"Are you sure?" Satori asked again.

The door ravens squawked indignantly, broadcasting their certainty loudly.

Satori frowned, Hailey had apparently not left from the front door. Even Koishi had difficulty hiding from animals, or people who knew her, and the door ravens were both.

"I see… sorry for your time," she said, stepping back inside the palace.

A moment ago she was preparing to send the entire flock out to try and find Hailey, but apparently she hasn't even left the grounds, and now she wasn't sure how much she should be panicking.

Maybe they left out the back? But the only thing back there was the tunnel to the blazing fires, and… No, not even Koishi… would she?

She started walking faster.

Before she could cross the length of the Palace she heard Koishi's laughter, and she immediately took a hard left, and broke into a run. She almost cried with relief when she heard Haileys thoughts, which were surprised to hear the sounds of running feet.

Satori immediately rounded the corner, skidding on the polished stone floors, spotting her wide eyed daughter, before crossing the floor at the speed of fright and immediately embraced her daughter.

"Thank goodness you are alright!" She then held her at arms length. "You are alright right? Any injuries? Any grazes, did you walk through any foliage? What about burns? Did any strangers accost you? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Where did Koishi take you?"

"Hey Sis!" Koishi said waving, "what's got you so worried?"

Satori shot her a scathing look, causing Koishi to recoil.

Satori, realising she was scaring her sister, she quickly took some breathing exercises, before speaking in the firmest voice she could manage. "Koishi, Please never, ever, take Hailey out of the palace without telling me."

Koishi's voice wobbled. "Are you mad at me?"

"I'm never mad at you Koishi." Satori said, this time soothingly. "But you scared me a lot, do you understand?"

Koishi nodded, still looking a little scared herself.

Having calmed herself down, she turned back to Hailey, who was still trying to process seeing her mother lose her cool. "Now Hailey, where exactly have you been? I was quite worried, I thought you had left the Palace."

Hailey shuffled her feet. 'Aunty showed me where I came from.'

"She what?" Satori exclaimed. "How and where!?"

'Don't know, I blacked out for a minute, and then we were somewhere on the surface.' Hailey admitted. 'Am I in trouble?'

Satori before answering, turned to Koishi again, who seemed to have defaulted back to her vacant cheeriness. "Where did you take her?"

"Where I found her." Koishi said, happily.

"How did you get there?"

"A shortcut."

Satori sighed, before turning back to her daughter. "You are not in trouble per say, but please, You know I have told you not to leave the grounds without permission, the note you left gave me quite a scare I'll have you know. What exactly were you doing?"

Hailey shuffled her feet again. 'Well Koishi was taking me, so I thought it was alright… Koishi offered to show me where I came from, and I thought it might help sort out my thoughts.'

"Oh… And what did you find?" Satori said, trying to keep her voice even.

Hailey looked her in the eyes. 'That I'm really lucky to have mama.'

Satori's breath hitched, before embracing Hailey. "Not half as lucky as I am to have you."

"Awww~" Koishi cooed happily.

'Mama, there was something else.' Hailey thought, still in the hug, recalling the encounter with the old man. 'He seemed to recognise me.'

Satori blinked, before disengaging the hug and looking quizzically at Koishi. "I understand you spoke to somebody while you were there, somebody who was able to see you?"

"Maybe I did." Koishi said, swaying from side to side. "Can't remember though… I'll be going back sometime, maybe he might still be there."

Satori sighed, before thinking about Haileys recollections of the event. Perhaps she should have taught Hailey English, then maybe she might be less confused about what this was about, or perhaps if Hailey had perfect recall like Satori, that is, the species, then Satori could have figured it out herself from the memory itself. It looked somewhat important though, and the place where Koishi had taken Hailey looked like nothing she had seen before coming to Hell. It didn't even look like Japan for that matter…

Glancing at Hailey, an idea formed in her head, chances are, if that wasn't Japan, it wasn't in that new (relatively speaking) barrier thing on the surface, so likely the treaty doesn't apply to there. Perhaps a place could be found to socialise Hailey and allow her to broaden her horizons while interacting with her own kind.

Hailey pouted, and thought, 'it's not fair how I never know what mama is thinking.'

