Matou Shinji and the Heirs of Slytherin
A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story
Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.
Summary: Trouble is brewing in the Wizarding World. In the wake of the Stone Incident, Albus Dumbledore has begun quietly preparing Britain to survive the coming war. The Stone Cutters, a new organization at Hogwarts for the most talented and distinguished of students, seek new blood to bolster its strength. The Boy-Who-Lived seeks his destiny as the Heir of Slytherin. And a boy from the east meets a specter of the past.
Chapter 7. Crazy Train
When Shinji and Harry appeared on Platform 9 ¾, already clad in their school robes, the first thing they noticed was the noise – or rather, the lack of it. The normal buzz of conversation was absent, as were the friends and families of Hogwarts students old and new. And as they steadied themselves from the shock and disorientation of Portkey Travel (which the Matou scion had yet to get used to), and looked around, they saw something quite unusual. Here and there, students came through the hidden portal to the platform, but once there, they were shepherded to the Hogwarts Express without delay by official looking wizards in dark red robes, with their families sent back to the outside world.
Shinji blinked at this, thinking that something had to be very wrong for the atmosphere to be so somber, though at least what little conversation they heard was in English.
"You know anything about this, Harry?"
But the Boy-Who-Lived only shook his head.
"No – there was some natter about an escaped murderer named Sirius Black, but that was on the Muggle side of things," the bespectacled lad said quietly. "I don't get to hear much about the Wizarding World."
And Shinji certainly hadn't heard much about any major events happening in Magical Britain while he was in Mahoutokoro. There certainly wasn't much in the way of international press, after all, and it was rare for news in one country to reach other.
"You two, there! Stop dallying. Get your things over to…" one of the red-cloaked figures began, but trailed off as he noticed who he was speaking to: the Boy-Who-Lived and his associate, who was even now, wearing his Order of Merlin medallion. "Ah, so sorry, young sirs," he continued apologetically, "but we really do need you to board the Express."
"What's going on?" Shinji asked, with the man shaking his head.
"Bad business that – Black's on the loose, you know," the man said in a very matter of fact manner. "We need you on the train to make it easier for us to protect you. Especially you two young sirs, Mr. Potter and…"
The man hesitated, clearly uncertain of who exactly Shinji was, but not wanting to offend someone who was clearly both a close associate of the Boy-Who-Lived and a recipient of the Order of Merlin, Magical Britain's highest decoration.
"Matou. Shinji Matou," the boy from the east helpfully supplied. It was somewhat annoying that he wasn't yet known on sight, but he expected that would change soon enough. There were, after all, six more years to go at Hogwarts, and opportunities to be photographed by the press.
"…Mr. Matou, yes. Due to heightened security, we'd also appreciate it if you sent your owl onward to Hogwarts first, Mr. Potter."
Shinji and Harry shared a look before the Boy-Who-Lived nodded, opening Hedwig's cage and telling her to fly on towards Hogwarts, since they'd be separated there anyway. After that, the two proceeded to board the train, weight-sealing ofuda having made the task of transporting their goods relatively painless, despite their inability to shrink down their belongings as of yet.
Though nothing they could do made the task of searching for a compartment easy, as most were already occupied by large groups, and Shinji didn't really want to join one of those.
"We could go to find Daphne and her friends," Harry said after a few minutes of searching, his expression…complicated. "She'll have saved me a seat…and I wanted to talk to her anyway…"
The two had exchanged some correspondence over the summer, and he didn't know exactly how he felt about her, only that she was…nice to him in a way that seemed less opportunistic than say, Pansy, who had once been Malfoy's lackey.
"Ah," Shinji replied eloquently. "Alone?"
Harry nodded and sighed, closing his eyes for a moment to steady himself.
At Mahoutokoro, it had been easy to just not think about what had happened the previous year, but returning to Britain and boarding the Hogwarts Express made it more difficult. Now he was on his way to back the school where Sokaris had passed away – and from the heightened security, there was something deeply awry in the world.
