Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Hibiki and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Hibiki and the Philosopher's Stone
Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J. K. Rowling and Ranma 1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks once again to my beta Blissfull Wulf.
Chapter 10
Minerva nearly ran into Severus as she left the hallway her office was on while heading toward the Headmaster's. The younger teacher didn't say anything but she could see questions burning in his black eyes. Minerva said nothing herself as they walked her mind on the confrontation that was coming with Albus. She had contacted the head Curse Breaker at Gringotts, Dkrax, and had been released from the oath she took over ten years ago so she was free to speak to Dumbledore now that the cat was out of the bag of where Harry had been all these years.
Beside her, Severus was lost in his own thoughts. He still wasn't sure what to make of the Hibiki-Potter boy. He looked like James Potter and while he would love to assume that the boy was just like his father he had to remember that he was Lily's son as well and that he had been raised in a whole different country away from the British wizarding world. He had watched Harry almost all throughout dinner, had looked the boy straight in the eyes in fact. The boy had only given him a mildly curious look then turned his gaze away. He hadn't missed the flinch of pain that flash in Harry's green eyes or the boy reaching up to rub at his forehead. He had also noticed that useless stuttering fool Quirrell had flinched slightly at the same time. He wasn't sure what that meant and resolved to think on it later.
Severus was glad he had picked up the skill of reading lips during his days of spying for the Order during the war, watching Harry as the boy put off the pain as tiredness then asked the oldest Weasley boy who he had been. He had been referred to as the 'black hair man' not the 'greasy hair' at the time. Severus wasn't sure why that struck him, he was well aware what the other students in the school thought of him, they should try working around potions all day and not end up with greasy looking hair from the fumes.
Then there was the Kuno girl sorted into his house who seemed to have an utter devotion toward the Boy-Who-Lived. It didn't seem to be in a 'fangirl' sort of way but time would only tell if the new Gryffindor Prince would even bother with the girl now that she was a 'slimy snake'.
'We'll see if he's more like his mother or like his father,' Severus thought to himself. Still, it had been funny to see her put Lucius’s brat in his place so quickly and without magic. Curious way of doing it though, a gymnastic ribbon? He had seen that she had made an impression with some of his snakes by putting the blond boy in his place as she had.
"Chocolate Frogs," Severus was knocked out of his thoughts by Minerva's voice calling out the password to the headmaster's office. He hadn't even really noticed that they had arrived. The ride up the stairs was just as quiet as the walk through the hallways and as Minerva reached up to knock on the door they both heard Albus call out from the office.
"Minerva, Severus, come in," Minerva huffed softly and Severus had to admit it was a little annoying when he did that. The door opened, letting both of the teachers into the office. Albus sat behind his desk, his fingers steeple in front of him as he watched Minerva while Severus stepped back into the shadows. "Minerva... do you have anything you wish to say?"
"And what do you think I should say Dumbledore?" Minerva asked, steadily meeting his gaze. She refused to be ashamed about what she had done; Ryoga Hibiki had been a much better choice of guardian than Petunia Dursley would ever be. Albus gave her a grandfatherly disappointed look that she refused to be moved by.
"Why did you not inform me, or anyone in the Order, that you had found young Harry?" He asked.
"I couldn't even if I had wanted to," Minerva said, "I was placed under an oath not to tell anyone before I was even brought to see Mr. Hibiki."
"Regardless, we could have rescued Mr. Potter," Albus said, either ignoring that it wasn't Harry's last name anymore or refusing to acknowledge it, "And placed him with his rightful guardians."
"What makes you think Mr. Hibiki needed to be rescued?" Minerva asked with a raised eyebrow, stressing the name Hibiki. "Ryoga Hibiki, the young man that adopted James's son, has kept him protected all these years and brought young Mr. Hibiki up to be a polite, talented young man. Both he and his wife have treated the boy as their own all this time. If I had thought either of them would put Mr. Hibiki is any danger, I would have risked my magic to save him but I saw nothing of the sort."
"Lily Potter's sacrifice would have, and may still yet, provide the protection that young Mr. Potter is in need of," Albus said firmly. "Come the holidays we shall inform the Hibiki's that Mr. Potter will be placed with his rightful guardians." Minerva snorted and fixed a glare on Albus.
"Those were the worst sort of muggles, I told you that then and I am telling you that now," Minerva said, leaning forward and bracing herself on the edge of the headmaster's desk. "A drunk, deranged monkey would be a better caretaker than Lily Potter's sister."
"Petunia?" Severus choked out, speaking up for the first time. Both the older witch and wizard turned to him; they had forgotten he was there. "You were going to place the boy with Petunia!?"
"Yes, Mrs. Dursley is Mr. Potter's last blood relation, he needs to live with her to make sure the blood war-" Albus started.
"Headmaster, do you have any idea how much Petunia hated Lily?" Severus asked, stepping up to the desk. "And you wanted to place Lily's son /there/?"
"Now Severus, surely that is a bit of an exaggeration," Albus said calmly. "Perhaps she wouldn't have treated the boy like her son," he ignored Minerva's eye roll and muttered 'Merlin forbid'. "But I'm sure she would have put the past behind her over a little disagreement and taken care of her sister's son."
"Dumbledore, I grew up near Petunia and Lily," Severus said. "Petunia would call both Lily and I freaks every chance she got. Never in front of Lily's parents but any other time... Petunia was and likely still is a petty woman, she would have taken out everything she hated about her sister on her son."
"Like you?" Minerva asked, she had heard enough of Severus's comments over the years on how Harry would 'be spoiled and big headed like his father' whenever the Boy-Who-Lived was brought up. Severus jerked back in response. "Isn't that what you are doing? Taking out all your hate for a dead man on a boy who knows very little about his father and was raised by a man who's nothing like James Potter? Seems like you two are peas-in-a-pod then, hating a boy for who his parents were."
Severus gave Minerva a mild glare but had to admit the remark hit home, he did hate James Potter's son because he hated the father. It did not sit well at him at all to be compared to Petunia Evans of all people.
"And you, did you miss the part where I said Harry Hibiki-Potter is /adopted/?" Minerva said, turning her full attention back to Albus. "Petunia Dursley has no legal right to the boy nor am I going to let you place him with such hateful muggles!"
"It's for the Greater Good Minerva," Albus said with a sigh. "Send a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki if you would, I would like to speak to them myself."
"You are not getting your way on this Albus, I'm going to warn you now," Minerva said, pointing her finger at him then turning on her heel to leave the office. Severus stayed only a moment more then left as well; Albus didn't stop him, his mind already thinking ahead to when he spoke to Harry's adopted parents. His phoenix Fawkes watched Albus closely and made the softest of trilling noises as her wizard sat deep in thought. (1)
***
At the same time in Gryffindor Tower....
Harry wanted to scream and ask Diego what he was doing there but had to restrain himself so he didn't give away that he was a Parselmouth. Instead he stood up, ignoring the panicked yells of most of his housemates, and picked up his pet snake out of his trunk, letting Diego drape himself over Harry's arms and shoulders.
"What are you doing!?" Ron yelled. "That's a /snake/!"
"Really? I thought he was a giant worm," Harry said in a dry voice.
"Blimey he's huge," Dean said as he came up beside Harry. "You've had to have had him for years."
"No, just a couple of months," Harry said. "He's an escapee from the zoo."
"This is the boa from the London Zoo?" Dean asked surprised. "It was on the telly! You stole a snake." The black boy laughed and shook his head. Ron, Seamus and Neville looked at them like they were crazy.
"I didn't steal him," Harry said. "We just happen to leave the zoo at the same time."