Satori chuckled, and ruffled Haileys hair, but since the thought wasn't intended for her she kept her comment to herself, it wasn't the first time her daughter had that thought after all. She returned to her own train of thought. But that could work, maybe help get Hailey over her speech disorder, and perhaps expand her future prospects and outlook.

Satori then turned her thoughts back to the old man. The inclusion of someone who seemingly recognised Hailey does complicate things, for all Satori knows she might have enemies she never even knew about by 'adopting' Hailey. Perhaps it would be worth scoping things out…

"Koishi," Satori said, beckoning her over.

"Yes sis?" Koishi said, coming over.

Satori reaches into Koishi's blouse, and pulls out a length of ribbon that she keeps stowed in the inside pocket, the other end being tied around Koishi's waist. "Please join us for dinner, then I want you to help me run some errands."

"Okay~" Koishi sung happily.

Satori nodded, before leading Koishi back towards the kitchens, where she left one of the Kasha in charge of dinner. Hailey walked beside her, puzzled about her mothers actions.

She still occasionally felt bad about keeping a leash for her sister, but honestly it was the only way to stop her from wandering off while she wasn't looking, so she had gotten used to it. And If Koishi was going to show her exactly where this 'shortcut' was, she needed her around.


Minerva McGonnagal, Deputy headmistress of Hogwarts and currently rather disgruntled tabby cat, sat impassively at the corner of Privet Drive, just like she had done so many years ago.

The reason for her current mood was having been called in just before bed by her colleague and old friend Albus, who after almost ten years actually found Hailey Potter… Briefly. Apparently she had been being shaparoned through this neighbourhood by none other than her kidnapper, but had vanished again before Dumbledore could fully do anything one way or another.

Apparently due to some odd nature of the… being in question, who Dumbledore could only refer to as Hailey's self declared Aunt, recalling any significant detail about her was impossible, which might have explained how the being could have broken into one of the most heavily warded houses in Britain, and walked off with a baby.

She had still not fully forgiven Dumbledore for somehow letting that happen. Although after seeing how shaken up Dumbledore had been after meeting the being in question, perhaps she was being too hard on him.

She had questioned why he let the being go, and Dumbledore had given two reasons, the first was that hailey was clearly attached to her kidnapper, from what little he could recall, and in attempting to forcefully remove her would probably not endear himself to the young girl, even if it didn't traumatise her. And the far more chilling answer was that if the being could affect his mind like that in passing, what could it do if Dumbledore had actually threatened it.

So Here Minerva was, on stake out, on the loose hope that the being currently walking down the street would fulfil its loose promise to return sometime in the near future.

As the being and another like it began to approach, Mcgonnagal wondered if this was nothing more than a futile gesture, for all they know the promise to return was merely a lie from a kidnapper.

The second figure was looking around now, as the first pointed out random things to her, before she zoned in on the cat, who was resigning herself to many nights of this potentially fruitless activity.

The figures drew closer, and Mcgonnagal leaned to the side in order to see the street around them. At least it's a quiet night, she thought.

"Excuse me."

Suddenly there was somebody in front of her, and Mcgonnagal couldn't help an undignified yowl, as she sprung a foot into the air.

"Apologies, I believe we are the people you are looking for?" Satori said evenly, kneeling down to better speak to her.

Mcgonnagal took a moment to collect herself, and quickly studied the person in front of her, a rather short woman with short purple hair, and most alarmingly, thick organic-looking red and yellow cords coming out of each of her bodies extremities, all ending in an orb with a single unblinking eye embedded in it, that was suspended over her chest.

It took Mcgonnagal a moment to realise that there was indeed another one behind her, only green being the primary colour in her palette, and at closer examination her third eye was closed.

"Are you finished?" Satori asked. "I am Satori Komeiji, this is my sister Koishi Komeiji, and you are… Miss Mcgonnagal, you have led me to believe you are looking for my daughter."

Mcgonnagal was blown back by all this bombardment, where even if she could reply as a cat, this woman, Satori, gave her no room… and how did she know her name?

"Simple, I can read minds, and by questioning your identity I gave your mind a cue to recall your own name, so I could see it." Satori said. "Now back to my questions, Are you or are you not looking for my daughter?"

What was this… woman asking about daughters? She was looking for Hailey Potters kidnapper… who called herself Haileys Aunt.

