AU: Hogwarts, Origin Story Part C
Pairings: none yet!
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter, and Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto.
Part C. Ryu the Dragon
"Your birthday is tomorrow, isn't it?" They were walking along the street of Diagon Alley again, this time with Shizune allowing the both of them to look around at the sights and wander into shops to peruse wares.
Tenten felt the previous events of the day push themselves into the back of her mind as they kept strolling along, and let out a contented sigh. There was no way that she would let her history interfere with this trip; everything in front of her was so much more fascinating than the life of a murderer. If she could have more happy moments like these more often, ambling down an eccentric road with a kind woman who gave her warm smiles, then she would seize them by the handle and treasure them.
"Yes," she bobbed her head up and down excitedly, even more so when they passed by Eyelops Owl Emporium, "I'm turning eleven tomorrow."
"That's good," Shizune beamed, "Then, consider this an early birthday present," she extracted yet another piece of parchment from her jacket and handed it to Tenten.
It was an envelope, of all things. Gazing up at Shizune curiously, Tenten pried the seal apart and removed several pieces of paper from the pocket. After hearing more encouraging noises from Shizune, telling her to "go on, read it", she was standing in the middle of Diagon Alley with her mouth hanging wide open.
"Hogwarts? School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? There are schools for magic?"
The woman nodded. "There are many. Hogwarts, in particular, is the school designated to students dwelling in the United Kingdom."
Her mouth was still opening and closing like that of a fish out of water. She peered down at the acceptance letter yet again, shocked. "Why do I have a letter?"
"You've been on the register ever since you were born," she replied casually, as though this piece of information was completely normal, which, given Tenten's current surroundings, probably was, "Although, I admit that I was not due to give this letter to you until tomorrow. Strike when the iron is hot, I suppose," Shizune shrugged, then smiled at Tenten. "Would you like to come to Hogwarts?"
"What about my highschool?" Tenten asked, with a look of pained realisation. She downheartedly registered that she still had highschool to attend when the school year began, and all of a sudden, the prospect of making new friends in secondary school seemed dull compared to Hogwarts. "Won't I need to attend? To learn about mathematics? And science?"
"The choice is yours," Shizune responded diplomatically, "But should you choose to attend Hogwarts, the Orphanage staff will be informed that you were accepted into an exclusive boarding school in Scotland," a wink, and a cheerful grin, "We can't have everyone know about the wizarding world, can we? Imagine how much more crowded Diagon Alley will be!"
A barn owl screeched when they walked past it, then ruffled its feathers arrogantly as Tenten comically returned its haughty gaze.
"So," Shizune spoke up again, "Will you go?"
Tenten beamed back, elated. "Definitely!"
Shizune ushered Tenten into a strange, dusty shop situated at the very end of Diagon Alley.
The moment they stepped foot inside its creaky wooden interior, an old man magically appeared in front of them, magic wand in his hand as he silently scrutinised Tenten's appearance. Shizune was hurriedly stuffing all of Tenten's new school supplies into a strange, bottomless backpack that they'd purchased only a few moments ago.
"You are new," he said, in a withered, misty voice, "The wizarding world is very new to you, and yet," the man leaned forward until the tip of his nose was mere centimetres away from hers, "You have a long, long history that precedes you."
Flabbergasted, Tenten nodded, not knowing why she was even agreeing with him. Unless- unless, he was referring to the history she'd just learnt about this day. That would make more sense, but he really wasn't supposed to know anything, was he? Shizune's pointed cough and narrowed eyes confirmed Tenten's suspicions. The man retraced his steps and led them to his weathered desk.
"I remember ever wand I've ever sold, young girl, and I suspect that I know exactly who bought the wands of those who birthed you."
An odd thing to tell someone you've just met, surely, but Tenten couldn't help but feel fascinated by the knowledge lurking within the depths of the old man's eyes. Another cough from her caretaker brought them both back to reality, and the old man waved his hand before wandering away into the scores of bookshelves. When Tenten said scores, she meant scores. There were at least twenty that spanned across the width of the shop, and definitely several more adjoined to each of those gargantuan shelves as they ran down the length of the room. How this was managed, Tenten surmised, was probably aided by the use of magic.
And she suspected that there was plenty of that, because in each shelf of every bookshelf, there were hundreds of different boxes bearing different names for wands. She was amazed that the old man seemed to know exactly where to go and which wand he was pulling out, even though he seemed to be extracting them at whim.
"Who is he?" Tenten whispered up to Shizune, still observing the old man's erratic actions.
"Mr Ollivander," Shizune replied helpfully, "His family is known for being one of the oldest wand-making families in the world. You won't find a better wand outside of here, that's for sure."
"Oh." Tenten felt pleased. She was learning more and more things about the wizarding world by the second, and actually discovering that she belongs somewhere, somewhere with a rich history, and eccentric shops and figures, filled Tenten with a swelling sense of happiness. "Do I get to have my own wand?"
