Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach.
The next day continued as normal, as if the incident concerning the caretaker's cat never happened. Of course, the whispers and theories about the cause of the cat's condition continued to circulate; talk in Hogwarts, apparently, went around even faster than in Soul Society, and it didn't help that everyone had seen Potter and his gang and the freaky new student standing right at the scene. Now people were wondering whether Potter had anything to do with it, although apparently it was more fun coming up with what the short 'old man' was up to.
Nevertheless, while rumors born out of pure ignorance annoyed Hitsugaya greatly, especially if they were about him (which they usually were), he managed to deny enough of the talk to shut most of the students up.
Meanwhile, he discovered that he had just only brushed the top of the strangeness of the wizarding world as the next day's classes continued.
They were having Herbology in one of the greenhouses, which was filled with many weird plants that squirmed whenever approached, and another that sprung out at a Slytherin boy when he tried to poke it, digging its… teeth…? into the boy's finger. Another attempted munching off Hitsugaya's arm, but he managed to dodge it, so its leafy fangs ended up in someone else's leg instead.
The teacher was a woman with frizzy unkept hair, squished underneath an old and threadbare pointed hat, later identified as Professor Sprout. She looked completely at home within the strange plants, probably because she had to be, being the teacher of the subject.
"Good morning class!" she boomed as everyone gathered around the table in the middle. "Today, we will be learning about repotting mandrakes. Who here knows the effects of a mandrake root?"
Hitsugaya, who was sandwiched between Hermione and Ron despite his protests, nearly got hit full in the face as Hermione's hand shot up, almost as if by reflex. Sprout nodded in her direction, and she announced, articulating each word perfectly, giving the impression that she had practiced her answer buried behind a textbook.
"The mandrake root can be used to revive those who have been Petrified. It is also quite dangerous; a mandrakes cry can kill anyone who hears it."
"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor!" the professor smiled as Hermione apologized repeatedly to a red-faced Hitsugaya (whose face was red as a result of being hit in the face, not because he was angry, although it was a possible factor).
"Seeing as these roots are still young their cries won't kill you yet, but they will knock you out for several hours which is why you should put these on." She motioned to a line of furry earmuffs on a bench next to the table, and suddenly the entire greenhouse was in chaos as everyone tried to grab a pair of earmuffs that were aesthetically acceptable. Hitsugaya, who was old enough to stay put and wait for the chaos to die down was awarded for his maturity with a hideous pair of pink and furry things attached to an even furrier wire. Grimacing, he reluctantly forced the things onto his head just in time to block out part of the literally ear-splitting scream that issued from a recently disturbed root. Clenching his teeth together, the white haired shinigami tried to picture his peaceful office that was probably slowly piling up with paperwork. He tried imagining the perfectly normal plants that stood at the corners of the room, plants that didn't bite or scream. He even managed to squeeze in a glimpse of Hinamori, coming home from the Shinigami Academy, jumping up and down, eager to recall her experiences there. None of it helped drain out the endless wailing. Professor Sprout was trying to yell over the screaming, and it took all of his concentration to swallow the nausea that was building and listen to her instructions. Across from them, Neville Longbottom fainted, falling to the floor with a slight thump. Burying the plant under a pile of wet soil, Sprout looked pointedly at the unconscious boy.
"Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs," she stated, cutting through the much appreciated quiet.
"No ma'am, he's just fainted," the boy next to him said, his name escaping the depths of Hitsugaya's mind. To be honest, Hitsugaya felt like fainting too, but he wasn't going to ruin his reputation of a child prodigy (not that it did him much good here, in the real world) and suffer endless teasing from Matsumoto if she found out.
The rest of the lesson proceeded as normal, if you counted screaming, human shaped plants biting anything within a ten-inch radius as normal. His report was going to be so full of hyperbole about these plants.
"Hermione," Hitsugaya shouted over the loud wailing, in the middle of repotting his fifth mandrake, "You said these could revive Petrified people?"