"Glad to see you are up to speed, I was afraid I was going to have to spell that out." Satori said. "Yes I am Hailey's adoptive mother, although it's Hailey Komeiji now, just so you know."

Adopted?! The sheer audacity… she was literally kidnapped-

"If it makes it any better, I was just as surprised as you." Satori said. "Koishi just tends to do whatever she feels like."

Mcgonnagal had so much to say to that statement, but as she was currently a cat, she could not say any of it, so quickly glancing up and down the street, to make sure nobody else was watching she turned back.

Satori straightened up and looked up to the now much taller woman and sighed. "Must you? It's much easier for me to talk to a cat."

"I can't talk back to you as a cat Miss Komeiji." Mcgonnagal said, as sternly as she could manage, which was quite a lot.

"I know. Can you imagine how frustrating it is to hear everything anybody says twice?" Satori said, unphased. "And people wonder why I'm so irritable."

"I'd honestly much rather you stop reading my mind right this instant-" Mcgonnagal said, strengthening her Occlumency.

"I'm afraid I cannot, I cannot stop reading minds any more then you can stop your heart beating." Satori interjected. "And don't bother, I am not a legilimens, I am a mind reader, any thoughts you have, I see. The only way to stop me is to not think."

Mcgonagall was taken aback. What is this Satori woman-

If you must know, I am a Satori, my name is my species. Don't ask, it's not a fun story." Satori said, blankly.

Mcgonnagall blinked, she had never heard of a Satori before-

"They are Japanese, and very rare, as far as I am aware there are only two left in existence, and you are looking at both." Satori said.

Mcgonnall jumped, she had forgotten that the other one was there for a moment-

"Yes, she does have that effect on people."

"Could you stop interrupting me before I even have a chance to ask the question!" Mcgonagall snapped.

"I'd rather not, the alternative annoys me." Satori said.

"This is why you don't have frieeennnds~" Koishi sung, swaying from side to side.

Satori ignored her. "By the way it is rather late, perhaps you should not be raising your voice if you do not want to be noticed."

Mcgonagall quickly whipped her head around, but thankfully nobody seemed to be around yet, but still.

"Come this way." she said, quickly walking away. Luckily she knew where there was a park nearby.

"If you insist." Satori said, following, giving a small tug to Koishi's waist ribbon, making her follow along.

While they walked, Mcgonagall took the time to sort out her thoughts. So far what she has been told by Satori seems to be in line with what Dumbldore managed to glean from… well what must be this Satori person's sister, the self declared aunt, whoever that might be. But yes, apparently Hailey was kidnapped and brought to this Satori. Although to add layers of complication to this, apparently Satori was also surprised by this. What were this sister's goals in doing this? Was it just a random act? Do they even know who Hailey Potter is? Do they have anything to do with Voldemort?

For that matter, why had Satori not interrupted her yet? She seemed to usually cut her off while she was thinking.

She glanced back at Satori, who was merely examining her surroundings with interest as she walked, no real indication that she was listening.

Turning forward, Mcgonagall wondered if she was lying about not being able to stop reading minds, or at the very least, there was some criteria that she had not mentioned, like perhaps the third eye had to be looking at you perhaps?

Nevertheless, they arrived in a secluded section of the park and Mcgonnagall rounded on Satori, and opened her mouth to speak.

"The answers in order: her goals are mysterious to you as they are to me, although she implied that she thought I would make a better guardian then her current one. Pretty much, everything my sister does is random. I don't know to what you are referring to, but considering I raised her for ten years I probably know more about her then you do. I don't know who that is. Satori Etiquette dictates that you don't respond to people's thoughts when they are not addressed to you. And while the eye is the main sensory organ for the mind reading, it does not, in fact, need to be looking at you."

Mcgonagall shut her mouth again, as she tried to unpack all that. She then opened it again.

"Yes I am serious. My sister has a… condition, where she lost her ability to read minds, including her own. She is incapable of thought, and does everything on impulse, reflex and or instinct." Satori said. "This has had the added effect that those who do not know her well cannot see her unless she draws attention to herself, and then swiftly forget her the moment she leaves your line of sight, like you have done twice already. So when I say that Haileys kidnapping was random, I mean it. I made no effort to return her because I did not know where she got it from, and what little she did say on the subject dissuaded me from looking too hard."

