Chapter Seven
The next month and a half passed by in a haze of research and memories. The flashbacks were coming more frequently now, though they tended to hurt less. Hitsugaya wasn't sure whether this was a good sign or not.
There had been no sign of the Dark Lord ever since his initial attack on Diagon Alley. While some thought that this was a good thing, most, including and especially the Order of the Phoenix, knew that Voldemort was up to something.
Relationships with Weasley and Granger had been even more strained ever since the Order meeting over a month ago. They both thought that they were in the right by trying to help, even if they knew that the way they had gone about it was wrong. And perhaps that was true, but Hitsugaya wasn't about to forget what Weasley had done. Now that Voldemort knew he was back, he was going to have to be doubly careful to keep his identity, or former identity anyway, a secret. Not only that, but this would undoubtedly shift Voldemort's attention back to Hogwarts, as that was the most likely place he'd be hiding. Which was, unfortunately, exactly where he was.
Voldemort was obsessed with the prophecy, and therefore Harry by proxy. He was going to do everything in his power to destroy him. It was that simple.
Hitsugaya sighed, dragging his thoughts back to the book he was reading. He'd never get anywhere if he kept distracting himself.
He idly flipped through the pages, hoping to catch a glimpse of something useful. He hadn't gotten very far in his research on the Founders. Despite their apparent fame, very little was actually known about them other than that they were powerful and had worked together to create Hogwarts. Not even their actual blood-status was known, though the purebloods certainly attempted to make everyone think that the four were from long lines.
This meant that there was basically almost nothing on any special items that might have belonged to the Founders, apart from one passage he had found about an enchanted diadem belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw. Unfortunately, there was so little on the crown's whereabouts, even mere speculation, that he doubted he'd be able to locate it.
Therefore he had begun his perusal of Voldemort's, or Tom Riddle he had since learned, memories. It was difficult, especially when he started having flashbacks in the middle of viewing them in his pensieve, but he managed to glean at least a little bit about his opponent.
Namely, Hufflepuff's Cup.
Finding out where the Cup was, however, was turning out to be even more frustrating than locating the Diadem. He hadn't even found any references to it anywhere outside of the memories. (And he had to wonder, just where had Dumbledore gotten those anyway?)
Hitsugaya all but slammed the book closed, earning a dirty look from Madame Pince. He was getting absolutely nowhere. He paused as he left the library, vaguely recalling something from the flashbacks he had when giving Matsumoto a tour of the castle.
Perhaps it was time to check out this Room of Requirements.
As it was a Friday, Hitsugaya's schedule had a free period before dinner, instead of the usual four classes. Being a first year was convenient for some things, he supposed; he didn't have to deal with the extra classes offered to third years and above.
He decided to use the time to explore the capabilities of the Room of Requirements. From what he remembered, the Room was particularly useful; if he thought about it, the Room could provide him with a number of references pertaining to his research. What he didn't know, though, and intended to find out, was the limits on what the Room could provide. If it only showed him the texts from the library, there wouldn't be any new material for him to look through. It all depended on where the Room got its materials.
Perhaps he'd get lucky. The Room of Requirements was a part of Hogwarts, and therefore built by the Founders, after all.
He felt two people coming up behind him and he hesitated before continuing at a slightly faster pace.
"Um, Hitsugaya?"
He stopped. "Yes, Granger?"
"Well, we, that is, Ron and I would like to apologize."
He sighed and gestured them to follow him to an empty classroom. This wasn't something the whole of Hogwarts needed to hear about.
Granger closed the door after them, eyes flicking nervously at him. Honestly, he wasn't that scary. Well, maybe.
"We really are sorry, mate," Weasley mumbled. "I didn't mean…"
Hitsugaya sighed and interrupted. "I know you didn't mean to. The fact is that you did. You have to know the consequences of your actions, particularly in a war. One misstep could mean your life… or someone else's," he added softly.
"We know," Granger said. "We just wanted to help."