Hermione nodded as she looked disgustedly at the mandrake that was wagging its tongue, trying to reach her finger, and screeching at the same time. "Yes, but these are too young, you need to cultivate mature ones or they wont work on the petrified person. Which is why Mrs. Norris is still immobilized."
"Speaking of Mrs. Norris," Hitsugaya shouted, partly freezing a mandrake in his annoyance as its piercing screams crossed the line of his patience, receiving a rather puzzled look from Hermione. "You've never heard of anything like that happening?"
"No, and I admit I'm quite frightened, I mean, it could have just been a trick, everyone hates Mrs. Norris, but to go that far…"
She dropped the mandrake root viciously into the pot and shoveled as much soil on top of it before pressing down hard to silence its squeals. Scowling, she exclaimed, "I hate these things."
Hitsugaya nodded in agreement as the mandrake in his hand suddenly fell silent and the air around it started billowing in silver swirls.
Luna still came to visit the Gryffindor table at lunch, smiling as she settled down beside Hitsugaya.
"I know you didn't have anything to do with it," she hummed quietly as Hitsugaya finished the second page of the essay about leg muscles. While he thought the homework was absolutely useless, seeing as it was set by Matsumoto, and that it had just been a result of her last-minute 'work', he wasn't looking forward to having to serve detention with his own subordinate, and knowing Matsumoto, she'd probably stick him next to a blazing fire working on her own paperwork.
"Didn't have anything to do with what?" he asked, looking up.
"Mr. Filch's cat. You weren't lying when you said that you had just bumped into Harry, and that you had just happened to be there."
"How do you know that I wasn't lying?"
"Oh, people who are telling the truth just look different from people who lie. People who are telling the truth but are holding something back are a totally different matter." She did not even look at him, when she said the last bit, and her tone did not imply anything, but Hitsugaya's eyes widened slightly nevertheless.
"Oh, I know you're not going to tell me, so you can relax." Luna mused, looking at him with her wide eyes. "Everyone has their little secrets, so don't worry, I won't badger you to tell me."
Hitsugaya smiled slightly. "Thanks."
Luna returned to her magazine. "The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is quite strange. I had her lesson yesterday, it was quite… useless, if you ask me."
Hitsugaya grimaced as he tried to think of an excuse for his vice-captain. It wasn't very easy; after all, he always left her to make up her own excuses. "Perhaps her way of teaching is just… different."
Luna looked up, her finger on her chin, looking at Matsumoto, who was having what appeared to be a lively conversation with Hagrid about God-knows-what. "Yes, perhaps."
That was when he was suddenly blinded by a flash of light. Blinking, annoyed, and with a sudden memory of Matsumoto trying to sneak a picture of him as a task for the Shinigami Women's Association, the temperature dropped and the source of the sudden light whimpered slightly. When Hitsugaya regained his sight, he found the boy he had met the other night, Colin Creevey, clutching an old fashioned camera and looking nervously over it.
"Did you just take my picture?" he asked, not curiously but rather demanding why on Earth he dared to do so.
Colin whimpered again. "W-well, my dad wanted to know about the wizarding world, m-my parents are m-muggles, you see, and…"
"And I'm far too fascinating to not take a picture of?" Hitsugaya growled, glaring at the frightened boy.
"No, well, you see… I'm taking pictures of everyone in Gryffindor and…"
"You haven't taken a picture of me." Ron piped in. Hitsugaya sighed as he dismissed the matter as far too unimportant to worry about at returned to writing.
"Look, I'll give you back the picture if you-"
"It's fine, I don't care either way." Hitsugaya muttered, not really listening to him any more. Colin bit his lip, torn between the urge to give him back the picture and avoid any future disputes and keeping it to show exactly how freaky his hair really was. Finally deciding on the latter, he scurried away, trying to get as far away as possible from the white haired boy.
