I will be using direct quotes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 5
"Ya know they will kill him, in the end." The woman had watched the entire exchange.
After dropping off the kid, Aizen had let himself be caught a little distance off the clearing. Now they stood quietly together in the dark.
Ignoring Chiasa's statement, Aizen said, "A tracker."
Chiasa smirked. "We can't let potential recruits just roam around without any checks. That's just stupid." Her face became somber.
Aizen narrowed his eyes. "You could have easily taken out those wizards."
"Ah, but I didn't have to! Because you're goin' to take them out for me." Behind the guise of playfulness was a snake, and slowly Chiasa was wrapping around her prey.
"What makes you say that?"
Instead of replying, Chiasa held out her arm, "Why don't we go somewhere more suited to plotting?"
"On the contrary, I find the middle of the woods at night one of the best places there is."
She smiled at his rebuff, and retracted her arm. "They'll kill 'em. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. Slowly and painfully."
"It makes no difference."
"It obviously does, based on your actions. If we had taken 'em, he'd be dead already. But you didn't want that to happen… I wonder why…" Her smile turned sharp.
Aizen remained impassive.
"Ya care 'bout this guy."
"Care? I would say not. Find him necessary? Perhaps."
Chiasa looked smug, like she had gotten what she came for. She thought she had out-played him. "Then ya've signed him a death warrant."
"His death warrant has been signed the moment he was born. The moment to act is still not upon us."
"Oh, us, huh? Decided to join?"
"I have never said no."
Chiasa twiddled with her hair coyly. It did not fit her image at all. "I don' know… Ya've already ruined one of my plans, hot-cakes…"
"That plan was doomed to failure the moment it was created."
She punched him in the shoulder, "Ah, how can I say no to that face! Yer in, buddy! But that means no more secrets."
"I would hope that deal goes both ways."
"We're a family, hot-cakes! And family doesn't keep secrets."
Aizen smiled with his mouth, not his eyes.
"Then we're off to Great Britain, land of the wizards and terrible food!"
The building was disguised as a warehouse for adirondack chairs and love-seats. And various other furniture, of course. In reality, it was the Whitelander Guild HQ, right on the outskirts of downtown London. The HQ was too large for it to be completely covered up, so it was disguised and smothered in notice-me-not charms. The theory was that not too many muggles would try hard to steal a good adirondack chair, so the HQ stayed relatively unobtrusive. The building was also rather close to a muggle police station, but that was just a bonus.
Inside the building was a complex that rivaled the Ministry of Magic. In fact, the blueprints for the building were modeled off the ministry's, but that was because magical architecture designs were far harder to produce than non-magical ones. In what would have been the office of the Minister of Magic, the Chairman sat brooding in his office.
A paper airplane flew through his office door, which was black oak, left ajar, and settled on his desk, magically undoing itself. The Chairman had barely read the first word when the Sector Seven Commander slid inside. He stood at parade rest, head lowered, fist over heart.
"Yori Natsumiya, at ease," the Chairman said, gesturing at the chair in front of his desk. The Japanese man did not sit. "So I take it the mission was successful?" The Chairman pointedly looked at the bruising covering half the commander's face.
"There were… complications… but overall success was achieved. The target is in holding."
"Wonderful… let's see… our interrogation unit will be free in…" the Chairman started to fruitlessly riffle through the piles of paperwork on his desk.
His assistant, Talia Newcomb, responded immediately. "They are ready now, Commander. Go see the captain with your mission statement and the Chairman will send over his orders. Chairman, I have told you countless times to organize this desk… you get nothing done…"
"Every time I organize this desk, it gets messed up again in five minutes…"
"That is because you do not label every account properly—"
"I swear, Talia, you'd have me label my pants!"
"If it would help you in any way, Chairman, I would label your pants."
"You're impossible…" The Chairman sighed.
The commander left before his presence would be a burden.
The commander did not get along well with the captain of the interrogation unit, but everything was sorted out easy enough. Minus a terrible itch in the middle of his back from a snidely cast spell. The commander would get her back later.
Arriving at the holding cell, the commander could tell something was wrong. It was quiet, the guards were passed out on the floor, the air smelt like ozone, the spells were undisturbed, and (the commander did a double-take) the guards were passed out on the floor. He rushed over to find them both dead, the cause being a very physical attack. Both necks were broken and their wands were not removed from their holsters. The commander dashed over to the cell holding Ichigo Kurosaki only to find a massive hole blown through the ceiling of the building. The holding cells were on one of the lower floors, that meant that the hole was blown through six floors, every single one reinforced by magic. How did this not set off the spells? Why had no one heard?
