A/N I am soo sorry for the lateness of my update today. I can only say that I was busy and I forgot... Next time I'll try to get it up earlier in the day.
Chapter Four
Hitsugaya browsed through a potions text as Granger and Lily chattered quietly in the background of their compartment on the Hogwarts Express. The Weasley boy was occupied with his owl, who had taken it upon himself to annoy Hedwig, or, as she was now known, Shirahana. The name didn't really fit her current coloring, but it didn't really matter as the students at Hogwarts most likely wouldn't know Japanese anyway.
Lily had also changed her name, although in her case she only switched languages. Therefore, she was now called Hitsugaya Yuri. Since she was going to Hogwarts as a professor, it would have been hard to meet with her regularly, but no one would care if a mother and son met all the time.
He just wished they didn't have to pretend to be related. No matter what she said, she wasn't really his mother. He remembered his parents; had known them before he died.
He didn't know James and Lily.
"But you have the perfect opportunity to," Hyourinmaru said softly.
Hitsugaya sighed inwardly. "I know."
Nothing more was said on the matter.
Weasley looked over at him. "Huh?"
"I wasn't talking to you."
"Er… oh," he thought for a second. "Want a round of exploding snap? Or we could play chess…"
He shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He put away his book as Weasley took out a deck of cards. Granger and Lily both joined in. Hitsugaya was sure James would have, except he was actually in another compartment. As they weren't supposed to know each other, James felt that he should go sit with what would be his year mates for the next few months. Granger and Weasley were only here because they had insisted on staying with him. He wasn't sure why; they'd most likely be seeing a lot of each other at Hogwarts anyway.
The compartment door slammed open.
Draco Malfoy sauntered inside, his lips curled in a sneer. "Well if it isn't the Mudblood and the Weasel." His eyes traveled to Hitsugaya. "What's this? Potter's replacement?" He took in the white hair and Asian features. "Just traded one freak for another…"
"Malfoy, you ferret! Get out!" Weasley snarled, hand in a white-knuckled grip around his wand. Granger was also on her feet, eyes narrowed and looking ready to curse.
"Why should I?"
"Because," Lily said, standing from her position on the floor, "Slytherin will be starting with their House points in the negatives if you don't."
"And who are you?"
"Professor Hitsugaya, your new defense against the dark arts teacher," her expression tightened, "and that is my son you are insulting."
Malfoy's eyes widened. He sneered again and left the compartment without another word.
Hitsugaya glanced at Lily, but said nothing. He knew that she hadn't been acting, not in the least. It was simply easier to pretend that she had been. He didn't need a mother.
Weasley rounded on Hitsugaya. "Why didn't you do anything? That little prick totally had it in for you!"
He almost rolled his eyes. "Would it have been any better if I had? Yuri handled it just fine. You know," he added, "this is why I didn't want to sit with you. If Malfoy figures out who I am simply because you two act too familiar with me, I assure you, the results will be less than pleasant."
Weasley turned an alarming shade of red. He sat down and muttered something rather uncomplimentary in Hitsugaya's general direction.
Hitsugaya sighed. This was going to be a long train ride.
It was dark by the time they reached Hogwarts. Lily, James, Granger, and Weasley all headed toward the carriages being pulled by strange, winged horses while Hitsugaya went to the boats with the other first years. He grimaced, suddenly realizing that he was going to be stuck at a boarding school with eleven year olds, pretending to be an eleven year old. It made him a little sick just thinking about it.
The castle was a sight to see. Its towering figure made for an intimidating picture, and its grand windows reflecting the starlight made it beautiful. What was most impressive, however, was the feeling of sheer power emanating from the building and the surrounding landscape. The feeling only intensified the closer they got to the castle. As they approached the main doors, Hitsugaya wondered if it might pose a problem. The power, much like Kurosaki's reiatsu, might cloud their senses if they weren't careful.
The inside of the castle was nearly as impressive. The grand, hallowed halls made the interior feel larger than it really was. Shadows flickered in the torchlight, casting an ethereal look upon the place.
Hitsugaya felt for his comrade's reiatsu, pleased when he could easily pick it out through the heady feeling of magic. The differences between the two made it easier, he supposed. He would have to look more into it later.
A stern faced witch appeared in the Entrance Hall then. Hitsugaya recognized her as one of the members of the Order, and idly wondered how many teachers Dumbledore had managed to con into joining. She looked rather imposing in a strict, no-nonsense kind of way; something he was familiar with as a tactic both he and Kuchiki-taicho used to scare their subordinates into doing their jobs. If only it would work on Matsumoto…
The first years all stood silent as McGonagall gave her speech on the four Houses of Hogwarts and the point system. Hitsugaya was amused, knowing that many were too nervous to do anything else and knowing that it wouldn't last a week.