Looking at his hopelessly short essay for Matsumoto (four and a half pages as opposed to the minimum five), having completely depleted his knowledge on the quadriceps and gastrocnimiuses, biceps, tibias, patellas, gluteus maximuses, and other strange Latin words, Hitsugaya decided he'd just have a word with her later about how her sake stores would 'inexplicably disappear' if she tried giving him detention. Of course, that wouldn't work on the other teachers, and he still had a twelve-inch essay for Flitwick. Sighing, he started packing up his things.
"You could twai writing in a lahgah font, you know. Your handwaiting is chaainy (tiny)" Ron said, in the middle of chewing a turkey. Giving him a look of repugnance, Hitsugaya said, "You could try swallowing your food before you talk."
"Ah… 'Mione's always tryin' to get me to shwallow, not like I lishen to her."
"It is quite a disgusting sight." Luna said, her eyes looking over the top of her magazine.
Ron scowled at her and swallowed. "But seriously mate, your handwriting is tiny, I've only got like… one page and one letter is already half the page. And none of it is actually about the subject."
"So in all, you've written two words?" Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"One and a half."
He sighed and wondered how it was that these kids could be so lazy. Maybe it was just how children in the real world were. Paperwork in Soul Society was agonizing, yet he still managed to get it all done in time. Without a certain person's help, he thought, glaring mentally at Matsumoto, who was laughing at something.
"Well, I'm off to the library, so have fun disgusting everyone in this Hall, Weasley."
"You're going to the library again? Did we get landed with another Hermione?" Ron shouted, stabbing his bacon.
Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Hitsugaya grimaced at the red head and made his way for the door. Harry had just stepped through, and accidentally brushed his shoulder. "Sorry, Potter." Hitsugaya muttered as he exited.
Standing frozen to the spot for a split second, Harry turned slowly, watching the head of white hair disappear around the corner.
"Was that just Hitsugaya?"
"Taicho, you'll kill your eyes if you keep coming here to read!"
Perfect, Hitsugaya groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What?"
"No need to be so hostile, taicho! Just stating a fact."
"This library is hardly empty, Matsumoto," Hitsugaya hissed, almost burying his face in the book. "When was the last time you went undercover on a mission?"
Pouting, Matsumoto folded her arms and marched out the door. "Don't blame me if you get bored!" She yelled behind her.
Cringing, Hitsugaya buried his face further into the book, trying to avoid the burning stares from the other students who were in the library.
Grumbling about how mean her taicho was, Matsumoto just managed to jump out of the way of someone who was walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, only to find out that she had nearly crashed into the elderly headmaster.
"Oh that's all right, Professor Matsumoto." Dumbledore smiled, "As a matter of fact, I've been looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Matsumoto repeated, nervously fingering her robes, wondering if this had anything to do with her horrific lessons.
"Yes, you see, yesterday Harry harbored some suspicions about Toshiro Hitsugaya."
"About… t-Mr. Hitsugaya… sir?"
"Yes, you see, Harry believes that Mr. Hitsugaya was the one who attacked the caretaker's cat."
"B-but, didn't he say that he was in the Great Hall at the time of the attack?" Matsumoto asked, on the verge of breaking into cold sweat. So that Potter boy suspected her taicho of Petrifying that cat? Based on what evidence? It was ridiculous!
"Yes, but Harry says that he was not with Ms. Granger when they happened to meet in the corridor, contrary to Mr. Hitsugaya's story."
"So… what has this got to do with me, headmaster?"
"I've noticed that you and Mr. Hitsugaya seem very… close, at least for him, after all, he does not seem to have befriended anyone other than Ms. Granger, and I do not really see them as the best of chums, don't you think?"
There was a pause as Matsumoto tried to think of an excuse to get her out of the situation. "Sir, I assure you that I am no closer to Mr. Hitsugaya than I am to any of the other students."
