Hello dear readers,
Now that summer is over, it's time to think about back to school for muggles but also for wizards. Akira - our favourite medical ninja from Konoha - will begin her third year at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This particular year is synonym of new courses, threatening dangers, visits in Hogsmeade, more deadly dangers, and so on. Nothing unusual for a ninja studying in the wizarding world.
After the second year Akira got, I could have been kind and let her live a peaceful year at Hogwarts but that's not in my habit to give respite to my characters. I just hope that she won't be too mad at me at the end of that story.
I don't own Harry Potter or Naruto.
Chapter 1 : Stick like glue
As the month of August was coming to an end, it meant back to school for Akira who couldn't wait to be at Hogwarts. Magic was going to change her from all the atrocities she saw during this summer. She would also be able to give up her task as team leader, which she already did few days prior since she had really important things to do before leaving Konoha like packing her suitcase conscientiously to not forget anything.
She also did all her tasks at the hospital to let everything in order after her departure even if she knew too well that she would find an impressive pile of incomplete patient's files when she came back. The last thing to do was making her father sign the permission to go to Hogsmeade.
However, getting that permission was trickier than what she had expected. In fact, her father didn't change his mind from last year that Hogwarts was a dangerous place after she had almost been killed by Death Eaters. For him, Hogsmeade was even worse since it was an open village where anything could happen. Akira had to argue that this place was perfectly safe, other students were also visiting it and the outgoings were organised in an attempt to make him change his mind but that didn't work.
The only condition that she had to fulfill to make him sign that document was to classify the archives of the hospital and threw away the files from deceased patients. It was a gigantic work since it had never been done for years but her father remained uncompromising. Everything had to be organized before her departure so Akira had no other choice but to tidy everything night and day while her father was expecting her to fail.
Besides this, Matsuo and Tatsuno started to act weirdly. They constantly came to see her and they asked her lots of questions about the school she was attending. After two years going to Hogwarts, they never asked her anything related to her studies abroad, being too occupied to complain about what they had to do when she wasn't there. But lately, the twins came at her with lots of questions about her back to school, which annoyed Akira since it kept her from working.
"It's September 1 but before that, I have to go buy my school supplies in London." She answered the twins briefly while grabbing dusty files from a shelf that she threw directly in the bin.
"So, when are you leaving Konoha exactly ?" Tatsuno insisted.
"I don't know. As the start of the school year is on Friday, I have to leave on the Friday before to be on time but I can't if I haven't finished putting some order in these stupid files so if you want to help me, you're welcome." Akira stated angrily after letting go a thick file that opened and dispersed the sheets of paper it contained everywhere in the archives.
"Your school is in London ?" Matsuo asked with interest as him and his brother were both picking up slowly the overturned folder.
"No. It's somewhere in the North of England, I don't know exactly where. We take a train to reach it." Akira explained to them absentmindedly.
That was the last question she answered. The twins tried to get more information out of her but she remained silent to the point that they eventually left, claiming that they had some packing to do.
"Do as you want." Akira replied between her teeth as the twins hadn't picked up half of the dispersed paper sheets.
She didn't want to be rude towards her closest friends but she really had a lot of work to do and she couldn't do it if the twins were constantly there.
Akira worked tirelessly until the day before her departure and at three o'clock in the morning, she was finally able to go see her father at his office – like her, he was passing his day and night at the hospital - so that he could sign the coveted permission for Hogsmeade. Her father wouldn't believe her when she told him that the archives were now almost empty so she showed him the final result by taking him there.
"You made a promise so now, it's your turn to do some paperwork." Akira told him while giving him the document to sign.
"Where exactly is this village again ?" He asked for the third time in the last few days, frowning as he carefully read the permission she had just handed him.
"Not far from Hogwarts. There's absolutely no risk there as it's a place frequently visited by students for many years and nothing ever happened." She replied quickly in order to reassure him.
It only half worked. Her father spent several minutes staring at the sheet of paper while scratching his chin as he seemed to think. He nevertheless ended up taking his pen and signing for the greatest relief of Akira who had to restrain herself from jumping of joy.