"Alright," Shinji said, "we'll make it happen."
Truth to be told, he had been looking for an opportunity to make an impression with members of Slytherin House. While he was well known (some would say notorious) in Ravenclaw, and the Stone Cutters' acts in killing a troll and fighting a Dark Wizard were all the bonafides that Gryffindor needed, he knew that so far, what standing he had in the eyes of most Slytherins was due to his association with the Boy-Who-Lived.
Which was fine…for a start.
(Despite what Hillard had mentioned how Hufflepuff was not to be underestimated, given that it had never been hit during a prank war, the fact that they might be important to build a relationship with hadn't really crossed his mind. He considered them a collection of mediocrities, and he wanted to be associated with greatness, not mediocrity).
But if Harry was handing him an opportunity to socialize with members of his house on a silver platter, he didn't see any reason not to take it. All he'd have to do was find a barely occupied—
Ah.
"Follow my lead," he told Harry, as he slid the door open and pulled his trunk inside.
The compartment's sole occupant – a young girl sitting by the window, looked up at the commotion. She wore a pale yellow sundress, with straggly, waist-length, dirty blonde hair, very pale eyebrows and eerie silvery eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. But that wasn't all. Adding to the strangeness, the girl had her wand tucked behind her left ear for safekeeping, was wearing a necklace of what looked like corks, and was reading a magazine upside-down.
And most importantly, she had an almost lonely air to her, very much like which Shinji had seen from Harry the year before.
Excellent.
Her eyes ranged over the duo, moving past Matou to rest on Harry.
"Hullo," she said dreamily, without taking her eyes off Harry. "You're Harry Potter."
"I know I am," Harry answered, but before he could ask who she was, she was talking once more, her pale eyes shifting to Shinji.
"And I don't know who you are."
"Shinji Matou, of Ravenclaw House," the boy from the east said with a slight bow.
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure," the girl replied in a singsong voice, the oddity of which actually made Shinji more comfortable. In his experience, practitioners of thaumaturgy were supposed to be a bit eccentric, not the flat normal of everyone else at the school. "That is the Order of Merlin though, is it not?"
"Why yes it is," Shinji noted, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Harry and I faced down a dark wizard last year."
"The evil Defense Professor?" she questioned, holding up the magazine she was reading – which, now that Shinji had a good look, had Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and Harry Potter featured on the front. "You don't have the hair of a Weasley."
Harry froze at her mild inquiry, while Shinji just lifted his eyebrows. That was not the story everyone had been told, which made him wonder how she knew. He'd have to fish.
"No, but the papers don't always get everything right," he said conspiratorially, an idea coming to mind.
"Too true. They don't mention the Rotfang Conspiracy or Lucius Malfoy being the puppetmaster who controls the Ministry," the girl responded, looking curiously at Shinji for a long moment with that faintly surprised expression of hers, before nodding to the two. "Luna Lovegood, by the by."
"Charmed."
"You wanted to sit down?" she asked, waving vaguely towards the empty seats in the compartment.
Harry was about to ask what Shinji thought he was doing, but the Matou scion just shot his friend a quick look.
"Actually, we were wondering if you'd join us in another compartment," Shinji answered with a smile – though he did motion to Harry to stow his items away. "It would be good to meet some people before...it is your first year at Hogwarts, right?"
He was guessing, but he didn't think there was much chance he was wrong.
Luna nodded.
"I thought so, since I would have remembered someone like you."
'And you would have remembered me and not just Harry, even if he is the Boy-who-Lived.'
"I suppose," she answered in that ethereal voice of hers, closing the magazine and rising to her feet, her pale eyes regarding Shinji thoughtfully. "It's nice to meet someone as sane as I am."
"Likewise," Shinji replied, humoring the girl a bit as he turned to his friend. "Harry, lead on."
"Ah, right."