"Are you two crazy?" Ron asked. "I can't believe you're standing there holding a slimy snake!" Harry scowled, he understood Ron and the other's reactions but that didn't mean that it didn't get on his nerves.
"For Kami-sama's sake," He muttered. He walked over to Ron and grabbed the other boy's hand in a firm grip.
"What are you-?" Ron yelped as he was grabbed and Harry put his hand on Diego’s back. He blinked in shock as he felt the cool smooth scales under his hand. "He's not slimy."
"No snake is slimy Ron," Harry pointed out. Diego turned his head, letting his tongue flit out over Ron's skin.
"Wh-what is it doing?" Ron asked, Harry still had a strong grip on his arm so he couldn't jerk his arm away. "Oh Merlin, it's tasting me isn't it?"
"No, he's not tasting you," Harry said. "He's just smelling you."
"Huh?" Ron looked bewildered.
"How are you so calm about this?" Seamus asked both of them.
"It's just a snake," Dean said confused. "My step dad and some of my cousins have pet snakes. Dad's is a King Snake."
"Wh-what did you mean by he's sm-smelling him?" Neville couldn't help but ask.
"Snakes use their tongue to scent the air, that's all. They can't smell through their noses," Harry explained. "It's ok, you guys can touch him too."
"I don't want to get poisoned," Seamus said, backing up.
"He's not a venomous snake," Harry said. "He's a constrictor, if he was to bite you, you wouldn't be poisoned." He let go of Ron's wrist who snatched his hand back.
"What is he even doing here?" Ron asked. He was weirded out, he had always been told by his parents that snakes were evil, slimy creatures that would kill him in an instant but not only did Harry have one as a pet, his other dorm mate Dean said his family owned one as well as if it wasn't a big deal.
"He must have snuck into my trunk," Harry said with a sigh. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall in the morning, let’s just get some sleep for now."
"Wait, we're going to sleep in here with that?!" Ron said. Harry gave him a scowl.
"He's not evil Ron, Diego is just an animal like any other pet here," He said. "I know here in the British wizarding world people have these types of views on snakes but in the rest of the world a snake is just a snake. He's not magical, he's not going to kill you in the night and he ate a couple of days ago so he's not going to eat anyone's pets."
"Yeah lighten up mate, snakes are pretty cool," Dean said as he unpacked his trunk, putting up a poster of his favorite soccer/football team up on the wall. Seamus shook his head slightly.
"I think you're both balmy," the sandy hair boy said as he got ready to sleep. Ron scratched the back of his head, he wasn't sure what to think really. In the last few minutes, Harry's snake had done nothing like what his mother had told him. Other than licking him, or smelling him according to Harry, the snake hadn't done anything.
"Are snakes really like that in the muggle world?" He asked finally.
"What, as pets?" Harry asked then shrugged his shoulders. "Not as common as dogs or cats but there are a lot of people who keep them as pets. Some even keep venomous snakes as pets, those have to be handled in a certain way, but none of them are evil." He placed Diego on his bed so he could get ready to sleep, the snake coiling up calmly. Ron just nodded, this was another world shattering view that went against what his mother had taught him. For now he would keep his distance from the snake and keep an eye on it to see if it was as evil as he had been taught.
"At least it isn't a spider..." Ron muttered to himself.
As soon as Harry climbed into his four poster bed and drew the curtains around them, he cast a sound proof spell that wouldn't let sound escape, a handy spell Remus had taught him.
~Diego, what are you doing here!~ Harry hissed in Parseltongue.
~What? I jusssst wanted to sssee the ssschool,~ Diego defended himself. ~I didn't want to be left behind.~
~I could get in trouble for you being here,~ Harry pointed out.
~The feather dussster got to come,~ the snake sulked.
~Sssshiroyuki is my familiar and sssshe'sss an owl, which issss one of the accepted petssss,~ Harry said with a sigh. ~Diego, I know you were upsssset that you couldn't come but I didn't leave you behind to be mean.~
~I know, but I ssssstill wanted to come,~ Diego said then added brightly, ~and now I'm here ssso the other humanssss can't do anything.~
~Yesss they can Diego,~ Harry said. ~Sssnakesss aren't looked at very highly here, a lot of people here think you are a dark evil creature.~
~I am not evil!~ Diego hissed offended.
~I know you're not, but that issss how sssome people view you. The othersss you sssaw, mossst of them come from familiesss that think like that.~ Harry said.
~That one that wasssss touching me ssstunk of fear,~ Diego mused.
~I know, he'sss one of the onesss raisssed to fear you,~ Harry said with another sigh. ~I'll have to tell Mimi that you sssnuck in, I can get in trouble if I don't.~
~Fine,~ Diego muttered in disappointment.
~In the meantime, remember not to eat the other'ssss petsss,~ Harry said. ~There issss a rat and a toad in here with ussss.~
~I know, I know,~ Diego said as he coiled up at the end of the bed. ~No eating other petssss.~ Harry sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and laid down to sleep.
**
The next morning Harry woke with a yawn, stretching his arms out over his head. He looked down at the end of his bed, Diego was still coiled up but now the snake's head was hanging upside down and he could hear his pet hiss nonsense words in his sleep.
'Not a single person would believe me if I told them Diego talks in his sleep,' He thought with a snicker. He climbed off the bed, looking around and noting that everyone else was still asleep, curtains drawn around their beds. While he wanted to go ahead and tell Minerva that Diego was here to get it out of the way, he had no idea where his Mimi's office or quarters were.
Quickly changing into a gi, Harry slipped from the room and out of the tower to find someplace to do his morning exercises. He luckily found a decent sized abandoned classroom nearby that would do for that morning, Harry planed on exploring to find something bigger later on, and went through his katas. His mind wandered as he did his exercises, Hogwarts was something else completely but he couldn't help but feel a bit homesick. He had never been away from his Dad like this, Ryoga was always nearby when Harry needed him. Ukyo had also been a steady presence in his life, his mother loving and raising him like he was sure his birth mother Lily would.
'Well... maybe not quite the same way,' Harry thought with a grin and a shake of his head. He was sure Ukyo and Lily were as different as day and night. After an hour he had to stop, the room was too small to do any of his more outlandish exercises, and headed back to the dorm.
After a quick shower and dressed in school robes, Harry headed down to the common room as the rest of his dorm mates woke up.
"Good morning Harry," Hermione said with a smile from one of the armchairs. She had a large book in her lap that she was reading from.
"Ohayou Gozaimasu," Harry greeted. "I see you're all ready for classes this morning," He teased playfully. Hermione smiled brightly as she closed the book she was reading.
"Oh yes, this is all very exciting. I've read all the books for classes already, I do hope I'm prepared," She said as she slipped the book into her school bag and stood up.
"I think you are," Harry assured her. "Ready to head down to breakfast?"
"Shouldn't we wait for the rest of your dorm mates?" Hermione asked.
"They were just getting up when I left, I think it'll be a while," Harry said. Hermione nodded and left the tower with Harry. At the moving stairs Harry was very tempted to start sliding and jumping down them, but figured it was better to wait. "You're not going to believe what happen last night, I found Diego in my trunk."
"Diego?" Hermione frowned for a second then scowled at Harry. "You didn't bring that snake to school did you?"
"Yes, he's here but I didn't bring him on purpose," Harry said. "He stowed away in my trunk. He caused quite a stir with the other guys. Dean was ok with him, his family has a pet snake, but the others freaked out."
"I don't understand how a bunch of boys freaked out over a snake," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Boys are supposed to like snakes."
"Because, a lot of 'Light' families think snakes are evil and dark creatures," Harry said then added softly so the paintings on the wall wouldn't hear him. "If they knew I was a Parselmouth, they would really lose it."