They all followed her into the Great Hall. He took in the hundreds of floating candles and the ceiling, both slightly impressed at their beauty and irritated at their impracticality. Not that Soul Society was much better, to be honest.
McGonagall strode to the front of the Hall and carefully placed an old, tattered hat onto a stool. It sprung to life as she stepped back, a tear near the brim opening wide as it began to sing. It told of the values each of the four Houses valued and added a tiny verse at the end about uniting the school. Hitsugaya wondered if that was even possible, considering how deeply prejudices ran in the wizarding world. Even in Hogwarts such prejudices were vast, and it showed in the division between the Houses, Slytherin in particular.
Dumbledore stood from his seat at the head table. "Now, before we begin tonight's sorting we have a new student to introduce. He will be joining our current seventh years so everyone please give transfer student Jonathan Patterson a warm welcome."
There was polite applause as James sauntered over to the Sorting Hat, grinning and waving and generally attracting as much attention as he could. He even took a little bow before taking his seat on a stool meant for eleven year olds. McGonagall had her lips pursed as she placed the Hat on his head, looking like she'd rather be doing anything but. Hitsugaya didn't blame her; she was, after all, admitting one of the Marauders back into school as a student. By the look on James's face, he knew what she was thinking too.
There was silence for a minute as the Hat conversed with James. Finally the tear opened wide and it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
The table on the far right erupted into cheers and James all but skipped to it, cheerful and unsurprised. He sat down next to a group of seventeen year olds and almost immediately struck up an enthusiastic conversation with them, only stopping when McGonagall gave them all a stern glare. She smoothed the list in her hand and read aloud, "Altair, Michael."
Hitsugaya waited impatiently until she got to the 'H' section on her list. "Hitsugaya, Toshiro."
He walked up the stool and sat down, ignoring the whispers that were undoubtedly caused by his unusual appearance. McGonagall placed the Hat on his head and he felt a wave of irritation as it slipped past his eyes. It had fit James just fine.
'My, my, what do we have here? Another shinigami, eh?'
Hitsugaya stiffened as the Hat spoke to him. He had known this would happen, of course (James and Lily had both informed him), but it was still unnerving. Hyourinmaru didn't like it either, but allowed the Hat entry into his mind anyway.
'Oh, I have sorted you before, haven't I? I suppose you agree that Gryffindor is no longer the place for you?'
'I don't care, Hat. Just sort me already so that we can be done with it.'
'As you wish,' the Hat pondered for a moment. 'Courage, definitely and also cunning. There is also loyalty… Slytherin would still suit you well. However, I feel that another House would be best for you. May you be aided in your pursuit of knowledge in RAVENCLAW!'
Hitsugaya jumped off the stool and swept the Hat off his head, glad to have only the presence of Hyourinmaru in his mind again. The third table from the right was applauding, though definitely without the same enthusiasm the Gryffindors had shown James.
He took his seat next to a blonde girl sitting by herself and clearly from another year. He'd be damned if he spent any more time next to bratty eleven year old children than he absolutely had to. She gazed at him with curiously blank, protuberant eyes. "I see that you've had a recent infestation of winged bollyglogs."
He couldn't help it. He stared at her. "What?"
"Bollyglogs," she repeated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She tugged at a lock of his hair and he swatted her hand away. "They come to take your chain away," she smiled. Hitsugaya froze. "If you're not careful, you'll end up looking like a ghost!"
"I… have it under control," he muttered, unnerved. Chain? As in Soul Chain? Did she know?
"That's good. I'm Luna Lovegood," she said cheerfully.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya," he replied, grimacing slightly at having to say his name backwards. English was such a strange language.
"Yes, I know."
They got into the flow of conversation, chatting quietly throughout the rest of the sorting. It was surprisingly comfortable to talk to the girl, despite (or perhaps because of) her unusual views and knowledge.
As soon as the sorting ended Dumbledore gave a speech on the forbidden areas on the grounds and Quidditch tryouts, among other things. He also introduced Lily, or Professor Hitsugaya, who was thankfully far less exuberant than her husband. By that point even Hitsugaya was getting hungry, and he was glad when the food appeared on the table. Soon enough it was time for the students to head to the dormitories, and a Ravenclaw prefect led the way to their tower. Luna had decided to stay by Hitsugaya, even though the rest of the older students had already gone ahead.
"This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw dormitories," the prefect said, and pointed at a knocker shaped like an eagle. "Instead of a password, us Ravenclaws will need to either answer a question about magic or solve a riddle." The prefect demonstrated as the knocker gave him a riddle. The door to the common room opened and they entered.