The Boy-Who-Lived blinked, a little unnerved by the girl's eccentricity – and more so by Shinji's casual acceptance of her. Then again, Sokaris (and it still hurt to think about her) had been close to Shinji too, and she was nothing if not odd in her own way. Still, it wasn't any of his business who Shinji chose to get close to, so he proceeded to move down the train, peering to each compartment in turn to see if he could find –
Aha.
"Harry, glad you could join us." Daphne's cool, musical voice issued from the compartment he'd just opened. "I see you have Matou with you, and…"
"This is Luna Lovegood," Shinji interjected, nodding at the girl. "She's with me."
He figured it was better to forestall any teasing of the girl for her oddness – and given the events of the previous year and how most people were looking for a way to join the Boy-Who-Lived's inner circle, he knew no one wanted to get on a Stone Cutter's bad side.
As he looked at the Slytherins though, he missed a surprised blink from Luna, who had never really had anyone associate themselves with her. Especially not when meeting a group of friends.
"Ah," Daphne replied eloquently. "Well, you know who we are of course," she continued, gesturing to the other occupants of the compartment.
Shinji looked around, recognizing Tracey Davis, Lily Moon, and Sophie Roper from Slytherin, along with Su Li and Mandy Brocklehurst of Ravenclaw.
"Of course," Shinji said, though he noted there was only one free seat in the compartment – a seat next to Daphne, at that. Clearly Daphne had saved a seat for Harry, and hadn't been expecting anyone else.
"Daphne," Harry continued, meeting the girl's eyes with a confidence he didn't quite feel. "Can we talk? Alone?"
"Oh?" The Greengrass girl replied, raising an eyebrow. "Why, Mr. Potter, one might think you missed me."
Harry's only response was a considering hm.
"But since you ask so nicely, who am I to deny the Heir of Slytherin?" she finished, standing and taking Harry's hand. "Let's go then. Matou, you and Lovegood will keep my friends occupied, won't you?"
"That was the plan," Shinji admitted, watching as the Boy-Who-Lived and his companion left the compartment. Once they were gone, he gestured for Luna to take a seat first, before he joined her on the bench.
"So you spent the summer with Potter then?" one of the girls – Tracey Davis – asked curiously. "We saw you both arrive by Portkey."
"Yes, he and I were in Japan, training together at Mahoutokoro under the instructors there," Shinji replied, seeing no harm in sharing – even boasting a bit.
"Training in what?"
"Defense and the Arts of my homeland."
Tracey's eyebrows rose at that, as she looked at Shinji thoughtfully, remembering that he was indeed a Stone Cutter – and had been rumored to be a master of the Eastern Arts. And with someone like Sirius Black on the loose…
"That makes sense, with him being the Boy-Who-Lived and you being one of his Stone Cutters," she said slowly. "Merlin knows you'll probably end up in even more escapades this year. Though I'm curious, how did you come to be at Hogwarts and not Mahou…."
She paused, unsure of how to pronounce the foreign name.
"My mother went to Hogwarts," Shinji replied, managing to keep his face impassive with some effort. It was still something of a sore topic, though not nearly as much of one as it had been in the past, now that he knew that he wasn't useless, having gained the favor of a Director and a powerful puppetmaster.
"Ravenclaw, I assume?" Tracey asked. "I only ask as most Orientals at Hogwarts are in that house – or well, in Slytherin."
Perhaps one might have expected her to use Asian, but in British English, Asian tended to refer to people of South Asia – Indians, Pakistanis and other who had been from lands the Empire had once controlled.
"Ravenclaw, yes."
"And your companion?" she asked, glancing over to Luna, who was once more reading from her magazine. It had been rumored that Matou and Sokaris were something of an item, given how much time they'd spent around each other, and while Sokaris had undoubtedly been brilliant, there was no denying she had been…odd, alternating between being detached from the world and being unusually focused, as this girl seemed to.
"Not yet sorted, though I'm sure she'll find her way to where she belongs," Shinji said easily, giving Luna a small smile.
