Picking up where we left off.
Heavy: Very good! VERRRY GOOOOD!
Spy: Indeed.
Kyugan: Most definately. In any case, the Wheel of fate is turning, let's see what the shift in the continuum has wrought!
Chapter 3: Back to Hogwarts.
"Well…" Arthur huffed, having not missed the exchange between his son and the son and Draco as the Malfoy's swept out of the store "It's good to see that Malfoy's son hasn't picked up his father's bad habits…"
"Oh don't start Arthur…" Molly sighed, though the Weasley Matriarch looked just as put out by the Lord of Malfoy's actions "Honestly, you should know better than to start a fight with him in a public place."
Whatever Arthur was about to say was cut off, for at that moment a short, irritable-looking man, who Herwald had noticed dancing around the store taking photographs with a large black camera, shoved past him, knocking the cauldron with their purchases to the floor.
"Out of the way." the photographer snarled at Ginny, who was already reaching down to pick up her things, putting her in the man's way as he backed up for a better shot, only for Herwald's right hand to lash out and grab the lens of the camera, alchemical lightning arching through it, the man releasing it with a shriek as it exploded in a cloud of purple smoke "What the hell are you doing!" he demanded, rounding on the apprentice alchemist "That was for the daily prophet-!"
"I don't give a DAMN." Herwald countered, his emerald eyes boring into the older man's own like daggers, freezing him in place "YOU were the one that bumped into HER." he gestured to Ginny, who looked torn between mortification and awe "I suggest you apologize to the Fräulein for your offence, and then kindly, how do you Englanders put it? Oh yes, bugger off to wherever it is pests like you go where they won't bother anyone else."
Behind the youth, Nicholas sighed, shaking his head at his apprentice's use of alchemy, while Perenelle, Rider and Illyasviel smiled at the boy's chivalry, wryly in Rider's case. Ginny, on the other hand, had turned a shade of red so bright her already flaming hair was liable to catch fire, while the Grangers and the rest of the Weasleys, with the exception of Fred, George, Ron and Hermione, were eyeing the boy in surprise at his display of power.
"What's going on here?" a voice asked, breaking the spell, the group turning, as one, to see a tall, handsome wizard in forget-me-not blue robes that matched his eyes walking towards them, the crowd parting before him like the red sea before Moses, his wizard's hat worn at a jaunty angle on his wavy blonde hair "Is there something wrong?"
"Mr. Lockhart!" the cameraman wheedled, pointing at Harry accusingly, like a child ratting out another child to their teacher "He went and broke my camera sir! I can't take any more pictures without it!"
Gilderoy Lockhart, for indeed, that was who the man was, turned to look at Herwald, a mild frown forming on his features, only to flinch in the face of his emerald glare, his eyes glancing upwards, only to widen as they landed on the boy's forehead "It can't be! Harry Potter?"
Herwald cursed, his hand clapping over his forehead far too late, the crowd already breaking into excited whispers, wondering if he could make it to the door before they mobbed him, for as much a celebrity as this Lockhart freak as, Herwald was considered the Wizarding World's 'golden boy', pretty much the closest thing to the second-coming of Christ if half the stories he'd read about himself were to be believed. He was just debating whether or not to use the Potter Ring to slip out when Lockhart dived forward, seized his arm in a surprisingly strong grip, for a wizard, and pulled him to the front to the applause of the crowd.
"Nice big smile, Harry," the brainless blonde fop grinned, displaying a mouthful of gleaming white teeth "Together, you and I are worth the front page-EEEAAAARRRGH!"
His cry of pain was well founded, for Rider, with the speed only a Servant could match, had come up behind the man and, in one swift move, broke his arm with one hand. "Let him go." She warned, twisting the broken limb mercilessly behind the screaming wizard's back, again with one hand.
"Danke, Rider." Herwald offered, shaking his hand from the older Magus' feeble grip, dusting himself off carefully, before delivering a reinforced blow to Lockhart's stomach, doubling the man over and dropping him to his knees, grabbing him by the hair to keep him from falling over. "A word of advice, Herr Lockhart," the adopted Einzbern warned, his tone cold as he glared at the whimpering Magus "Keep your hands to yourself from now on. Had Rider not intervened when she did, I'd have ripped your hand OFF."
So saying, he released his grip of Lockhart's head, the magus collapsing into a whimpering ball on the floor, Herwald allowing a few scant golden hairs to fall from his hands as he strode past the horrified horde of witches, who could only look on in disbelief as their idol was bested by a boy, admittedly the Boy-Who-Lived, but a boy nonetheless.