"It just seems silly," Hermione said with another shake of her head. "Harry, you need to tell Professor McGonagall about the snake. You could get in trouble."
"I know, I plan on approaching her and telling her about Diego once I find out where her office is," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "I don't know what she'll be able to do about it, I don't think Shiroyuki could carry him all the way back to Japan."
"Good, tell her as soon as possible," Hermione said with a sharp nod then entered the Great Hall with Harry.
***
Kodachi sat beside the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, penning out a letter to Remus and Kasumi. She didn't even glance up as someone sat in the chair across from her.
"You caused a bit of a stir last night," a girl's voice said. Kodachi glanced up briefly, it was Daphne Greengrass who was looking straight at Kodachi. With her was Tracy Davis who was sitting on the arm of Greengrass's chair. Kodachi shrugged her slim shoulders and turned back to her letter. "We heard the older students talking about it."
"He had it coming, I am the only one allowed to bad mouth my older brother," She said as she finished writing and folded the letter up neatly. "I don't take well to others ordering me around."
"Well he is a stuck up pounce," Daphne agreed as Tracy snickered.
"He's just a daddy's boy," Tracy said. Daphne hummed in agreement, her lips quirking slightly in a smile. She found Kodachi entertaining and much better company so far than that pugged face Pansy.
"I'm Daphne Greengrass," She introduced herself. "This is Tracy Davis."
"Hi!" Tracy grinned and waved.
"Kodachi Kuno," Kodachi said. The rest of the students started to trickle into the common room. Malfoy, with his two goons right behind him, walked up to the girls like he owned the place.
"That is my seat," Draco said in a snooty tone, glaring down at Kodachi.
"Gee, I don't see your name on it," Tracy quipped. Malfoy sent the girl a glare then looked down at Kodachi again.
"That's just too bad," Kodachi said. "By the amount of gel in your hair, you obviously spend more time getting ready than any girl does. If you didn't spend so much time in front of the mirror, you would have had time to find a decent seat."
"Don't you speak to me that way you little-" Malfoy started his face red in anger.
"Sit your ass down Malfoy," the Prefect Marcus Flint said as he walked into the group. Draco tried to glare up at Flint but was quickly cowed as the older Slytherin boy had a much more effective glare than the blond did. Pouting, Draco found another seat to sit in, Crabbe and Goyle standing behind the chair he sat in. "Alright little snakes, here are your schedules for the year. You have five minutes to go back to your dorms to get your books for the day then we're taking you to the Great Hall for breakfast. If you take longer than that you're on your own."
Kodachi took the schedules handed to her by one of the other Prefects, quickly noting which classes were that day, then stood to get her books. Inside the first year dorm room, Kodachi opened her trunk to check on Mr. Green Turtle then grabbed her books. The rest of her fellow year mates followed her in a few minutes later. Pansy gave Kodachi a cold look then turned away, sticking her pug nose into the air. Tracy snickered while Daphne looked amused by Pansy's actions. The other two girls, Bulstrode and a girl with glasses just watched. A dark smirk crossed Kodachi's lips but otherwise did nothing as she left with her things.
"Upstart foreigner," Pansy muttered.
**
"Hey! Wake up," Tatewaki groaned as someone shook his shoulder, trying to block out the voice and stay under the comfy covers on his bed. "WAKE UP!"
"WHAT!?" Tatewaki sat up annoyed, squinting at whoever dared to wake him up.
"It's morning, time to get up," the boy was for a few seconds unfamiliar until Tatewaki remembered who it was. Tatewaki's new friend Justin just grinned at the other boy, not at all offended that he had been yelled at. "Rough night?"
"Yes, I'm not use to sleeping away from home," Tatewaki said with a yawn. It had taken awhile for him to fall asleep the night before and it was the first time in a long time that he wished he had the shadow puppet show that Sasuke used to put him to sleep with. Remus and Kasumi put a stop to that when he and Kodachi started to live with them.
"Hey, so you can speak like a normal person," Justin said with a grin. "You sound better like that."
"What do you mean?" Tatewaki asked, too tried to keep up his usual speech pattern right now, as he peeled back his covers to get up.
"Well no offence mate, but you sound like a bad Shakespearian actor," Justin said with a shrug. "But that's just me. Hurry up and get ready, I'm starving." Tatewaki watched his new friend leave, no one had really told him how weird his habit was. Well Kodachi did but that was his sister, so it was different. Shaking his head, Tatewaki gathered up his school uniform and robes and headed into the shower.
Half an hour later, Tatewaki was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, absently eating a piece of toast as he wrote out a letter to his guardians, he knew his Uncle Remus was eager to know where he had been placed.
"Those are sorta funny looking," Hanna Abbot said as she watched Tatewaki write.
"It is kanji, my native writing system," Tatewaki said absently. Of course it wasn't just kanji, it was also hiragana and katakana, but he didn't see a need to explain. "I am informing my guardians of my placement."
"I'm going to write my auntie later," Susan said. "She'll be so happy I was sorted into Hufflepuff, she was a Hufflepuff when she came to Hogwarts."
"There wasn't any doubt I would be placed here," Zacharias said with a smirk. The rest of the first years groaned and rolled their eyes, they were already sick of hearing about how he was Helga Hufflepuff's descendant.
"Must thoust mention that every time you open your mouth Smith?" Tatewaki said as he finished his letter. "You doust not hear I speak of how my own family is descended from samurais. Or my connection to some of the more powerful ninja clans in Japan." (2)
"No one asked you Kuno," Zacharias said in a snooty tone, his nose turned up.
"We get it, you're related to our house's founder," Susan said in agreement with Tatewaki. Zacharias frowned and looked around the table, no one seemed to be impressed and he huffed, turning his head away.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry was chatting away with a couple of second years trying to get a feel out of what the classes and their teachers were like. Hermione sat beside him, her nose in a book as she re-read the first couple of chapters of her charms book to refresh herself while listening with half an ear to what was being said.
"Blimey," Ron said with a yawn as he and Neville finally joined them. "I can't believe you're both up already."
"I've been up for a couple of hours," Harry said, turning to his new friend. "I had to do my morning exercises." Ron shook his head, he couldn't imagine doing anything but maybe eat right after waking up. Up above, the sound of flapping wings signaled the morning post as hundreds of birds, mostly owls but as Harry looked up he noticed at least a couple of birds that were either crows or ravens and one that looked like a hawk, swooped in through windows high above the magical ceiling that showed the sunny morning outside.
Harry smiled as he spied a flash of white and Shiroyuki swooped down to land on his shoulder with a greeting bark.
"Good morning Shiroyuki," Harry said as he scratched her chest feathers then offered her a piece of bacon. Around the table Minerva started to hand out her cubs schedules, pausing as she got to Harry.
"Mr. Hibiki, please pass this note along to your parents," she said as she handed the letter she had written to request Ryoga and Ukyo to come to the castle to speak with the Headmaster.
"Hai Mi- McGonagall-sensei," Harry stopped himself from calling her 'Mimi' as he usually did, blushing under her stern look. "Oh sensei, where is your office at, I have something I've got to tell you about."
"Is it something that needs to be taken care of now?" Minerva asked, her eyes softening. Harry thought about it then shook his head.
"No, I think it can wait until after classes," he said.
"My office is across from my classroom," Minerva said with a nod of her head then continued down the table.
"Se-sensei?" Neville asked. "What does that mean?"
"It's Japanese for teacher," Hermione said as she looked at her schedule. She had all of her books for class already in her bag. A shadow descended on the table as first Kodachi then her brother Tatewaki walked over.
