Castle Guards: A Naruto, Harry Potter crossover
Castle Guards: A Naruto, Harry Potter crossover
Disclaimer: Once I thought I owned the world, but then I woke up, so I own nothing
AN: This is the last chapter I have completed at the moment, but I should be writing the next one very soon so don't cry or anything. Also, I'm still using sections from the book, it will veer off later, but as of right now, I need to put them in, don't kill me or sue me for borrowing.
Chapter 4: Sorting and Teachers
When their carriage finally pulled up to the castle, the shinobi filed out and quickly spotted their charges. Naruto ran over to Harry as he got out of his carriage.
"Hey Harry," the blonde beamed at him. "I have another stupid question for you."
"What's that?" the wizard tore his eyes from the strange horses as Hermione and Ron exited the carriage.
"As I said, it's probably stupid," his hand went to the back of his neck, "but what are those horse things? I've never seen anything like them before and to tell the truth, they're kinda creepy."
"You can see them too?" Harry asked, amazed.
"Of course I can, they're kinda hard to miss," Naruto shook his head.
"Young man," a female voice said from behind the blonde shinobi, who turned to the stern looking woman, "are you one of the new transfer students?"
"Uh yeah, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it," he grinned at her.
"You are to come with me," she pursed her lips in annoyance. "You lot," she indicated Harry and the others, "had best get up to the Great Hall, the Sorting will begin shortly."
She led Naruto and the other shinobi inside.
"Are you coming or what?" said Ron beside Harry.
"Oh… yeah," said Harry quickly, and they joined the crowd hurrying up the stone steps into the castle.
The entrance hall was ablaze with torches and echoing with footsteps as the students crossed the flagged stone floor for the double doors to the right, leading to the Great Hall and the start-of-term feast.
The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless black ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair all about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes. Again Harry noticed people putting their heads together to whisper as he passed; he gritted his teeth and tried to act as though he neither noticed nor cared.
Luna drifted away from them at the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached Gryffindor's, Ginny was hailed by some fellow fourth years and left to sit with them; Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville found seats together about halfway down the table between Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor House ghost, and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, the last two of whom gave Harry airy, overly friendly greetings that made him quite sure they had stopped talking about him a split second before. He had more important things to worry about, however: He was looking over the students' heads to the staff table that ran along the top wall of the Hall.
"He's not there."
Ron and Hermione scanned the staff table too, though there was no real need; Hagrid's size made him instantly obvious in any lineup.
"He can't have left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.
"Of course he hasn't," said Harry firmly.
"You don't think he's… hurt, or anything, do you?" said Hermione uneasily.
"No," said Harry at once.
"But where is he, then?"
There was a pause, then Harry said very quietly, so that Neville, Parvati, and Lavender could not hear, "Maybe he's not back yet. You know—from his mission—the thing he was doing over the summer for Dumbledore."
"Yeah… yeah, that'll be it," said Ron, sounding reassured. "I wonder who they are though," he indicated two men seated at the end of the long table.
Harry and Hermione followed his gaze to the end closest to their table. Two men sat talking to each other, or at least they assumed both were talking, they couldn't quite tell as one had half his face covered with a cloth mask. The masked one had flyaway silver hair and a patch over his left eye. The other had brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail and a long scar running across the bridge of his nose.
"How do you think he got that scar?" asked Harry, eyeing the brunette curiously.
"Maybe he got on the wrong side of a dragon," Ron suggested lamely.
"Who's that?" Hermione said sharply, pointing toward the middle of the staff table.
8888888
The shinobi were led to an empty room. Once the door was closed, the woman turned to them, looking them over, her gazing lingering on their headbands.
"You know it's rude to stare, old lady," Naruto crossed his hands behind his head.
Her mouth formed a thin line, "First of all, I am Professor McGonagall and I will be shown respect young man."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the blonde shrugged.
"Secondly, I don't know how your other school operated," she continued, her eyes flashing in annoyance, "but here we have a set wardrobe, so I'm afraid your headbands will have to be put away."