"Oh, a first year?" Su Li broke in, curious as well, despite herself. "Have you known each other long?"
"Eons and eons," Luna said in her singsong voice, as the other girls' gazes turned to her. "Or maybe just moments ago. They blend together so."
"…I…see," Su replied, nonplussed, wondering if Matou was going to clear up the confusion, but the Japanese boy said nary a word. Since she didn't want to be the reason conversation died, she changed topics. "So, have you heard anything about Sirius Black?"
"The murderer?"
"Yes, a Dark Wizard who was one of You-Know-Who's spies," Su answered, with a shudder. "And the only man to ever escape from Azkaban."
This time Shinji was a bit confused, as the name hadn't come up before. Still, he could get the context – it was obviously a prison.
"The only one, you say?" he asked, mildly curious.
"Yeah."
"Well, it was only a matter of time," Sophie said, shaking her head. "Azkaban itself was raised from the depths by terrible Dark Magic, and even the Dementors – the prison's guards – are Dark themselves. Terrible things – draining the life out of a person. And if they kiss you…"
She trailed off, not wanting to say more.
"…yes?" Shinji asked, intrigued. Someone had raised an island from the sea? How much power would that have taken…?
"…you lose your soul," Luna whispered, her luminous silvery eyes eerie in the compartment. "Even dying would be better than that."
For humans, death was the end – with one's soul to be broken down for recycling, unless of course, one achieved enough fame to become a Heroic Spirit – a being closer to an elemental than a human soul – or tinkered with one's soul to prevent destruction using long-forbidden arts.
But from what he'd learned of the Resurrection Stone and Harry's encounter with Death, the souls of wizardkin and other fey-like creatures passed on into another realm - the realm of the dead – perhaps the place Magi called the "Inside of the World" – or one of those other realms that elementals inhabited.
With the power to disrupt that, what were Dementors? A natural predator of these fey folk? The World's reaction to souls being removed from the cycle of incarnation? No – the tales of Book of Spells mentioned that practitioners of the Dark Arts could control them, given the tale of Raczidian, so that wasn't the case – unless of course, form had brought a sort of rudimentary intelligence? The result of some dark ritual, some attempt to reach the Root gone awry? …or perhaps something left over from the original ritual that had created this world of practitioners?
Who really knew? Yet, given the reactions at the funeral last year, he knew that most didn't think about grief and dying differently from normal humans. Separation for a lifetime was separation for a lifetime, regardless of any possibility of eventual reunion.
And that made him curious.
"Luna," he began, looking at the girl seated beside him. "Have you…no, has anyone you known ever died?"
"Yes," said Luna simply, "my mother. She was a quite extraordinary witch, but she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. I was nine. And you?"
Shinji knew he should have expected the question to be turned back on him, but somehow, he hadn't.
"Mine as well," he answered, his mask slipping for a second as he thought about what it must have been like to be consumed by the worms. "I was younger."
"Yes, it was rather horrible," Luna continued conversationally. "I still feel very sad about it sometimes. But I've still got Dad. And anyway, it's not as though I'll never see Mum again, is it?"
'She knows about the Land of the Dead - but how?'
That was something of a shock.
"Oh?"
"Of course – if the Resurrection Stone can call back the shades of those we lost, they must be somewhere, right?" Luna said reasonably, drawing odd reactions from everyone else in the compartment.
…what.
"But…the Deathly Hallows…they aren't…"
"They're real," Shinji cut in, the absolute certainty in his voice cutting off whatever Mandy Brocklehurst had been about to say. For whatever one might say about a no-name witch who might be written off as a loon, one could not dismiss a member of the Order of Merlin nearly as lightly. "I've seen at least one."
All eyes snapped to the Matou scion at this revelation. For someone to simply say that he'd seen a relic that were assumed to be only legend was…
"Merlin...you…you're serious, aren't you?" Tracey Davis asked in a hushed whisper, noting the look in the boy's grey eyes. "You really have…but how? Which one?"