Shizune nodded; affirmative. "Of course! We'll be spending the rest of the day purchasing school supplies before you return to the Orphanage. As it happens, you stumbling into Diagon Alley was most convenient; I didn't have to venture all the way to your home to give you this letter."
"Fate?"
The woman grinned at her, and shrugged. "Possibly. I've never believed in such machinations. Divination is a flawed art."
Tenten didn't have the opportunity to ask what divination was, because Ollivander returned, moments later, with a large pile of wand boxes in his arms, and settled them down gently on his desk. The old hardwood trembled under the weight of the wands, but - miraculously - remained upright.
"Here you go," he delicately opened the first box on the pile and handed it over to her, "Chestnut, unicorn hair, thirteen inches; reasonably supple." Mr Ollivander took in Tenten's blank expression with an arched eyebrow. "Go on, girl, give it a wave!"
Tenten nodded slowly, then flicked the wand to the right and jumped when it sent a small lightning bolt towards the closest bookshelf. He snatched it out of her hands and handed her the next wand, only to remove it from her the moment she touched it. "No, no," he muttered under his breath. She was starting to get incredibly irritated. "This wont do."
They repeated the same sequence over and over again, each time with less fruitful results; Tenten didn't know whether to berate the old man or not, because Shizune looked on patiently and encouraged Tenten to endure through the selection process with a smile on her face. That was easy for her to say, she didn't need to go through millions of wands.
Moments later, "Tenten, I'm going to go ahead and purchase your other school supplies. It's nearly time for all the stores to close, but don't worry - I'll come back in a jiffy." Shizune, carrying half of Tenten's money sack, hurried out of Ollivander's wand shop with a frown on her face. Mr Ollivander shifted Tenten's focus back to the wands as she gave him a hefty sigh.
"Sir, with all due respect, I don't see why we have to go through so many wands when we can just choose a random one from the stack!"
Thankfully, he didn't seem the slightest bit upset with her complaint, and smiled. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he said, "The wand chooses the wizard, Tenten." And nothing else.
So she accepted that statement, and continued gritting her teeth through several more piles until finally-
"Red Oak, dragon heartstring, twelve inches; supple. Very supple," Mr Ollivander eyed her curiously, "Curious." His lips thinned, stretching out the wrinkles lined around his mouth. "Give it a wave."
Tenten gingerly plucked the wand from its box, half-expecting fire and brimstone to shoot out of it's edge, and was pleasantly surprised by a rush of warmth that coursed through her veins like hot chocolate on a cold winter's night. She whooped in delight when a lovely, miniature firework burst out of the tip and enveloped the room in a bright, shimmering glow.
Mr Ollivander looked pleased. "I think that I can expect great things from you, Miss Shimura."
When Tenten emerged from Ollivanders, wand-box clutched securely in her hands, Shizune was standing in front of her triumphantly. Her brown eyes travelled down the length of the woman's arm, then popped out when she noticed the same haughty owl from earlier, ruffling its feathers as it sat on its caged perch.
"Think of it as a birthday present," Shizune said cheerfully, "And a gift for your official welcome into the wizarding world."
Tenten stumbled forwards, admiring the arrogant owl's magnificence, and grinned. "Thank you," she replied, shakily taking hold of the cage, "Ryu."
"Dragon?" Shizune translated.
"Yes," Tenten beamed, "I've always loved dragons."
The woman smiled, then motioned them towards the bustling street. "It's time for you to go home, now. I expect to see you in exactly six months from now, inside the corridors of Hogwarts." They strode together in silence; Tenten couldn't help but think about the name that Mr Ollivander had addressed her with. Miss Shimura. Shimura. Shimura. She repeated it in her head like a mantra.
The old man, mildly senile though he was, did claim that his memory was in ship-shape condition; she believed it to be as well, going by the rapid, yet sure, movements that she had seen in the wand store. There was certainly no why he could have referred to her as a Shimura, other than to supplicate her with a surname. A surname.
The question was, did it belong to him?
"Shizune?"
"Yes?"
"Mr Ollivander called me something while you were away." Seeing no further response from her, Tenten continued, "Miss Shimura?" She observed Shizune's reaction closely. Her expression did not shift. If anything, the woman seemed confused.
"Shimura?" Shizune repeated her words, then looked pensive.
"I don't recall hearing about anyone named 'Shimura' on the streets of London," Tenten didn't know how to feel about that. Shizune ceased her movements to place her hands on either side of Tenten's shoulder. "Perhaps he'd made a mistake. Goodness knows how old Mr Ollivander is now."
"Then," Tenten pursed her lips, then released them, "How-"
"I don't know, Tenten," Shizune said firmly, a little too firmly. Tenten winced from the sudden pain of Shizune's tightening fingers. Registering the agonised expression on Tenten's face, Shizune softened her hold and stood back up.
"I don't know."
Thank you, so much, to fanofthisfiction, Wintry Leen and keroRiBBIT, for the reviews!
On another note, Part D will be the last of this Origins saga (Neji incoming!)
- misspandalily