Kindred Spirits

by Tailkinker

This is a work of fan fiction based on the Harry Potter series and the Sailor Moon franchise created respectively by J.K. Rowling and Naoko Takeuchi. The characters and settings belong to their respective owners and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes and should not be considered as part of the official canon of either series.

The Magical Soldiers

"He asks us to come here, immediately after lunch, and then he's late himself!" Hermione crossed her arms. "Honestly!"

"It's Ron," said Harry absently. "Did you expect anything different?"

The four of them—he, Hermione, Draco and Hotaru—were gathered in the Divinations Classroom. Part of his mind was considering Ron's intentions in calling this meeting, but most of it was on the upcoming Fourth Task. Ludo Bagman had dragged all the Champions down to the Quidditch Pitch, revealing that it had been converted into a hedge maze—something that had enraged all three Seekers, though Fleur and Ami hadn't seemed to care. He was also sparing a thought to Sirius' offer to live with him in Clifton. Not that he was having anything like second thoughts, but it would change his summers considerably.

Draco was leaning against the velvet-covered central table. "You don't suppose he's gotten information on the Japanese students so quickly, do you?"

"When he puts his mind to it," said Hermione, "Ron's capable of remarkable effort. It's just that he very rarely puts his mind to it."

"Sorry I'm late." Ron rushed in, a collection of papers clutched in one hand. "Ran into Viktor Krum." He grinned somewhat awkwardly. "Finally got his autograph."

"Oh, well, if it was something important," snapped Hermione.

Harry indicated the papers in his hand. "Is that what Hermes dropped off this morning?" Hermes was Percy Weasley's owl, a haughty-looking tawny owl whose attitude mostly matched his owner's.

"Yeah," said Ron. "I wrote to Bill and Charlie, and asked them to respond through Percy. Then I wrote to Percy, told him to forward their answers, and asked him too."

"Asked him what?" Hermione looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

"About the Japanese students," replied Ron. "I sent each of them everything we knew about them, except their names. I mean, I sent the code names you told me about, but not their real names. If those aren't fake names to begin with."

"They wouldn't be," said Hotaru quietly. "So far as I understand, the Goblet of Fire won't accept an alias. They'd need to use their real names."

"But whoever entered Harry's name would've been effectively using an alias," objected Hermione.

"Professor Moody said that the Goblet of Fire would have been charmed to accept my name to begin with," said Harry. "The only way I could have been chosen is under the name of a fifth school."

"Anyway," said Ron. "I didn't actually expect them to come up with anything, so I broke out all the divination tools I'd learned about. Tasseomancy didn't help a lot—I never was good with tea leaves anyway. The Tarot just kept coming back with variations on the theme. 'Potential allies', 'balance and harmony', the same few cards in the same spots. But the crystal balls..." He shuddered. "Well, that produced results. Those girls have seen some things."

Hotaru frowned, and leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"I saw them fighting monsters," said Ron quietly. "Lots of monsters. I saw them working as a team to protect people—Muggles, mostly. The city where they live is huge, makes London look tiny. Towers so high you can't see the top; lights everywhere; people dressed oddly, even for Muggles. And everything moves fast."

"Sounds like Tokyo," mused Hotaru.

"Then I got these." He tapped the letters. "And I realized that we've stumbled into something even bigger than I thought.

"There are stories of a group of girls," he continued. "Whenever some great evil starts causing problems, these girls show up and beat it down. Charlie told me that the stories he's heard puts them in Japan, and that these stories first started circulating about four years ago. Percy says that he spoke to the Japanese representative from their Ministry of Magic, and he says that these girls aren't part of their Magical World. The Japanese Ministry keeps sending Obliviators around after them, but they haven't been able to track them down to deal with them directly.

"And Bill had some of the most interesting stories. Excuse me, Draco." He pulled a paper from the stack, and spread it out on the table.

It was a collection of writings, some in a script that Harry wasn't familiar with, and some—apparently translations—in English. Hermione squinted at the page.

"Is that...Jiahu?"

"I think that's what he called it," said Ron. "He's managed to translate about half of it."

"But nobody's ever translated Jiahu," objected Hermione. She paused. "At least, no Muggles."

"Bill's really clever," said Ron. "He's a curse-breaker, but that meant he had to learn lots about languages."

"Should have talked to him when I was learning Japanese," mused Harry. "It might have saved Hotaru some...unpleasantness."

