"I will exact your vengeance for you."
One simple sentence. That was all that was on the site, above a box in which you entered the name of the person you hated. A simple click, and you would gain the chance to send that person to hell. All at the low, low cost of your soul.
The spider was mad as hell. Souls were still being ferried, but her power was fading! Curse that Avatar! If he hadn't interfered, Ai would be back in her hands, and her power would grow. In a mere two hundred years, she would have taken charge of hell itself, and rivaled Death!
Now her pawns were gone, and her Hell Girl was now the daughter of Death's Favorite avatar. Her companions were her assistants. Not to mention her site was up and running. There was only one problem...any souls sent to hell now wouldn't power her up.
"Would you like to see what Death is like?"
Another soul, another piece of paper to file. Oh well...she was getting paid. And her companions were loyal to her alone. At least she had friends now...even if they were older than her.
"Welcome back Ai-hime. How was the ferrying?"
"Dull and boring. The guy screamed like a girl the entire way there."
"Well, I think you should go back to normal school."
"Why? Everyone will look at me like a freak again!"
"Not at the place I'll be sending you."
"I'm listening..."
"There's a place called Hogwarts. It teaches children to wield magic through wands. You interested now?"
"Somewhat...but what about the site? And the others?"
"A magical construct can take care of the site...as for the others, you can take two with you. And you're allowed to switch them around."
Ai was nervous...leaving Death's domain did NOT appeal to her. The mortal world looked at her like a freak, and shunned her. What would this new school do? But...she would learn how to use magic, and two of her companions would come with her!
"Did I mention I went there? You'll be fine."
"Can I come back if I don't like it there?"
"Tell you what...you give it one of their school years to decide. If you don't like it there, I'll let you attend the Misterian Academy of Sorcery. They don't judge people there."
"Deal."
Ollivander's...what a creepy shop! Hell was disturbing, but this place could give it a run for it's money! And these wizards... What was with them anyway? Who was this 'He-who-must-not-be-named'?
"Welcome young one. Are you starting your first year at Hogwarts?" said the shopkeeper from behind.
"Eep!" Ai jumped. Ren chuckled, and tried not to laugh when Ai glared at him. Yuki was getting her books and potions ingredients, while Ren took her to get a wand. Hone On'na was browsing the pet store out of boredom.
In the end, she got a wand 13 inches long made of Elder wood, and two cores, Thestral hair and a shred of a Dementor's cloak. The shopkeeper seemed eager to avoid her once he found the wand for her. Something about Dark Magic...
Ai meet up with her father at Madam Malkin's, and she went in. A boy with slicked back bleach blond hair was getting fitted.
"What year are you in?" he asked, bored.
"I'm starting first year. Father thinks I'll make either Slytherin or Ravenclaw. He dreads to think what would happen if I were placed in Gryffindor, where he went."
The boy gave her a strange look, then said "My name is Draco Malfoy."
"Flowright, Ai. I'm from Japan."
"Lucky! I hear their under-age restrictions are pretty much non-existent!"
Ai shrugged, and waited to get fitted. A second boy entered, his hair went all over the place and was as black as Ai's. His emerald eyes shone clear through his glasses, and Ai felt something strange.
She held out her hand, "My name is Flowright Ai. What's yours?"
"Harry."
"So are you going to Slytherin or Ravenclaw? I hear Slytherin is a good house."
"Dunno. I hear my parents ended up in Gryffidor."
"Ugh...Gryffindor? They're known well for jumping in without thinking! And they're so prejudiced to Slytherins that they don't give them a chance!" said Draco in annoyance.
Harry seemed surprised, then made his mind not to end up in that house.
"Is it true that Severus Snape is the Head of Slytherin? And that he's the best Potion's Master in his generation?"
"He's also my godfather. He's a bit snarky at first, but he's easy to handle once you get to know him," Draco informed them.
He finished getting his robes and left. Harry and Ai chatted, then she had to leave.
"Will I see you at the train?"
"Sure! Would you mind terribly if we sat in the same compartment?"
"Why not? I don't have any other friends."
Ai walked into the pet shop with Hone On'na, and they walked out with a strange hybrid creature. It looked like a bony horse with dragon wings. It was called a Thestral. She also bought a Dark Phoenix, who were extremely loyal to their master. It's feathers were a midnight black, with deep blue streaks and red highlights. It's eyes were the same color as hers, which is why Ai bought it.
OoOoOo
Ai was running to catch the train, Hone On'na and Wanyuudou in her bag. Her phoenix, Yami Hoshi ((Dark Star)), was in a cage. She saw Harry looking wildly for the entrance to the platform.