Where was Ichigo Kurosaki?
The commander rushed up the floors to find the offices where the giant hole had blown through. On each floor, the commander found at least one dead body, killed in exactly the same way as the guards. He started to curse to himself. Such needless deaths! It was true, the commander had not known any of the deceased, since he was normally stationed in Japan when he wasn't checking up at HQ, but he felt it anyway. He always did.
Near ground level, a sideways hole was blown in the wall to the street outside.
He gathered his wits and fetched his unit, a four-man cell with Seth as intermediary (they were all in HQ with their discovery of the Class SSS), in order to begin a search for their missing captive.
The commander had a feeling that he would not find Ichigo Kurosaki any time soon.
Aizen knew what he was doing.
He knew he was throwing a future pawn to a malignant magician.
But his new plan required Ichigo Kurosaki to double as a wizard.
So Aizen knew, better than anyone else, that the best way to teach something new to Ichigo Kurosaki was to try to kill him with it.
(o)(0)(o)
"Harry—"
"Come on, Hermione, why are you so determined not to admit it? Vol –"
"HARRY, NO!"
"—demort's after the Elder Wand!"
Silence. Darkness. Then—
"Come out of there with your hands up!" came a rasping voice. "We know you're in there! You've got half a dozen wands pointing at you and we don't care who we curse!"
Ichigo woke up with the horrible feeling that he had passed out in a gas station bathroom stall after staying up all night drinking. Regardless of the fact that a situation like that had never happened to him, he was sure it was the only explanation of his pounding headache and sore everything. He blinked a few times, and decided not to bother. Then the situation slammed into him and he ripped his eyes open to the dim light of a lantern.
A girl around his age with a pale face had her guileless eyes leveled at him. She had dirty blonde hair down to her waist and a distinctly western bearing. She smelled like radishes and dirt. She opened her mouth and mumbled something in English. Probably? At least it sounded like English; Ichigo didn't speak English. This situation was getting worse and worse. He was about to say 'I'm sorry' when her voice started to make sense, like a fuzzy radio signal tuning itself in.
"—shoes?"
"What did you say?"
"I said: Have you lost your shoes?"
Ichigo looked down at his feet to find them bare, remembering that he hadn't had time to put them on when the police officers had come and— Aizen! Ichigo struggled to free himself from bonds he just realized he had, his arms tied above his head. His feet barely touched the ground. He paused after a moment. Dealing with information would come first.
"What language am I speaking?" Ichigo asked the strange girl.
"English." If she found the question odd, she didn't say so.
To Ichigo, it seemed like the girl had suddenly started speaking Japanese, not the other way around. He thought about this. As a shinigami, it was imperative that he/she be able to communicate with any soul he/she comes across. If he remembered correctly, Ichigo never had trouble communicating with foreign-looking souls in his shinigami form. Perhaps he had tapped into his power in his time of need? It brooked no more thinking; he could communicate as usual, that was all that mattered.
"I could give you mine, but I don't think they'll fit…" The girl was still thinking about those shoes.
"You don't have to give me your shoes."
"Really?"
"Yes. Now. Do you think you could get me untied?"
"There was an old nail around here somewhere… Mr. Ollivander, do you have the nail?" She was addressing an old man curled up in the corner. She walked over to him and listened to something he said almost too quietly to be heard. She came back. "I shouldn't untie you… we're being watched, he said."
Ichigo looked around the dank cellar. No windows, just a heavy door, and the lantern in the middle of the room.
"Whenever they leave us a light they're watching us… it's a good thing you're awake now… I was worried it would never let you go…" Now that Ichigo looked closely, he realized that this girl was terrified. She was fiddling with one of her earrings, not looking directly at him.
"It?"
"... the dream varniern…"
Ichigo felt intensely worried. "Where did it go?"
"I think you killed it, I'm not sure. I suppose it's gone now. It was a close call."
"What happens if it comes back?"
"I heard they cannot stand the dreams of a three-toed sloth. Do you have a three-toed—"
"Of course not!"
"Maybe the varniern took your shoes. Hmm…" she looked thoughtful.
Ichigo had absolutely no idea what to think. Should he be looking out for some type of creature now? Where was Aizen? For that matter, where the hell was he?