The Ravenclaw tower was an airy circular room with a domed ceiling. Stars were scattered across the ceiling and carpet, and large, arched windows proudly showed the real stars outside. Directly across from them was a statue of a crowned female witch. The whole place was done in the House colors, but was nonetheless inviting.
"To your right are the boys' dorms; girls' dorms are on the left. Each dorm room is marked by year. If you have any questions you can come to one of us," the prefect said, referring to him and his female counterpart. He headed to the fifth year dorm, leaving the first years on their own. Hitsugaya dodged his fellow first years and explored the common room for a few minutes before deciding to turn in. Tomorrow was sure to be a long day.
That statement turned out to be all too true. The next morning had already started out terribly, with an alarm blaring in his ears and eleven year olds tripping over each other and getting in his way. After finally pushing his way through a group of tired children Hitsugaya quickly changed into his robes and headed for the Great Hall. He sincerely hoped that this was not what it would be like every morning, or he might find himself sleeping in the common room.
Before he had even set foot out of the tower he noticed one very important little detail about his classmates.
They were all taller than him. Even the other first years, dammit. (1) He cursed and was in a completely foul mood by the time he reached the Ravenclaw table, where Professor Flitwick was already passing out timetables. Flitwick. Flitwick who was at least half a foot shorter than him. Thank God.
He was in a much better mood as he collected his schedule and sat down for breakfast.
Lovegood appeared soon after, drifting over to him with an absent smile on her face. He nodded at her as she sat next to him, content to just sit and eat in silence. The other Ravenclaws gave the duo weird looks as they passed by and clearly avoided settling down anywhere near them. Apparently Lovegood was something of a pariah, and now he was as well by proxy. Wonderful.
Oh well. It's not as if he was here to make friends anyway. He glanced down at his schedule, noting that today he had Transfiguration with the Hufflepuffs first, followed by History, lunch, Potions, and Astronomy. There were no classes he shared with either the Gryffindors or Slytherins.
Granger and Weasley both entered the Great Hall then. Weasley turned an angry red when he caught sight of him and Granger looked uncomfortable. He wondered what he had done.
The bell rang and he muttered a goodbye to Lovegood, grabbing his books and heading toward the Transfiguration classroom. He found it with little difficulty, having procured the Marauder's Map when Lupin had given him all of his old things.
The class itself passed slowly, with the exception of McGonagall's transformation at the start (and even that wasn't as impressive as it could have been, as Hitsugaya had seen Yoruichi transform before). The lecture on beginner's Transfiguration was similarly disappointing, as he had read many of his books (including the ones he had collected as Harry) during the month before school started. Then McGonagall passed out matchsticks, and told them to turn them into needles. He did.
Glancing around, he noticed no one else was done yet. Bored, he tapped his fake wand against his needle and changed it back into a matchstick, before transforming it into a needle again. He repeated this process several times before anyone noticed what he was doing. This earned him ten points to Ravenclaw, as well as several jealous and slightly hostile looks from the other first years, who, at best, had made theirs metallic or pointy. It was worth it, though, because he was the only one who didn't have any homework to deal with later.
History was dull, and the ghost that taught it seemed to suffer from memory deficiency. Fortunately lunch was next, as Hitsugaya didn't think he'd been this bored since he had gone to the Academy.
Lily was smiling at him from the head table as he reached the Great Hall. He knew why, too. Whispers followed him as he made his way to the Ravenclaw table; rumors were already starting about him being too intelligent. That would only get worse later, because there was absolutely no way he was dumbing himself down the level of an eleven year old for anything or anyone. But he could deal with being called 'tensai' again.
Potions class could be summed up in a single word: terrible. The potions themselves were fairly easy to make, and his classmates weren't so bad either. It was the teacher that was what made the class nigh unbearable.
Snape, the same, greasy-haired filth from the Order meeting, had seen fit to dock him points before he'd even sat down. Of course it was for something stupid, too; namely, his hair color, which Hitsugaya knew that Snape knew was perfectly natural and not bleached or dyed or spelled in any way shape or form. It had only gotten worse after that, with the bastard docking him points continually for imaginary offenses and things that weren't even in the rulebook. He knew, because he'd read the damned thing. Snape had also made sure to let the class hear him make snide comments about him for the entire period. His classmates looked like they weren't sure whether to be sympathetic at the clearly unfair treatment, or furious at the sheer amount of points he lost during that single hour.
Honestly, the man was the most juvenile, unprofessional moron he had ever had the misfortune to lay eyes on. It didn't help that the man was an absolutely terrible teacher. What kind of instructor merely pointed at a list instructions and said 'do it?' Half of these students didn't know a thing about potions making!