"Harry-sama, could you please have Shiroyuki deliver this letter to Uncle Remus and Aunt Kasumi?" Kodachi asked, holding her letter out to him.
"Mine as well," Kuno said.
"Sure," Harry said with a grin as he took the letters and placed them with the ones he already had on the table, he had written them when he and Hermione had first came to breakfast. "What classes do you have first?"
"Charms with Ravenclaw," Kodachi said.
"Transfiguration," the elder Kuno sibling said. "The elder students plan on leading us to the classroom."
"Great, let me know when you leave, they can show us too," Harry said, glad to have some guidance. The Kuno siblings agreed then headed back to their house tables. "Do you have a letter for your parents Hermione-chan?" Harry asked as he placed all the letters he had in a special pouch to attach to Shiroyuki's leg.
"Not yet, but I can use a school owl when I do," Hermione assured him. Harry turned to Ron and Neville, both of them shaking their heads as well.
"Ok Shiroyuki, I have letters for Mom and Dad, Spice, Uncle Remus and Luna-chan," Harry told his owl. Shiroyuki preened and bobbed her head, stealing another piece of bacon then took off to deliver the letters for her master.
A few minutes later breakfast ended, Harry with Neville's help dragging Ron away from the table and meeting Tatewaki at the doors with a taller, older brown hair boy and another boy their age with curly blond hair.
"This is Cedric Diggory," Tatewaki introduced, waving a hand at the older boy who grinned. "He says he shalt guide us to the Transfiguration classroom."
"It'll be my pleasure, always happy to help," Cedric said.
"I'm Justin," Tatewaki's new friend said with a wave.
As Cedric lead the first year Hufflepuffs and the four Gryffindors to Minerva's classroom, Harry could hear the other student's whisper.
"Is that him?"
"The kid with the bandanna."
"Do you think he remembers what happened?"
Harry huffed softly, he thought he was going to quickly find this fame thing annoying really quick. Still, maybe there was some sort of upside to it all. He knew thanks to Nabiki his vaults were much fuller thanks to the people that had to pay royalties for using his name.
On the way to class, Cedric happily pointed out a few short cuts for the younger years to use if they were in a hurry to get somewhere. He didn't tell them everything, half the fun was discovering Hogwarts's secrets on your own after all.
"Here we are," the teen said once they reached the Transfiguration classroom. "Someone will be here to pick you lot up after class."
The student's filed into the room, quickly finding places to sit. For the most part, Hufflepuff sat on one side of the room and Gryffindor on the other as they trickled in a few minutes later. Harry chose a seat near the middle of the room, Hermione sitting at the desk right in front with Neville quickly sitting beside her. Ron sat on one side of Harry while Tatewaki sat on his other with Justin taking the other seat on the other side of Kuno. Harry looked around the room, there were diagrams of different transfigurations on the wall and in the front of the room sat the teachers desk where a familiar tabby cat sat, watching the students.
Harry grinned slightly, he knew his pseudo grandmother’s Animagus form very well and Minerva gave him a sly wink when he caught her eye. Soon the bell rang, signaling the start of class. The rest of the students looked around, wondering where their professor was and whispered to each other. Many of the students jumped as the door slammed open, Lavender Brown giving a little scream, allowing Seamus and Dean to run into the room.
"Whew... she's not even here," Seamus said as he looked around. "Guess she won't know we're late then."
Many mouths dropped open as the tabby cat on the desk jumped off its surface and right before their eyes morphed midair into their missing teacher.
"Perhaps I should transfigure Mr. Thomas into a pocket watch," Minerva said as she stood in front of the gaping Seamus and Dean. "So at least one of you will be on time."
"That was so wicked," Dean said as he recovered.
"Indeed," Minerva said. "Sit down Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnigan." Both boys quickly scrambled into seats in the back. Minerva walked to the front of the class, giving a short introduction to her craft and the class goals. At the end, she changed her desk into a large pink pig.
"Of course, it will be a few years before you reach this level of transfiguration," Minerva said as she changed her desk back to normal. "For now, we have to start out small and work our way up." From there, she launched into the theory behind that day's lesson, many quills scratching across the paper as the stern professor filled their heads with knowledge.
Harry took out a glasses case from his bag and opening it, took out a pair of black wire rimmed oval glasses which he slipped on before taking notes. He glanced every now and then at his book for the class as he took notes. Minerva moved around the room as she lectured, she paused for a moment when she saw the glasses on Harry's face. She was struck by how he looked more like his father James Potter now that he wore a pair of glasses and a pang of hurt echoed in her heart as she thought of one of her favorite students. She hadn't even known that Harry wore glasses, every picture of him Ryoga had sent her he wore none.
Shaking her head, Minerva quickly continued her lecture on the theory of Transfiguration. As it drew to a close, she started to hand out matchsticks to each of her students.
"Today you will try your hand at one of the easiest known transfigurations," Minerva said as the last matchstick was handed out. "Does anyone know why this is?" A few hands, including Hermione and Harry's, lifted into the air. Minerva nodded to Hermione who beamed happily as she answered.
"Because they are similar in shape and size Professor McGonagall," Hermione said.
"That is correct, five points to Gryffindor," Minerva said with a nod. She demonstrated how the spell worked, having the class repeat the spell and wand movement several times until she felt like they had it down. "Do not worry if you do not get the spell right away, with time and practice you will be able to perform the spell."
Hermione studied her matchstick for a moment, going over the spell and wand movements in her mind over and over until she felt like she had it down. Taking a deep breath, the girl turned to her matchstick and cast the spell, fighting down an excited squeal as the matchstick changed into a sewing needle. Minerva, who was walking around checking on her student's progress and offering advice to those who asked for it, smiled slightly as she picked up the needle.
"Very good Miss Granger, still wooden though it is a silver color but a very good first try," Minerva praised. "Five points to Gryffindor." A bright smile graced Hermione's face under the praise from her head of house. She then turned back to the needle once it was placed back down to see if she could figure out where she went wrong when she attempted the spell, the matchstick should have changed into metal instead of staying wooden. Neville gulped and shyly asked Hermione for help, he hadn't been able to even get the end of the matchstick to become pointy!
Behind them Harry slid his glasses off as he looked at his own matchstick. Trying a trick he read in his father James's journal Harry used his phoenix and holly wand to transfigure the matchstick.
"Hmmm... not quite right," Harry said as he looked down at the needle that was in place of his matchstick. "There isn't an eye on the end."
"How are you two doing that?" Ron asked in slight frustration. He had tried again and again to change his matchstick but it didn't change at all. "What am I doing wrong?"
"What's your trick Harry?" Justin asked as Harry tried again to change his needle completely.
"I just had an image of a needle in my head," Harry said with a shrug.
"Huh?" Ron said in confusion. He flinched slightly as behind him Seamus caught his matchstick on fire.
"The words and the wand movement is just one part of the spell," Harry said. "My Otousan was really good at transfiguration and Uncle Moony gave me his journals from school. In his book, Otousan wrote that you’ve got to have a clear idea in your head when you cast the spell so your magic knows how to shape the spell."
"That's right," Hermione said. "I imagined my mother’s sewing needles when I cast the spell."
"So you got to think of a needle when you cast the spell," Justin said.
"Yeah, otherwise how will the spell know what you're trying to change the matchstick into?" Harry said. Ron chewed over the words in his mind that was a little bit clearer to him than what McGonagall had said. Turning to the matchstick on the desk in front of him, Ron imagined the sewing needles his mother used when she mended his and his siblings clothing. With that image in his mind, Ron cast the spell again and watched in surprise as the needle started to change shape. He panicked slightly when the changes started to stop and quickly channeled more magic through his wand into the matchstick.