"If you really want to help, ask first. I'm sure we could come up with something useful for you to do… without risking your lives."
"It's just… the three of us, we always used to do these things together, and it always turned out okay in the end. We helped each other. That was the way things worked," she looked frustrated.
"We probably just got lucky. We were all inexperienced back then; you two still are. Dumbledore-san should never have rewarded us for breaking the rules, no matter the results. All it did was encourage poor behavior, and look where that's gotten us now. We were extremely fortunate that it wasn't more serious than it is."
"More serious?" Weasley asked.
"Yes. You could have died."
He made a face. "I would gladly die to help put that bastard six feet under!"
"Are you sure about that? What you have to realize, Weasley, is that the Order is doing this for you. Maybe not just you, personally, but for every child they see that could be harmed in this war. And you put yourself directly in harm's way. Yes, we were all angry at what you said, but most of us were more upset at the possibility of you getting hurt. I can take care of myself; you're still just a student."
"You never cared about that before."
"And before I was an inexperienced teenager that had never known there to be any consequences other than good ones. Like I said before, we were lucky," Hitsugaya said, frustrated. This was quickly degenerating into another argument, and that was something he would rather avoid. "Look, if you want to help, come with me to the Room of Requirement. I'm going to see if it has any good references on the Founders and any artifacts they may have left behind."
"Founder's artifacts?" Granger asked curiously, attention successfully diverted.
"Yes. Voldemort has proven to have a healthy interest in anything related to the Founders," he said, opening the door. "But the library has surprisingly little information on them. I'm hoping that the Room will be able to provide more research material."
"Is there anything specific that you're looking for?"
He nodded. "I'll tell you when we get there."
Hopefully this would stop them from doing anything too reckless for a while. Plus, they might actually find something.
Hitsugaya hoped so, because he wanted to end this as soon as possible.
When they got to the Room of Requirements, it was in the shape of a library. Wide, arching windows and towering bookcases filled the room. There were a few tables scattered around the room for browsing the thick tomes, and large, comfortable looking chairs to read in.
Hitsugaya walked up to the nearest shelf and pulled out one of the books, glancing at the title. Quattuor.
He placed the book back on the shelf and looked at the neat label on the bookcase. It was marked, 'Latin: Q-Z, by Title.'
The entire library was filled with books on the Founders… just in multiple languages. Hitsugaya didn't mind; he knew quite a few languages because all shinigami needed to know at least two, and he hadn't wanted to limit himself. After all, shinigami took care of souls all over the world; it wouldn't do to wave around a sword in some random spirit's general direction shouting foreign words at him or her. That could get messy rather quickly.
Granger had already started looking through the tomes in the English section. Weasley, however, appeared to be a little lost.
"Granger, if you are fluent in any foreign languages I would appreciate it if you would start there. Weasley can take care of the English books. Find any references you can about Ravenclaw's Diadem and Hufflepuff's Cup."
Granger nodded and headed to the French section of the library, but Weasley frowned. "Would you cut that out?"
"What?"
"Calling us by our last names! It makes you sound like bloody Malfoy!"
"Language, Ron," Granger called absently, looking through a book at least three inches thick.
Hitsugaya opened his mouth to object, but ended up sighing instead. It really would go a lot faster if he just gave in, and he was getting sick of arguing with Weasley. "Fine."
"Fine what?"
Was he seriously going to make him say it? "Fine, Ronald," he could practically hear Granger… Hermione smiling.
Ron looked irritated, but let it slide. Hitsugaya supposed that he was just glad that he was calling him by his first name at all. Honestly, why would he want his name shortened anyway?
He browsed through the Japanese section of the library (And really, how famous were these Founders to be told about in so many different languages?) when his senses picked up on something. He paused in his perusal of the books and focused on finding the reiatsu. It felt dark… like Slytherin's Locket!
But where was it? It felt almost as if it were coming from the entire Room. Was it hidden in here? He paused to think on the sheer stupidity of that. If it really was hidden here, then Voldemort was just asking for it to be found. Why would he hide it someplace his enemies were familiar with? Hogwarts was important to him, true, but the risk was astronomical.