"I believe we've overstayed our welcome." Rider noted, the servant coolly noting that some of the witches in the crowd were looking positively murderous. Herwald wasn't really concerned with this, as even without Alchemy he had more battle experience than everyone in the store with the exception of his sister, Rider and the Flamels, but he knew first hand that when a female Magus lost their temper, more than sparks would fly.
"So it would seem." he noted calmly, refusing to be intimidated as he returned to his sister's side "Sister, it's time to go." He called out calmly, already readying his arrays in case he had to transmute a shield or an escape tunnel "Ron, Hermione,I shall see you on the train, do give my regards to your parents, would you?"
"Right mate…" Ron muttered, looking torn between shock and awe at how easily his friend had taken down one of the self-proclaimed 'greatest' anti-dark wizards alive, while Hermione simply looked torn between annoyed and concerned, an expression apparently shared by Mrs Weasley, while Ginny was gaping at Herwald with her mouth open, though Herwald missed it as he sent a silent farewell to the Flamels, who nodded, Nicholas looking torn between amusement and exasperation, while Perenelle was smiling triumphantly at the boy as he swept out of the store, Illyasviel and Rider on his tail, the latter laughing at the chaos her little brother had left behind them all the way to Gringotts.
Emiya estate...
"Oh that' rich!" Rin cackled, the red-clad jewel mage's hand slapping on the dinner table as Herwald finished recounting his encounter in Diagon Alley "Man takes down assorted monsters, but goes down from a single gut-check from a twelve year old?"
"It isn't THAT funny, Rin-san…" Herwald muttered, eyeing the elder Tohsaka sibling in annoyance as she continued to slap the table before her in amusement, sending a betrayed look at Sakura, who had let out a guilty titter as she covered her mouth "Not you too, Sakura-san."
"G-gomen, Herwald-kun." The younger Tohsaka and heir apparent of house Makiri tittered, her pretty features flushed from holding in her laughter "It's just…well you DO seem to run into trouble a lot…"
"Even more since you turned out to be Harry Potter." Rider noted, her tone amused as she turned the page on one of the books Herwald had picked up for her over the summer, a French novel that was almost as old as the Flamels "Where'd you learn to punch like that by the way?"
"Perenelle thought it would be best to know how to take opponent's down without killing them, so she taught me the basics of boxing and Savate." Herwald revealed, earning looks on interest from the others, even as he smiled weakly "Master might be the most premiere Alchemist on the planet, but he's a pacifist who prefers to solve problems with words rather than Alchemy." He shivered slightly "Perenelle on the other hand…"
He trailed off with a shiver, but the message was clear to the rest of the Emiya extended family nonetheless. Nicholas Flamel might be regarded as The Alchemist, but his wife Perenelle had been regaled as The Sorceress even BEFORE they'd crafted the Philosopher's Stone. You did NOT cross a Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter even on their worst of days, Perenelle Flamel had been around for centuries, pissing her off was tantamount to suicide.
"Well enough about that." Shirou spoke up, eager to move the topic away from such ominous thoughts and back to where it mattered "Welcome back Herwald." He greeted with a smile, his ochre eyes bright and welcoming "We missed you."
"It's good to be back, Shirou." Herwald replied, smiling at the redhead that shared his status as Kiritsugu's step-child, only to blink as the door to the living room opened, admitting the ever energetic Fujimura Taiga.
"SHIROU! I'M HOME!" the hyperactive teacher/archery coach cheered, her eyes closed as she greeted her unfortunate ward with her usual lack of tact "What's for dinner? I'm starving!"
"Hello to you too, Fujimura-sensei." Herwald greeted, his tone amused, as despite himself, he'd honestly missed the overly dramatic woman's antics "I trust you had an interesting Summer?"
"Eh?" the older woman wondered, turning to look at the boy, her brown eyes widening in surprise as they met his startling emerald "AH! Herwald-kun! When did YOU get back?"
"Just today." Herwald replied, smiling at the older woman that was like an elder sister to Shirou in many ways, even if she WAS a hopeless freeloader at times "I brought you a souvenir actually."
"Oh you shouldn't have!" the woman countered, though her eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas at the mention of souvenirs "You see Shirou? You should take a leaf out of Herwald-kun's book sometimes!"
"I already cook you breakfast, lunch and dinner, what more do you want, Fuji-nee?" Shirou countered wryly only to be predictably ignored as Taiga gushed over the box of French goodies Herwald had brought her, just as the door opened again, revealing Illyasviel and her new pet.