"I've traveled. And I know many people," was all Shinji would answer. He wasn't about to reveal exactly who had them, after all – not if he wanted to avoid answering questions about where he had learned about the Hallows or how he knew the bearers, something which the Headmaster would be suspicious about at best, since Dumbledore was in possession of the Elder Wand.
"The Cloak then," Luna surmised, her eyes curious and bright as she regarded the boy. "The only one which was not lost. You've met a Peverell."
"Perhaps," Shinji said noncommittally, finding her insight more than a little intimidating. "But as I said, I've met many people. I even had the chance to meet Professor Snape in Mahoutokoro, you know."
"Oh?" one of the others asked – Lily Moon, he thought. "What was he doing there?"
"Professor Snape is a member of the Wizarding Schools Potions Competition Committee, the body in charge of potions competitions around the world," Shinji related, a fact which apparently surprised some of the occupants of the compartment. "They were having their annual meeting to discuss the state of international potions education, and how to choose Champions for the competition."
"Champions?" Tracey repeated.
"Oh, so it's something like the Tri-Wizard Tournament?" Su asked, noting that it was a Wizarding Schools competition. If it was, that could be a highly dangerous affair, given that it had been discontinued in 1792 after the deaths of too many champions over five hundred years of the competition's history.
"Yes, only open to more of the world," Shinji confirmed. "It's been around since 1407, but Hogwarts only rarely sends people."
"Ah, so the last time it was held would have been shortly after the War against You-Know-Who," Su said thoughtfully. "And we've never had many potions prodigies."
Well, Severus Snape and Lily Potter aside, of course.
"I wonder who would be Hogwarts' Champion this time around, then," Mandy mused, thinking about the various people in their year. "I assume you have to be 17 unless you have the Headmaster's approval, like the Triwizard Tournament – and probably something about binding contracts?"
"Mhm," Shinji confirmed. That was what he'd heard from Touko, who'd accompanied Snape to the meeting and so knew as much about the upcoming event as he. "Sixth and Seventh Years, mostly."
"…can't think of anyone," Tracey said after a few moments. "Professor Snape barely lets anyone into NEWT potions as it is, and he's never in a great mood after those classes."
"The Weasley Twins, maybe?" Su proposed. "Their skills will probably be good enough by their sixth year."
"Snape would go spare," Sophie mused, the corners of her mouth tugging upwards as she pictured the dour potions professor having to deal with either one of the Weasley Twins as Potions Champion of Hogwarts – or worse, of the World. "Any Gryffindor would be bad enough, but them?"
"Yeah, I can see it. They could probably be good enough, but..." Tracey mused. "With them as his choices, he really would go spare. Maybe if there was someone else, but…"
She trailed off, looking at Shinji, the meaning obvious.
"…yeah," Shinji said, somewhat uncomfortably. Well, she wasn't dead, but it wasn't as if Sokaris was coming back to Hogwarts, not with her quest to end the threat of TATARI once and for all. "Speaking of that, have you heard anything about this year's Defense Professor? Alastor Moody, was it?"
"They call him Mad-Eye, like he's paranoid - well, and because he has a magical eye that can see through things - even invisibility cloaks," Lily said. "That he hates Slytherins and anything that reminds him of the Dark Arts. He fought in the War against You-Know-Who. That's where he lost his real eye."
"And a leg," Su added.
"I hear his face is almost ruined, the poor man," Mandy chimed in, though she didn't know for sure since Moody hated to appear in front of a camera. After all, one never knew who the photographer was really working for, or if someone who claimed to have press credentials really was a member of the press and not a terrorist impersonating said member with Polyjuice Potion.
"Either way, he's about the most famous Auror in modern times," Tracey concluded, not to be outdone. "But aside from that, there's not a lot we know about him."
"So he has something to hide?" Shinji asked, bemused.
"Matou, everyone has something to hide," Lily commented, eying the boy. "Besides you're one to talk, Mr. I came from Japan and who we know next to nothing about."