"You can go but you'll continue to give me news regularly, like last year. And at the slightest problem, I'll withdraw you from this school without notice." Her father threatened her while she was trying to take the permission from his hands.
He let it go only when she made the promise that she would be careful and she was finally able to go to bed at a very late hour of the night. This wasn't ideal as her alarm clock went off early the next morning so she could catch an early flight.
She prepared quickly, letting behind any ninja related objects, and took her suitcase which she carried in the still deserted streets of Konoha. Although she was happy to get rid of her gruesome missions and uninterrupted medical work, she felt a pinch in the heart when she realized that she wouldn't see the village again for a year. She was also going to miss her friends, especially her two teammates who spent the whole summer holidays with her.
"I didn't even think to say goodbye to Tatsuno and Matsuo." She thought bitterly as she was too busy at the hospital to pay them the slightest attention.
However, her guilt was short-lived as she spotted two people in the distance waiting near Konoha's gate.
"It's about time. We've been waiting for you." Matsuo shouted from afar as he and his brother were waving at her with enthusiasm.
"But… what are you two doing here ?" She asked them once she reached their level.
"We're coming with you !" Tatsuno told her while smiling broadly from ear to ear as he grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder.
"You're certainly aware that an important conference on mental illness is being held in London." His brother added while also taking his bag.
"And that your father and some of our colleagues were invited there." Tatsuno continued.
"Of course I know about it." Akira replied after hearing her father talking about it several times. "But that doesn't tell me what you're both doing here so early in the morning."
"Let us finish our story." Matsuo said before clearing his throat. "So, as we said, there's a medical conference in London and all the most important doctors from our village are going there. However, it's not safe for them to travel on their own in a foreign country so we enrolled to be in charge of their security since we're both certified Genin."
"But this conference is held in a week. You'll be there too early." Akira pointed out but the twins smiled at this remark.
"We said we wanted to go on site earlier to do some reconnaissance." Tatsuno answered before coming closer to Akira. "In fact, it was a lie. It's just that we wanted to travel with you since you're also going to London."
"We'll miss you so much during a year. You can at least stay with us a little bit longer." Matsuo begged her.
"We were together during two months. That's not enough for you ?" Akira replied rather sharply but she had to give up after seeing the twins sad look. "Fine. You can come with me."
"Yes !" Tatsuno and Matsuo said enthusiastically while clapping in each other's hand.
Having lost enough time, they all went to the airport. During the flight, Akira got time to think about what kind of problems the presence of the twins would cause while they were both arguing to get the same seat near the window.
Akira really liked her teammates but she wasn't allowed to let them discover anything about Hogwarts. That was the condition for her to be able to join the school but she couldn't hide it any longer if they were going to follow her on Diagon Alley or to platform 9 3/4 of King's Cross Station. She had to use tricks to get away from them as soon as possible even if she wasn't very pleased to abandon her dear teammates that way.
"Cool. There are cars everywhere !" Tatsuno said with excitation once they reached Charing Cross Road where the Leaky Cauldron was.
Akira brought the twins there even if the medical conference was on the other side of London because she wanted to take refuge in this pub once the twins weren't looking.
Matsuo and Tatsuno eagerly approached a parked car that the driver was trying to maneuver out of the spot. Feeling spied on as the twins were looking by the passenger window to see how he was making it move, he backed up a little too abruptly and collided with the car that was directly behind him, breaking his taillight in the process.
"See, I told you it wasn't so easy to drive one of these machines. Even experienced drivers cause accidents." Tatsuno commented while Akira dragged them both away from the poor driver who had turned red with shame.
"It's because you put pressure on him." Akira pointed out while many bystanders were looking at the three young people talking in Japanese instead of the accident. "Now while I go shopping for my school supplies, try to find a hotel which will let two unaccompanied thirteen-year-olds take a room."
"Three unaccompanied thirteen-year-olds." Matsuo corrected her. "And by the way, we're not kids but Genins. We're mature enough to book a hotel."
