A/N: Wow, so many people actually voted. I wasn't sure if anyone would or not. But I checked regularly and I was pleased with what I saw. Last I checked 85% wished for me to allow the shinigami to influence the storyline in some way and 15% wished for me to leave it as is. One person placed their vote through review for technical reasons, and two others sent theirs through PM and just told me to do what I want and do what is easier for me. But to make sure I didn't stray to far from the whole "Prisoner of Azkaban" theme, which I have no intention of doing. Well, popular vote wins, so I will start letting the shinigami influence the other characters and change things around a bit for the storyline. Mostly it will be the shinigami influencing the HP character into taking different actions from what they normally would and giving them bigger roles, especially Neville and maybe a few other differences but you'll just have to wait and see. However, certain things, like Sirius escaping with Buckbeak and Lupin being revealed to Harry and gang will remain the same. There will just be other things happening at the same time since we already know what's supposed to happen. We'll see. But the influencing will start being introduced in the middle of this chapter or so.
BOGGARTS ARE HERE! The time has come. It took me nearly forever to get this down. The reason this chapter took me so long is because I was so nit picky about the boggart scene. I wrote this scene over and over and over and I'm still not entirely satisfied. I couldn't think of how to introduce the shinigami's boggarts and how the students would react and all that. Not wholly pleased with this but hopefully I did okay. I'll let you guys be the judges. Sorry for the long a/n.
Disclaimers blah blah blah
Chapter Seventeen: Snape & the Boggart
Toshiro woke just before five in the morning, quietly crept out of bed, and began pulling on a pair of muggle jeans and one of the zip-up sweaters Rangiku had made for each of them. He briefly glanced down at the jagged teal ice dragon on his own opened navy blue sweater, admiring the way the tail started on one side of the zip-line at his abdomen, curved around his side, performed a loose diagonal corkscrew across his back, showering the back with jagged ice shards along the way, and curved over the opposite shoulder to rest its head across his chest on the other side of the zip-line, almost protectively so. He had to hand it to her; she really outdid herself this time.
Then he walked between Ichigo and Renji's beds and pulled back the curtains to each. Both boys were already sitting up, their shadowy silhouettes rubbing their eyes sleepily in the predawn light. "Let's go." He whispered to them as he stepped back and began pulling on his shoes. "We need to do this now, while we have the privacy."
"Tell me again why we didn't do this during break yesterday like we had planned." Ichigo mumbled as he rolled out of bed and began searching around in his trunk for clothes.
"Because we didn't have the time or privacy." Toshiro answered quietly. "Now that the students are all asleep, and there are no classes today, there won't be any eavesdroppers. Now move it. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can all go back to sleep. Let's go."
Renji and Ichigo grumbled softly as they pulled on their shoes and sweaters, Ichigo not bothering to change his sweats and wife-beater as he threw on his charcoal-grey sweater with a large shiny silver sword running brightly down along his spine and a red sash spiraling loosely around the blade like a red cyclone, curving from the tip of the blade around his sides, crossing the front to curve over the opposite shoulders, creating a thick red 'X' across the front, and meeting back at the top of the cyclone just above the hilt underneath his hood.
Renji threw on his own sweater, the back split in half with one side black and the other a dark scarlet. On the black side, the entire hindquarters of a large white gorilla, from its large furry waist to it's stubby white tail, was plastered on one side of his back, the tail almost touching the line separating black from red. The large white gorilla curled around his side to the front, standing on its front legs with a menacing frown on its hollow-eyed face, its body facing the zip-line. On the scarlet side, the massive body of a gleaming silver snake looped loosely across the red background of the sweater, wrapping its shiny thick body around his other side to the front, its black tongue protruding from its opened mouth, the sharp white fangs almost glinting threateningly, and its hollow eyes adding to the silent threat as it faced the gorilla. On the back of the sweater, the top half of a shiny silver blade protruded from the bottom of his sweater and rested along the line dividing the red from the black, a soft silver mist floating from the tip to separate into two tendrils that began forming the legs of the gorilla and the tail of the snake. Renji had been pleased to see that Rangiku even remembered to decorate the bodies of both animals with the intricate tattoos that decorated his own body and top of his face, currently covered by a white bandana.
Renji and Ichigo continued to grumble as they finally finished getting ready, Renji quietly complaining about Kurotsuchi making their gigais require sleep. The three of them silently crept out of the dorm, down to the common room, and then out through the portrait hole and into the corridors. The fat lady in the portrait, Toshiro noticed with a frown, did not even stir in her sleep as the portrait swung back in place. Not good, safety wise. That needed fixing.
The three of them ambled down corridors, up and down flights of stairs until they arrived outside a door with a shadowy silhouette of a clueless-looking statue standing beside it, it's stone hand frozen in the act of scratching its bald head in puzzlement. Toshiro pushed the door open and led the way in, pleased to see that Rangiku and Rukia were already there. Rangiku yawned widely as she lounged in an overstuffed armchair, wearing a light pink sweater over the pale blue overlarge t-shirt that went down to her knees and a pair of matching light pink and blue sleep pants. From what Toshiro remembered from when she showed it to him, her sweater bore the head of a human-faced cat on back, made from the fine silvery powder of ash, its large almond shaped eyes glinting mischievously in the soft daylight of his and Harry's bedroom back in the Leaky Cauldron and its furry cat ears protruding from its head of human hair. A hot pink sash looped over the cat's head and wrapped around her lower sides and up the front, criss-crossing and curling to form the outline of a small hot pink heart directly where her own heart would be when zipped up.
Rukia dozed on a stack of pillows beside her, with her back facing them and the side of her head leaning against the side of the armchair, wearing one of Ichigo's sister's yellow and black plaid pajamas. A soft robin's egg blue sweater was wrapped tightly around her petit body, the entire bottom border of her sweater covered in a layer of white, like snow, with a single white ribbon weaving exotically across her back, intricate patterns forming through the silvery-white snowfall decorating the blue background. The ends of the ribbons, if Toshiro remembered correctly, met in front above her abdomen, forming a neat white bow just beneath her breasts when the sweater was zipped up, the tails trailing down to disappear in the snow at the bottom.
"Mah-morning, Taicho." Rangiku said around another large yawn. "Too early, but morning just the same." She gently tapped Rukia on the head, startling her awake.
Rangiku stood up and offered her chair to Toshiro, who sat in it and peered around at the others, all of them struggling to stay awake as they sat on stacks of pillows, though Ichigo seemed to be having better luck than the others. If they were having this much trouble staying awake for about an hour or two, then it was going to be very problematic when the time came for them to start patrolling the grounds all night, every night. Perhaps they could sleep in shifts and let their bodies get used to the routine. Toshiro glanced at them again before speaking. "For right now, this meeting is in regards to our zanpakuto, as I'm sure you might have guessed. I received a message from Captain Ukitake yesterday morning, who has informed me of Sou-taicho's answer in regards to keeping our zanpakuto on us at all times. I'm sure you agree that it is unnerving being away from them for any length of time. Sou-taicho has informed Captain Kurotsuchi of a complex spell which can, if done properly, merge our swords with our wands."
Renji perked up. "Really? I can have Zabimaru in my wand?"
Toshiro nodded. "Yes, but there are drawbacks. One, the power of our zanpakuto will also merge with the power our wands themselves have and will cause different effects to our spell casting than most people. We'll have to take extra care that we pay attention to the spells we are performing, making sure we do it as right as possible; there could be disastrous consequences otherwise. Two, there will be times when the spirits of our zanpakuto will want to take over the wands. Let them. Forcing them apart will magically snap your wand in half, cutting off the magic of the wand itself. And three, the spell is very complicated and will need to be performed with the utmost care until you get the hang of it. The way the spell works is that our sword will be merged in with our wand, becoming one magical item with the soul of our zanpakuto inside the wand. However, when we decide to change out of our gigais, our sword will sort of split away from the wand the same way; we just need to have our wand in our hand at the time. When we remerge with our gigais, our wands will also remerge with our sword. However, if we want our sword while still in our gigais, we need to perform the counter spell that will separate the two and recast the spell when we are ready to remerge them again. Understand so far?"