"Yet you entered Leaky Cauldron together, bought your wands together, went to the bookstore together, and on the train you were sitting with him. Am I to believe that they are all simply coincidences?"
"Yes," Matsumoto said stupidly. Then, "But how do you know that?"
"Oh, when I look into something, I am quite thorough, Professor. But perhaps you are right; maybe those incidents were all coincidences. Perhaps it is because he has just recently moved from a new country, and it is his racial differences that separate him. That is quite beside the point."
"So what is the point?"
"You see, I couldn't help notice some strange things about Mr. Hitsugaya-"
"Strange things?" Matsumoto interrupted,
"-and now that Harry's told me of his theory I've decided that Mr. Hitsugaya should be watched, at least to some extent, and seeing as you are the teacher closest to him, I shall give you the job." Dumbledore continued, as if he had never been broken off.
"Give me the job of watching t- Mr. Hitsugaya?" Matsumoto stuttered, cold sweat finally breaking out.
"Yes. Can you do that?"
Matsumoto swallowed. If she refused, would suspicions move from her taicho to her? And if she accepted, there was no question that she'd have to lie, but would she be able to do that without the old man discovering that she was indeed lying?
"B-but, what did you mean when you said… strange?"
Dumbledore smiled again, and Matsumoto was, for the hundredth time since she came to this school, reminded of a mix of both Yamamoto (his beard, obviously) and Ukitake for his kind smile. But, surprise surprise, she had actually done some work, and had found out that this man was one of the most feared wizards in this world. It was hard to believe that this kind, smiling man could hurt a fly, but appearances lie, she reminded herself.
"I'm sure you know that even here, where magic used, Mr. Hitsugaya's complexion is very unusual for a boy such as him. Sure, in the muggle world, the very idea of magic, which is the basis of our world, is absurd and incongruous, but yet again, I have digressed from the main subject."
Had Matsumoto been in any other situation, she would have chuckled at the fact that her taicho was just called a boy. Not today, unfortunately.
"So you want me to watch him just because he's got weird hair?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, actually, I have noticed things strange about our new student that extend behind the flesh. For example, you entered Ollivander's with him, did you not?"
"I said it was a coincidence, and I was just there because my cat ate my previous wand, and-"
She was cut off by a raised, wrinkled hand demanding quiet ("How does a hand demand quiet?" she muttered under her breath), and Dumbledore continued. "I am not referring to the fact that you may be closer to him than you claim. I was just asking, did something strange happen that day?"
Thinking back, Matsumoto remembered being suddenly flattened by her taicho's sudden reiatsu flare, which occurred the minute he touched that strange wand, that incident that still remained unexplained. Seeming to have read the answer in her eyes, Dumbledore went on.
"Mr. Ollivander mentioned that on that day there was about half a second where he felt as if he were being crushed by a massive weight that was suddenly gone as quickly as it had come. He also mentioned the sudden presence of something cold, like ice, and in that moment, he thought he saw two red eyes that disappeared when the pressure disappeared. You were in the shop that day, so did you feel something like that?"
Not knowing whether to tell the truth or to deny it, Matsumoto decided to change the subject as she had done countless times when Hitsugaya accused her of being lazy or messing around.
"H-he felt all that in half a second?" she chuckled weakly, now avoiding the old man's eye.
"It seems I am not the only one who suffers from digression." Another smile. "Mr. Ollivander described you as: 'panting and pale."
"Your point?"
"I do not believe Mr. Hitsugaya cast a spell, as far as I know, there is no such spell that exists, and as Ollivander recounts, you were standing behind him while he was standing in front, meaning that Mr. Hitsugaya would have to first cast a spell in silence, a skill, as I'm sure you know, beyond the skills of a second year, and turn around and do the same to you for both of you to be affected in such a short amount of time. Ollivander also states that he dropped his wand at that time."
"Mr. Ollivander must be a very observant man."