"In this country, it's not the ninja rank that counts but the age and sorry to tell you but we're all underaged. We can buy some candies in a shop but we can't make a reservation in something as expensive as hotels. By the way, don't talk about ninja things under any circumstances. Don't wear your headbands or pull out a weapon in front of people either. Understood ?" Akira warned them.
"Yes, we're not stupid. It's not the first time we've been out of Konoha and speaking in Japanese instead of English can prevent many people from understanding what we're talking about." Tatsuno pointed out.
"And if we stay with you, we're sure to commit no mistake so let's go buy your school supplies together once we find a place to stay." Matsuo offered while his brother nodded.
"The list is quite long so it's going to be boring. I'm sure you two could find other things to see in London that are more interesting than buying school supplies." Akira told them in an ultimate attempt to get rid of the twins.
"I hope you're kidding. We're in a new city with our favourite teammate ! Nothing can be boring." Matsuo replied as he and his brother took Akira by the shoulders to take her with them.
Having no choice, Akira followed them in the busy street. They found a hotel that believed their made-up story about their parents who had instructed them to find a place for the night before there were all complete while they were arranging things relative to their trip in London. The hotel didn't ask any questions about it as Akira and her teammates were giving them the right amount of money for their stay. They simply took the money and the three ninjas were now free to wander in it and put their heavy luggage in their room.
Then they walked along Charing Cross Road, looking for stores selling school supplies. They couldn't go in any of them since what Akira needed for her school year couldn't be bought in the Muggle world but she couldn't tell that to the twins. Before doing unnecessary purchases, Akira brought Matsuo and Tatsuno into a crowded electronics store. She had in mind to divert their attention and it worked perfectly. The twins were so taken up with all the gadgets in the store that they didn't notice that Akira wasn't with them anymore.
Before leaving this place, she quickly bought a cheap calculator that she had been able to grab near the cash register. She intended to offer it to Arcturus since she wouldn't be able to come back in the Muggle world to buy him anything else with the twins there. Then, she escaped from the store and went to their hotel as quickly as possible to grab her suitcase before heading towards the Leaky Cauldron. Once she closed its door behind her, she could catch her breath. She didn't think that the twins were able to see her going in there. She took a room in that place that didn't mind if there customer were underaged and call it a day as it was becoming dark outside.
She was now able to buy her real school supplies for Hogwarts and that was what she did the following day by going to Diagon Alley early in the morning. She first made a stop to Gringotts to change her money for Galleons, Sickles and Knuts before being able to go in all the shops lined in the street.
"Let's see." She thought while taking out the list of supplies for the third years that she had received few weeks ago.
There was nothing special to buy as most of the items from her first and second years could be reused. She needed to replenish her stock of potion ingredients and buy the books asked for her classes knowing that she had enrolled in Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures this year in addition to the usual core classes. Akira went directly to Flourish and Blotts while she reviewed the new books to buy.
"Good morning, I need…" She began, stopping in front of the counter without looking up from her list.
"No need to tell me. It's the same as me apart for the Care of Magical Creatures thing." A familiar voice interrupted her.
Akira looked up and saw that it was Arcturus who was smiling broadly as he leaned on his counter on which were stacked impressive mountains of books.
"What are you… Oh, I remember. You wanted to work here for the summer holidays." Akira said after recovering from her surprise.
"Exactly." Arcturus replied enthusiastically. "They thought I was too young for the job but they changed their mind when I showed them that I could recall the summary of all the books they had with my super memory. They said I was the seller they needed and they even wanted to hire me next year. I only have to stop talking so much with the clients to be more professional. So, you need your books for this year ? I'll help you found them." He offered before leaving his chair.
Akira followed him across the entire bookstore while he gave her from time to time a book that was lying on a shelf. In the end, Akira found herself with a stack of heavy books that she had trouble to carry around.
"I'm sorry I can't give you a discount for all of this but house policy states that only sellers can have a percentage off the books." Arcturus informed her with an apologetic tone.