"Room," he said aloud, hoping that it would work, "give me the Horcrux." Hermione and Ron stared at him for a moment, but when he didn't give any explanation they turned back to their books.
Hitsugaya could feel the magic of the Room fluctuating, as if it were fighting with itself. The item he wanted was asked to be hidden, but now someone was asking it to be found. The contradictory orders were confusing the magic.
Finally, slowly, a silver crown started to appear on the table conveniently in front of him. It could only be one thing: Ravenclaw's Diadem.
Carefully he wrapped the Diadem in his robes, taking care not to actually touch it. He recalled vividly Dumbledore's blackened hand.
Then it started. A slow rumbling noise could be heard faintly, then growing louder and louder. The magic of the Room was still fluctuating, more wildly now and feeling almost… angry. The stone floor beneath his feet groaned and shifted.
"Ronald, Hermione, get out of here now!" The two scrambled to their feet and ran to the door, Hitsugaya only a moment behind. They were just in time. As soon as they stepped outside one of the bookcases collapsed, starting a chain reaction. Heavy tomes avalanched to the ground with random items that hadn't been there before. Couches, trunks, jewelry and other junk that the Room was clearly summoning toppled and rolled in huge waves.
The door slammed closed on its own, sealing itself into the wall.
Ron stared at him, eyes wide. "What the bloody hell did you do?"
Hitsugaya could only stare in disbelief. "I think I broke the Room of Requirements."
They got to the Great Hall about half an hour later, after Hitsugaya had destroyed the Horcrux with Gryffindor's sword. Hermione had actually worked up the nerve to ask what it was and why it had to be destroyed, but he hadn't told her. She'd been irritated, but Hitsugaya had coolly informed her that since she didn't need to know, he saw no need to risk any leaks.
Hermione, far too used to knowing everything that Harry had known, gave him the silent treatment. Hitsugaya just rolled his eyes at her behavior and sat down next to Lovegood.
The entire Great Hall was decked out in black and orange décor, with huge jack-o-lanterns and live bats fluttering above the students' heads. The Hogwarts ghosts only added to the effect, especially with the Gryffindor House ghost getting into the mood and swinging his head off his neck periodically. Sweets of various sizes and flavors filled the tables; it was both disgusting and hard to find anything to eat with his zero tolerance for candy.
Lovegood smiled at him. "Hello, Toshiro."
He twitched. "Lovegood," he acknowledged. No matter where he went there was always someone who refused to call him by anything other than his given name.
"Have you remembered yet?"
"…Remembered?" he asked nervously. He vividly recalled their conversation at the start of term.
"I guess not," she said, though the eerie smile was still there. "Don't forget to send me a letter next summer, though, Harry. It was dreadful without anyone to talk to last summer, though the hunt for Crumple-Horned Snorkaks went well. Daddy and I found signs of an entire pack of them near Mt. Hiei, so we'll probably visit Japan again soon. I was thinking of convincing him to get a hotel in Karakura. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
"…Thrilling," he replied faintly, glad that no one ever sat near enough to them to listen in on their conversations. He briefly thought of Lovegood meeting Urahara and shuddered. No, that should be avoided at all costs.
There had been far too many shocks to his system today, he decided, moving onto a new topic. He really needed to find out how the hell Lovegood knew these things.
An owl passed over their table, partially hidden by the cloud of bats. It headed straight for Dumbledore, who took the letter clutched in its talons and glanced through it. It was clearly something important. Dumbledore leaned over and whispered something in Lily's ear. She frowned. Hitsugaya knew he'd have to speak with Lily tonight.
After the feast Hitsugaya headed over to Lily's quarters. If anyone asked, all he wanted was a quick word with his mother, which was technically the truth anyway, just not one that he cared to think about.
James was already there. "Hey, Hitsugaya," he said lazily.
"Aren't you supposed to be in Gryffindor Tower?"