"WHAT?!" Naruto and Neji said simultaneously.
"You can't do that!" the blonde protested, his hands falling to his side.
"These headbands, as you say," Neji took a calming breath, "are not mere decoration. If we are found without them, we could be killed for treason."
"I… well… I…" McGonagall stammered. "Be that as it may, I am not asking you to destroy them, or even get rid of them, just not to wear them around this school. No one here is going to kill you for not wearing them."
"As you said on the train, Hyuuga, we must conform for now," Gaara said quietly. "If any questions are raised, I shall deal with them personally."
"Can't argue with that," Naruto grumbled as he reached up and untied his forehead protector.
The others followed suit, until only Neji was left with his still firmly in place. At a look from both Naruto and Gaara, the long haired brunette reached up and reluctantly removed the covering from his forehead. McGonagall nodded curtly in approval.
"Now the face paint," she indicated Kiba and Kankuro, the latter of whom immediately took out a cloth and began removing his face paint.
"What face paint?" Kiba asked confused.
"Those red arrows on your face," the witch pursed her lips.
"These?" he ran a hand along his cheek. "I can't remove them, they're family tattoos."
"Very well," she shook her head and turned to Shino. "Sunglasses."
"You ask a lot, professor," he glared at her as he pulled off the shades and stowed them in his pocket with his headband.
A moment later, a group of other students entered the room, all of whom looked little older than ten to the shinobi.
"Very good," McGonagall nodded at them all. "Now if you will all form a line, with you eight in the back," she motioned to the shinobi, "the Sorting will begin momentarily."
The shinobi took their places and they headed out to the Great Hall. They entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.
The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first years and shinobi lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back.
The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song.
After the initial shock of seeing a singing hat wore off, the ninja tuned out what it was saying, having heard the message it was giving in many different forms before. Instead they turned their attention to evaluating the layout of what they could see of the castle, which wasn't much. They came to attention once more as the hat suddenly became silent once more.
Slowly the long line of first years thinned; leaving the shinobi standing before everyone and the main focus of many stares and hissing whispers. Finally, "Zeller, Rose" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"As you have all noticed," he smiled at the room at large, "we have several new students joining us this year. They have come all the way from Japan, so I ask that whichever Houses they are placed in will make them feel welcome. Please proceed Professor McGonagall."
McGonagall stepped forward once again, "Aburame, Shino."
The bug ninja cringed inwardly at the butchering of his name (1), but walked calmly forward and placed the hat on his head.
"Hmm," a voice whispered in his ear, "a clever mind, a strategist, I know just where to put you."
"As long as I am in the same house as the Weasleys," he answered back calmly. "I have a job to do here and it involves them."
"In that case," the hat said, "I can't put you in Ravenclaw, so it'll have to be GRYFFINDOR!"
The hat shouted the last word for the whole Hall to hear. Shino rolled his eyes as he removed the hat from his head and made his way over to the cheering Gryffindor table.
"Haruno, Sakura," McGonagall called out, and the pink haired medic made her way forward.
"Well this is interesting," the hat said quietly. "Loyalty to friends, the desire to be helpful, and a protectiveness of those closest to you, no contest there, for you its GRYFFINDOR!"
Sakura smiled as she joined Shino and the other Gryffindors.
"Hyuuga, Neji."
The pale eyed ANBU walked over to the stool, amid an outbreak of whispers from the Hall. "Is that a girl or a guy?" he heard this question repeated throughout the assembled students. Then suddenly the Hall was lost from view as the hat slipped over his eyes, and he was hard pressed not to activate his Byakugan.
"A sharp mind I see, declared a prodigy even, Ravenclaw would do, yet there's more to you than that isn't there. Let's see then, bravery, willingness to follow others, yet be a leader if called upon. I'd say GRYFFINDOR!"
"Inuzuka, Kiba!"
"Hmm, honest, brave, loyal, no wonder your dog is your best friend. No questions… GRYFFINDOR!"
"Sabaku, Gaara."