"So what you're saying," Ichigo started slowly. "Is that when we first start, we cast this spell and it will merge our wand with our zanpakuto. Then, every time we go Soul Reaper, our wands sort of 'go Soul Reaper' as well and spit out our swords the same way our gigais spit out our Soul Reaper bodies, right?" Toshiro nodded and Ichigo continued. "And then when we go back into the gigais, our swords go back into the wands with no problem. But if we want to make our swords 'go Soul Reaper' while we are still in our gigais, we'll need to do the spell that will manually separate them and then do the first spell to manually put them together again when we're finished. And the entire time we do this, our wands need to be in our gigais hand. Does that about cover it?"
"Basically, yes." Toshiro answered with a nod. "And our wands will have both the power of itself and the power of our zanpakuto, so try to be careful. If your sword doesn't want to obey you for some reason, odds are your wand won't want to either. Also, be very careful about where you leave your wand. It could be very dangerous for a human, or anyone other than you, to handle your zanpakuto. Don't let anyone else use it. I'll inform the headmaster of this decision, which, Ukitake-taicho has informed me, he already knows about. He doesn't know what we've decided yet, but he does know about this spell because he and Sou-taicho came up with it together. Kurotsuchi-taicho is currently working on testing this spell with replicas, making sure it won't damage our zanpakuto in any way. Once we get the all clear, we'll come back here and have a drill on performing the spell until we can do it with ease. Any questions?"
They all shook their heads and Toshiro nodded. "Good. Now for our next bit of news: Security. We will be starting security soon, once we get a rendezvous date settled with Urahara's group, and we'll decide how to do this. Right now, we're in a bit of trouble. You seem to be having trouble staying awake for the little time we're spending with this meeting. If this is how much trouble sleep is going to cause for us, we'll have some major issues. We can't afford to fall asleep on watch. I'm thinking shifts. We'll all merge into one big group with Urahara's and then split off into smaller groups, possibly two large ones. One group will stay awake when everyone else goes to bed and, once the coast is clear, will separate into three-fourths and the large group will patrol the grounds while the smaller assists the teachers in patrolling the inside of the castle. Then at a certain time in the night, probably half way somewhere, we'll switch off with the sleeping crew and repeat. That gives everyone a chance to sleep and still do their part in the patrols. Understand?"
"Isn't there some kind of potion or something that can keep us awake? And allow us to feel at least somewhat rested when we're finished?" Rukia asked. "That might help."
Toshiro nodded in approval. "You're right, it would. I'll speak to the Potions Master about that. I believe he's Professor Snape, if I remember the rumors correctly. The unpleasant man we met the other night with the shoulder-length slick black hair. He should have something to help. Unfortunately, I don't think Kurotsuchi can do anything about our gigais needing too much sleep without actually being here in person. And he might not be able to resist experimenting on someone if he comes here in person."
"Now that that's settled, there's one last thing. This new class of Urahara's." Toshiro rolled his eyes. "For some reason, he's going to be teaching a Kido class."
"Kido?" cried Rukia in astonishment.
"Why Kido?" Rangiku asked with mild surprise. "Isn't that risky? For us and for the students?"
Toshiro shrugged. "I honestly haven't the slightest idea what he's thinking. All I know is that he's going to be having an exercising class on Fridays, exercising the mind, body and spiritual pressure. And then on Saturdays, it will be a sort of practical, where he will teach people to use Kido. He'll also be training people to use a sort of wandless magic, allowing them to channel their spiritual energy into a solid object, sort of like how we do with our swords but obviously not with zanpakuto. We're all to attend these classes and the students of this school have the option of attending. It's for all ages, since it's only for this school year. He'll explain more on Friday, during our first lesson." He looked around at the room, seeing sleep returning to their faces now that the meeting was coming to a close. "We can return to our beds now."
The shinigami stood up, stretched, and began heading to the door, intending to get as much sleep as possible before they had to get up for breakfast, then maybe another small lie-in somewhere before lunch. Toshiro returned to his dorm with Ichigo and Renji, re-changed into his sleep clothes, and crawled back into bed, shoving Suna aside from where she had claimed the center of his pillow after he had left. Then he settled back down and allowed sleep to retake him.
Later that morning, after breakfast, Toshiro sat with Hermione in the corner they had been in the other night, both of them pouring over a book in their laps and occasionally writing on a long sheet of parchment, neither of them speaking much except for the occasional question from Hermione. Neville climbed through the portrait hole at the same time that Harry and Ron descended the stairs from the boys' dormitory, and headed for the corner. Neville sat down beside Toshiro as he had the previous night and peered down at the book in his lap. "Muggle Studies?" he read questioningly.
"When did you go to Muggle studies?" he asked Toshiro.
"Yesterday." Toshiro answered as he continued to read the page, jotting things down as he went.
"When?" Neville asked in confusion. "Yesterday was just Divination, Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures. And your Arithmancy class, apparently. When did you go to Muggle Studies?"
"After Arithmancy." Toshiro said absently, rapidly flipping pages in his book, first forwards and then backwards before he found the page he wanted. He looked up at Hermione. "I found that page about ink pens the professor was talking about. It's on page nineteen, third paragraph." Immediately Hermione began leafing through her book until she found the page and began reading.
"How could you have gone after Arithmancy?" Ron asked in bewilderment. "You wouldn't have had time. You said you had Arithmancy after Divination. But we barely had time to get from North Tower to McGonagall's classroom. There wouldn't have been time."
Toshiro paused in the action of shifting from pouring over his book to writing on his parchment and looked up at Ron with a frown. "No, I didn't. I never said anything about any of that. You asked if I had Arithmancy with Hermione. I said I do. You asked if I had gone, I said I have. You asked how, and I basically said none of your business. End of story. Nowhere in there did I say, or even hint at what time I had the class. And as for how I attended my Muggle Studies class, I will say it more bluntly if you'd like: None of your business." And with that he returned to his homework, ignoring their confused and questioning glances.
Finally Neville shrugged. "Well, as long as you guys don't over exert yourselves with this workload, I guess there's really nothing to worry about. But just remember that we do have several other classes besides what we just had. Not to mention Astronomy at midnight on Thursdays and that new class on Fridays and Saturdays."
"I haven't forgotten." Toshiro mumbled. "And that's why you should really make sure you want to take this class before taking it. You already enrolled, didn't you?"
Neville nodded. "Yeah, I already turned my slip in to Professor McGonagall."
Hermione sighed and looked up. "How can you concentrate and talk so normally at the same time?" she asked Toshiro both in exasperation and astonishment.
Toshiro shrugged. "Rangiku hates working. She'd rather party or drink until she's so drunk that she has an excuse not to work. And then she's constantly trying to get others to stop working and join her because she's bored. If you can ignore her and not get distracted with her around, then everyone else, and everything else, is a piece of cake."
Hermione opened her mouth in a silent o of shock. "W-what?" she sputtered. The others gaped at him, just as shocked. "She drinks? And she tries to get you guys to drink? But you're too young."
"Not that young." Toshiro said, offended.
"But there's no way the drinking limit in Japan is thirteen and up." She protested. "Fifteen, maybe. Sixteen, a little more likely. But thirteen? Fourteen? That's way too young."
Toshiro rolled his eyes. "We're a bit more responsible than children here, I'm sure. Besides, sake is the only thing most people drink, though sometimes people drink imported stuff and some create their own concoctions. And I don't usually, because being under the influence while working isn't exactly wise. Plus there are some countries where they serve children wine instead of water because the water is so foul."
"But still –" Hermione started.
"Look, what does it matter what we do or not?" Toshiro snapped irritably. "It's not hurting you, is it? Frankly, it's none of your business. What we do is up to us. End of story. So I would appreciate it if you didn't go prying into our personal lives. In case you hadn't noticed, we like our privacy. And other people digging through it, especially gaijin*, is just plain rude."
