hyuuga, apparently finished with his book hunting, turned around and headed towards the desk, and Hermione hurried back to her place and grabbed her books, scooting forward a few tables so she could at least have a chance at hearing what he said. She did, however, make sure to hide her face behind the book she had been reading. When he had let Madam Pince know he was borrowing some books, he made his way out of the library, and Hermione gave him about a minute before she too stood and made her way to the desk.
"Yes, I'd like to borrow these," she said, flashing Madam Pince a smile. The witch smiled back and took Hermione's books, and while she noted down the names of the volumes, Hermione discreetly stretched her neck to read the titles of the two most recently borrowed books.
Eastern Divination—Oracle Bones and Zodiacs, and Your Fate and You: On Reading the Signs of your Birthyear.
Then Madam Pince was giving her back the books she'd borrowed herself, and with another smile, Hermione swept from the library.
She definitely had something to tell Ron and Harry later.
-
Harry crept down the hall, so used to sneaking around under his Invisibility Cloak that it was second nature to mind his scuffing, keep his breathing even and ears open. Which was a good thing, because he had a lot on his mind and wasn't about to pay extra attention to his surroundings.
Lupin was back, which was both a Godsend and another stab to his emotions. Part of him wanted to run to the man and confide in him, another part wanted nothing to do with his father's last remaining friend. All my luck, I'd get him killed as well.
But he couldn't deny that he had missed the older man, and that there were lots of things to talk about—last year was a major topic of discussion, and it appeared that these new guards and teachers were working their way to becoming a major topic, too.
Coincidences like that don't just happen around here. And definitely not around me.
And thus it was that he turned a corner, a few doors away from Lupin's office, half lost in thought when the shadows suddenly moved and something darted out towards him. Quick reflexes were all that saved him as something metal flew past his head, but then there was something behind him and as he drew his wand, a knife kissed his throat as an arm wrapped around his torso and pinned his own arms to his sides.
Harry had a brief second to wonder how anything—or anyone—had managed to notice him under the Cloak—A knife? Who uses a knife in a wizard school?—and then they were moving those last few steps to Lupin's office, and the hand holding the knife moved to rap on the door before returning to his neck. His mind raced, trying to think of anything that could help him out in a hand-to-hand combat situation—the DA would definitely have to take this into consideration—but he could think of nothing besides a disarming spell (which would require his arms being free) and kicking the man's shins. And judging the ease with which he'd been caught, a kick to the shins seemed rather useless.
And so he waited, holding his breath and tensed to move the second he had the chance. The few moments of silence seemed an eternity before the door creaked open and his former teacher's familiar face peeked out.
"What have we here?" He looked first at Harry's unseen assailant, and the teen saw Lupin's expression change from mystified to amused in just a few seconds. "Ah, I see." And then he reached out and pulled the Cloak off as Harry's attacker removed his arms.
"It's been a while, Harry. Why don't you come in?" The last was directed at both the wizard and the unseen attacker. Harry froze for a second, feeling exposed without the Cloak. Lupin noticed and smiled, handing the cloth back to Harry as his assailant walked past him into the room.
One of the guards? What is an Auror-level guard doing using knives?
"Harry, please take a seat. You as well, sir."
The guard made no move to do as he was invited, and Harry watched him closely as he sat down in one of the seats before Lupin's desk. The masked man stood straight, arms at his sides. Harry remembered him from the Feast—the spiking ponytail was hard to miss. And when all the guards' faces were covered, the only defining feature was their hair—blond, brown, red and black. Hermione argued the designs on the masks meant something as well, but Harry hadn't been able to get a good look at them, and even from this distance the stylized face was hard to make out.
"So, Harry, what brings you to my office at this hour?" Lupin smiled at him from the other side of the desk, but Harry didn't return the smile. The werewolf noticed and his smile waned, his eyes darting over to the guard standing only a few feet away. "And I should ask the same of you, sir. I know I offered to help you with anything you needed, but finding you outside my door with one of our students held at knife point is rather…odd, to say the least."
The masked man paused, his posture slackening just enough to catch Harry's attention. Why would a guard stop standing at attention when he's addressed…? Like he doesn't know what Professor Lupin said…
The moment was short-lived, however, as the guard's back straightened again and he spun the knife in his hand before sheathing it in the holster at his thigh. Harry couldn't escape the feeling that the man was showing off just the tiniest bit.
"Unseen person was in the hallway. I stopped him." He turned to Harry, the only sign of movement a slight tilt to his head. "You don't want be attacked, don't walk around not being seen."
Harry gaped at him. "You…you could see me under the Invisibility Cloak?" Last he knew, the only way to see someone underneath the Cloak was using the Marauder's Map or Mad Eye's fake eye. Either this man knew a spell no one else did, or there was something very strange going on.
The man hesitated again. "Not see. You were unseen." He sounded as though he was explaining something to a young child.