The red head stalked over and placed the hat on his head.
"Such a troubled past here, no wonder you became so cold. Yet that isn't who you are today, you would now gladly lay down your life for those important to you. Well then, I have no choice but to place you in GRYFFINDOR!"
Gaara yanked the hat off his head and glared at it before tossing it back on the stool. He schooled his features and made his way over to the Gryffindor table.
"Sabaku, Kankuro."
The brunette sand shinobi smirked as he made his way forward.
"Cocky aren't we," the hat said, "ruthless and determined as well."
"You can't separate me from Gaara, I already know I'm in Gryffindor," Kankuro thought as he rolled his eyes. "Even if you tried I'd go there anyway, I'll not loose him again."
"Again? Well who am I to deny a brother his love… GRYFFINDOR!"
The puppeteer pulled the hat off and headed over to where his little brother was seated and sat down next to him.
"Sabaku, Temari."
The blonde kunoichi made her way nervously over to the stool, worried she'd be separated from her brothers and the others. Her confident demeanor was actually just a cover for her mother-hen antics. She hesitantly grabbed the hat and rammed it on her head.
"Please don't separate me from my brothers," she kept repeating to herself.
"You don't want to be separated from your brothers, eh?" the hat asked calmly. "You care deeply for them, especially the younger of the two. You want to protect him and keep him from harm, even if that means saving him from himself. Fine then… GRYFFINDOR!"
Temari sighed in relief and joined the other shinobi at Gryffindor. Now only one person was left standing before the hall.
"Uzumaki, Naruto."
"That's me, believe it!" he jumped up and punched his fist in the air, shocking the entire Hall into silence.
He almost ran to the stool and placed the hat on his head enthusiastically.
"Well, well, what have we here?" said the hat. "You haven't had a pleasant past, but you never let that hold you back. You have a desire to prove yourself to others, yet you have your limits on how you go about that, impressive. You keep your promises, are a fierce friend, and dedicatedly loyal to your home, even when it feels they all hate you, but for what I cannot see. Well, there's only one place for the likes of you… GRYFFINDOR!"
Naruto removed the hat, a smile stretched across his face. He tossed the hat back onto the stool and sauntered over to join his friends at the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore once again got to his feet.
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands—welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause, though the shinobi all shared a confused glance, as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate—for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, breads, sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice.
"Excellent," said Ron, with a kind of groan of longing, and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling them onto his plate, watched wistfully by Nearly Headless Nick.
"What? No ramen?" Naruto looked at the wide assortment of food a bit disappointed. "It's been almost a week, I'm gonna die."
"Honestly, Naruto, you're not going to die from lack of ramen," Sakura shook her head. "In fact, it's probably good for you not to have it all the time."
"You wound me, Sakura," the blonde clutched his heart as though in pain.
"Here, Naruto," the man with the scar across his nose appeared behind the blonde and placed a large bowl in front of him. "Just don't expect it every day."
"Iruka sensei?" Naruto looked over his shoulder in confusion, and immediately jumped to his feet and enveloped the brunette in a tight hug. "Iruka sensei! What are you doing here? Where's Kakashi sensei?"
"One question at a time, Naruto," Iruka chuckled, untangling himself from the blonde. "As for what I'm doing here, that shall be explained after the feast. And, as you should have already noticed, Kakashi is sitting at the head table, where I should be right now. So I'll talk to you later Naruto."
Iruka made his way back to his spot at the staff table. Naruto watched him go and then turned his attention to the streaming bowl in front of him.
"Ah, food of the gods," he inhaled deeply and grabbed the chopsticks already in the bowl.
"You know those two guys?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Yeah," Naruto said, the wizards were amazed that he could still produce intelligible speech around the noodles in his mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Naruto," Sakura smacked him upside the head. "God, you're so disgusting."
"Ow!" the blonde rubbed his abused head. "Anyway, yeah, Iruka sensei was my teacher since I was seven, and Kakashi sensei since I was twelve. And before you ask, I don't know what he looks like behind his mask, only Iruka sensei knows that."