"Harry! Didn't they tell you how to get on the platform?"
"No..."
"See that pillar, between nine and ten? You run through it and you're past the barrier. We'll do this together, if you like."
"THANK YOU!" said Harry, very relieved.
They ran at the barrier, and entered the platform. They quickly stowed their trunks with the help of a pair of twins. Draco appeared five minutes after they settled in, and brought two others with him. A pure blood boy named Neville, and a muggleborn Hermione. While Draco didn't particularly like muggleborns, Hermione had impressed him enough that he was willing to tolerate her presence for the trip.
(If you're wondering why he tolerates her, it's because she hexed Ron Weasly for being too loud about becoming the Boy-who-lived's best friend. And about Dumbledore taking an interest in him particularly. So she hexed him, with Draco happening to be there to witness it. Neville he tolerated only because he was a pure blood of a prominent family.)
"My name's Flowright Ai."
"Well, you already know I'm Draco Malfoy."
"Longbottom Neville."
(His grandmother had been to Japan briefly, and he remembered her coaching about how to introduce himself to anyone from that country. How he knew Ai was Japanese is a mystery.)
The other girl followed his lead.
"Granger Hermione."
"Harry, Harry Potter."
Three of them gaped openly.
"THE Harry Potter?" said Draco.
Harry looked highly uncomfortable, as he nodded.
Ai ignored Hermione as she spouted the books that she'd read about him in. Then things went sour as the compartment door opened. She scowled...she knew she locked the door!
"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."
"Do YOU mind? This one is full too! And how did you open the door? I know for a fact that I locked it!" growled Ai.
The boy tried to come in, but was grabbed by Ai. She spotted the twins from earlier building a castle of cards, the exploding snap kind. She smirked, and yelled "Incoming!"
The boy rolled down the aisle, and the cards blew up in his face. He got up, and his eyebrows were missing. The twins took one look at this, then held up their wands. A ghostly ten appeared on them, and Ai laughed. She walked back in, and saw Neville's gobsmacked face.
Hermione was furious.
"Why did you do that?"
Ai sighed... "I can read auras. And his told me that he was a greedy jerk who would exploit his friends."
Draco grinned, at last, someone who was worth knowing!
The cart came by, Harry and Draco buying it out. Soon they were snacking and talking about the houses. Draco asked about Ai's home, and her pet. She was more than happy to talk about Dark Star, and even mentioned her other pet, Yoruichi.
Draco, Neville and Harry got dressed with their backs turned. And the girls did the same. Ai handed Neville his toad, which had escaped. Ai gaped at Hagrid, who was huge!
'So this is Hogwarts. Bigger than I expected.'
Soon they entered the Great hall, and Ai tried not to wince when the hat started singing...BADLY.
"Flowright, Ai!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Granger, Hermione!"
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Longbottom, Neville!"
"HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Malfoy, Draco!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Potter, Harry!"
A low whisper went around the hall. Everyone looked eager to see where he would end up. Even Dumbledore leaned forward.
'Difficult...you could easily enter any of the houses. How does Gryffindor sound? Your parents were Gryffindors.'
'NO! Any house but that! Can't you send me with my friends?'
'In that case...'
"SLYTHERIN!"
Three tables gasped, and Harry sat next to Ai and Draco, both of them grinning. The boy from earlier looked at him with betrayal. Harry snorted, he definitely didn't want to be that boy's friend.
"Weasly, Ronald!"
"HA! Another Weasly! I know just what to do with you! GRYFFINDOR!"
"Thank god I didn't go there then," said Harry with relief.
He felt something try to get into his mind, but it was thrown back by something. He looked, and saw Ai looking annoyed.
"I hate mind readers. Stupid jerks always try to manipulate you..."
"Who?"
"That old man with the glasses. I can sense when someone tries to use mind control, and break it."
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome. You're the second person who actually wants to be my friend. And I always protect my friends."
After the feast, the prefect lead them to the dormitories. Ai fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She woke up, and got dressed.
She had to hold back a laugh as she saw Harry and Draco looking less-than-awake. She then lead them to the great hall to eat. Once again, she felt the old man trying to break into Harry's mind. She threw him back with more force than necessary. She saw him wince, and ate her breakfast in peace.
One bloody week over with. One week of preventing the old man from taking over Harry's mind, one week of classes boring enough to make her yawn, one week of being a student. But...it was one week of having actual friends who didn't think she was creepy, or odd. She even made friends with the twins, after telling them how to make a particularly smelly stinkbomb.
As they walked down to Hagrid's, she was happy for the first time in a long time. They talked to the gamekeeper, and she even found out that there were Thestrals in the forest. She got directions, and brought fresh meat to the spectral horses. They seemed to be attracted to her, not that she minded in the least.