There was a moment of silence, Hermione turning pink and the four of them looking sheepish. Then Neville asked, "What's guy-jean?"
"Gaijin, spelled g-a-i-j-i-n, roughly translates to mean foreigner." Toshiro said a bit more calmly, returning to his homework.
"Oh. But aren't you guys the foreigners?" Neville asked. He blushed as Toshiro looked up at him. "I mean, you know, you guys are in our country, so doesn't that make you guys the foreigners and us the … the natives, or something?"
Toshiro nodded. "In a way, yes. But if you think about it, you are just as foreign to us as we are to you. And in case you hadn't noticed, I don't ask a lot of questions about your personal lives."
Hermione nodded and returned to her homework, while Ron and Harry decided to play a game of wizard chess, and Neville watched from the sidelines, declaring he'd play winner. After a few moments of peace, Hermione looked up. "I still can't seem to find the book's article about why quills are better than muggle pens."
"It's not on that page." Toshiro answered as if this were obvious. "The differences between a pen and a quill are on that page but the debate itself is on page twelve."
Hermione blinked. "Why didn't you say so before?"
Toshiro shrugged with a tantalizing smirk. "That wasn't what you had asked. You asked for the page the teacher had been speaking about in class; I gave it." His smirk deepened. "If you wanted the page that would answer the homework questions, you should have said so."
Hermione huffed irritably and began shifting through her book to the page she needed.
The rest of the week passed until Thursday rolled around, starting the day off with double Potions. Toshiro headed down to the dungeons with Neville walking beside him, who looked as though he were heading to his own funeral. Up ahead, Ichigo and Renji were speaking animatedly with a boy from their dorm about the muggle sport, soccer. Toshiro glanced behind him, spotting Harry, Ron and Hermione several feet back, the three of them looking almost as unhappy about today's class as Neville, who obviously wished he were heading in the opposite direction.
"I guess it's safe to assume this is your favorite class?" Toshiro asked mildly.
Neville glared at him, though halfheartedly. "Very funny." He muttered bitterly. "I hate Potions. I suck at it. I screw up so bad sometimes. Sometimes it's just a small mess up that doesn't get noticed but other times, I fall to pieces, especially around Professor Snape. I can't even remember how many times I blew up my own cauldron in my first year, not to mention the once or twice that I blew up someone else's. You probably shouldn't sit next to me. I might destroy your cauldron or your potion or even you in general."
"I'll take my chances. It can't be as bad as the numerous explosive pranks Rangiku played on the entire off-…classroom back home." Toshiro said, hoping Neville didn't catch the almost slip up. He had been about to say office instead of classroom. "Even the other teachers know who to blame first if something unusual and prank-ish happens to them."
Neville smirked, temporarily taking away the worried frown. "And you being her babysitter, that makes you responsible."
Toshiro scowled, though glad to have been successful in taking away Neville's worry for the time being. "You have no idea. People are always coming up to me and asking why I haven't tightened her leash yet. And let me tell you, it is very troublesome when trying to get work done and my desk suddenly becomes a hiding place while she's hiding from her latest angry victim."
Neville chuckled but stopped almost immediately when he spotted the crowd outside the classroom door, waiting for the door to open and allow them in. "I still don't want to be here. But I'll get in so much trouble if I ditch. I don't think anyone has ditched before. At least not in any of our classes."
The two of them waited about five more minutes before the door finally opened and the class poured themselves inside, everyone heading to their personally designated seats. Neville headed to his seat with Toshiro sitting beside him at the same table. Beside them, Hermione had taken a seat beside a Gryffindor girl Toshiro had seen once in the common room but didn't know the name of. Two tables over and one back, Harry and Ron sat and began setting up their cauldrons, while Ichigo and Renji parted from soccer boy and sat one column over from Toshiro and Neville and two rows back, diagonal from Harry's.
Professor Snape informed them on the potion they were to be making and informed the transfers of the zero tolerance for horseplay. The class silently began working, preparing their cauldrons while they chopped and sliced their ingredients. About an hour later, Draco Malfoy entered the classroom, stretching the wounded soldier act just a tad too far, in Toshiro's opinion. Toshiro rolled his eyes and turned back to his potion, pointedly ignoring Draco and his little charade, the Slytherin girl simpering pitifully at him. He and Neville turned around at the sound of a heavy thump, followed by quiet snickering.
Draco picked himself off the floor with a frown and glared at Ichigo, who made a show of pulling his foot back under the table. Draco whirled around and faced the front. "Professor! He just tripped me!" Draco said with indignation, pointing a finger at Ichigo.
"Professor." Ichigo mocked in a whiny voice, faking wiping away tears with balled fists. "This mean bully t-tripped me! Boo hoo hoo!" Renji snickered from beside him. Ichigo glared up at Draco. "You're such a crybaby. Tattletale."
Draco glared daggers at him but Snape headed swiftly towards them, stopping to tower in front of Ichigo and Renji's table. "Five points from Gryffindor for each of you for bullying another student."
"Like I care." Ichigo scoffed. "I don't get the importance of these stupid points anyways. Take your stupid points. No skin off my bones."
Renji punched his shoulders. "Not yet, idiot."
"Another five points for fighting." Snape said coldly. He glared down at Ichigo. "And detention for you."
Ichigo surprisingly perked up at this news and turned to Renji with a triumphant smile. "I win! Hand 'em over!" He held out his hand, which Renji filled with five gold galleons from inside his pocket with a scowl.
"You cheated." Renji accused with a pout. "You didn't say we could antagonize the teachers like that."
"I didn't give any rules." Ichigo said with a chuckle as he counted the galleons. "I just said the first one of us to get a detention gets five galleons from the other. I got a detention first, so…" Ichigo picked up two of the galleons and held them up to Snape. "Want your cut?"
"'Cut'?" Renji demanded, looking from Ichigo's smirking face to Snape's furious one. "You mean he was in on it? That's cheating!"
"Of course he wasn't in on it." Ichigo said in a bored tone. "It's no fun if it's not genuine."
"Enough!" Snape snapped furiously. "Detention for both of you and another five points each for gambling! And if you keep this up, I'll take off a round fifty. Now get to work!"
Ichigo smirked and flipped his middle finger to Snape's retreating back. Renji felt eyes on him and glanced in Toshiro's direction, only to cough uncomfortably at the disapproving stare and glanced away. Ichigo followed his gaze and met Toshiro's now exasperated look with a 'so what' look of his own. Draco sat down at the table in front of Ichigo and Renji's and beside Harry and Ron's. Ichigo noticed that Harry glanced back to him and smiled in amusement. Ichigo grinned back.
Neville turned to Toshiro as they got back to work. "I can't believe Ichigo just did that. No one ever talks to Professor Snape like that. What was he thinking?"
Toshiro turned in his seat before he could answer, shooting a warning look at Ichigo and Renji as Snape just ordered Ron to cut Draco's daisy roots. Ichigo gave an inaudible sigh and rolled his eyes but refrained from speaking. Then he turned back to Neville. "Obviously he wasn't thinking. But I can sort of understand why he tripped Draco in the first place. And keep an eye on your potion!" he hissed. Neville jumped and glanced down at his potion in time to lower the flames.
They both turned around again when Draco called out. "Weasley's mutilating my roots."
"Here we go again." Ichigo muttered loud enough for the class to hear. "Nag, nag, nag. You are such a crybaby. I'm going to start calling you Crybaby from now on."
"Shut up!" Draco snapped angrily.
"Another five points, Kurosaki." Snape said sharply. "Weasley, trade roots with Malfoy."
Toshiro sighed and turned to continue to work on his potion but stopped at a glance at Neville's. "What did you do?" He demanded quietly.
Neville turned his attention away from Ichigo and turned to his potion, going pale when he saw it. "Oh, no." he whimpered. "What happened? I thought I followed everything right."