"What were you saying before the Sorting?" Hermione asked Nick, deciding to change the subject. "About the hat giving warnings?"
"Oh, yes," said Nick, who seemed glad of a reason to turn away from Ron, who was now eating roast potatoes with almost indecent enthusiasm. "Yes, I have heard the hat give several warnings before, always at times when it detects periods of great danger for the school. And always, of course, its advice is the same: Stand together, be strong from within."
"That's the basics of teamwork," Naruto said, draining the last of his ramen broth. "We've had that preached to us since we were twelve."
"Ow kunnit nofe skusin danger ifzat?" said Ron.
His mouth was so full Harry thought it was quite an achievement for him to make any noise at all.
"I beg your pardon?" said Nearly Headless Nick politely, while Hermione, Sakura, and Gaara looked revolted. Ron gave an enormous swallow and said, "How can it know if the school's in danger if it's a hat?"
"I have no idea," said Nearly Headless Nick. "Of course, it lives in Dumbledore's office, so I daresay it picks things up there."
"And it wants all the Houses to be friends?" said Harry, looking over at the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy was holding court. "Fat chance."
Naruto bit his lip and looked to his left, finally catching the pink-haired kunoichi's eye. They both burst out into riotous laughter.
"Oh my god, Harry," the blonde snorted. "You remind me of me." Then he sobered up quickly, "But you know, holding on to a petty rivalry can almost get you killed, not to mention losing your best friend to a damn snake bastard."
"Naruto, come," Neji pushed to his feet and grabbed the blonde's shoulders. "We're going to the dorms. Naruto needs some sleep."
"But the headmaster hasn't dismissed us yet," Hermione protested.
Pale eyes locked her in a cold stare. She shrank lower in her seat in fear.
"Shino, I expect a full report of what was said later," the Hyuuga snapped. "You'd better pay attention too, Kiba. I shall see you both later."
With that he marched Naruto out of the Hall. Hermione's mouth hung open, greatly resembling a fish.
"They don't have the password," she finally said. "Not to mention they don't know the way."
"Neji knows the password," Shino shrugged. "And about knowing the way, he borrowed Harry's map."
Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged nervous glances at the mention of the map. The only thought going through Harry's mind was how the long haired brunette had gotten a hold of it since he had put it in his pocket on the train.
When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster. Harry was feeling pleasantly drowsy now. His four-poster bed was waiting somewhere above, wonderfully warm and soft…
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students—and a few of our older students ought to know by now too." (Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged smirks, while the remaining shinobi all got thoughtful looks on their faces.)
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.
"We have had three changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; Mr. Hatake and Mr. Umino are filling in as gamekeeper and caretaker of the grounds; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause during which Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged slightly panicked looks; Dumbledore had not said for how long Grubbly-Plank would be teaching.
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the—"
He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of the staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall's mouth was as thin as Harry had ever seen it. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts. The shinobi, however, were now sitting at attention, looking ready to pounce at any given moment.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome."
As she continued to talk the shinobi's expressions went from mildly curious to either totally furious or perfectly blank.
She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Harry noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping, Mr. Hatake and Mr. Umino were once again talking quietly to each other and didn't even bother. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.
The shinobi were not pleased at all. Gaara crossed his arms across his chest and stared at the toadlike woman, not liking her or her speech at all. Kankuro kept looking from Umbridge to his brother, debating whether to let Gaara act out or not. Sakura was gripping her fork so hard it was bent double and threatening to break at any moment. Temari was hovering between whether to calm down her brother or her new teammate, she decided on the latter and placed her hand on the pinkette's arm, who immediately dropped the utensil and smiled faintly at the blonde. Kiba's fists were clenched tightly and he was growling low in his throat. Shino didn't show his displeasure outwardly, but inwardly he was seething.
"Hey do you guys hear something buzzing?" asked Ron, trying to clear his ears of the sound.
"No," Shino said quickly, taking several calming breaths and forcing his bugs back.