"Point," Shinji conceded, given that denying that would be nothing short of futile.
"Anyway, the gossip is apparently that Lucius Malfoy had concerns about him teaching at Hogwarts since he has a bad habit of overreacting to surprises, but with the threat of Sirius Black around…"
Tracey trailed off, leaving Shinji grimacing.
"Lesser of the two evils?" he ventured.
"Just like the squad of Hit Wizards on the train," Tracey confirmed. "Rumor has it the Minister wanted to send Dementors instead, but they thought that would set Moody off. Something about Dementors having a history of working with powerful Dark Wizards, and Black being exactly the sort they'd follow. I can see his point though – I wouldn't want those things around me either."
When she put it that way, even Shinji was likely to agree.
"I'm sure Professor Lockhart wouldn't either," Mandy murmured. "Though I'm sure between him, Moody, and Dumbledore, we have nothing to fear. The wizard even You-Know-Who feared, Magical Britain's greatest Auror, and the greatest adventurer of modern times."
"Adventurer?" Shinji asked, brows knitting together in puzzlement. He had thought that most wizards didn't travel out of the country…
"Yes," Mandy gushed excitedly. "He travels around the world helping people under threat from Dark forces, defeating werewolves, vampires, banshees, and more. He's even been received an Order of Merlin!"
Shinji just looked at her, as his fellow Ravenclaw blushed, remembering that Shinji, too, had received one of those prestigious awards.
"…well, Third Class," she mumbled, but quickly recovered. "Still, he should have gotten more. After all, he's written so many books about his work. History is kind of a waste of his talents…"
"I see," Shinji said noncommittally, giving a mental shrug. Other people's achievements didn't really impress him unless they affected him in some way, and he doubted that Lockhart's abilities in combat would come into play during History of Magic. Though maybe the man would manage to keep the class awake – which alone would be a stunning achievement compared to any of Cuthbert Binns's classes.
"But enough about us," Tracey said, eyeing Shinji with interest. "We've shared enough – tell us more about you."
It was no surprise that members of the House of Slytherin sought whatever advantage they could get in any situation, and they were of course curious about the boy who seemed to the Heir of Slytherin's closest friend. Was there anything he'd be willing to show them? Could he let them know what it would take for them to be inducted into the Stone Cutters? What kinds of things did he like – what biases did he have, what did he know?
…and to what extent had he been involved in the now infamous prank war in which even the Weasleys had suffered?
There was nothing unreasonable about wanting to know, Shinji would concede. The key was simply to control what one revealed so nothing too important slipped out. After all, it just wouldn't do to betray a fatal weakness or a confidence, but if he was careful, he could reveal enough to interest, intrigue, and gain a not insignificant amount of favor.
So he told them about Mahoutokoro, about a city of magic where everything was centralized, about his status as part of what was essentially an Ancient house in Japan, about the fact that he was apprenticed to a Professor of Ancient Runes and other things that were true enough – yet not offering specifics – at least not with regards to his Craft or the people he'd trained with.
As he talked, he retrieved a packet of origami paper from his mokeskin pouch and began folding pieces into animals almost absently.
"What are you doing?" Tracey asked, intrigued despite herself.
"That's…origami, isn't it?" Su commented at the same time.
"Yes – the art of paper folding," he confirmed, looking up with a wry smile. "It keeps my fingers nimble."
"Huh."
"Do you have any requests?" he asked, as he talked about some of the holidays on the other side of the world – flower viewing, Obon, Tanabata, and more – while folding animals and using the Colovaria charm to change the paper into the colors they wanted.
The first – a crane, was a fairly predictable request, and quite easy to make.
An owl wasn't too hard to fold ether, though he needed some asymmetric folding to make that one a possibility.
A phoenix was similar to a crane, but with a long-trailing tail requiring the use of petal folds and some inside reverse folds.