"Apparently not." Toshiro said with a frown. What had Neville done? Toshiro had been watching him, trying to see just what was supposedly making Neville so bad a potions that he would dread coming here. He hadn't done anything wrong so far, except near the beginning, when he had been so nervous after Snape passed their table that his hand shook violently and he poured too much leech juice. Other than that, there hadn't been any other mistakes that he saw. Could it have been something I hadn't seen? Like when we were distracted?
Before he could ponder the subject further, Snape was upon them, sneering down at Neville's potion, which was orange instead of green. Toshiro noticed that Neville was starting to tremble terribly and Toshiro had a sudden feeling he knew exactly why Neville was so bad in Potions. Snape picked up the ladle and scooped some of the potion up and let it splash back into the cauldron.
"Orange, Longbottom." Snape said. "Tell me, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours?" Toshiro narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists under the table at the verbal abuse. "Didn't you hear me say only one rat spleen?" Rat spleen? When had he added that? "Didn't I state that a dash of leech juice would suffice?" That was your fault, Snape. "What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"
Toshiro glanced at Neville, who was flushed and shaking like a human earthquake. He was biting his trembling bottom lip and Toshiro had a sinking feeling that Neville was about to cry. What the hell was this teacher's problem? Did he not realize that his presence was what was making Neville so nervous that he was making simple mistakes? Did he not realize that a little encouragement can actually go a long way?
"Please, sir." Hermione said softly. "I could help Neville put it right."
"I don't need you showing off, Miss Granger." Snape said coldly. He turned back to Neville, who looked about ready to run from the room. "At the end of class, Longbottom, we're going to test your potion on your toad. Maybe that will teach you to do it right."
Neville whimpered as Snape moved away. He turned to Hermione. "Help me." He said fearfully.
"No." Toshiro hissed to the both of them. Hermione looked up at him and Neville turned a hurt look on him.
"Please." He said desperately. "I can't-"
"Yes, you can." Toshiro said encouragingly. He'll show this teacher what a little encouragement can do. "Just stop for a moment. Take a few deep breaths. Now, think back. Think about what you did and how to fix it. You can fix it yourself. Just be confident."
"But Snape-" Neville moaned fearfully.
"Forget about him." Toshiro snapped. "He's not making the potion, you are. This is all you. You want him to leave you alone? Prove to him that you're not as incompetent as he claims you to be. That fear you have of him. Turn it into anger. Then turn that anger into determination. Channel that into your potion. Show him that you have just as much right to be in this class, to make a potion, as he or anyone else. Block him out. Block out the entire class. Pay close attention to your potion and your thoughts. You can do it. I know you can. The only times you made a mistake were when you weren't looking and when he passed our table. Block him out."
Neville blinked at him a couple of times before slowly nodding. Then his nods became more firm and a new, determined look flashed through Neville's eyes and he turned back to his potion with an air of someone on a mission. Toshiro nodded and continued working on his own potion, mentally keeping an eye on Neville as he worked, a bit shakily but indomitably. Several minutes passed, neither Toshiro nor Neville speaking to each other the entire time, before Snape spoke again.
"You should be finished adding your ingredients by now." He called. "Clear your things away while your potion simmers and then we'll test Longbottom's and see if it is…edible."
Neville suddenly seemed to come back to normal, nearly deflating as he continued to stir his potion. Hermione watched worriedly as she too began packing away her things. Toshiro packed his things and began packing Neville's as he watched. He stood up and headed towards the sink to rinse off their tools, and waited in line while Harry and Ron rinsed theirs in front of him.
"What was Malfoy talking about?" Harry asked Ron as they rinsed their hands. "Why would I want to get revenge on Black?"
Toshiro snapped his head from Neville's direction to the pair in front of him. Revenge? For what? "He's trying to make you do something stupid." Ron said. It's likely. Harry and Ron left the sink and Toshiro quickly squeezed his way in and rinsed his and Neville's tools and his hands before making his way back to their table.
"Gather around." Snape called. "We'll now test Longbottom's potion. If he's done it correctly, the Shrinking Potion should turn his toad into a tadpole. If he's screwed it up, as is most likely, his toad will be poisoned and he'll have to look for a new pet." Several Slytherins snickered. Toshiro watched from behind Neville as Snape picked up Neville's toad and fed it several large gulps of the potion. Everyone watched expectantly, Toshiro placing the fingertips of his right hand against the small of Neville's trembling back for support and felt Neville shift his weight to lean slightly against them, welcoming the support.
There was a small pop and suddenly Neville's toad was now a tadpole. The Gryffindors cheered and Toshiro gave a small, approving smile, moving his hand from Neville's back to his shoulder. Their celebration was short lived, however, as Snape poured a few droplets of a potion from his pocket onto the tadpole, making it turn back into a toad, set it on the table and said, "Five points from Gryffindor. I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."
Ichigo and Renji made to object but Toshiro silenced them with a shake of his head, the look he wore stopping whatever they were going to say in their throats. They nodded, having a strong feeling that he would take care of it, and quickly followed the other students out the door. Toshiro stayed where he was, his hand still on Neville's shoulder, firmly holding him in place. Neville looked fearfully at Toshiro, who stared with narrow eyes at Snape.
Snape looked up from behind his desk and took in the two remaining students. "I said class was dismissed. I don't know if that means anything in your country, but here, that means leave." He said coldly. "And Longbottom, I know the simplest of instructions is extremely difficult for you but even you should understand what it means when the rest of the class starts leaving."
Neville made to stand but Toshiro's hand wouldn't budge, holding him down on his stool. Neville looked at him again. Toshiro glared at Snape. "We're not leaving." He said in a low voice. "Not until you give back the points you took from him."
"What are you doing?" Neville squeaked, gaping at him in horror.
Toshiro ignored him, his teal eyes never leaving Snape's beady black ones. "Neville did not get assistance from Granger, as you unjustly assumed. He did it on his own."
"I find that hard to believe." Snape sneered.
"I was sitting right here." Toshiro said. "I watched him. He didn't make a single error. Because I told him not to. Did you never realize that just about every time he makes a blunder, it's when you are near? Your presence terrifies him. I thought he was being too timid because you're intimidating. But then I witnessed you verbally abusing him, belittling him, in front of the entire class. That was completely uncalled for and extremely childish."
Neville's eyes widened and Snape leaped to his feet, his eyes flashing dangerously. "How dare you speak to me that way?" he said icily. "Just who do you think you're talking to?"
"A bully of a man who belittles children for his own sick pleasure." Toshiro answered, his voice matching Snape's. "Neville did absolutely nothing wrong other than let himself get too flustered whenever you were around, which caused him to make mistakes. But I, who have hardly any teaching experience whatsoever, merely encouraged him, and let him know that with a little motivation and a lot of faith, he could do just as well as the rest of the class, if he could only learn to block out you and your snide remarks. And he did. Have you ever even seen a spark of determination in his eyes? Or is it only fear? Ever wonder why that is? Have you ever bothered to ask any of his other teachers about his performance in their class? What about Herbology? I heard he's very good in that class. Doesn't Herbology coincide with potions in some sense? You need plants as some ingredients in potions, do you not? So why is it that Neville has such a hard time with Potions but not Herbology?"
Neville trembled under Toshiro's hand and Snape's icy glare, waiting with baited breath and almost feeling the temperature drop. He felt as though he were in the middle of a battlefield, both sides waiting for the other to make the first move. He was afraid he'd get caught in the crossfire. He wasn't sure which he felt more afraid of at the moment. All he knew was that at that moment, all he wished was that he could be anywhere else. Anywhere was safer.
"Allow him to be tested." Toshiro suddenly said.
Neville finally broke free of Toshiro's hold on his shoulder and whirled around. "What, no!" he cried in pure terror but Toshiro was pleased to see that Snape's interest had been peeked.
"Next class," Toshiro said, ignoring Neville's silent plea to let it go. "Stick him in a room, by himself, no books, no students and no you lurking unpleasantly over his shoulder. Just him, his cauldron, his ingredients and the instructions for the potion he's to make. If he's able to make the potion by himself with little to no problem by the end of the lesson, you give him back the five points you unjustly took and you start treating him like a human being. That doesn't mean you have to like him. It just means stop talking to him like he's an idiot. But if he fails, you can take ten points away from each of us, give us each a detention, and do or say whatever you like during class and I'll bite my tongue. Your choice."