There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the hall. The shinobi disappeared into the crowd, trying to calm down before they did something stupid. They decided to slip outside and take out their frustration by racing up to the top of Gryffindor tower, it wasn't quite the same as their usual training regimens but it would do for the time being.
They entered the common room through the window and saw Neji seated on the rug in front of the fire place, apparently meditating.
"So?" he turned his head slightly to acknowledge their presence.
Shino proceeded to tell him everything Umbridge had, and hadn't, said. Neji listened calmly, he was used to that type of attitude, not that he wasn't affected by it, he had just learned to repress those feelings at a young age.
"I know what was said has had a negative affect on everyone, but as of right now, we can do nothing about it. We should all get to bed, for tomorrow we will have our work cut out for us."
They all nodded as the portrait hole swung open, admitting the first of the Gryffindors. They waited around till they saw their charges and then disappeared up to their dormitory.
The Gryffindor common room looked as welcoming as ever, a cozy circular room full of dilapidated squashy armchairs and rickety old tables. A fire was crackling merrily in the grate and a few people were warming their hands before going up to their dormitories; on the other side of the room Fred and George Weasley were pinning something up on the notice board. Harry waved good night to them and headed straight for the door to the boys' dormitories; he was not in much of a mood for talking at the moment. Neville, Neji, Shino, and Kiba followed him.
Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan had reached the dormitory first and were in the process of covering the walls beside their beds with posters and photographs. They had been talking as Harry pushed open the door but stopped abruptly the moment they saw him. Harry wondered whether they had been talking about him, then whether he was being paranoid.
"Hi," he said, moving across to his own trunk and opening it.
"Oy, Shino," Kiba said, jumping onto his own bed, drawing all eyes to him.
"Kiba?" Shino turned from his trunk and stared at the dog shinobi.
"Akamaru thinks it's too cold here," he scratched the pup's head affectionately. "He was wondering if we could sleep with you, you know, body heat and all?"
"Akamaru thought that, did he?" a smirk tugged at the bug ninja's lips.
"Well, yeah," Kiba tried unsuccessfully to look innocent.
Neji just shook his head as he slipped off his robes and put on a pair of loose pants.
"Please, Shino," Kiba whined, "for Akamaru."
This the Hyuuga couldn't stand. There was only one person he could tolerate whining and then only for special circumstances.
"Damn it, Kiba! If you want to sleep with your boyfriend, just fucking say so, cut out the foreplay in front of everyone. And you two had best be sure those fucking curtains are drawn, cause if I see anything I've got dull kunai, not to mention 64 palms, and I'm not sure which I'll use yet."
"Oooh, someone's got a lot of sexual tension there," the dog boy taunted. "What's the matter Nej, your girlfriend not putting out for ya?"
Neji's eyes hardened and his mouth drew together in a thin line. Shino rolled his eyes and whacked his boyfriend upside the head.
"Ow!" Kiba rubbed the back of his head. "What?!"
Shino gave a pointed look at Neji and Kiba's eyes widened.
"Oh my god, Nej, I'm so sorry," he smacked his forehead. "I didn't mean it. Naruto's usually the one who flies off at us about this shit, and we all know he ain't getting any. Anyway, Hinata's explained the whole thing. Listen, it's a bunch of shit and we all know it, so it'll never be brought up again, okay?"
Neji turned his back and said a quiet, "thank you," before slipping into bed.
"Hey, Harry," said dean, who was putting on a pair of pajamas in the West Ham colors, deciding to fill the uncomfortable silence. "Good holiday?"
"Not bad," muttered Harry, as a true account of his holiday would have taken most of the night to relate and he could not face it. "You?"
"Yeah, it was okay," chuckled Dean. "Better than Seamus's anyway, he was just telling me."
"Why, what happened, Seamus?" Neville asked as he placed his Mimbulus mimbletonia tenderly on his bedside cabinet.