She walked back to the school, and was blocked by Ron, and two other Gryffindors. An Irish boy named Seamus, and another named Dean. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to get back in. They kept blocking her, and when she tried to go past them, they pushed her down.
"Sorry, didn't see you snake!" smirked Ron.
Ai was furious, and took out her wand. Before she could do anything, a pair of identical red heads appeared and dragged Ron away.
"Ickle Ronnikins needs to learn how to treat a girl properly."
"Indeed, brother of mine."
Ai put her wand up, and gave them a grateful smile. Now she had something to call the annoying jerk.
"Ai, what happened? We saw Ron and two others heading outside!" said Hermione.
"He tried to keep me from coming in. Luckily his two brothers came and dragged him away. By the way, I found a new nickname for him."
"What?" asked Draco.
Ai smirked, "Ickle Ronnikins."
Draco had an evil smirk, as did Harry. Later, Ai went to the twins and thanked them properly.
"Thank you. Most people don't bother to defend me."
"We were happy to help."
"Ron's been getting cocky ever since Dumbledore told him to befriend Harry Potter."
"Got anything I can prank him with?"
"He's terrified of spiders."
"Perfect."
OoOoOo
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The Gryffindors awoke to see Ron screaming his head off. Something about spiders. Percy came in and dragged his brother to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomphrey forced a dreamless sleep potion, and he finally shut up.
OoOoOo
Ai smirked.
"Well done, Wanyuudou."
"It was payback for earlier. No one knocks our Ojou down and gets away with it."
Ai hugged him, and he went back to his doll form. Ai put him back into the bag, and went to sleep.
OoOoOo
"Flying lessons!" said Harry excitedly.
Draco took a look at the roster, and felt he had to burst his bubble.
"Great...it's with the Gryffindorks."
"You don't mean..." started Ai.
"Weasel will be there."
"Crap."
*****
Madam Hooch instructed them how to get their brooms up, and they followed through. Ai, Draco and Harry's broom came up at once. Ron's, however, smacked him in the face, causing the three to laugh. When Ron got on his broom, it went haywire. He couldn't get it to go down, until he slid off the end and broke his arm.
He was walked to the Hospital Wing, and the three waited for a moment. Suddenly, the Irish boy grabbed something from Ai's pocket. Hone On'na!
Ai looked ready to spit fire, so Harry did the first thing that came to mind. He flew up, and tried to grab the doll back. Seamus threw it hard at the Whomping Willow. Harry narrowly saves it, and flies back to Ai. McGonagall walks to them, calling out his name. Draco felt he had to intervene.
"Excuse me Professor, but Harry was getting something back from Seamus. He took something from Ai, and tried to destroy it."
The professor looked livid, as she noticed that Seamus didn't deny it.
"Detention! And fifty points from Gryffindor, for provoking a fight! Now mister Potter, if you'll come with me."
"Seeker? But first years...!"
"Youngest in a century. According to Snape and McGonagall. Though he did have a weird reaction to the news."
"Really?"
"Yeah, he said and I quote, 'figures Potter would be a seeker.'"
"I almost forgot. Harry, thank you for saving Hone On'na. I don't know what I would do without them."
"Is that the name of the cursed doll you had?" asked Draco.
"I have three. Hone On'na, Wanyuudou and Ren. You could say they're my good luck charms. I'd be devastated if I lost one."
"Then why do you only have two?"
"Otou-san said I was only allowed two, but I can switch them around. They're always watching over me."
"What makes you say that?" asked Harry.
"Because it's true. These dolls are a personification of their spirits."
"Are they magic dolls then?"
"I suppose..."
"I believe it then. If they were magic, then it MUST make sense," said Draco with certainty.
Ai looked at him in shock, then she let it go. Suddenly, she had an idea.
"Would you like to meet them?"
"You mean the spirits?" asked Harry.
"Yeah. I can summon them. I even used Wanyuudou to prank Ron the other day."
"Wait, was he the one screaming at four in the morning about spiders?" said Draco.
"Probably. I told Wanyuudou to give him a nightmare."
"I could hear that idiot from my dorm! I wonder why though...we're in the dungeons!" Harry wondered.
"Maybe Slytherin Tower is next to Gryffindor's. This is a magic school after all."
"In that case..." grinned Draco evilly.
"You want us to what?"
"We need your advice on what to use to prank Gryffindor," repeated Ai.
"And why would we..."
"Do that when we're..."
"In Gryffindor ourselves?"
"We help you prank Slytherin house," said Draco.
The twins looked at them and said, "Deal."