"Very good Mr. Weasley," Minerva said as she stopped at his and Harry's desk, looking over his newly changed needle, it wasn't perfect; the end was still a match head in the shape of the eye of a needle and the tip on the other end was very blunt but it was still a very good first attempt. "Five points, keep up the good work."
The students around them, hearing Harry and Hermione's explanation and seeing Ron able to change his matchstick, took the advice to heart themselves. Minerva was very proud to see several Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors change their matchsticks into needles. She even awarded Hanna Abbot 10 points for a perfect needle by the end of the class. She was proud as this was the first class in a long time where so many of her students had nearly gotten the matchstick to needle transfiguration right. Not everyone got it of course, Neville's matchstick didn't change at all while Tatewaki's at most changed to a silvery color.
As the bell rang, Minerva assigned homework to be turned in by next class and as the students left, she quietly added, "five points each to Miss Granger and Mr. Hibiki for helping their fellow students."
***
Ukyo sighed and looked out over her restaurant. It had only been a day since they sent Harry off to his boarding school to learn magic and already her family could feel the effects of their oldest being away. Ryoga was depressed in a way he hadn't been in years and her two youngest children were constantly looking around for their beloved big brother. Yoshi and Keiko were too young to understand why Harry was gone. Even Konatsu was missing Harry, Ukyo could tell the way her friend and near brother/sister looked at Harry's room with a sadden look.
"Don't be like that Sugar," Ukyo said as she touched Ryoga's shoulder. He looked up at his wife, his eyes dark with the depression he was feeling.
"I haven't been away from Harry since I rescued him, not like this and not for so long," Ryoga said.
"I know it's hard Ryoga, but you know Harry was excited to learn magic, more than Remus-san could teach him anyway," Ukyo said as she sat down at the table beside him. "And you knew one day he was going to leave."
"It doesn't make it any better," Ryoga pointed out.
"No, it's doesn't," Ukyo agreed. "I miss him too you know. But look at this way, with the way you wander around, I bet you'll end up at his school and see our son a lot."
Ryoga blinked, he hadn't thought of that, he only focused his thoughts on the fact that Harry, a little bright boy that he helped raise into a sweet, fine boy was gone.
"Oh... I guess you’re right," Ryoga said as he brightened slightly.
"I'm jealous in fact," Ukyo said with a small sigh but she had a slight smile to her lips. "You'll get to see Harry a lot more than me, I'll have to wait until the holidays before seeing him."
"Sorry," Ryoga blushed slightly. Ukyo laughed and lightly slapped her husband on the arm playfully. Both looked up as with a small screech Shiroyuki glided into the room through an open window from upstairs. Ukyo looked on lovingly as Ryoga's face lit up as Harry's owl landed on the table and held out her leg. Attached to her leg was a pouch and when Ryoga looked in the pouch there were two letters left inside. He recognized both Harry and Minerva's handwriting.
"Oo, Harry got into that Gryffindor house," Ukyo said as she took and read Harry's letter. "He says he misses us but he already made some new friends. Sounds like he's having fun so far. Of course it's only been a day."
"McGonagall-sensei says we need to come to the school," Ryoga said with a frown as he read the second letter.
"Why?" Ukyo asked.
"Why else? Dumbledore, now that he knows Harry has been with us the whole time, he wants to talk to us," Ryoga said darkly as he handed the note to Ukyo.
"You think he'll try to talk us into giving up Harry?" Ukyo asked, she had heard some of the stories about this Albus Dumbledore. The way Remus talked about him, the man wasn't bad but he was very manipulative, tending to treat people a bit like chess pieces, and liked to think he had all the answers. Ryoga didn't trust Dumbledore in what was best for Harry since he had wanted to place their son with Harry's birth mother's sister.
"I don't know, maybe... maybe not. He may just want to make sure Harry is well taken care of and loved by us," Ryoga said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "McGonagall-sensei doesn't believe that, she told me once a couple of years ago that Dumbledore still believes Harry would be safest with his aunt."
"Well we're not going to let our son live anywhere else but with us," Ukyo said, hitting her fist into her other hand.
"Of course not, we'll just have to make it clear Harry is ours," Ryoga agreed. "And we have the law on our side in both worlds, Harry's adoption is completely legal all the way around. He can't take Harry even if he wants to."
"Damn straight," Ukyo said as she stood. "We should get to the school as quick as possible. Yoshi and Keiko will be very happy to see their Nii-chan."
***
Hagrid cleared his voice nervously as he stood in front of the Cat Cafe, straightening his moleskin coat.
"Nihao Hagrid," A young Chinese Amazon woman said with a giggle. "Here to see Cinnamon again?"
"Yea... I mean yes, I'm her' to see Cinnamon," Hagrid said, his face flushed and stumbling slightly over his words. The young woman giggled again and opened the cafe's door, leaning in.
"Cinnamon! Your boyfriend is here!" She called, Hagrid's face getting even redder.
"Gel, stop that!" Cinnamon hissed as she quickly moved to the door. "Hagrid! I have not seen you for days, I thought you forgot little old me."
"No, nothin' like that," Hagrid quickly assured her, waving his hands. Cinnamon laughed softly, the other half giant was so cute when he was flustered. "School year was startin', had to take care of my ground keeping duties."
"Oh I'm just kidding, I know your job is important," Cinnamon said with a laugh, holding her fingers in front of her mouth. Hagrid blushed again but smiled as hearing Cinnamon's laugh, he thought it was quite pretty.
"Oh... well I've got some time free now, I was wonderin' if you like to go to Three Broomsticks with me maybe?" Hagrid fiddled with the sleeve of his coat, he had never asked anyone out before. Sure he had seen plenty of pretty women over the years but Cinnamon was something else, and not just because she was a half giant like himself.
Cinnamon's face lit up, a smile stretching over her pink lips.
"Of course, I'm due for a night off," she said. "It sounds like fun. Let me tell the elder I'll be gone for the night." She ducked back into the Cat Cafe, giving an amused glance at her tribe sisters as they giggled over her and Hagrid. ^Oh be quiet you two, there's no need to giggle like a pair of young warriors.^
^But Cinnamon, it's so cute how he gushes over you,^ One of the two girls responded in Mandarin.
^And he's just your size too!^ The other girl said. Cinnamon rolled her eyes, though she couldn't disagree that Hagrid being tall as her was very attractive.
A few minutes later Cinnamon exited the restaurant, giving Hagrid another smile.
"Shall we then?" She asked. A beaming smile crossed Hagrid's face and offered an arm for Cinnamon to take. She giggled softly but wrapped her arms around Hagrid's. They ignored the whispers all around them as they headed toward the middle of Hogsmeade where the Three Broomsticks was located.
Madam Rosmerta, the current owner of the Three Broomsticks Inn, looked up as her door opened, a welcoming smile already on her face. Rosmerta was a woman in her late 40's, and many in the town would happily say she looked good for her age. Of course, as long as Wizards and Witches lived compared to Muggles, 40 to 50 was barely anything. Rosmerta was known to be very curvy with a pretty face and loved to wear glittery open-toed high-heels. She was friendly to just about everyone who came into her pub and loved Hogsmeade weekends to see the eager faces of the students. She knew a great deal of the male population of Hogwarts fancied her at one point or another, and there was nothing wrong with a little playful flirting, it was all in good fun after all.
Her grandfather had been the last owner of the inn and pub, giving it to Rosmerta when he was too old to run it. He in turn had supposedly won it in a poker game, at least according to him.