Both Neville and Snape stared at him in shock, looking at him as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. Neville felt a clenching in his chest. No one had ever showed so much faith in him before. No one had ever tried to help him, to stick up for him, tried to defend him against Snape. No one had ever tried to show that he wasn't an idiot. That he could do the work if he wasn't afraid or flustered. No one had ever been this nice to him. Why? Why was Toshiro, a kid he'd hardly known, defending him so vehemently? Why was he so determined to prove the good in Neville? What was in it for him?
Snape was silent for a moment, pondering, before asking coolly, "And if I choose neither?"
Toshiro narrowed his eyes to slits. "Then I'll go to your headmaster and let him know one of his teachers is verbally abusing his student in the middle of class for the amusement of himself and his Slytherin third years. I don't know how it is here, but where I come from, abuse of any kind on a child is strictly frowned upon. Whether your people accept it or not, I will not tolerate it. I will not sit back and watch it happen. I have the good graces to confront you on the subject outside of class. Neville won't say anything if I ask him not to. However, if you'd like me to go public, I will."
Snape glared daggers at Toshiro, completely ignoring Neville for the time being. Then, finally, he spoke. "Very well. I'll find a suitable potion that Longbottom can do and next class, he can try to make it on his own. And I will take your deal and hold you to it. To a 'T'."
Toshiro nodded firmly. "Good. Then it's a deal." He turned to Neville. "I have one more thing I need to speak to him about. Mind waiting outside?" Neville nodded numbly, picked up his bag and headed out the door. As soon as the door had shut behind him, Toshiro pulled out his wand and cast a silencing spell on the door. Then he turned back to Snape and began speaking in a calmer voice, as if their little conversation had never happened. "I wanted to let you know what we're planning."
Snape moved to stand in front of his desk and leaned back against it, his arms crossed over his chest. "By 'we', I'm assuming you mean you and your soul catcher friends?"
Toshiro nodded, not bothering to correct him on the term. "Yes. Once the school goes full swing, we'll start security surveillance. We're planning on merging forces with you teachers. We'll merge both my team and Urahara's team and divide that in half. One half will sleep for a certain length of time while the other half splits up. A large amount of us will patrol the grounds, from the edge of the forest and the lake, up to the outside walls of the school. The smaller amount of us will assist teachers on inside patrolling. Then, at a specific time, we'll switch with the sleeping crew and repeat the actions."
Snape considered this. "What about the Dementors? I heard you lot fall extremely ill when they're around."
Toshiro nodded. "Yes, that's true. These Dementors eat souls and we're pure souls, just inside a suit, so to speak. Whatever it is they do, it drains us of our energy. I've already written to my boss and he'll get back to me when they've found a solution. However, I'm also letting you know that we'll be out of bed again Sunday night. We found a spell, created by our headmaster and yours, which will merge our swords with our wands. This will help us greatly, mostly because our swords have a soul of their own. Their souls basically merged with ours in a sense and not having them with us is like having half of ourselves gone. Normally we can walk around with our swords just fine while in our gigais. But for some reason, our swords can be seen by the living, which shouldn't be possible but is. I think it has something to do with this school, or the environment, being full of magic and all. But this spell will help with that."
"I see." Snape said thoughtfully. "Very well. I'll relay the news to the headmaster. That all?"
Toshiro nodded. "For now."
Snape gave a curt nod. "Then go." He said and turned back to his desk, signaling the end of the discussion. Toshiro frowned before picking up his bag and heading out the door, removing the silencing spell just before he opened it, and walked out.
In the Great Hall, word had spread about Ichigo and Renji betting each other to get a detention first and Ichigo purposefully antagonizing Snape in order to receive a detention, including mocking Malfoy. Said boy was no longer parading around like a war hero. Now, he was sulking at the Slytherin table, glaring in the direction of the Gryffindor table, and two Gryffindors in particular. How dare they make a mockery of Draco Malfoy? The Malfoys were the purest and most superior of bloodlines, and that meant the utmost respect was required when in their presence. So where did these transfer brats get off calling him a crybaby? Mocking him, making fun of him, making him look stupid? How dare they?
Draco bit into the sandwich he was eating, chewing angrily as he spotted a certain white haired boy. Yes, it all came back to him. He was the influence. He was the one the others seemed to respond to. Draco wasn't stupid. He'd seen the way the others treated him. They treated him with respect, even if that transfer prat, Kurosaki, teased him a lot and acted like he didn't care. They treated him like…like…like a Malfoy! They were treating the kid how they should be treating him! But why? Why was this kid so special? What had he done that made the others respect him so?
"Draco, how's your arm?" Pansy asked in concern.
Draco turned to her. "It's fine." He said tersely.
Pansy followed his gaze as he turned back to glare at Toshiro. "Ooh, you're thinking of a way to get back at the transfers, aren't you? For mistreating a Malfoy? You're planning something good, aren't you?" Pansy looked at him with excited expectation. "I can't wait to see it."
"What are you planning?" Crabbe asked. "What are you going to do?"
"I think you should go for the white haired kid." Blaise Zabini said from the other side of Crabbe, eyeing Toshiro suspiciously. "I don't know. He just strikes me as the one in charge, you know? I bet if you get him, the others will be a piece of cake."
"Ooh, make an example of him, Draco." Pansy encouraged excitedly. "Show him who really runs this school." The others nodded eagerly at him.
Yes. That's just what he was planning on doing. Take out the leader and the rest will follow like lambs to the slaughter. Perfect. Only question was: how to get the kid unawares? He seemed always one step ahead of everyone else. He always seems to keep his cool. But he had to slip up sometime. Draco just had to wait for the opportune moment. He could do that.
After lunch, the Gryffindor third years headed up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, mildly surprised to find that Professor Lupin had yet to show. Neville sat himself down beside Toshiro, who immediately wandered to a seat in the front, right next to the window. Neville turned to him as they began taking their things out of their bags in preparation for class. "You really like windows, don't you?" he asked.
Toshiro shrugged. "Not so much the window as is the outside. I hate being hot. A certain amount of warmth is fine but too much is just too much for me. I'm not saying I'd go wandering around in zero degree weather or anything like that, but I wouldn't mind having the window open every now and then."
Just then, Professor Lupin strode into the room, looking much healthier than he had on the train, Toshiro noticed with an interested look. That was good. He was hoping all the professor needed was a few good meals in his system, instead of actually being sick, as he had looked. He didn't think a sick professor would be safe to teach spells. What if he sneezed in the middle of an incantation and set the room on fire?
"Good afternoon." He said pleasantly, smiling kindly at each of them. "Would you please put all of your books and supplies back in your bags? All you will be needing is your wand, since today's lesson will be a practical. Now please follow me." Then he turned and left the room, the rest of the class standing up and following him. He led them down corridors, passed several paintings and suits of armor, and stopped in the middle of a corridor occupied by what was unmistakably a ghost.
This was the first time any of the shinigami had seen a ghost here in the castle, despite the earlier comment of the ghosts being almost everywhere. Toshiro narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the ghost, which was currently stuffing gum into the keyhole of a door. This ghost looked much different than the ones back home. For one, he was silvery and looked much like a stereotypical ghost, except without the floaty tail. The ghosts back home maintained the appearance of how they looked when they were alive, including their skin color, though they were more transparent than their living selves. For another, he had neither a chain attached to his chest nor a hole where one aught to be. Nor had he been turned into a hollow or eaten by one.
"That's Peeves." Neville whispered, misinterpreting Toshiro's puzzled look. "He's a poltergeist. He haunts the school and always causing trouble and mischief. Filch, the caretaker, is practically at war with him and constantly trying to catch Peeves so he can get him kicked out of the school. The only one able to control him besides the teachers and the headmaster is another ghost, named The Bloody Baron."