Mcgonagall wondered what she meant by that, but this time made no effort to vocalise it because-

"Her exact words were, 'because everybody deserves to be loved' if you are curious, she has never said any more or any less on the subject, even to me. Although earlier today Koishi did elect to show Hailey where she came from, and Hailey was not impressed, nor was I really, they seem like awful people to say the least."

Mgonagall could not really argue with that, having had the same opinion of the Dursleys herself. Was this just the long and the short of it? This Koishi person just saw a baby in a bad home and… decided to bring it to her sister to raise properly? So they really had no idea about who Hailey was, and her story-

"Well I do now." Satori said, "or at least the vague gist of it. This 'Voldermort' fellow," Mcgonagall flinched, "Killed her parents and tried to kill her, only for her to survive and cause Voldemort to somehow die, probably some kind of spell backfire."

Mcgonagall nodded, unable to think of any other way to react to such a blunt summary.

Satori sighed. "Well at least that explains whose Horcrux was embedded in her forehead."

Mcgonagall gasped.

Satori waved it off. "Don't worry I had it removed… although it is worth noting he apparently had five more."

This was too much for Mcgonagall. "Excuse me, I need to contact Professor Dumbledore."

"Please do." Satori said, as Mcgonagall conjured a patronus to relay a message to Dumbledore. "I have some questions for him myself."

An idea was forming, maybe two birds with one stone.


It took several minutes for the headmaster of Hogwarts to arrive in a swirl of Phoenix fire. Satori was impressed with the figure he cut, the very picture of a venerable western style spellcaster. His wardrobe was somewhat eccentric, but honestly the more powerful ones often were.

Mcgonagall immediately walked up to him and started explaining everything Satori had told her in hushed voices.

As the events were explained to him he looked around, after a few moments somehow managing to catch Koishi's presence too, which was impressive in of itself.

While they were talking, Fawkes looked curiously before gliding over and landing on Satori's outstretched arm.

"Well Hello there, aren't you a handsome creature." Satori said, rubbing under the phoenix's beak. "Not everyday you see a phoenix."

Fawkes trilled happily

"I must say I've never seen Fawkes take to somebody so quickly." Albus said approaching after hearing Mcgonagall's explanation.

"So is the nature of the Satori. While we are despised and hunted by those who fear to have their inner voice heard, the voiceless are naturally drawn to us." Satori said, not moving her eyes from the Phoenix. "The feeling is mutual, I tend to prefer the company of animals."

"Hunted-?" Dumbledore began, but Satori, as is her habit, cut him off.

"There is a reason only two of us are left." Satori said bluntly, turning to face Dumbledore. "But that was the past. We are in the present, and I understand you have questions. First off, yes Hailey had a Horcrux, it was embedded in the scar in her forehead. I had a co-worker of mine remove it. No, I cannot do so myself. Yes this Voldemort fellow has five more, according to my Superior, who was present at the time. No I don't know what they are or where they might be, I washed my hands of the matter after it stopped being relevant to Hailey."

She then raised her eyebrow. "What's this about a prophecy?"

Dumbledore coughed at that last part. "Wha-"

"Oh that is just perfect." Satori mumbled. "Don't worry I won't say it out loud, but good grief that really torpedoes my plans."

"Plans?" Dumbledore said in surprise. Did Satori have some sort of-

"Let me just cut you off right there." Satori said. "No, I did not have any ulterior motives to adopt Hailey. But as her mother I am allowed to plan for my daughter's future. Specifically in this case, I was considering whether to have her enrol in your school or not."

"You were?" both Dumbledore and Mcgonagall said in unison.

"Well yes." Satori said, shrugging her shoulders, "You seemed interested in having her attend due to her magical background and out of obligation to her deceased biological parents. And I want Hailey somewhere safe above ground to meet new people and get out of her shell a bit, as there is rarely an opportunity for her to leave the palace."

"Palace?" Mcgonagall said.

"Haven't I mentioned that yet?" Satori said, tilting her head. "...I suppose I did not. My abode is in the Palace of the Earth spirits, in old Hell."

Both Wizards' eyes boggled. "Hell!?" Mcgonagall said. "Surely you jest!"