"Welcome to Three Broomsticks," Rosmerta called out as she walked over, a tray of drinks balanced on her hand. "Hagrid! How nice to see you! Who's your lady friend?" Rosmerta looked up at Hagrid and Cinnamon, she had heard the rumors that there was a woman as large as Hagrid in Hogsmeade in that new restaurant at the edge of town but this was the first time she had ever saw her. The other woman was very pretty, if a bit muscular looking. Not overly so but Rosmerta could tell she was strong. 3)
"'Ello Madame Rosmerta," Hagrid said in his usual booming voice. "Jus' showing Cinnamon around, she’s new to the area."
"You work at the new place on the edge of town correct?" Rosmerta asked. "I hope you're not here to steal any more of my customers." She winked at Cinnamon good naturedly to show there were no hard feelings.
"Don't worry," Cinnamon said in English that was only a little accented. "You're just as pretty to keep the men coming."
"Good to hear! Well, find yourself a place to sit down and I'll be with you in a minute," Rosmerta said as she swept away into the crowds.
"Errr... 'm not sure what sort o' drink you like Cinnamon," Hagrid said as they found a table to sit at. The chairs were a little small for them but both half giants made due.
"Don't worry Hagrid, I can handle anything," Cinnamon said, leaning forward slightly and giving a flutter of eyelashes and a full pouty smile. Hagrid blushed but grinned back and when Rosmerta came over, ordered a bottle of Firewiskey for the both of them.
***
Author notes: (1) Spoiler, the phoenix is a girl in this world.
(2) There is an episode in the anime, not sure of the episode name, that mentions that Takewaki and Kodachi have an unnamed uncle. Doesn't say if the man is related to their father or mother but he sends some different ninjas to Takewaki to see if he wanted to hire them. So through his uncle Takewaki knows and has connections to ninja clans.
(3) Just think of the Amazonians from the Futurama series.
Edit 8-25-14: Only a couple of things needed to be fixed up here.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter © J. K. Rowling and Ranma 1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
Author note: Thanks once again to my beta Blissfull Wulf.
Chapter 10
Minerva nearly ran into Severus as she left the hallway her office was on while heading toward the Headmaster's. The younger teacher didn't say anything but she could see questions burning in his black eyes. Minerva said nothing herself as they walked her mind on the confrontation that was coming with Albus. She had contacted the head Curse Breaker at Gringotts, Dkrax, and had been released from the oath she took over ten years ago so she was free to speak to Dumbledore now that the cat was out of the bag of where Harry had been all these years.
Beside her, Severus was lost in his own thoughts. He still wasn't sure what to make of the Hibiki-Potter boy. He looked like James Potter and while he would love to assume that the boy was just like his father he had to remember that he was Lily's son as well and that he had been raised in a whole different country away from the British wizarding world. He had watched Harry almost all throughout dinner, had looked the boy straight in the eyes in fact. The boy had only given him a mildly curious look then turned his gaze away. He hadn't missed the flinch of pain that flash in Harry's green eyes or the boy reaching up to rub at his forehead. He had also noticed that useless stuttering fool Quirrell had flinched slightly at the same time. He wasn't sure what that meant and resolved to think on it later.
Severus was glad he had picked up the skill of reading lips during his days of spying for the Order during the war, watching Harry as the boy put off the pain as tiredness then asked the oldest Weasley boy who he had been. He had been referred to as the 'black hair man' not the 'greasy hair' at the time. Severus wasn't sure why that struck him, he was well aware what the other students in the school thought of him, they should try working around potions all day and not end up with greasy looking hair from the fumes.
Then there was the Kuno girl sorted into his house who seemed to have an utter devotion toward the Boy-Who-Lived. It didn't seem to be in a 'fangirl' sort of way but time would only tell if the new Gryffindor Prince would even bother with the girl now that she was a 'slimy snake'.
'We'll see if he's more like his mother or like his father,' Severus thought to himself. Still, it had been funny to see her put Lucius’s brat in his place so quickly and without magic. Curious way of doing it though, a gymnastic ribbon? He had seen that she had made an impression with some of his snakes by putting the blond boy in his place as she had.
"Chocolate Frogs," Severus was knocked out of his thoughts by Minerva's voice calling out the password to the headmaster's office. He hadn't even really noticed that they had arrived. The ride up the stairs was just as quiet as the walk through the hallways and as Minerva reached up to knock on the door they both heard Albus call out from the office.
"Minerva, Severus, come in," Minerva huffed softly and Severus had to admit it was a little annoying when he did that. The door opened, letting both of the teachers into the office. Albus sat behind his desk, his fingers steeple in front of him as he watched Minerva while Severus stepped back into the shadows. "Minerva... do you have anything you wish to say?"
"And what do you think I should say Dumbledore?" Minerva asked, steadily meeting his gaze. She refused to be ashamed about what she had done; Ryoga Hibiki had been a much better choice of guardian than Petunia Dursley would ever be. Albus gave her a grandfatherly disappointed look that she refused to be moved by.
"Why did you not inform me, or anyone in the Order, that you had found young Harry?" He asked.
"I couldn't even if I had wanted to," Minerva said, "I was placed under an oath not to tell anyone before I was even brought to see Mr. Hibiki."
"Regardless, we could have rescued Mr. Potter," Albus said, either ignoring that it wasn't Harry's last name anymore or refusing to acknowledge it, "And placed him with his rightful guardians."
"What makes you think Mr. Hibiki needed to be rescued?" Minerva asked with a raised eyebrow, stressing the name Hibiki. "Ryoga Hibiki, the young man that adopted James's son, has kept him protected all these years and brought young Mr. Hibiki up to be a polite, talented young man. Both he and his wife have treated the boy as their own all this time. If I had thought either of them would put Mr. Hibiki is any danger, I would have risked my magic to save him but I saw nothing of the sort."
"Lily Potter's sacrifice would have, and may still yet, provide the protection that young Mr. Potter is in need of," Albus said firmly. "Come the holidays we shall inform the Hibiki's that Mr. Potter will be placed with his rightful guardians." Minerva snorted and fixed a glare on Albus.
"Those were the worst sort of muggles, I told you that then and I am telling you that now," Minerva said, leaning forward and bracing herself on the edge of the headmaster's desk. "A drunk, deranged monkey would be a better caretaker than Lily Potter's sister."
"Petunia?" Severus choked out, speaking up for the first time. Both the older witch and wizard turned to him; they had forgotten he was there. "You were going to place the boy with Petunia!?"
"Yes, Mrs. Dursley is Mr. Potter's last blood relation, he needs to live with her to make sure the blood war-" Albus started.
"Headmaster, do you have any idea how much Petunia hated Lily?" Severus asked, stepping up to the desk. "And you wanted to place Lily's son /there/?"
"Now Severus, surely that is a bit of an exaggeration," Albus said calmly. "Perhaps she wouldn't have treated the boy like her son," he ignored Minerva's eye roll and muttered 'Merlin forbid'. "But I'm sure she would have put the past behind her over a little disagreement and taken care of her sister's son."
"Dumbledore, I grew up near Petunia and Lily," Severus said. "Petunia would call both Lily and I freaks every chance she got. Never in front of Lily's parents but any other time... Petunia was and likely still is a petty woman, she would have taken out everything she hated about her sister on her son."
"Like you?" Minerva asked, she had heard enough of Severus's comments over the years on how Harry would 'be spoiled and big headed like his father' whenever the Boy-Who-Lived was brought up. Severus jerked back in response. "Isn't that what you are doing? Taking out all your hate for a dead man on a boy who knows very little about his father and was raised by a man who's nothing like James Potter? Seems like you two are peas-in-a-pod then, hating a boy for who his parents were."
Severus gave Minerva a mild glare but had to admit the remark hit home, he did hate James Potter's son because he hated the father. It did not sit well at him at all to be compared to Petunia Evans of all people.