She smiled at him, and took his hand.

"Anyway, Bill says that these writings are about a prince who fell in love with the moon. Bill thinks—but he's not sure about this—that the prince won the heart of the moon goddess, but that a queen of another country, who loved the prince, made a deal with a demon to destroy the moon goddess. And when she did so, she became twisted and evil, and ended up destroying the prince's city as well, before being consumed by the demon herself."

"Fairy tales and legends," scoffed Draco. "What's that got to do with these girls?"

"This part here." Ron tapped one segment of the runes. "It says that the goddesses of the other planets fought alongside the goddess of the moon to hold off the demons. Mars. Venus. Jupiter. Mercury. And that all of them died, but since they're goddesses, they'd be re-born."

"Professor Meiou called Ami Mercury, and called Rei Mars." Harry frowned. "You're saying that these girls might be...goddesses?"

"They might be," allowed Ron. "But I think we're looking at something else. Sometimes, a really powerful witch or wizard can be re-born into a new body."

"Another myth." Draco shook his head. "Trust me, we've been looking at that for a while. There's even an entire section of the Department of Mysteries that studies death, just for this possibility. I know that some people think that Dumbledore's the second coming of Merlin—"

"What if it's true?" countered Ron. "What if this story is the truth, but these 'goddesses' were simply very powerful witches? If they've been reborn into new bodies in the modern day—"

"You are far more correct than you know, Mr Weasley."

All heads turned to the door. Meiou-sensei stood there, dressed in her sea-foam kimono, but holding a familiar staff. Her disguise magic, whatever it had been, seemed not to be working; Harry could make out details on the staff, such as the rectangular bits near the end that made it look like a huge skeleton key.

"Professor Meiou," gasped Hermione. "Please, we didn't mean to pry—"

"You may call me Setsuna," said Meiou-sensei. "And there is no need to lie. You were presented with a mystery. Of course you, of all people, would wish to solve it." She nodded to Ron. "Mr Weasley's brothers have uncovered more than I would be comfortable with, were it not the fact that it will soon be moot. My 'students' are, in fact, reincarnations of the Soldiers who fought alongside the Princess of the Moon, twelve thousand years ago."

"That explains why Ami is so powerful," mused Harry. "She froze a dragon on the spot. Charlie told me once that it takes half a dozen fully-trained wizards to control an angry dragon."

"Ami is often frustrated by the fact that among her peers, she is the least powerful," said Setsuna. "However, her intelligence more than makes up for her lack of raw power."

"So why are you here?" asked Ron. "Harry says you're looking for someone."

"And he thought it was Hotaru-chan, here," said Setsuna. "But in fact, we are seeking one of our own enemies. One that should have appeared, but has not. We fear that she has found her way to England." She turned to Harry. "You seem to be having a problem with a dark wizard."

"Tom Riddle," said Harry. "Or as he prefers to be known: Voldemort. He's out there somewhere, and he's plotting to do...well, something. Probably to me." He tapped his head. "I had a dream about it, in the summer. I think he's got a spy in the castle."

"He does," said Setsuna and Ron simultaneously. Setsuna continued, "I know who it is, but because of the nature of my powers, I cannot tell you. But I have been keeping an eye on them since our arrival."

"Did whoever it was put my name in the Goblet of Fire?" asked Harry.

Setsuna appeared to be considering the question, then nodded. "It is safe to tell you. Yes, they did."

"Then Dumbledore was right," said Harry. "This Tournament is a trap. For me."

"That is, in fact, Riddle's plan." Setsuna nodded again. "But things are about to change. Riddle will join forces with our enemy, if we cannot find them beforehand. And if those two join forces, our tasks will become much more difficult.

"The timelines are converging," she continued. "At this point, we have no choices but to unite against Riddle. Keep Ami close, during the Fourth Task. That is when he will strike."

"But the Fourth Task is a maze," objected Harry. "How am I to keep her close by?"

Setsuna smiled thinly. "I shall provide you some assistance with that."

"You can't!" objected Hermione. "The rules of the Tournament clearly state—"

"Do you think I am bound by such rules?" snapped Setsuna. "Where were these rules when Harry, who does not qualify to even be in the Tournament, was selected to compete? If Riddle is going to cheat, then so will I." She tapped the butt of her staff on the flagstones, and it vanished.

"Be ready, Harry Potter. In one month's time, you will face Tom Riddle. And you must prevail."