"Can't you keep it down, Tiger?" the deceptively young girl demanded, cuddling the kitten in her arms like a baby "You scared poor Taiga to death!"
Needless to say, the 'Tiger of Fuyuki' did NOT enjoy being addressed by her nickname, nor did she appreciate the irony of naming Illyasviel's pet after her either.
One Taiga Dojo scene layter...
After the fallout from what was secretly referred to as the 'Tiger Incident', the rest of the summer passed quietly, but far too quickly for Herwald's liking. While he admitted he was eager to get back to Hogwarts, meddling old Twinklers aside, it was one of the best schools in the Magical World, he wasn't so eager to say farewell to his adoptive family after spending most of the summer away from them.
After she got over her annoyance with Illyasviel, Taiga revealed that the results for Herwald's exams, the one's he'd completed through post, had come in, and that he'd passed with flying colours, which apparently gave her reason enough to break out the sake, an act she regretted come the morning, as Illyasviel delighted in her hangover.
Other than reviewing his prior lessons, making sure he retained all his notes, Herwald spent most of his time either sparring with Shirou, the elder male wanting to see what Savate was like, playing with Illyasviel, and simply reading ahead in his textbooks, which was regrettably not as interesting as he'd thought it'd be.
The reason for this was, predictably, the Lockhart books, which as Nicholas and Perenelle surmised, were little more than glorified travel logs. True, the methods by which he used to deal with the numerous assorted beasties he encountered were ingenious, but that didn't change the fact that, if you cut out all the blather, pomp and ceremony, the book would only be a FRACTION of the size it was, and likely less expensive.
Who the hell cared how hard it was to get your hair to curl 'just so' in a blizzard when there were YETIS prowling around looking for people to beat to a bloody pulp for trespassing on their mountain?
Rin, naturally, deduced the man was some sort of attention-seeking media whore, which earned a concerned look from Sakura, who didn't think bad-mouthing people was appropriate, and a snort from Rider, Herwald and Illyasviel, who'd met the man and believed the term was just the TIP of the proverbial iceberg.
As such, Herwald was rather glad that Perenelle had thought ahead and added some extra books, recommended by prior DADA professors, to his collection. Seeing as these professors had been around BEFORE whatever curse had been placed on the position, this meant they'd had years to get comfortable with the position and a grasp on just what the student body was capable of.
However, as the old saying goes, time flies when you're having fun, and sure enough, Herwald's last evening with his step-family for the year had arrived, as he was to be on the Hogwarts express the next day.
Sakura had decided to cook the dinner that evening, and in Herwald's opinion, the younger Tohsaka had outdone herself, preparing a sumptuous dinner that included everyone's favourite things, ranging from European to Eastern Dishes, which had Taiga literally drooling at the mere sight of them. By the end of the feast, the poor woman was too full to even move, and had to stay in a guest room. Herwald spent the night with Illyasviel, the two hugging each other as they had when he'd been a child in the Einzbern castle, Illyasviel's cool fingers, trailing through his hair the last thing he felt before falling asleep.
Naturally, he and Shirou were up at dawn, getting in one last spar before the redhead left to make breakfast, much to the affront of Sella, who couldn't accept how the redhead was able to rouse earlier than she and Leysritt, the latter of which simply greeted the boys with a smile before heading off to rouse Ilya and the others.
september 11th...
Unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Taiga had apparently eaten more than she could handle the previous evening, and so was laid up with a terrible case of indigestion. As pitiable as the scene was, the group wisely decided this would be the best opportunity for Herwald to slip away without alerting the woman, and so he said his farewells, Rider, Illyasviel, Stella and Leysritt accompanying him to Diagon Alley via the portkey provided by Gringotts, the others opting to stay behind to keep an eye on Taiga.
"We don't need a big crowd anyway." Rider insisted, helping Herwald lug his trunk onto one of the trolleys provided at King's Cross station, having taken another magical taxi to get there, much to Sella's discomfort, as apparently the 'elder' of the homunculi maids didn't handle rapid travel any better than Shirou, though she took some pride in that she didn't throw up as the redhead had "Just draws attention."
They had arrived around quarter to eleven, Herwald unable to help feeling a little jet-lagged, even if he'd only leftJapana few minutes prior, it didn't change the fact the Island Nation was at least nine hours ahead ofLondon. As such, he was looking forward to stowing his trunk on the Express and finding a nice cabin to relax in, so he was quite surprised when Rider grabbed his shoulder, her eyes narrowing behind her spectacles as she glared at the barrier dividing platforms nine and ten, behind which lay the entrance to Platform Nine and 3/4. "The barrier's closed." She muttered, earning looks of alarm from the others "We're not late, look at the clocks, but it feels like someone's forcibly closed off the barrier."