"He is, isn't he?" More smiling. Seriously, if there were a contest for smiling, he would definitely win the gold trophy. "Anyway, I believe that, in that moment, you and Ollivander were able to catch a glimpse of Mr. Hitsugaya's soul. And from that conclusion, I am ready to bet that Mr. Hitsugaya is not who he claims to be."
Blink blink. "And who does he claim to be?" Matsumoto asked, feigning ignorance.
"When Toshiro first applied to this school, his application claimed that he just moved to this country from Japan, and that he has displayed magical powers. It also claims that he was born 1986, making him 12 years old this year."
"And what makes you think otherwise?"
"Despite the fact that he has spent most of his life in a foreign country, he speaks English very well, much better, I must say, than some of the other students here."
"What if he's just good with languages? If I am not mistaken, you yourself speak ten languages yourself, sir." Of course, she had made this up, but her instinct told her that the old man would be a top-notch linguist.
"Over a hundred, actually," Dumbledore corrected, smiling kindly as Matsumoto looked taken aback. Even she didn't speak so many languages, but then again, not like she really studied all that hard. * A moment passed, then Dumbledore's smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of solemnness, and announced,
"I believe that another soul resides within Toshiro, and it managed to show itself in that moment at the wand shop."
Matsumoto's heart skipped a beat. How did he know? Did someone tell him that, or did he just figure that out by himself? Damn it. What do I tell him?
"Uh… another soul?"
"As absurd as it sounds, it seems to be the most rational conclusion I have been able to reach."
Blink. Didn't he just contradict himself? "I would be glad to hear your reasoning, sir."
"Well, for starters, Mr. Hitsugaya does not have yellow eyes."
"You cannot know for sure that what Ollivander saw were eyes, and I don't see how that pertains to the matter at hand-" (As you can see, she was trying very hard to use very big words so that she'd actually sound like an adult).
"Oh, Mr. Ollivander assures me that what he saw were indeed eyes, seeing as they were on the face of a face made of ice."
"So… you're saying that a chunk of ice lives inside Hitsugaya? With… yellow eyes? And a face?" Matsumoto asked, trying to make it sound as stupid as possible
"No, I'm saying that something very cold and like ice resides alongside his soul. I'm sure you've noticed how the boy comes off to a lot of people as cold, and I'm starting to think that perhaps that statement is more literal that most think."
"But for such a thing to be impossible, for his body to contain two souls…"
There was a pause. Then Dumbledore sighed. "I'm afraid I do not feel comfortable revealing too much information at the present moment, even if I do trust you completely, Professor."
"So… you can't tell me how you think Hitsugaya can have two souls in his body because you don't want to tell me or because you don't know?"
"Oh, I do have a theory, but I have not been able to gather enough evidence to prove it enough to share it yet, so I'm afraid for the time being I shall keep my reasons to myself. But that brings us back to the original matter." He eyed her, and the Ukitake part of him vanished and suddenly Matsumoto found herself looking straight at Yamamoto, at least, someone who looked incredibly like him anyway. Old men with long white beards usually all looked the same.
"So, can you help me watch Toshiro, Professor Matsumoto?"
There was a long pause, then Matsumoto said, almost squeaking,
"Yes, I can."
"Very well." Dumbledore smiled again, and sighed. "Well, I have missed lunch, so I might as well go off to the kitchens quickly and see if I can grab a quick bite."
"Y-you do that."
Hitsugaya had already committed the entire castle's many corridors and stairs into his memory but apparently he still needed to be guided to each and every class, according to Hermione, who was now pulling him to Transfiguration despite his many protests.
"I can walk, you know," he grumbled as they descended down a staircase.
"But surely you must need help getting around the place! You haven't even been here a week!"
"I do not need to be dragged across the whole school, thank you very much!" he shouted, freeing himself from her grasp. Hermione looked as if she wanted to grab his hand again and help him walk like a little toddler, but apparently thought better of it and changed the subject.