"Old Hell, they moved it to a new subspace due to overpopulation." Satori corrected. "But I suppose I should properly introduce myself, I am Satori Komeiji, Mistress of the Palace of the Earth Spirits, Chireiden in my own tongue, and Custodian of old Hell, as appointed by the Ministry of Right and Wrong after they ceased official use of the space." She curtseed. "Well met."

For Dumbledore there was a lot to unpack in that statement. For a start a whole lot of questions about the afterlife that even wizards have sought answers for for centuries, was apparently just standing in front of him. But probably the more relevant point-

"Hailey is in Hell!?" Mcgonagall exclaimed.

"Old Hell." Satori corrected. "But yes it is somewhat dangerous, which is why she is largely confined to the Palace, where she has myself and my pets to keep an eye on her. However it has led to her to be somewhat… Sheltered." At the unspoken question Satori clarified. "She has a communication disorder, she is a selective mute."

Suddenly the weird hand waving she was doing when Dumbledore saw her briefly suddenly made a lot of sense.

"Yes, she has been taught sign, and can write, but does not speak a word."

"What-" Mcgonagall tried to ask.

"Physically nothing." Satori said. "The Issue is psychological as far as I can tell, although it's Subconscious, so I can not tell you for certain." At their searching expression she sighed. "It was probably my fault, I was an… extremely attentive parent, as an infant she never even needed to cry. Satori infants rarely vocalise anything, so I never noticed until it was too late." She gazed into the distance, looking for all the world looking like a concerned parent, before focusing again on Dumbledore. "Which is why I was considering having her enrol in your school. I had hoped that exposing her to other people in a safe environment would... maybe give her a stronger incentive to use her voice. At the very least it would give her wider future prospects than homeschooling in my palace could give her."

To her own surprise Mcgonagall found herself softening to Satori. Despite her rather abrasive personality, she clearly cared a lot about Hailey, and even after admitting she may have accidentally made her mute, she was still trying to fix her mistakes.

"Thank you, I know I can be difficult." Satori said.

This of course annoyed Mcgonagall but she reminded herself that apparently Satori could not help it.

"Thank you, I do not need you to like me, only understand." Satori said. "But now I am not entirely sure if I'm comfortable sending her to your school."

"Why not?" Dumbledore said.

"There is a prophecy that means an undead psychopath is after her life. You tell me." Satori said dryly, crossing her arms. "I want Hailey to get better, but not to the point of exposing her to that. She is rather delicate after all." With a theatrical sigh she looks to the side. "That's the problem with Prophecies, study any classical literature and you will find that they are more trouble than they are worth. Any true prophecy is self fulfilling by nature, they rely on you knowing the prophecy for them to come to pass. If it were me, I'd choke the prophet before they could utter more than a single syllable."

Dumbledore coughed awkwardly.

Satori rolled her eyes "Don't worry your divination teacher is safe from me. That ship has long sailed."

Now Dumbledore is conflicted on this, on the one hand, it is quite possible that Hailey Potter, or Hailey Komeiji, is quite possibly the safest she could possibly be from both the Prophecy and Voldermort, Ironic considering she was currently in hell-well old Hell (still quite a depressing fact to think that Hell closed due to overpopulation). But on the other hand, she is apparently extremely sheltered to the point that her adoptive mother is worried about her future. Also he still wanted Hailey to attend Hogwarts, if for nothing more than his own peace of mind to know that Lily and James' daughter is truly safe and well cared for.

"Your concern is noted, but I will need some serious assurances that this Voldemort fellow is not going to attack her while she is on the surface." A thought crossed Satori's mind. "Actually do you know where he might be? If I found him I could always drag him down to hell myself."

"I'm afraid it might be more difficult than you think." Dumbledore said.

"You underestimate me Dumbledore. I was appointed custodian due to my ability to subjugate the evil spirits that still haunt old hell." Satori said, and then she smirked. "And I have found in my time there that it does not matter what method one used to prolong their life, once in Hell all sinners burn the same."

Both Wizards felt a shiver down their spine at this.

"But still, what a shame." Satori said, "This could be so simple."

"Now While I understand your concern, I assure you that Hogwarts is-" Mcgonagall began.