A snake…well, to be fair, that one was actually a challenge if one was actually folding one and not simply rolling a tube of paper up. There were an intricate series of folds one needed to do, with the entire affair looking like a pair of black wings at one point, though after some work it eventually folded into its final form – a sleek black, serpentine form.
A Crumple-horned Snorkack…
…Shinji's hands were already moving to grab another piece of paper, and his fingers creasing the sheet in a familiar manner as…
"What."
… his hands stopped as he turned to look at the girl he'd brought to the compartment.
"A Crumple-horned Snorkack," Luna repeated in her dreamy voice. "Or if that's too hard, a Blibbering Humdinger would do."
"…aren't those just made up creatures?" Tracey asked, looking dubiously at the blonde – and then at the magazine she held – the Quibbler. "No one's seen them yet, have they? At least, not that I've read."
"Not that any of you have seen a kitsune from my land, and yet you're willing to believe they exist," Shinji said mildly, as his fingers moved to salvage what they could from the original folding project. "And just because something isn't in a book doesn't mean it's not real. Or do we want to act like Muggles, who think unicorns are make believe?"
"Of course, unicorns aren't make believe. Everyone knows…huh," Su began, though she trailed off as she followed his train of thought. "I see your point."
For a group of people who used the greater mysteries of the world as part of their everyday life, Shinji thought that these practitioners of Witchcraft had little enough curiosity or appreciation for things that lay beyond what they'd been taught or shown. The fact that they couldn't accept that what they'd been taught or read might not necessarily be true.
He sighed.
Was this why there was so little change after so many years? That they just accepted what they were taught and accepted it as a given, without questioning? Even the least among magi knew how to question assumptions – but then, that was the difference between a group which relied on techniques from the past and one which literally reinvented techniques by the person.
"Here," he said, handing Luna what he'd managed to fold from the piece of paper – an origami frangipani, a white and yellow paper bloom smelling almost fragrant with scented oils. For a moment, the girl even looked surprised, though not as surprised as the Slytherins were when she wove it into her hair above her left ear.
"That was the first thing a boy has ever given me, you know," she said dreamily, placing a finger to her lips. "Or anyone, really."
"Consider it an apology for not knowing how to fold a Snorkack," Shinji replied, slightly embarrassed. "I don't even know what one looks like."
"Like this," Luna said helpfully, scooting closer to the Japanese boy and opening her copy of the Quibbler to an article on…yes, the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, including an artist's rendition of what one might look like.
"Huh," Shinji mused, looking over the drawing. It looked much like a single-hump camel, really – if that camel had scales, a horn, and a flared snout. Or perhaps a very frumpy unicorn if one was less inclined to be charitable. "I can make that."
And so he did, his fingers deftly folding the template for a camel, with some smaller folds to allow the creation of a horn.
When he finished, he applied the necessary color and texture change charms and gave it to Luna, who just beamed, as if this was one of the best things she'd ever gotten.
"Thank you," she said, her wide silvery eyes bright with happiness.
"You're welcome," Shinji replied gallantly, thinking now he might finally get the answer to a question. "So, care to tell me about your necklace?"
"It's a charm, actually," Luna answered, an odd expression on her face. "Keeps away the Nargles."
They continued talking for some time before they arrived at the station, whereupon Shinji left the compartment so that the others could change, escorting Luna back to hers. He had just about arrived when the door opened, with a slightly flushed Daphne Greengrass emerging, holding a delicate plush bear in her hands. She nodded to the Matou scion.
"Have a good talk?" Shinji asked slyly.
Daphne coloured prettily.
"Yes, Matou," she answered. "I hope my friends were not too much trouble?"
"No trouble at all," Shinji said with a slight bow. "You should go and join them, we're nearly at the Castle."
"Right, and I need to change," she said, nodding to both him and his companion as she strode off. "Matou, Lovegood."
Inside, Harry seemed less stressed than Shinji had seen him in quite a while, a soft smile on his face.
"Feeling ok, Harry?"
"Yeah. More than ok," Harry replied, seeming a bit dazed, touching his lips as if trying to confirm something, though Shinji didn't quite know what.