"That's the Slytherin ghost, right?" Ichigo said from behind them. He and Renji both wore identical looks to Toshiro.
Neville nodded. "Yeah and he's really scary. He's covered in silvery blood and everyone's to scared of him to ask how he got it. And his eyes are all creepy and black and empty and…I don't like it." Neville shuddered.
The four of them, along with the rest of the class watched as Lupin spoke to Peeves the Poltergeist. Neville looked a bit startled when Peeves began mocking Lupin and blew a raspberry at him. Neville leaned close to Toshiro. "He's never acted like that towards a teacher." He whispered. "He always treats them with respect, even if it is reluctantly."
The class gave a startled shout of awe as Lupin cast a spell, sending the gum up Peeves' nose and sending him floating away, muttering curses as he went. Lupin beckoned the class forward and led them down the rest of the corridor until they arrived outside of the staffroom. Lupin quickly ushered them inside, where they all paused just inside the door when they spotted Snape sitting in an armchair. He turned when they entered and rose to his feet as Lupin made to close the door behind him. "Leave it open." He said airily. He sneered around the room. "I'd rather not witness this."
He headed towards the door but paused before leaving, turning his beady black eyes to Lupin. He spotted Neville standing apprehensively beside Toshiro. His eyes narrowed as he took in the white-haired transfer, who matched his icy look with one of his own. Then his lip curled into a nastier sneer and he turned back to Lupin. "I don't know if anyone's told you, Lupin. But this class contains Neville Longbottom. If you cherish your life and the life of the rest of these students, I'd suggest not giving him something too difficult. He might blow up the classroom."
Neville blushed uncomfortably and Toshiro narrowed his eyes to slits, glaring at him. Beside him, Harry was glaring as well, and behind him, Ichigo and Renji glared. Lupin, however, raised his eyebrows pleasantly, speaking before either of them could tell Snape exactly what they thought. "Is that so? Well I was hoping Neville here could help with the first part of this task, and I'm sure he'll do remarkably well." Neville blushed harder at the vote of confidence and Toshiro smiled at Lupin's back in approval. Finally, a teacher who showed him encouragement instead of criticism.
Toshiro met Snape's eye and gave a small smirk. Told you so. He thought smugly. Snape merely smirked back and left the room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as the class was distracted once more by Professor Lupin ushering them towards the back of the room, Neville leaned towards Toshiro and whispered in his ear. "You know, I think Snape might actually like you." He said in a thoughtful voice. "I've never seen him look at another student like that except maybe his Slytherins. But even them not as much."
"I think Neville's right." Harry said from Toshiro's other side. He looked just as thoughtful as Neville sounded. "He looked more like he was trying to test you. Or challenge you. Or something. But he definitely didn't look like he hated you, like he does to everyone else."
Neville looked Toshiro in the eye. "You think it had something to do with…?" Neville asked, letting the sentence hang meaningfully.
Toshiro shrugged. "It's possible."
"With what?" Harry and Ron asked simultaneously. Harry looked from one to the other. "What happened when?"
"…we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Can you spot it, Harry?" Lupin asked.
Harry gave a start, feeling sheepish for talking in the middle of class. Lupin gave no sign of noticing, waiting pleasantly for Harry to answer his question. "Um, it won't know who to go for because there's so many of us?" Harry said uncertainly.
Lupin nodded. "Exactly. Which is why we're all here together. And that's why it is always good to tackle a boggart with another person. Causes it to become confused. But the best way to defeat a boggart is with laughter. Make it take the shape of something you find amusing."
"Why not just cast a Tickling Charm on whoever is facing it?" Ichigo asked mildly, twirling his wand between his fingers lazily. "I think I read in a book about one. What was it called…Rictusempra?" As soon as Ichigo said the word, the spell shot from his twirling wand, hitting the person it had pointed at when he said it. Renji immediately fell to the ground, laughing uncontrollably and clutching his sides. Ichigo stopped twirling his wand and raised his eyebrows at him in amusement. "Oops."
The class chuckled as Lupin cast the counter spell, releasing Renji from the Tickling Charm. Renji leaped to his feet, breathing heavily and glaring at Ichigo, red-faced. "You idiot!" he yelled, pointing his wand at Ichigo. Toshiro quickly reached up and snatched the wand out of his hand.
"Not now." Toshiro said in a bored tone. He waited for Renji to relax a bit before lazily handing it back.
Lupin cleared his throat. "Yes, well, I suppose that spell could work." He said thoughtfully, his eyes shining with amusement. Toshiro noticed his eyes cloud over for a moment as he watched Renji and Ichigo, looking almost saddened. But just as quickly as it had come, it disappeared, as if it had never been there before. "However, instead of casting the Tickling Charm on each student in turn, as I doubt they would welcome, we will merely practice the more original charm. Without wands first, repeat after me…riddikulus!" The class repeated the word. "Very good. Now for the tricky part."
Professor Lupin turned his gaze to Neville, who shrank back instinctively. "If you could step forward please, Neville?" Neville hesitated for a second before slowly stepping forward until he was standing beside Lupin. "Good. Now, Neville, what would you say scares you the most?"
Neville bit his lip nervously and mumbled inaudibly. Lupin leaned a bit closer. "What was that? You'll have to speak up, I'm afraid."
"P-professor Snape." Neville muttered a bit louder.
"Professor Snape…interesting." Lupin mumbled softly. "You live with your grandmother, do you not?"
Neville nodded. "Yeah, but I would rather it not turn into her either." Toshiro smirked, remembering the way Neville's grandmother had scolded him for loosing his book list when they had first met. Neville caught his eye and flushed, seeming to remember as well.
"No, no. That's not what I meant." Lupin said kindly. "Can you picture the clothes she wears?"
Toshiro thought back to the day he had seen her as Neville named off the things she usually wore. That day, she had worn pretty much the same things Neville was describing now: green dress, tall hat with a stuffed vulture on top, fox-fur scarf, and yes, he even remembered the red handbag she had worn, which she had stuffed Neville's list into instead of handing it back to him when she was finished buying his things.
After Neville had finished naming off her clothing and Lupin had finished instructing him and the entire class on how to tackle the boggart, the class backed away into a wide semicircle around Neville and the wardrobe. Lupin stood off to the side a ways, his wand pointing at the doorknob of the wardrobe. "Just do as I've instructed and you should be fine. Ready? One, two…"
The wardrobe burst open and out stepped Snape, wearing his black robes, with his beady black eyes and stringy black hair hanging like a curtain off his head. He spotted Neville, who trembled and took a step back, and advanced toward him menacingly, giving off a good impression of the real Snape. Neville took a trembling breath and squeaked out "riddikulus!" and there was a sudden pop. The next they knew, Snape was standing in front of them, wearing the clothes Neville's grandmother wore, topped off with the vulture hat. Toshiro resisted the urge to laugh at the sight before him. He had a feeling this image would be imprinted in his long memory for quite some time. The class would never be able to look at Snape the same again, he was sure.
Lupin called the next student, who stepped up passed Neville to tackle the boggart, letting Neville back away until he was standing beside Toshiro once more, watching the rest of the class. Student after student tackled the boggart, each one making it change into something scary to them and then something amusing. But suddenly things went horribly wrong.
Ron had just finished his go with the boggart, making the giant spider it had turned into, lose all eight of its legs and start rolling across the floor. Unfortunately, it had stopped to land right in front of Renji, letting out a loud pop before changing. What they saw next was beyond anything anyone was prepared for. The class stared in horrified shock, frozen in place by the fear that was emanating from Renji's visible fear to the rest of the room, Lupin included. It was beyond anything they could imagine. Several of the girls screamed and slapped their hands to their mouths. Parvati and Lavender covered their eyes fearfully. Ron swore softly, though no one took notice. The majority of the class, Harry included, felt as though they were going to be sick.