"But can we be sure of that?" Satori cut off. "I'm sure your school is perfectly fine for all the students who are not being targeted by super villains, but how safe will it be for Hailey? I will need a full explanation for how you intend to keep her away from any villainous shenanigans."

Dumbledore sighed. This was going to take a while, if one thing is for certain, Satori is definitely a very protective parent…


One ungodly long discussion, a lot of headaches for some teachers and a very bored Koishi...


"Alright, I think under these conditions I could see Hailey attending your school." Satori said. "But I have one additional condition."

"And that is?" Dumbledore said tiredly, Mcgonagall having left a while ago to have a lie down.

"She will need a chaperone." Satori said. "Somebody from my household must accompany her, both as her protection, and someone to interpret for her. I doubt your staff can understand sign after all."

Dumbledore just nodded with relief, it was not even that big of a deal. In the past students with special needs were occasionally accompanied by House elves, either privately owned ones, or ones loaned from the school. This would be no different, he would not even have to run it by the school board. He did spend a moment wondering what her chaperone would be though.

"I am thinking Orin, one of my Pet Kasha. She has mastered both human form and speech, and knows Hailey well, having helped me raise her since she was a baby. She is also more than a match for this Voldemort person."

Dumbledore was wondering if that was confidence or certainty. He did wonder what a Kasha was though.

"A type of Hellcat." Satori said, smirking again. "Their duty is to steal the bodies of the wicked to stoke the blazing fires of hell. They don't have to be dead bodies either, It won't be the first evil wizard Orin has carted off kicking and screaming to hell, it won't be the last either."

Dumbledore wondered if Satori got a kick out of unnerving people.

Satori shrugged. "I AM a Youkai, I've got to amuse myself somehow."


Chapter Notes:

So many reviews were asking questions that were answered by this chapter that I just decided to publish this one right away. so I wouldn't give away details that would be revealed in the next chapter anyway.

I'd also like to remind people not to carry too much character driven baggage into my story. I understand a lot of people dislike Dumbledore for some very questionable decisions he made in the later books, and his depiction in other Fanfictions. But try to avoid projecting onto this Dumbledore and give him character traits that I have not explicitly given him in my stories. It can be quite demoralising as a writer when I'm trying to write him as a well meaning, but realistically flawed old man weighed down by his past mistakes, but is still trying his best, who has a bit of the batty mentor persona, and everybody is always trying to type cast him as this scummy callous manipulator, which in my stories he has never actually been. I honestly liked Dumbledore in the first three books where Rowling was still writing fun adventure stories for kids rather than angsty teenage drama like books four to seven, so I mostly base my characterisation of him on that depiction.

But yeah, Satori shows off how protective she is of Hailey, by strong-arming Dumbledore into making sure Hailey stays safe at school, Orin will be accompanying her to school as a chaperone and interpreter (and Probably Okuu will be the messenger bird).

As for the English question, well, between Koishi's manipulation of the subconscious, and Satori's hypnotism, and manipulation of the conscious, it shouldn't be too hard to quickly teach somebody a language.

Also Satori expresses her disdain of prophecy, and rightly so. Read any greek legend, and you will find that every prophesy hinged on the person hearing the prophecy, reacting to it, and then their reaction causing the prophecy to come about, examples include Kronos eating his sons because he heard a prophecy telling him that his son will overthrow him, leading to his wife hiding Zeus from him, who then overthrew him, or the legend of Perseus, his grandfather received a prophecy that his daughters son will kill him, so he locked her daughter up so she will not have a son, then Zeus screws his daughter anyway, so then he throws his daughter and his son in a box into the ocean, but they survive, then fast forward to Perseus having grown up, and deciding to make amends with his grandfather, but his grandfather, still scared of the prophecy instead runs away, which leads to him being in the crowd of the Olympic games, where he was accidentally clocked in the head and killed by a misthrown discus, which of course was thrown by Perseus. Voldemort finds out about a prophecy that a child will merc him, goes to merc the child first, gets merc'd instead, and then again later by the child because he kept trying to merc the child even after the first time went so well. Prophecies are useless, and diminish the agency of everybody involved. The correct response to hearing a prophecy is to drink bleach until you forget it, then at least you can be sure that the decisions you make will be your own.