"It's nothing. I intended to pay them full price anyway." Akira replied while taking out the requested money.
"This job is great for this kind of benefit but the problem is the flow of customers as the beginning of the school year approaches. I have to work overtime in the evenings and I won't have time to wander in Diagon Alley as I planned to do when you would finally arrive." Arcturus told her regretfully.
"You won't even be able to do your shopping for the school year ? I can do it for you if you want." Akira offered.
"No, that's not what I meant." Arcturus replied while passing a hand through his hair in a sheepish way. "I bought everything I needed a long time ago but I wanted to go with you so that we could catch up. Two months not seen was really long."
"Oh." Akira said while starting to blush weakly. "I can still come at your work to chat if you want."
"Awesome !" Arcturus said with so much enthusiasm that an old lady who was reading a book nearby dropped it on the ground. "I can also stop by the Leaky Cauldron when I finish my day, if you're staying there of course."
"I am." Akira answered.
She then let Arcturus return to his work as more Hogwarts students entered the bookstore. Akira did her other purchases and when she got everything she needed, she went to the Leaky Cauldron to put all of her items directly in her suitcase. Once she finished packing, she went back in Diagon Alley to wander in this street under the sun that was still warm even if the month of August was coming to an end.
It was impossible to get bored in Diagon Alley while waiting for the beginning of the school year, at least not with all the shops to visit. The one that remained Akira's favourite – the same could be said for most of the Hogwarts students – was Quality Quidditch Supplies. There were always new brooms displayed in the shop window but Akira refrained from buying one because it was an unnecessary spending in her eyes. However, she couldn't help looking inside whenever she passed in front of it and she even spotted James Potter coming out of it one day. He was with his parents and with a brand new broom under his arm. He was visibly spoiled and Akira wondered if he really deserved it with his arrogance.
The days went by at full speed and Akira soon found herself on September 1. She made sure that she got everything she needed before heading towards the railway station. She was supposed to meet Arcturus there but instead, she found two rather nosy ninjas.
"Oh no." She thought bitterly as she froze in place when she saw Matsuo and Tatsuno waiting at the entrance.
She was about to leave and find another way to enter the railway station but it was too late, they already spotted her and came to meet her.
"Where were you ? You disappeared all of a sudden with your suitcase and we searched you across all London." Tatsuno informed her with reproach.
"It was perfect for sightseeing but we were scared to death for you !" Matsuo added with the same tone.
"I didn't mean to do this to you but I had to take care of certain things before leaving." Akira replied vaguely.
"At least, we found you before you go to your school for one year. We didn't want to let you leave without wishing you a nice trip." Tatsuno said before smiling.
"That's kind of you." Akira told the twins even if she thought otherwise. "But how did you know where to find me ?"
"You told us that you should take a train at King's Cross Station to join your school on September 1 so we deduced that we'll find you there on that date." Tatsuno informed her.
"Did I really tell you that ?" Akira added as she regretted talking too much.
"Absolutely. Now, let's go if you don't want to miss your train." The twins told her before grabing her by each arm to prevent her from escaping again.
Akira was touched that the twins were worried about her but at this moment, she wished deeply that they weren't here. How was she supposed to reach platform 9 3/4 with the twins sticking to her ? She had to find a solution to get rid of them but it was more complicated this time as they refused to leave her side. Nevertheless, the twins gave her a golden opportunity when they asked the following question.
"On which platform did you say your train was ?" Matsuo asked her while looking up to spot the number.
"It depends." Akira replied, playing on the fact that the platform for the Hogwarts Express was between nine and ten. "It changes from year to year so you can go check the number on the notice board while I'm waiting here with my heavy suitcase."
"All right." The twins said as they jumped with both feet into her trap.
They left as Akira saw the opportunity to act. She rushed towards the barrier of platform 9 3/4 which wasn't far away from her position and crossed it. She then found herself on the other side as students were already boarding in the Hogwarts Express even if the departure would only take place in forty minutes.