"You noticed it too?" Illyasviel noted the deceptively young girl looking around in suspicion, even as Sella and Leysritt tensed, the latter wishing she'd been allowed to bring her halberd with her.
"My ability to detect magic might not be as high as Saber, Archer or Assassin's were." Rider noted offhandedly "But I'm a Servant, even the weakest of us could detect a shift in the magic around us" she gestured to the barrier "Also, I've seen the barrier before, so I can tell someone's tampered with it."
"Can you fix it?" Herwald demanded, keeping his voice low even as he tensed his right hand, ready to flee or fight as the situation demanded, even as Rider curled her lip, a cold, almost serpentine smile forming on her face as she brought one manicured hand up to the barrier, tracing it with her nail almost lovingly, Herwald unable to help the shiver that raced down his spine as he felt whatever magic was blocking the barrier RECOIL from her touch, before fading to nothing.
"Breaking through bounded fields may not be my specialty…" the Gorgon admitted, lowering her hand and eyeing her nail carefully for any blemishes "But for someone with divinity, even one of reduced circumstances like myself, all you need is to be a little…persuasive."
"I bet Berserker could've got it to behave just by GLARING at it." Illyasviel boasted, earning a snort from Rider and a bemused chuckle from Herwald as they passed through, though the youth had to agree she had a point. If Heracles had wanted something to move, it MOVED. The alternative was he'd hit it until the pieces were too small to block his way, and even then he might just continue hitting said pieces simply for being there.
"HARRY!" a voice called out, Herwald turning to see Ron Weasley waving excitedly at him from the window of the last compartment on the Express "Hurry up mate! We saved you a seat!"
"Oh do behave Weasley." An annoyed voice muttered, Herwald quirking a brow as Draco Malfoy appeared next to the redhead, slapping him upside the head for his lack of decorum before smirking at the boy "Stylishly late as always, Herwald?"
"What can I say? It's an Einzbern tradition." Herwald replied, cursing whoever had tampered with the barrier, as he HATED having to lie to his friends right off the bat. However, he knew from experience that Ron would over-react to the house-elf's warning, no doubt dragging Hermione and Neville along for the ride. True, they'd been a tremendous help with the False Stone Incident, but Herwald didn't want them risking their necks like that again. HE had experience, and it had almost killed him, he didn't fancy their chances if any of THEM had gone up against Quirrell.
With a little help from Crabbe and Goyle, the Einzbern youth's trunk was stashed in the luggage rack along with the others, allowing Herwald to say a quick farewell to his family, hugging Illyasviel and the maids, Sella looking like she was about to cry while Leysritt merely smiled in that gentle manner of hers, nodding at Rider who waved coyly, before mounting the train just as the final whistle went off, the Hogwarts Express leaving King's Cross station, bearing students new and old alike back to their home away from home.
Little train is moving-!
The trip up to the castle was amusing, between games of exploding snap, which Neville continued to reign triumphant in, the occasional chess match, where Ron and Draco refused to give way, and simply regaling one another with what they'd gotten up to over the summer, the unlikely band of Gryffindors and Slytherins soon lost track of time.
Hermione and her parents had apparently gone to France for the holiday, where the girl admitted she'd spent most of the time visiting the home of Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel prior to their 'deaths'. Herwald had to literally bite his cheek to keep from chuckling in amusement at how annoyed she was that she'd been forbidden entry, as the French Ministère de la Magie had declared the place off-limits after a slew of false claimants and greedy relatives led to Perenelle Flamel placing powerful wards over the place, wards strong enough to rival Gringotts finest in their vindictiveness. The last poor soul who attempted to force his way into the Flamel's former domicile had found himself transfigured into a frog and narrowly avoiding a fate as an entrée at his own family restaurant.
Needless to say, no more attempts were made.
He was just wondering whether or not to point out to Draco that Muggle Aeroplanes were NOT, in fact, a form of firework, when Percy Weasley came by to tell them that they were drawing close to Hogsmeade and to change into their robes. They did so, Hermione leaving for the privacy of the girl's bathroom, leaving the boys to get changed, Herwald ignoring the looks of awe that the others kept sending towards his back and arms before he pulled on his robes, obscuring the alchemical arrays from view, the group shuffling out of the compartment, wincing slightly at the first sting of the night air on their faces as they joined the crowd disembarking at Hogsmeade station.