Hitsugaya could barely resist the temptation to just turn the man into a human ice sculpture, especially since Hyourinmaru agreed.
He was the first out of the classroom when the bell rang.
There was a lot of free time that afternoon, as Astronomy wouldn't take place until late that night, when the stars were more easily visible. Hitsugaya was glad of that, because he needed that time to cool his temper.
He absently wandered around the castle, making note of prominent locations as he worked his way up toward Ravenclaw's tower from the dungeons. As he passed through the second floor corridor, he felt himself fall into another memory. He wearily splashed through the corridor, trying to ignore the worried glances of his friends. If he had known what their reaction to him hearing the voice from the walls would be, he wouldn't have told them. And the deathday party… that had been a particularly awful experience that he never wanted to repeat.
He looked up. There was a cat, frozen stiff and hanging from a torch bracket. Writing was painted in blood on the walls. The sound of stamping feet reached their ears…
The scene changed.
He and Ron were running with a blond man, Lockhart, to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. When they got there, they started searching, asking Myrtle how she had died. He found a tiny serpent carved on a sink. He hissed, telling it to open, and it did. They had found the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Foolishly, they jumped into the darkness.
The memory transformed once more.
Poisonous green scales scraped along a stone floor. He closed his eyes, making his way blind through the damp chamber. A flash of fire, and a hat was in his grasp. Gryffindor's sword nearly knocked him out and he pulled it from the Sorting Hat. A bird tore at the eyes of the serpent until it was blinded and bloody.
He felt himself swing upward with little grace or force, the serpent itself driving the blade into its skull while he merely aimed. A fang pierced his arm and the world blurred out of focus. Hot liquid seeped into the wound, eerie music playing in the background; birdsong.
Hitsugaya's head spun as he fought himself back to awareness, and he had to lean on the wall for support. He panted heavily for a minute, disoriented. His head felt like it was trying to split in two.
He waited for a moment for the sharp ache to subside, and thought back onto what he had just seen. That last memory had been familiar. He'd first remembered that one when Dumbledore had given him Gryffindor's sword. The other two, however, he had never seen before.
He felt his headache dull with Hyourinmaru's cool, comforting presence. 'Are you okay?'
"Yes," he murmured. "I'm fine. That was just a little… too much to take in at once."
'Three separate memories at the same time…'
"Yeah… This can't keep up, Hyourinmaru," he whispered, tone slightly incredulous. "It's affecting my ability to function properly. I nearly fainted just now."
He felt the dragon begin to reply when an angry redhead nearly bowled him over before dragging him into a classroom.
"Weasley!" he yelled, wincing as he felt his head flare with pain. He lowered his voice. "What the hell are you doing?"
Weasley ignored his question, instead giving him one of his own. Loudly. "What are you doing with those bloody bookworms?"
"What? And quiet down, Weasley, I have a headache."
Granger, who had followed the pair of them inside, interpreted. "What he means is why did you choose to be sorted into Ravenclaw? I mean," she bit her lip, "we wouldn't have blown your cover. We do know how to keep secrets."
He stared at them. Was that why they'd been acting funny all morning? "Choose? I let the Sorting Hat decide where it wanted to put me. It had nothing to do with your ability or inability to keep secrets."
"But you said…"
"And while it is true that it will be harder for you to act familiarly with me while I'm in another House, that is not why I went there," he interrupted. "Of course, dragging me into a classroom really doesn't help," he added bitingly. He couldn't help it; these two were making his headache about ten times worse than it had been just a minute ago.
"Harry…"
"Don't call me that!" he snapped, glancing around quickly to make sure no one else was there. "I'm not Harry, I haven't been in over eighty years, and I will not be ever again. I'm sorry if you thought I would be the same as I was just because I happen to have the same soul, but I'm not. I'm not a Gryffindor. I'm not the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm not even really a wizard. Hell, I'm not even alive! I am not Harry fucking Potter!" he exploded, the temper he'd been reigning in all day finally getting the better of him. His head pounded fiercely, made worse by all of his yelling.
He immediately felt somewhat guilty as he took in Weasley's and Granger's ashen faces, but refused to apologize. Maybe he shouldn't have said it so harshly, but they needed to realize that he wasn't going to be someone other than he was, not for anyone.
He stormed out of the room and past a wide-eyed James, who'd been standing by the door. He didn't stop until he reached the library, grabbing a random book and all but slamming it open.
What a fucking wonderful first day of school.
A/N (1) This is true! The average height for both male and female eleven year olds is four feet nine inches, and Hitsugaya is only four feet four inches. It makes me laugh. Also, the average height of a person with dwarfism (a.k.a. a midget) is around four feet, therefore Flitwick is likely to be shorter Hitsugaya, though not by much.