A large white gorilla stood in front of him, a long serpent protruding from its backend where a tail should have been. Both were decorated with the same intricate tattoos that could just barely be seen beneath the white headband around his forehead and creeping up the sides of his neck beneath his robes. Both animals were standing a ways away, their backs turned on him. But what terrified him the most, what caused him to remain rooted to the spot in fear, was not only the animals turned away from him, but also the figures before him, between him and the animal pair. A tall, handsome man with shoulder-length black hair decorated with white ornaments stood in front of Renji, wearing a strange black robe with a sleeveless white cloak over his shoulders and a thick white scarf around his neck, a thinner white sash tied around his waist. He stared at Renji, his eyes piercing, accusing. In his arms was a still figure, limp and lifeless, wearing a single white robe, dripping with blood. Rukia.
"Rukia!" Renji called in horror, his eyes traveling to the sword protruding from her chest.
"You killed her, Renji." Byakuya said coldly. "I told you you were weak. You couldn't even save one person. Look at the mess you've made."
"I didn't kill her!" Renji yelled furiously.
"Then why is your sword sticking out of her body?" Byakuya asked.
Renji's blood ran cold. It was his sword! But why? How? It wasn't possible! "I didn't." he whispered in denial. "I couldn't have."
"You did. Why else do you think they won't even look at you?" Byakuya turned his head to the animals behind him and back to Renji, who was trembling in fear. "You failed to protect her. You promised her you would. You're a liar. A weak liar. She was better off not knowing you. But now she's dead. And it's all your fault, Renji. You have no one to blame but yourself."
"That's not true, Byakuya!" Ichigo shouted. He stepped up beside Renji, placing a hand on his chest and gently pushing him away from the boggart. Immediately, there was a pop and once again there was screaming and cursing and cries of horror from around the room. Renji's eyes glazed over and he numbly stepped back until his back collided with the wall. Then he slowly sank down to the ground and placed his hands on his head.
Ichigo froze, his eyes widening in terror at the scene before him. Lying face-down on the ground, blood seeping through the back of her shirt, limbs positioned awkwardly, was a woman with long wavy hair flowing across her back and onto the ground, mixing with her blood. Behind her, three more figures lay on the ground, blood seeping from their bodies to the ground, flowing together and forming one giant puddle. Ichigo stared down at the lifeless bodies of his family, his mother, his twin sisters, and his father.
Suddenly a cold laugh echoed in his ears and he looked up, his heart catching in his throat. It was like looking into a black and white mirror. A replica of Ichigo stood before them all, except his entire body was a pale grey, his hair was white, his clothes were white, and his eyes were black, empty, hollow. He sneered at Ichigo, holding up his bloody hands for the room to see. "What do you think, King? Is red my color?"
Ichigo's fists clenched tightly. "YOU BASTARD!" he shouted in outrage. "What did you do?"
"Exactly what I wanted." The other Ichigo said with an evil cackle. "I destroyed you. You're gone, King. You're nothing. I've finally taken over at last. And it's all thanks to you. I couldn't have done it without you, see?" He chuckled and licked some of the blood from the back of his hand.
"You sick bastard! I'd never help you!" Ichigo shouted. "You're a liar!"
"Am I, King? Am I really? Well, if you don't believe me, just ask Zangetsu." Evil Ichigo stepped aside, allowing Ichigo to see the man standing behind him. The man was dressed in a tattered black cloak, with shoulder-length messy black hair, stubble along the jaw line of his haggard face and a strange pair of glasses over his eyes. Many people screamed Sirius Black, and even Lupin instinctively lifted his wand before remembering that this wasn't real.
The man stared at Ichigo through his odd glasses. "I thought you were stronger than this, Ichigo. Yet you were so weak, instead of fighting, you gave up. You gave me away. He killed your family because of you. You're too weak to wield me, Ichigo."
"That's not true! I didn't give up!" Ichigo shouted. "I wouldn't give up, no matter what."
"You already did." Zangetsu said and then abruptly turned his back on him.
"Zangetsu!" Ichigo cried.
Evil Ichigo stepped back in front of Zangetsu. "You see, King? It's over. I won. You're finished. Just like your family." Evil Ichigo raised a hand and aimed a punch at one of his sisters.
"No!" Ichigo shouted. One of the girls in the room shrieked and hid her face behind her hands.
"Ichigo!" Toshiro shouted. He stepped behind Ichigo and grabbed his arm, attempting to turn him around, to face away from the scene before the punch could connect. Ichigo tried to yank his arm away but only managing to succeed in pulling Toshiro forward until he was standing partly in front of him. This was what Toshiro had been trying to avoid. But it was too late.
There was another pop and another gruesome scene laid itself out before the horrified class, this one so horrifying that no one made a sound. Ichigo backed away from the scene and slumped down beside Renji, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to force the image away. Toshiro didn't notice, too engrossed was he in the scene played out before him. There was snow covering the ground in front of Toshiro, most of the white splashed with a dark red. An old bald man with a crisscross scar across his head stood before him, his eyes nearly shut, wearing a long white boomerang shaped mustache, a long pointed beard hanging down to the white sash wrapped around the waist of his strange black robe, and long pointed eyebrows. A thick, knobby wooden cane stood in the snow, reaching up to his chest, his hands placed lightly on top of the head of the cane, which was nearly as thick as his own head.
Between the old man and Toshiro, who had gone, if possible, even more pale than he already was, looking almost transparent as he gazed at the bodies that lay in the snow. Each was covered in blood, so much blood, and all of them staring blankly up at him, staring accusingly, their lifeless eyes boring into his own horror-filled ones. Rangiku. Momo. Ukitake. And…no! Neville! Toshiro stared down at them, his teal eyes wide in fear, such powerful fear, more than he had ever felt at one time in his entire existence. How? How had this happened? Who…? No. It isn't real. It's not real. It's not…
Toshiro's eyes snapped up from the lifeless bodies to Yamamoto as he spoke. "This is your doing, Hitsugaya." He said sagely. "Because of your incompetence, you have failed. And it ended up costing the lives of the innocent; the lives of those who trusted you, who had unwisely placed their faith in you. A misplaced faith; a misplaced trust. They are dead because of you. Look at them. See the lives you have destroyed."
Toshiro shook his head slowly. "No." he whispered fearfully.
"Toshiro, it's not real!" Neville cried, snapping out of his horrified stance. He didn't like the fear in Toshiro's eyes, the pain. But most of all, he didn't like the look of acceptance. Toshiro was believing everything the old man was saying, who was, like the people in the other scenes, speaking English, allowing the others in the room to understand what was being said.
"I should have known better than to trust something so imperative to a meager child. You are not worthy of life." The old man continued to say, drilling his words into Toshiro's skull. "Why should you get to live while others die meaningless deaths because of your own incompetence? I have no further use of one so worthless. You should just end it now." The old man reached into one of the wide sleeves of the outer white robe he wore over the black and pulled out a small but sharp dagger, its silver hilt shining with jewels in his strong hands, the sharp point of the blade pointed straight at Toshiro's heart.
"Toshiro, no!" Neville cried desperately. But Toshiro did not seem to hear him, his eyes zeroing in on the dagger, becoming transfixed on the tip of the blade.
"End it. You do not deserve to live. Destroy yourself and rid us of your useless presence, Toshiro Hitsugaya!" Toshiro took a step closer, the point of the blade coming dangerously close to his chest. Yamamoto was right. Why should he live? The others died because of him. He should just end it. He did not deserve to live. He took another step, the sharp point touching the front of his robes.
"NO!" Neville and Harry rushed forward, Neville seizing Toshiro from behind, wrapping his arms around Toshiro's waist, and lifted him up, carrying him bodily away from the boggart. Harry stepped in front of Toshiro, trying to push him back away from the point of the dagger. Another pop was heard and Harry spun around, ready to face the boggart, but Lupin suddenly rushed in front of him. Another loud pop and suddenly a white orb floated in front of them. Lupin yelled "riddikulus!" and the orb deflated, falling to the ground in the form of a cockroach.
"Neville, finish it off!" Lupin commanded.
Neville stepped forward, an angry expression on his face. He glared up at the now boggart Snape, feeling furious for what it made Toshiro and the others witness. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, pointing his wand at the Snape's chest. The boggart once more wore his grandmother's clothing before Neville let out a loud "Ha!" and the boggart exploded into a cloud of smoke.