Akira decided to wait for Arcturus on a bench as more and more students with their family were coming but the latter only appeared at the last second, as he did last year and the year before. This time, the reason for his delay was his suitcase which seemed unusually heavy to the point that he had to drag it behind him instead of carrying it.
"Did you take your whole room with you or what ?" Akira asked him as she helped him put it into the train that was about to leave.
"You'll see." He told her mischievously as they searched for a free compartment while the train was beginning to move.
The students had spread out in the compartments this year so Akira and Arcturus couldn't find one that was completely empty. They resigned themselves to squat the one of two first-year students who fell silent as soon as Arcturus entered and who just nodded when he asked them if they could sit there.
"Cool. Thanks !" He told them happily while the two first years curled up in their corner to take as little space as possible even if there were plenty of room for everybody.
"So ? What did you put in your suitcase ?" Akira asked Arcturus with impatience as she really wanted to know why it was so heavy.
"The question is rather what I didn't put in it." Arcturus joked before opening his suitcase.
As soon as he did, a flood of objects of all kinds poured onto the floor of the compartment, startling the two first years who had to raise their feet to not get them buried under it.
"Sorry." Arcturus apologized while the three occupants of the compartment scrutinized the objects.
"It's…" Akira started but there were too many different Muggle objects to name them all.
There were water guns, a broken-looking remote control car, a typewriter that must have been the main reason why the suitcase weighted so much, an old first aid kit, a bedlight, an impressive number of deflated balls with the pump to inflate them, two rackets with a ball attached to each one, alkaline batteries and so on. Among these unusual objects, he had still managed to cram his disassembled skateboard and his roller skates but there were no trace of his school stuff.
"I see that you're equipped for Muggle Studies but not for the rest." Akira pointed out to Arcturus.
"I've planned everything." Arcturus replied before turning around to face the two first year students. "Want to play with this ?" He offered while handing them the rackets with the balls.
As soon as they took them, their attention was only focused on the toy. That was what Arcturus wanted as he could now speak freely with Akira. He leaned towards her and began to whisper so Akira had to strained her ears to hear what he wanted to tell her.
"It turns out that employees of Flourish and Blotts can send books for free by owl. I extended this offer to all my school equipment and my clothes - apart for one wizarding robe that I'll put on at the end of this travel - since I don't care if any of them are lost in the transport." He explained to her with a grin. "It allowed me to put more precious Muggle objects in my suitcase, especially this heavy thing."
"That's a typewriter and I see you're also interested in Muggle medicine ?" Akira asked him while taking the first aid kit.
"Not really. To tell you the truth, I don't even know the purpose of half of these objects." Arcturus admitted while taking one of the batteries.
Akira proceeded to explain to him in an easy way what he had just found. Apparently, he bought all these items at low prices in various garage sales which explained why they were in a relative good state. She was showing him the out-of-date medicines that contained the first aid kit when she noticed out of the corner of her eye something at the top of their compartment window. She turned her head to see what it was but there was nothing. At the same time, the candy cart just arrived which distracted her attention.
The trip went smoothly, more or less. Now that Arcturus knew how all his items worked, he began to act like a kid, the same could be said for the two first year students who grabbed whatever had caught their attention to play with it. They especially enjoyed the water guns once Arcturus filled them with water by using a spell. It led to a water battle between the two first years and Arcturus. Akira tried to not take part to it – she was too old to play with toys – but she eventually became soaked with water after being "inadvertently" targeted. At some point, they stopped their fight to put on their school uniform but they soon grabbed again the water guns to continue.
Finally, the Hogwarts Express arrived at the end of the day at Hogsmeade. It was about time as their compartment was completely wet. All the students were then able to leave the train and Arcturus wasn't unhappy to let his heavy suitcase behind after having trouble to put all the objects back inside.
Arcturus and Akira took the direction of the carriages while the two first years who did the trip with them headed towards Hagrid to join Hogwarts by boat. Akira began to shiver as the cold of the night was enveloping her. Being soaked from head to toe with water didn't help as she was now worried about becoming seriously ill on her first day of school. Arcturus wasn't in a better state as he was sniffing loudly. They quickly went inside a carriage to be warm and as soon as they reached Hogwarts, they rushed inside the castle but they should have been more careful.