James shrugged. "I'm supposed to be in detention. I set off a few hexes in Transfiguration today. McGonagall told me I'd be serving detention with 'Professor Hitsugaya' tonight. She must really hate that all these detentions I've been getting is my cover for meeting with you guys."
Lily snorted. "I would too. You are absolutely insufferable sometimes, James. Honestly, you could use remedial Defense classes as an excuse instead."
James looked affronted. "But then I'd have to do badly in my second best class!"
"It's not like these grades are going to count for anything. We're going back to Soul Society as soon as the mission's over."
"Bless my soul! Lily Potter nee Evans, actually telling me to get bad grades!" he cried dramatically. "Quick, Hitsugaya, check outside! Is it raining fire yet?"
"Don't drag me into this."
"I did not tell you to get bad grades!"
"Right," he grinned. "You just suggested it."
Lily threw a book at him.
"Ow! You trying to kill me, woman?" James asked, putting a hand over his rapidly reddening nose.
They both froze as the temperature dropped. "Has Dumbledore contacted you about anything tonight?"
Lily sighed as the atmosphere switched from playful to business. "Yes, actually. There's been a series of attacks on muggles tonight," she said, grabbing a folder from the coffee table in the middle of the room "Thirteen simultaneous murders of the families of muggleborns that all come to Hogwarts."
"So what's in the folder?" James asked.
"It's all the information that the Order has collected so far. It's not much. The Aurors are still at the scenes. Kingsley and Tonks should have completed reports by the end of tomorrow, but I thought you'd want to see this," Lily replied, handing the folder to Hitsugaya.
He took it, pulling out a series of photographs. The first one was an outside shot of a victim's house. The Dark Mark hovered above, its green light illuminating the partially destroyed home.
"Normally Death Eaters don't do this much damage to buildings," Lily said. "They go in, have fun with their victims, and use the Avada Kedavra. Then they cast the Dark Mark and leave."
"What about Godric's Hollow then?" he asked, having heard the story from Black when he asked a bit about Harry's history. He'd heard that the house had been demolished.
"That wasn't intentional. It was the backlash from the failed Killing Curse that destroyed Godric's Hollow, not any work of the Death Eaters."
Hitsugaya nodded and looked at the photos more closely. There were gaping tears in the walls that appeared to have been caused by claws, and one house even looked like it had acid spit on it at one point. "Hollows?" he asked. Most of the scenes had all the markings of a hollow attack.
Lily nodded. "We'd already suspected that hollows have been aiding Voldemort," she said. "But now we've confirmed it. The question is: Why? How can Voldemort control these hollows?"
James shook his head in exasperation. "How does he do anything?"
Hitsugaya glared. "Regardless of how you feel on the matter, we need to know. Soul Society has to know so that we can prevent something like this from happening again."
"Do you think it has anything to do with his Horcruxes? I mean, they mess with his soul quite a bit."
"It's possible, but I doubt it."
"What does happen to a soul piece after you destroy the Horcrux, anyway?"
"It reattaches itself to one of the other pieces. They can't move on until they are whole again. Speaking of which, I managed to find another one today."
James choked. "And you didn't tell us before, why?"
"There wasn't time to," Hitsugaya said mildly, before adding, "That, and I'm not obligated to report to you anyway."
James snorted. "Gee, thanks."
Lily sighed. "So there's only two left now? His snake and you think Hufflepuff's Cup?"
"Yes, though locating the Cup has been difficult," Hitsugaya paused. "And I may have possibly ruined our best chance of finding it through research."
James and Lily stared at him. "Wait, say that again?" James asked.
Hitsugaya gave them a quick rundown of the Room of Requirements and what had happened in it. Lily groaned.
"I can't believe it," she moaned. "I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one!"
Hitsugaya glared.
A few hours later saw them all to their respective rooms. Hitsugaya trudged wearily into bed, happy that the day was over. There were just too many things to worry about. He would be glad when this mission finally ended.
He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.