There was an eerie, uneasy silence in the room, the entire class looking at the three transfers in horror and sympathy. Several of the girls sobbed quietly into their hands covering their face. Ichigo and Renji still sat on the floor next to the wall, their knees drawn up to their chests and their wrists resting on their knees. Renji gazed mournfully at the ground between his legs, his chin resting on his wrists, while Ichigo glared furiously at his hands, clenched in tight fists. Toshiro continued to stand where Neville had released him, a haunted look clouding his teal eyes, his body stiffened unnervingly. Their fears seemed so dismal compared to the transfers'. Just what had they experienced that made them have fears like those?
Neville strode over to Toshiro and placed his hands on the white-haired boy's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "Toshiro." Neville said firmly. "Toshiro, look at me." Toshiro slowly lifted his vacant eyes to Neville's, not really seeing. "It wasn't real. You hear me? It was not real. I'm right here and I'm not dead. Rangiku isn't dead either. And neither are the other two people you saw. None of it was real. It was the boggart, remember? It played your fears. It. Was. Not. Real." He pronounced each last word with a gentle but firm shake of Toshiro's shoulders.
"It wasn't real." Toshiro mumbled. He blinked slowly, his eyes clearing, and shook his head, as if trying to clear it. Then he reached up and gently unhooked Neville's hands from his shoulders, backing away slightly. "Excuse me." He said softly, stiffly bowing to the room at large, and then whirled around and strode briskly out the door without a backward glance.
"Toshiro, wait!" Neville called, but by the time he reached the doorway, Toshiro had gone.
"Leave him." Renji said softly, his voice monotone, his eyes hollow. "Just give him some air. Don't pester."
Lupin cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, let's see. Five points to Gryffindor for every student who faced the boggart, ten for Neville for doing it twice, and five each to Hermione and Harry for answering my questions in the beginning. Homework is to read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it. To be handed in on Monday. Class dismissed except for our two remaining transfers." The class slowly began gathering their things in silence, shooting nervous and saddened glances at Ichigo and Renji out of the corner of their eyes as they passed. Harry and Neville lingered, gazing sorrowfully at the two, wanting to help but not knowing how. Hermione and Ron hovered at the door for Harry, their eyes filled with worry for Ichigo and Renji, neither having moved from their seats by the wall.
Lupin stepped up to the lingering pair and gently but firmly ushered them to the door. "Don't worry." He said softly. "They'll be fine. I'll talk to them. Go, enjoy dinner. And Neville," Neville looked up at him. "Can I trust you to inform Toshiro of the homework assignment? And to let him know that if he needs to speak to me, that I am available? Let him know that I will be speaking to his two companions right now. And give him some support but don't pry or push." Neville nodded firmly and he and Harry left the room with Ron and Hermione.
Lupin sighed and shut the door before casting a silencing spell on it and striding back to Ichigo and Renji. He quietly cast a levitation spell, brought two of the low armchairs to place themselves on either side of the pair, and then brought one more for himself. "Please, take a seat." He said, gesturing to the chairs as he sat in his own. "They must be more comfortable than the floor, I'd imagine."
Mutely, Ichigo and Renji stood up from the floor and slumped down into the armchairs, Renji's eyes continuing to stare blankly into space while Ichigo glared at the floor, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. Lupin waited several moments but when it looked as if neither of them would speak, he sighed and broke the silence. "Do either of you want to share anything? I'm all ears and I assure you, whatever is said won't leave this room. But you know how the rumor mill works. Before the end of dinner, the entire school will know about the occurrence in this class today, including the teachers and the headmaster. I'm not trying to goad you into saying anything, but it would be nice to know the truth instead of relying on the imaginations of teenagers."
"We each have a personal fear." Renji said in an empty voice, eyes never leaving his hands folded in his lap. "Someone we wish to protect. Friends, family members. And our personal fear of incompetence. Failing to protect. Failing something we worked so hard to do our whole lives or so."
"Things have happened in our past, or things that are supposed to happen later." Ichigo said. "We're currently at war with one of our own. Actually he's one of their own, rather than mine, but he's a Soul Reaper. He turned evil and is trying to destroy Soul Society. He's everyone's enemy right now. He's been digging into everyone's sore spots since we've met him. Most of our fears were already in existence, just enhanced because of him."
Renji looked up and turned his blank stare to Ichigo. "I don't think we should be talking about this to outsiders." He blinked owlishly at Lupin. "No offense."
Lupin nodded. "None taken."
"It's just that these are Soul Society matters. I'm not so sure this is appropriate to talk about to anyone other than each other." Renji shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure Captain Hitsugaya wants us to reveal too much."
Lupin nodded in understanding. "I quite understand. How are you feeling now? I just wanted to get you two talking, break you out of your depression. You seemed to really need to talk."
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, it did help a bit. I'm not really used to talking about stuff like this."
Renji shook his head. "Me neither. I don't think any of us are. I usually talk to Rukia, if I talk to anyone at all. Otherwise I'll talk to two of my friends, Ikkaku and Yumichika. Rukia is a bit the same; she'll either talk to me, Ichigo, or Captain Ukitake. Rangiku usually talks to Captain Ukitake as well. And sometimes she talks to Captain Hitsugaya… I mean Toshiro. and Toshiro, as far as I know, talks to Rangiku and Captain Ukitake." Renji paused and frowned thoughtfully. "Actually, I think everyone talks to Captain Ukitake. He's just really kind and understanding. He listens to everyone and always tries to help where he can. Even I've spoken to him a few times."
"I haven't but he seems like someone good to talk to." Ichigo muttered. "And I know Rukia looks up to him a lot. Then again, he is her captain. Still…"
Lupin smiled softly, glad to hear them slowly regaining their confidence and putting their earlier fears aside for the moment. "I'd hate to bring this back up again, but about the fears you witnessed today. I was trying to show you that now that you are no longer in front of them, they don't seem so bad, do they?" Renji and Ichigo shook their heads. "I believe that you two, and your friends, are strong enough to over-come your fears. I know it will take some time, as your fears are so much more intense than the rest of the students. But you can do it. It just takes time and determination."
Ichigo suddenly stood up, startling the other two. "I will overcome this. I'm not going to fail. I know I won't."
Renji nodded and stood up as well. "Me too. I'll prove myself to Zabimaru. I'll prove to him I can wield him."
"And Zangetsu." Ichigo nodded firmly. Then he blinked and groaned, slumping back onto the chair. "Oh, crud. I forgot to write back to my sisters yesterday morning or this morning. I'm definitely going to hear it tomorrow morning. Yuzu's going to throw a fit and I have a feeling if Karin knew how to send curses through the mail, she would."
Renji laughed teasingly. "You're screwed."
Ichigo glared at him. "Shut up. I'll take care of it."
"Well, now that that's taken care of, shall we go down to dinner?" Lupin asked.
Ichigo and Renji nodded enthusiastically as their stomachs gave loud grumbles. Lupin laughed pleasantly and the three of them headed out the door and down to the Great Hall. Two of the transfer students seemed to have survived pretty well with their experiences with the boggart. But Lupin hoped that Neville would be able to help Toshiro. He seemed to take his experience pretty hard and Lupin hoped he would be alright, mentally and physically. Hopefully.
A/N: Sorry this was so much longer than usual. Probably the second longest chapter I've written for this story so far, but I wanted to try my hand at making the Soul Reapers more influential in the storyline. And I was so eager to finally get the boggart scene up. I had planned on putting it in this chapter but I hadn't planned on making this chapter so long. Also, I'm not sure if the boggart can change into more than one thing like I had it do here, nor am I sure it can talk but I made it do both here. Hope no one minds but I couldn't find the information anywhere that said otherwise. I know it can make sound because of the boggart scene in the book where it let out a wail when it turned into a banshee for Seamus. But, we'll see. Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think about all this. Thanks!
*Gaijin ~ foreigner