Ichigo was unwilling to break the girl out of her thoughts, the old man in the corner looked too weak to breathe, so he had no other choice but to escape first, ask questions later. He was tied with plain rope, tightly. His hands were numb. Trying to pull his hands out would just rip off all the skin he had in his hands. There had to be another way.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said the girl. "There's no escape. Mr. Ollivander's been here the longest, he'd know."
"Mr. Ollivander isn't me."
She looked contemplative. "Wait until he takes the lantern away, then."
"Why should I?!" Then it would be dark and even harder to escape!
"It's his eyes," she pointed at her own protuberant eyes in explanation, leaning forward.
Ichigo lowered his voice and asked, "Who's this 'him'? Where exactly am I?"
She studied him. "We're at the Death Eater's base. In the cellar." At Ichigo's uncomprehending look, she continued, "Wiltshire, England."
Ichigo's eyes widened in shock. Halfway around the world!? "How long have I been here?"
"Time is hard to tell… A week, no… two weeks…? Mr. Ollivander, do you know what day it is?"
No response.
"You've been here a long time, but not very long."
Ichigo guessed that was the best answer he would get. "Ichigo Kurosaki, you?"
"Luna Lovegood. It's very nice to meet you, Ichigo."
And so they exchanged greetings in a prison.
The lantern was taken away by a very short man with grubby skin. He stole into the cellar like a rat, hunched over and cradling one his arms. By this time the ache in Ichigo's shoulders was near unbearable. When the short man noticed that Ichigo was awake, he nearly ran out of the room again. As Ichigo made no move to attack him (he couldn't even if he tried, or maybe he could, his legs were free, if the man would just come a little closer...), he eventually snatched the lamp and kicked 'Mr. Ollivander' on the way out.
Left in pitch blackness, Ichigo's stomach rumbled. He was forced to ask, "Do they ever feed you guys?"
"Oh, every so often. Now let me fetch the nail, Mr. Ollivander, would you please move over a bit? I think it was around here…" Vague shuffling sounds. She walked back over to him. "You're so tall; I don't think I can reach."
"Just hand me the nail, I can do it myself."
"You think so…?" She reached up on the tips of her toes, one hand on Ichigo's chest to steady herself, and fumblingly passed off the nail, cutting Ichigo in the process. She sank back to her feet with a sigh. Once Ichigo had obtained the nail, cutting his bonds turned out to be a great deal harder than they made it look in those spy movies. First off, he couldn't even reach the bindings. After fumbling some more, he found that if he stretched the rope out a little, he could get the nail in place to saw at the rope. The downside was that he had very little force behind the nail. So even if he could get the nail in place, it wouldn't do any good. Maybe he should just rip the bindings off, regardless of injury?
Loud noises could be heard from upstairs; people were talking. Ichigo continued to struggle with the bonds. He thought he had cut through half the rope, though nothing was assured in the darkness.
A distant yell came from the ceiling. Something along the lines of: "Potter?!" in a woman's voice.
"... about to call him!" A man this time.
"Your authority!" the woman screeched, "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Lucius! How dare you! Take your arms off me!"
"... nothing to do with you…"
"Gold!" the woman yelled. Amused. "Take your gold…" Mumbling. Then, loudest of all, "STOP! Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Dark Lord comes now!"
A loud bang came from the floor above. Ah-hah! Ichigo had it! Now if he applied pressure… He pulled on the rope with all his strength and it came free with a snap. Ichigo crashed to the ground, too sore to keep his footing.
"Ichigo? Are you alright?" asked Luna.
"Fine, fine," he grumbled, dragging himself to his feet using the wall.
The screaming of "Stupefy!" or some other nonsense came from the upper floor. Then the people grew too quiet to be heard distinctly, resolving into background noise.
"Luna," Ichigo asked, "did I hear right, or was that woman yelling 'stupid-fry' over and over?"
Her response got interrupted by more screeching from the woman upstairs. "Be quiet! This situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Cissy! We have a very serious problem!"
"... you don't give orders in my—" Another woman.
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we're in!" shrieked the first woman.
A pause, then a younger male voice. "No! You can have me! Keep me!" There was a certain desperation and fear in his tone that chilled Ichigo to the bone. Then came the sound of a group of people clunking down the stairs. Ichigo dragged his sore body into a ready position with the vague plan of attacking whoever opened the door.
Click. The lock opened, and a group of people were thrown into the darkness, silhouetted by the outside light. Ichigo dashed forward, but it was already too late.
The cellar door closed with a final bang, and that's when the screaming started.
(o)(0)(o)