Indeed, Peeves was waiting for the students right above the entrance door and he let an object fall on their head when they came inside. Akira received a metal glove from an armour which was quite hard but light. On the other hand, Arcturus received a jar full of newt eyes that broke on his head with a terrible sound.
"Peeves ! Stop that !" Akira shouted at the latter after catching Arcturus whose legs almost gave way as he was passing a hand on his injured head.
"I should have taken my water guns to counterattack." Arcturus said weakly as Akira was taking him away from Peeves who resumed throwing objects at the newcomers without paying her any attention.
They both went inside the Great Hall and reached the Gryffindor table. Arcturus immediately fell on a chair while he was still stunned. Akira sat in front of him and began to scan the room to spot familiar faces. After long minutes of waiting, the sorting ceremony finally began as the first years were completely paralyzed by fear. Akira didn't envy them after experiencing that two years ago.
Once the sorting was over, the Feast started and once everyone had eaten everything they wanted until being no more hungry, Dumbledore gave his usual warning speech – don't go into the Forbidden Forest, don't use magic to fight, Filch will confiscate any dangerous objects, that sort of things – as the students were half listening to it. After that, they all were able to go to their dormitory as they were sleepy.
Akira was eager to start classes but it was nothing compared to Arcturus who had insisted on seeing McGonagall after the Feast to ask her when Muggle Studies was planned for the third years.
"You will receive your schedule tomorrow morning like the other students." She answered curtly as she was returning to her office.
"But I really need to know tonight. If the lesson is on Monday, I can wait until then but if it's at the end of the week, I have to plan giving to the Professor several Muggle items I took and which clutter my suitcase. I can't keep them during several days since I need the space to store my school supplies that will soon arrived." Arcturus told McGonagall who was staring at him with a frown as his story was really confusing.
"If it can't wait, try to find Professor Dust. He will surely tell you when you have Muggle Studies with him or even collect your belongings tonight." Professor McGonagall advised him. "But I warn you, he might not have the room to take everything you will give him."
That was a fact that everyone in the school knew. Professor Dust - who was teaching Muggle Studies - had the bad tendency of keeping every objects which were Muggle related. Being one of the oldest Professor in this school, he collected tons of them to the great despair of his colleagues since he put them in empty classrooms that the other Professors might have wanted to use now and then. They even made him signed a document saying that he didn't have the right to use more than three classrooms, resulting in him having to be more cautious about what he kept.
Akira and Arcturus followed McGonagall advice and went looking for Dust but he was nowhere to be found, not even in his office or his classroom. He was surely doing archaeological digs among the mountains of objects he collected to find what he wanted to present to his students during his lessons.
"I can't wait to start this course." Arcturus said while stamping with impatience as they were wandering in the hallways that had become deserted over time. "Dust must have awesome items to show us."
"Surely." Akira replied absently.
She had the strange feeling that they weren't alone in the hallway, even if she hadn't spotted anything after glancing furtively around them. She got the same impression when something appeared at the window of their compartment in the Hogwarts Express. However, she couldn't tell if that feeling was founded or just a figment of her imagination due to exhaustion.
Failing to find Professor Dust, Akira and Arcturus reached the Gryffindor common room and they went to their respective dormitory. However, the two friends had trouble falling asleep that night, Arcturus because he was too excited with his new course and Akira because she wondered if a new threat was looming over her on her return to Hogwarts.
If you could take a Muggle object at Hogwarts, what would it be ? I only put few random items in Arcturus' suitcase but the choice is endless.
To come back to the story, that's the beginning of a promising school year as Akira is already threatened by something and Arcturus will have an eccentric Professor for Muggle Studies. And that's only their first day at Hogwarts as many other events will take place in the following months.
You won't have to wait too long to know what will happen to them as I intend to publish the next chapter in approximately two weeks. Until then, I wish to all the students a good back to school !