Seamus did not answer immediately, he was making rather a meal of ensuring that his poster of the Kenmare Kestrels Quidditch team was quite straight. Then he said, with his back still turned to Harry, "Me mam didn't want me to come back."
"What?" said Harry, pausing in the act of pulling off his robes.
"She didn't want me to come back to Hogwarts."
Seamus turned away from his poster and pulled his own pajamas out of his trunk, still not looking at Harry.
"But—why?" said Harry, astonished. He knew that Seamus's mother was a witch and could not understand, therefore, why she should have come over so Dursley-ish.
Seamus did not answer until he finished buttoning his pajamas.
"Well," he said in a measured voice, "I suppose… because of you."
"What d'you mean?" said Harry quickly. His heart was beating rather fast. He felt vaguely as though something was closing in on him.
Kiba and Shino looked up from their own preparations and stared at Seamus incredulously. True, they hadn't known Harry that long, but they could tell he was alright, if not a bit soft, but still okay.
"Well," said Seamus again, still avoiding Harry's eyes, "she… er… well, it's not just you, it's Dumbledore too…"
"She believes the Daily Prophet?" said Harry. "She thinks I'm a liar and Dumbledore's an old fool?"
Seamus looked up at him. "Yeah, something like that."
Harry said nothing. He threw his wand down onto his bedside table, pulled off his robes, stuffed them angrily into his trunk, and pulled on his pajamas. He was sick of it; sick of being the person who was stared at and talked about all the time. If any of them knew, if any of them had the faintest idea what it felt like to be the one all these things had happened to… Mrs. Finnigan had no idea, the stupid woman, he thought savagely.
He got into bed and made to pull the hangings closed around him, but before he could do so, Seamus said, "Look… what did happen that night when… you know, when… with Cedric Diggory and all?"
Seamus sounded nervous and eager at the same time. Dean, who had been bending over his trunk, trying to retrieve a slipper, went oddly still and Harry knew he was listening hard. Kiba was looking from Seamus to Harry curiously, having no clue as to what they were talking about.
"What are you asking me for?" Harry retorted. "Just read the Daily Prophet like your mother, why don't you? That'll tell you all you need to know."
"Don't you have a go at my mother," snapped Seamus.
"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar," said Harry.
"Don't talk to me like that!"
"I'll talk to you how I want," said Harry, his temper rising so fast he snatched his wand back from his bedside table. "If you've got a problem sharing a dormitory with me, go and ask McGonagall if you can be moved, stop your mummy worrying—"
"Leave my mother out of this, Potter."
Two streaks of silver sped across the room, catching the two bickering wizards off guard.
"What's going on?"
Ron had appeared in the doorway. His wide eyes traveled from Harry, who was kneeling on his bed, his sleeve pinned to the bedpost by a strange looking knife, to Seamus who was standing similarly pinned to the wall. Kankuro, who had appeared behind him, laughed at the sight.
"To hell if I know," Naruto grumbled sleepily, his blonde spikes covered with a funny black hat that resembled a walrus. "I was sleeping when these two started yelling about something or other."
"He's having a go at my mother!" Seamus yelled, trying to free his arm from the wall.
"What?" said Ron. "Harry wouldn't do that—we met your mother, we liked her…."
"That's before she started believing every word the stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!" said Harry at the top of his voice, also trying to dislodge the knife.
"Oh," said Ron, comprehension dawning across his freckled face. "Oh… right."
"Neither of you will be able to get those out without help," Naruto yawned as he watched his two captives struggled. "Hey Kanky, since you're up, mind getting those for me?"
"Sure, why not, runt," Kankuro shook his head.
He made his way over to Seamus first, freeing him easily. He did the same with Harry, also taking his wand and setting it on his bedside table. He twirled the kunai around his fingers idly.
"Hey Naruto, catch."
Much to the wizards' surprise, he tossed them at the blonde, who was once again buried beneath his covers. As they were about to make contact, a hand shot out and snatched the kunai from the air.
"You know, Kankuro, it's more fun if you don't warn me," Naruto muttered into his pillow as he stashed the knives under it.