"But—"
"So what you're saying, sir," Lupin cut in, giving Harry a nod as the other boy eyed the guard, "is that you couldn't see Harry, but yet knew he was there anyway. That's very interesting, sir. The Invisibility Cloak is one of the hardest enchantments to break."
The guard said nothing.
Lupin frowned, then sat back, folding his hands over his lap. "May I ask your name, sir?"
There was another pause, and Harry thought he heard the beginnings of a word before the man stopped and seemed to run something through his mind. "Deer. I am Deer."
"Well, Mr. Deer, as I was saying, it is very interesting you managed to find Harry. Only Aurors with special abilities are able to do such a thing." Harry glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye and caught the corner of Lupin's mouth twitching up.
The guard turned his head slightly to look straight at Lupin, and Harry felt a shiver creep up his spine.
"Like you? You have differences from other teachers. Why is this?"
Lupin's eyes narrowed, as did Harry's, but the guard's stance didn't change at all.
"What do you mean by that?"
"The Feast," Deer said, and Harry had to fight the urge to grab his wand. "Headmaster said you had differences. Your cha— Your magic feels different." His stance finally changed, loosening up as though he was preparing for a fight; his fingers spread slightly, as though to grab the knife he'd previously sheathed, and all the weight went to the balls of his feet. Harry was reminded of too many wizarding duels, and he gave into the urge to reach for his wand, although he held it loosely at his side, hopefully hidden from Deer's sight. "I want to learn why."
"And so you attack innocent students outside my door?" Lupin, while still sitting back, looked just as tense as Harry felt, and the boy was sure it wouldn't take long for him to retaliate should Deer do anything. Lupin hadn't survived this long as a member of the Order to lose to some strange masked guard in his own office.
"Unseen people are not innocent people. I protect this school. Unseen people are threats."
"So why not use a hex to stop me?" Harry asked, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Instead of a knife to my throat?"
Deer paused, the first hints of insecurity he'd shown yet. And Harry realized that, while the man appeared ready for a fight, he had not pulled out a wand, nor did it seem he had one. Only that knife.
And Harry very suddenly needed to talk to Hermione about wizards from the East.
"Where's your wand?"
Deer turned to look at Harry, back straightening as he eased out of his fighting stance. He said nothing, and Harry stood, pointing his own wand at the guard.
"I don't think you even have one. What kind of guard for a wizarding school doesn't carry a wand?"
The masked guard looked at Harry for a long time, and then reached up under his left arm guard, pulling out a long narrow wand perhaps a few centimeters shorter than Harry's own. The black-haired boy didn't move, but his stomach bottomed out.
"Not all fights need magic to solve," Deer said easily, flipping the wand in his hand the same way he had with the knife before pocketing it. He then turned to Lupin, giving a slight nod of his head that was barely respectful. "I am sorry for making a scene. I will talk to you later."
Without a second glance at Harry, he backed out of the room and into the hallway, lost to the shadows as soon as he was passed the threshold.
Harry stared at the still open door, then stomped over to it, shutting it with a force just short of slamming before he turned back to Lupin. The former Marauder was standing, hands slapped down on his desk and a dark look on his face.
"I take it, Harry, that you had come to talk to me about them?"
"Yeah," Harry said slowly, slumping down in the chair when he reached it. He still held his wand loosely in his hand. "Hermione said she found out something about Professor Hyuuga, and we all have questions about these guards. I thought you might know since you're a teacher, but…"
"It seems we're both rather in the dark," Lupin finished, frowning.
Harry sighed, idly flicking his wand in his hand before deciding to pocket it. As he put it away his hand brushed something else and his eyes lit up as he pulled it out, spreading the Marauder's Map on Lupin's desk. The teacher's eyes lit up as well, understanding passing over his features. Then he looked up at Harry, one eyebrow arched.
"You had the map on you and still got caught?"
Harry looked up at Lupin quickly, then back down. His cheeks were slightly red. "I'd put it away because I was basically right outside your door."
"Ah, I see. And what is it you've thought of now?"
The young wizard quickly scanned over the map, trying to find Lupin's office. "Did you hear when you asked him his name, he started to say something else and then changed it? Sounded like a shh sound. If we can find him on the map…"
"We can know his real name," Lupin finished, pointing to a section on the map Harry hadn't reached yet. "Here, this is my office. Now, look for…" His voice trailed off and his frown deepened, and Harry quickly looked to where he'd pointed, his own expression darkening as he saw what Lupin had.
Deer was still in the vicinity, about three corridors past Lupin's office and still moving away. The problem wasn't that they couldn't find him on the map.
It was that his name was written in characters that Harry didn't know.
"Asian," Lupin sighed, sitting back in his chair. "Looks like finding out who they really are will be a bit harder than we hoped."
"Maybe," Harry said, a faint smile lifting the corners of his lips, "if we didn't have a Hermione to help us."
There were few things that went on underneath Hogwarts' roof that Harry didn't try to poke his nose into. He'd be damned if he let this one slip by.