As they disembarked, feeling the sting of the cool night air on their faces as they stepped onto the platform, they could smell the pine trees that lined the path down to the lake. But this year, something else was different: instead of the call of "firs'-years over 'ere… firs'-years…" that had greeted him last year, a brisk female voice was calling out "First years line up over here, please! All first-years to me!" with Hit Wizards guarding the column of first years.
"See you at the Feast," Shinji told Luna, to which the girl only nodded. "Good luck with the Sorting."
"We make our own luck," she said, as she went to join her fellow first years – and not a moment too soon, as Hermione came over soon after.
"Matou! There you are," the bushy-haired brunette greeted him. "I was worried since I didn't see you earlier, what with the news about the murderer and all."
"Harry and I came in later, by Portkey," Shinji answered, to which Hermione only nodded. She should have remembered that he would arrive directly on the platform. "Have a nice summer?"
"My parents and I went on holiday in France," the brunette answered. "There was some interesting local history that wasn't in any of our books. I managed to finish my summer homework early though, since we didn't have any assignments for History or Defense. And speaking of History…"
"Still sore about Lockhart from Quirrell's Christmas Challenge?" Shinji asked.
"I'm sure he's not actually like that – I mean, he's done so much for wizarding society, but…"
"It's fine, Hermione," he reassured her. "Just look with your own eyes and decide for yourself."
"Alright," the girl said, though she sighed, looking at Shinji with concern. "How are you doing after Sokaris…?"
"As best as I can," Shinji said, not noticing the way Harry winced at the mention of his friend's name. "By the way, Hermione, this is Harry Potter. Harry, Hermione Granger."
"We've met," Harry noted somewhat coldly, his face a little troubled as he looked at her, remembering what Quirrell had said – that Granger had come to him, worried about Sokaris - and had inadvertently tipped the Dark Wizard off as to what was going on. It was probably not true, but still…Harry didn't really find it easy to trust people in general, and found it harder to trust those he was suspicious about. "Let's go."
They proceeded out the station to the dark, rain-washed road outside Hogsmeade Station, where stood the hundred or so stagecoaches which were tasked with taking students above first year to the castle.
Stagecoaches drawn by odd creatures like winged horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each shoulder - vast, black leathery wings that made them seem eerie and sinister.
Though to Shinji, these was creatures he was comfortable with, having seen them flitting about Mahoutokoro from time to time. More than giant spiders or other familiars, anyway.
"What are those things?" he heard Harry ask, glancing to the side to note that Harry was looking at one of the winged horses.
"What things?" Hermione asked, looking, but not seeing anything.
"Those…winged horses in front of each carriages," Harry said uncertainly, wondering how anyone could miss them, since they were only about a meter from the nearest one – which watched them with empty white eyes. "You can see them, right…?"
Hermione looked troubled, since she couldn't—
"They're thestrals, Harry," Shinji explained, remembering what Hijiri had told him about the creatures which were sometimes used for transport. "They're friendly really, but they can only been seen by people who've seen death."
"But that's ridiculous," Hermione scoffed. "That sounds like something out of…"
"Hermione, you of all people should know that reality is stranger than fiction."
The Sorting and Welcoming Feast was much the same as the year before, only it was the first time that Shinji had the chance to see his new professors – and they were troubling. Moody was a battle-scarred veteran who ate nothing, and drank only from his flask, one obviously false eye darting here and there as if looking for anything that could possibly be a threat. Gilderoy Lockhart, seated next to Severus Snape, was quite the gadfly, so bubbly and exuberant that Shinji almost missed Binns.
There were Hit Wizards stationed at the doors and exits, of course, in case Black came into the castle.
And throughout the entire Feast, Shinji could feel Hermione's stare burning into the side of his head after Luna Lovegood – the girl he had sat with on the train – had squeezed in next to him after being sorted into Ravenclaw, an origami flower still woven into her hair.