"You know what?" said Seamus heatedly, casting Harry a venomous look. "He's right. I don't want to share a dormitory with him anymore, he's a madman."
"That's out of order, Seamus," said Ron, whose ears were starting to glow red, always a danger sign.
"Out of order, am I?" shouted Seamus, who in contrast with Ron was turning paler. "You believe all the rubbish he's come out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckon he's telling the truth?"
"Yeah, I do," said Ron angrily.
"Then you're a madman too," said Seamus in disgust.
"Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, pal, I'm also a prefect!" said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. "So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!"
Seamus looked for a few seconds as though detention would be a reasonable price to pay to say what was going through his mind; but with a noise of contempt he turned on his heel, vaulted into bed, and pulled the hangings shut with such violence that they were ripped from the bed and fell in a dusty pile to the floor. Ron glared at Seamus, then looked at Dean, Neville, Kankuro, and Gaara, who had appeared in the doorway, Kiba and Shino had pulled the curtains on their bed after the kunai incident.
"Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?" he said aggressively.
"Ours are dead," Gaara said emotionlessly. "Kankuro, my scroll."
"Huh?" Kankuro looked at him confused for a moment. "Oh yeah, here."
He went over to his brother's trunk and pulled out a small brown scroll. He tossed it to the redhead, who caught it without so much as blinking.
"Going to the roof?"
The Kazekage shrugged and left the room without a backward glance.
"My parents are Muggles mate," said Dean, shrugging. "They don't know nothing about no deaths at Hogwarts, because I'm not stupid enough to tell them."
"You don't know my mother, she'll weasel anything out of anyone!" Seamus snapped at him. "Anyway, your parents don't get the Daily Prophet, they don't know our headmaster's been sacked from the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards because he's losing his marbles—"
"My gran says that's rubbish," piped up Neville. "She says it's the Daily Prophet that's going downhill, not Dumbledore. She's canceled our subscription. We believe Harry," he said simply. He climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to his chin, looking owlishly over at Seamus. "My gran's always said You-Know-Who would come back one day. She says if Dumbledore says he's back, he's back."
"So let me get this straight," Kankuro sat down on his bed and looked at each boy in turn. "So Dumbledore and Harry both agree that this You-Know-Who character, who I have no clue who is, is back, but the government and the Daily Prophet, whatever that is, say that they're crazy for it. Shit, just be glad Gaara left when he did, he'd kill anyone who believed that trash. Harry just be glad they're just talking shit about you and haven't sent out assassins after you."
"A-assassins?" Harry looked at him in shock.
"Not my story," Kankuro shrugged as he stripped off his robes and crawled into bed in his boxers.
Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Neville, and strangely enough Kankuro and Gaara as well. Nobody else said anything, Seamus got out his wand, repaired the bed hangings, and vanished behind them. Dean got into bed, rolled over, and fell silent. Neville, who appeared to have nothing more to say either, was gazing fondly at his moonlit cactus.
Harry lay back on his pillows while Ron bustled around the next bed, putting his things away. He felt shaken by the argument with Seamus, whom he had always liked very much. How many more people were going to suggest that he was lying or unhinged?
Had Dumbledore suffered like this all summer, as first the Wizengamot, then the International Confederation of Wizards had thrown him from their ranks? Was it anger at Harry, perhaps, that had stopped Dumbledore getting in touch with him for months? The two of them were in this together, after all; Dumbledore had believed Harry, announced his version of events to the whole school and then to the wider Wizarding community. Anyone who thought Harry was a liar had to think that Dumbledore was too or else that Dumbledore had been hoodwinked….
They'll know we're right in the end, thought Harry miserably, as Ron got into bed and extinguished the last candle in the dormitory. But he wondered how many attacks like Seamus's he would have to endure before that time came. Though he was glad that the new students were apparently on his side and would stand up for him.
1. When I first read Shino's name I hadn't heard it said in the series and couldn't pronounce it right for the life of me, so I made it the same for the Hogwarts' Professors.