"So… how're you settling into Hogwarts?"
Making sure she didn't try to help him walk again, Hitsugaya considered the question for a while. He could say that he hated the place, hated having to deal with immature little kids not giving him enough respect, having to deal with the annoying buzzing of magic at the back of his head and the case about the Petrified cat, and having Matsumoto nagging all the time about how lonely she was. But then obviously she'd break into a tantrum about something completely random and make sure that everyone shook his hand or something. There was no point in complaining to her, evidently. So he plastered his face with the widest smile he could manage (it wasn't pretty) and grimaced, "Great. Just great."
Hermione didn't seem to pick up that the smile was fake, because she too broke into a smile and thumped him on the back encouragingly. "Well, that's great! Glad to see that you're making some friends!"
Hitsugaya did not remember mentioning friends, in any case, his back was starting to hurt, so he cleared his throat and reminded Hermione that they were supposed to be heading to Transfiguration. Hermione seemed to come to her senses and nodded, dragging him along again. Hitsugaya couldn't help but notice that she looked strange, like she was preoccupied with something.
Well, he found out what soon enough. After awing the class with a transformation into a cat, Professor McGonagall then proceeded to starting her lesson when she was interrupted by Hermione.
"Professor McGonagall, I was wondering if you could tell us about… the Chamber of Secrets."
McGonagall stiffened, and Hitsugaya knew immediately that Hermione had touched on a subject that was not talked about often. After a moment, McGonagall took a deep breath and muttered, "Very well." She then continued to tell a tale in a voice that was quite unlike her normal stern voice, but with a voice that was laced with fear.
"You all know of course, that Hogwarts was founded many years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. For a while, the four founders existed harmoniously, but after some time, one of them began to argue."
"Three guesses who," Ron whispered a few seats from Hitsugaya, sniggering slightly. Harry grinned slightly, but they both shut up once McGonagall started glaring at them. Hitsugaya wondered briefly what exactly was so funny when McGonagall spoke again.
"Salazar Slytherin believed in the… 'purity of blood', and that those who, in Slytherin's view, were not worthy of learning magic, should not be accepted into the school. In other words, muggle borns."
"Unable to sway the others, Slytherin left the school. But, legend has it that before he left, he sealed a Chamber that was located within the school, and which housed a creature of Slytherin's, and which, according to the legend, awakens when Slytherin's heir returns to Hogwarts to carry justice upon those who Slytherin had seen unworthy of knowing the secrets of magic." Readjusting her glasses, she coughed and continued in her ordinary firm voice, "Naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such Chamber has been found." With a note of finality in her voice, she turned and said, "Well then, turn to page fifty-six…" Pages rustled as they were turned and people whispered to each other in hushed voices, but Hermione's hand was in the air again.
"Professor, what does the legend tell us lives in the Chamber?"
McGonagall froze, quite positively shaking now. Turning slowly, she announced in a small voice, "The legend says that in the Chamber…" A moment of dramatic silence, "lives a monster."
Oh great. This job just gets easier and easier.
*Also made up. I have no idea exactly how many languages Dumbledore speaks. Maybe I'm mixing him up with Barty Crouch. Hmm… *taps chin thoughtfully * Solemnness is apparently a word as well, it came up in the dictionary, but the stupid dictionary on Word says that it doesn't exist so I have to keep rechecking to see if I got the spelling right. :P (If that looked like an evil grin it's not supposed to be)
Is the Matsumoto spying for Dumbledore part too weird? It just kinda popped into my head and I decided to write it in seeing as it seemed interesting but I'm wondering now if it'll just complicate things a bit too much. Anyway, if anyone's got anything to say about the subject, please feel free to…
Thank you to all those who have reviewed, and please review this chapter, as usual, it'd be much appreciated.
FallenSnow12 (Candied Sweets)
Edit 3/09/10. This is taking forever =.=