"Firs'-years over 'ere! Firs'-years…!" a familiar voice bellowed, Herwlad looking up to see Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant Groundskeeper and Keeper of the Keys of Hogwarts standing at the end of the platform, dressed, as always, in his moleskin overcoat, a lantern held in one hand as he shepherded the first years towards the docks "'lo there Harry!" he greeted when their eyes met "Good summer?"
Herwald nodded, having long come to terms that Hagrid would never remember to call him by the name he preferred, but didn't hold it against the man, it was simply impossible to hate someone as nice as Hagrid, even if he DID have an unfortunate enchant for doing remarkably silly things, like trying to raise a FIRE BREATHING DRAGON in a wooden hut.
"This way Harry!" one of the twins called out, Herwald renewing is vow to somehow manage to differentiate between the pair as the second years followed their seniors down the station, only for Herwald to pull up short.
"Was zur Hölle?" the Einzbern breathed, his eyes wide as he gaped at the scene before him, unable to comprehend why nobody else was panicking.
Before him sat a hundred carriages, waiting for the students to clamber into them and ferry them off to the castle. The problem wasn't the carriages, however, they looked rather comfortable actually, what drew Herwald's eyes were the steeds tethered to said carriages, which could only be called 'horses' in the loosest sense of the word, if someone had managed to cross a horse with a giant reptile.
They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads reminded Herwald vaguely of Norbert, Hagrid's illegal Norwegian Ridgeback, set with pupil-less white eyes that seemed to stare right through him. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats, which only made it all the more alarming why the rest of the students weren't reacting to the sinister looking things.
"You alright, Herwald?" Draco asked, the Malfoy Heir looking at his friend and roommate in concern as the adopted Einzbern continued to stare at the carriages "You've gone rather pale."
"You can't see them?" Herwald asked, the apprentice alchemist turning to look at the heir of Malfoy out the corner of his eye, not daring to take his eyes off the creatures before him for even a second.
"See what?" Draco asked, frowning at the carriages in suspicion, trying to see what had unnerved his friend so "I can't see anything, are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine…" Herwald muttered, shaking himself eyeing the apparently docile creatures warily as he shrugged "Just tired, time difference and all, be glad to see the inside of the common room after the feast."
"You and me both…" Draco chuckled, before stepping forward to procure a carriage, leaving Herwald on his own for a moment, the Einzbern working to gather his composure.
"It's all right." a dreamy voice spoke up, Herwald whipping round to see a girl, about the same age as Ginny Weasley, with straggly, waist-length dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and protuberant eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look standing at his elbow. Even as he looked on Herwald could feel there was something off about her, she just seemed to give the impression she was several Servants short of a Grail War, an image that wasn't helped by her tucking her wand behind her ear for safekeeping as if it were a pencil. "You're not going mad or anything." She assured the boy-who-lived in a dreamy voice that spoke of either mild-concussion or substance abuse "I can see them, too."
"Can you?" Herwald asked, the adopted Einzbern quirking a brow at the girl, one part of him glad SOMEONE else could see the beasties, the other part wondering if only insane people could "What are they?"
"Thestrals." the girl replied in her dreamy voice "I've always been able to see them, my father says they've always pulled the carriages." She smiled at him "So relax, you aren't losing your mind or anything, you're just as sane as I am."
With that she left, slipping off to join the rest of the first years with Hagrid as they made for the docks, leaving Herwald feeling rather self-conscious as he clambered into a carriage, relieved that he wasn't going mad, though unnerved that he was apparently just as sane as the little girl or that wore Butterbeer corks as a necklace.
As it was, he was rather glad to see the back of the beasts as he made his way up the steps towards the main hall, where Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and Head of Gryffindor House stood waiting for them.
"Single file please." the cat Animagus called out, her stern black eyes looking for any troublemakers as she led the students to the Great Hall "Prefects, make sure your respective houses are in order!"
Herwald was about to pass the woman and move on with his fellow Second Years when her hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, halting him in his tracks, the Einzbern looking up to see the woman looking at him, her features stern, but polite.
"A moment, Mr. Potter." She insisted, using his 'official' name within the halls of Hogwarts, which according to Herwald's own head of house wouldn't change until he graduated, or was expelled whichever came first "The Headmaster would like to see you."
And we'll leave off there.
Demoman: Oh fer tha love of pete!
Spy: Can't that bearded fool wait before trying to get his hooks in?
Kyugan: Probably not, but he means well. In any case, stay tuned!