"And you, did you miss the part where I said Harry Hibiki-Potter is /adopted/?" Minerva said, turning her full attention back to Albus. "Petunia Dursley has no legal right to the boy nor am I going to let you place him with such hateful muggles!"
"It's for the Greater Good Minerva," Albus said with a sigh. "Send a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Hibiki if you would, I would like to speak to them myself."
"You are not getting your way on this Albus, I'm going to warn you now," Minerva said, pointing her finger at him then turning on her heel to leave the office. Severus stayed only a moment more then left as well; Albus didn't stop him, his mind already thinking ahead to when he spoke to Harry's adopted parents. His phoenix Fawkes watched Albus closely and made the softest of trilling noises as her wizard sat deep in thought. (1)
***
At the same time in Gryffindor Tower....
Harry wanted to scream and ask Diego what he was doing there but had to restrain himself so he didn't give away that he was a Parselmouth. Instead he stood up, ignoring the panicked yells of most of his housemates, and picked up his pet snake out of his trunk, letting Diego drape himself over Harry's arms and shoulders.
"What are you doing!?" Ron yelled. "That's a /snake/!"
"Really? I thought he was a giant worm," Harry said in a dry voice.
"Blimey he's huge," Dean said as he came up beside Harry. "You've had to have had him for years."
"No, just a couple of months," Harry said. "He's an escapee from the zoo."
"This is the boa from the London Zoo?" Dean asked surprised. "It was on the telly! You stole a snake." The black boy laughed and shook his head. Ron, Seamus and Neville looked at them like they were crazy.
"I didn't steal him," Harry said. "We just happen to leave the zoo at the same time."
"Are you two crazy?" Ron asked. "I can't believe you're standing there holding a slimy snake!" Harry scowled, he understood Ron and the other's reactions but that didn't mean that it didn't get on his nerves.
"For Kami-sama's sake," He muttered. He walked over to Ron and grabbed the other boy's hand in a firm grip.
"What are you-?" Ron yelped as he was grabbed and Harry put his hand on Diego’s back. He blinked in shock as he felt the cool smooth scales under his hand. "He's not slimy."
"No snake is slimy Ron," Harry pointed out. Diego turned his head, letting his tongue flit out over Ron's skin.
"Wh-what is it doing?" Ron asked, Harry still had a strong grip on his arm so he couldn't jerk his arm away. "Oh Merlin, it's tasting me isn't it?"
"No, he's not tasting you," Harry said. "He's just smelling you."
"Huh?" Ron looked bewildered.
"How are you so calm about this?" Seamus asked both of them.
"It's just a snake," Dean said confused. "My step dad and some of my cousins have pet snakes. Dad's is a King Snake."
"Wh-what did you mean by he's sm-smelling him?" Neville couldn't help but ask.
"Snakes use their tongue to scent the air, that's all. They can't smell through their noses," Harry explained. "It's ok, you guys can touch him too."
"I don't want to get poisoned," Seamus said, backing up.
"He's not a venomous snake," Harry said. "He's a constrictor, if he was to bite you, you wouldn't be poisoned." He let go of Ron's wrist who snatched his hand back.
"What is he even doing here?" Ron asked. He was weirded out, he had always been told by his parents that snakes were evil, slimy creatures that would kill him in an instant but not only did Harry have one as a pet, his other dorm mate Dean said his family owned one as well as if it wasn't a big deal.
"He must have snuck into my trunk," Harry said with a sigh. "I'll tell Professor McGonagall in the morning, let’s just get some sleep for now."
"Wait, we're going to sleep in here with that?!" Ron said. Harry gave him a scowl.
"He's not evil Ron, Diego is just an animal like any other pet here," He said. "I know here in the British wizarding world people have these types of views on snakes but in the rest of the world a snake is just a snake. He's not magical, he's not going to kill you in the night and he ate a couple of days ago so he's not going to eat anyone's pets."
"Yeah lighten up mate, snakes are pretty cool," Dean said as he unpacked his trunk, putting up a poster of his favorite soccer/football team up on the wall. Seamus shook his head slightly.
"I think you're both balmy," the sandy hair boy said as he got ready to sleep. Ron scratched the back of his head, he wasn't sure what to think really. In the last few minutes, Harry's snake had done nothing like what his mother had told him. Other than licking him, or smelling him according to Harry, the snake hadn't done anything.
"Are snakes really like that in the muggle world?" He asked finally.
"What, as pets?" Harry asked then shrugged his shoulders. "Not as common as dogs or cats but there are a lot of people who keep them as pets. Some even keep venomous snakes as pets, those have to be handled in a certain way, but none of them are evil." He placed Diego on his bed so he could get ready to sleep, the snake coiling up calmly. Ron just nodded, this was another world shattering view that went against what his mother had taught him. For now he would keep his distance from the snake and keep an eye on it to see if it was as evil as he had been taught.
"At least it isn't a spider..." Ron muttered to himself.
As soon as Harry climbed into his four poster bed and drew the curtains around them, he cast a sound proof spell that wouldn't let sound escape, a handy spell Remus had taught him.
~Diego, what are you doing here!~ Harry hissed in Parseltongue.
~What? I jusssst wanted to sssee the ssschool,~ Diego defended himself. ~I didn't want to be left behind.~
~I could get in trouble for you being here,~ Harry pointed out.
~The feather dussster got to come,~ the snake sulked.
~Sssshiroyuki is my familiar and sssshe'sss an owl, which issss one of the accepted petssss,~ Harry said with a sigh. ~Diego, I know you were upsssset that you couldn't come but I didn't leave you behind to be mean.~
~I know, but I ssssstill wanted to come,~ Diego said then added brightly, ~and now I'm here ssso the other humanssss can't do anything.~
~Yesss they can Diego,~ Harry said. ~Sssnakesss aren't looked at very highly here, a lot of people here think you are a dark evil creature.~
~I am not evil!~ Diego hissed offended.
~I know you're not, but that issss how sssome people view you. The othersss you sssaw, mossst of them come from familiesss that think like that.~ Harry said.
~That one that wasssss touching me ssstunk of fear,~ Diego mused.
~I know, he'sss one of the onesss raisssed to fear you,~ Harry said with another sigh. ~I'll have to tell Mimi that you sssnuck in, I can get in trouble if I don't.~
~Fine,~ Diego muttered in disappointment.
~In the meantime, remember not to eat the other'ssss petsss,~ Harry said. ~There issss a rat and a toad in here with ussss.~
~I know, I know,~ Diego said as he coiled up at the end of the bed. ~No eating other petssss.~ Harry sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and laid down to sleep.
**
The next morning Harry woke with a yawn, stretching his arms out over his head. He looked down at the end of his bed, Diego was still coiled up but now the snake's head was hanging upside down and he could hear his pet hiss nonsense words in his sleep.
'Not a single person would believe me if I told them Diego talks in his sleep,' He thought with a snicker. He climbed off the bed, looking around and noting that everyone else was still asleep, curtains drawn around their beds. While he wanted to go ahead and tell Minerva that Diego was here to get it out of the way, he had no idea where his Mimi's office or quarters were.
Quickly changing into a gi, Harry slipped from the room and out of the tower to find someplace to do his morning exercises. He luckily found a decent sized abandoned classroom nearby that would do for that morning, Harry planed on exploring to find something bigger later on, and went through his katas. His mind wandered as he did his exercises, Hogwarts was something else completely but he couldn't help but feel a bit homesick. He had never been away from his Dad like this, Ryoga was always nearby when Harry needed him. Ukyo had also been a steady presence in his life, his mother loving and raising him like he was sure his birth mother Lily would.
'Well... maybe not quite the same way,' Harry thought with a grin and a shake of his head. He was sure Ukyo and Lily were as different as day and night. After an hour he had to stop, the room was too small to do any of his more outlandish exercises, and headed back to the dorm.
After a quick shower and dressed in school robes, Harry headed down to the common room as the rest of his dorm mates woke up.
"Good morning Harry," Hermione said with a smile from one of the armchairs. She had a large book in her lap that she was reading from.
"Ohayou Gozaimasu," Harry greeted. "I see you're all ready for classes this morning," He teased playfully. Hermione smiled brightly as she closed the book she was reading.
"Oh yes, this is all very exciting. I've read all the books for classes already, I do hope I'm prepared," She said as she slipped the book into her school bag and stood up.
"I think you are," Harry assured her. "Ready to head down to breakfast?"
"Shouldn't we wait for the rest of your dorm mates?" Hermione asked.
"They were just getting up when I left, I think it'll be a while," Harry said. Hermione nodded and left the tower with Harry. At the moving stairs Harry was very tempted to start sliding and jumping down them, but figured it was better to wait. "You're not going to believe what happen last night, I found Diego in my trunk."
"Diego?" Hermione frowned for a second then scowled at Harry. "You didn't bring that snake to school did you?"
"Yes, he's here but I didn't bring him on purpose," Harry said. "He stowed away in my trunk. He caused quite a stir with the other guys. Dean was ok with him, his family has a pet snake, but the others freaked out."
"I don't understand how a bunch of boys freaked out over a snake," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "Boys are supposed to like snakes."
"Because, a lot of 'Light' families think snakes are evil and dark creatures," Harry said then added softly so the paintings on the wall wouldn't hear him. "If they knew I was a Parselmouth, they would really lose it."
"It just seems silly," Hermione said with another shake of her head. "Harry, you need to tell Professor McGonagall about the snake. You could get in trouble."
"I know, I plan on approaching her and telling her about Diego once I find out where her office is," Harry said with a wave of his hand. "I don't know what she'll be able to do about it, I don't think Shiroyuki could carry him all the way back to Japan."
"Good, tell her as soon as possible," Hermione said with a sharp nod then entered the Great Hall with Harry.
***
Kodachi sat beside the fireplace in the Slytherin common room, penning out a letter to Remus and Kasumi. She didn't even glance up as someone sat in the chair across from her.
"You caused a bit of a stir last night," a girl's voice said. Kodachi glanced up briefly, it was Daphne Greengrass who was looking straight at Kodachi. With her was Tracy Davis who was sitting on the arm of Greengrass's chair. Kodachi shrugged her slim shoulders and turned back to her letter. "We heard the older students talking about it."
"He had it coming, I am the only one allowed to bad mouth my older brother," She said as she finished writing and folded the letter up neatly. "I don't take well to others ordering me around."
"Well he is a stuck up pounce," Daphne agreed as Tracy snickered.
"He's just a daddy's boy," Tracy said. Daphne hummed in agreement, her lips quirking slightly in a smile. She found Kodachi entertaining and much better company so far than that pugged face Pansy.
"I'm Daphne Greengrass," She introduced herself. "This is Tracy Davis."
"Hi!" Tracy grinned and waved.
"Kodachi Kuno," Kodachi said. The rest of the students started to trickle into the common room. Malfoy, with his two goons right behind him, walked up to the girls like he owned the place.
"That is my seat," Draco said in a snooty tone, glaring down at Kodachi.
"Gee, I don't see your name on it," Tracy quipped. Malfoy sent the girl a glare then looked down at Kodachi again.
"That's just too bad," Kodachi said. "By the amount of gel in your hair, you obviously spend more time getting ready than any girl does. If you didn't spend so much time in front of the mirror, you would have had time to find a decent seat."
"Don't you speak to me that way you little-" Malfoy started his face red in anger.
"Sit your ass down Malfoy," the Prefect Marcus Flint said as he walked into the group. Draco tried to glare up at Flint but was quickly cowed as the older Slytherin boy had a much more effective glare than the blond did. Pouting, Draco found another seat to sit in, Crabbe and Goyle standing behind the chair he sat in. "Alright little snakes, here are your schedules for the year. You have five minutes to go back to your dorms to get your books for the day then we're taking you to the Great Hall for breakfast. If you take longer than that you're on your own."
Kodachi took the schedules handed to her by one of the other Prefects, quickly noting which classes were that day, then stood to get her books. Inside the first year dorm room, Kodachi opened her trunk to check on Mr. Green Turtle then grabbed her books. The rest of her fellow year mates followed her in a few minutes later. Pansy gave Kodachi a cold look then turned away, sticking her pug nose into the air. Tracy snickered while Daphne looked amused by Pansy's actions. The other two girls, Bulstrode and a girl with glasses just watched. A dark smirk crossed Kodachi's lips but otherwise did nothing as she left with her things.
"Upstart foreigner," Pansy muttered.
**
"Hey! Wake up," Tatewaki groaned as someone shook his shoulder, trying to block out the voice and stay under the comfy covers on his bed. "WAKE UP!"
"WHAT!?" Tatewaki sat up annoyed, squinting at whoever dared to wake him up.
"It's morning, time to get up," the boy was for a few seconds unfamiliar until Tatewaki remembered who it was. Tatewaki's new friend Justin just grinned at the other boy, not at all offended that he had been yelled at. "Rough night?"
"Yes, I'm not use to sleeping away from home," Tatewaki said with a yawn. It had taken awhile for him to fall asleep the night before and it was the first time in a long time that he wished he had the shadow puppet show that Sasuke used to put him to sleep with. Remus and Kasumi put a stop to that when he and Kodachi started to live with them.
"Hey, so you can speak like a normal person," Justin said with a grin. "You sound better like that."
"What do you mean?" Tatewaki asked, too tried to keep up his usual speech pattern right now, as he peeled back his covers to get up.
"Well no offence mate, but you sound like a bad Shakespearian actor," Justin said with a shrug. "But that's just me. Hurry up and get ready, I'm starving." Tatewaki watched his new friend leave, no one had really told him how weird his habit was. Well Kodachi did but that was his sister, so it was different. Shaking his head, Tatewaki gathered up his school uniform and robes and headed into the shower.
Half an hour later, Tatewaki was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, absently eating a piece of toast as he wrote out a letter to his guardians, he knew his Uncle Remus was eager to know where he had been placed.
"Those are sorta funny looking," Hanna Abbot said as she watched Tatewaki write.
"It is kanji, my native writing system," Tatewaki said absently. Of course it wasn't just kanji, it was also hiragana and katakana, but he didn't see a need to explain. "I am informing my guardians of my placement."
"I'm going to write my auntie later," Susan said. "She'll be so happy I was sorted into Hufflepuff, she was a Hufflepuff when she came to Hogwarts."
"There wasn't any doubt I would be placed here," Zacharias said with a smirk. The rest of the first years groaned and rolled their eyes, they were already sick of hearing about how he was Helga Hufflepuff's descendant.
"Must thoust mention that every time you open your mouth Smith?" Tatewaki said as he finished his letter. "You doust not hear I speak of how my own family is descended from samurais. Or my connection to some of the more powerful ninja clans in Japan." (2)
"No one asked you Kuno," Zacharias said in a snooty tone, his nose turned up.
"We get it, you're related to our house's founder," Susan said in agreement with Tatewaki. Zacharias frowned and looked around the table, no one seemed to be impressed and he huffed, turning his head away.
Over at the Gryffindor table, Harry was chatting away with a couple of second years trying to get a feel out of what the classes and their teachers were like. Hermione sat beside him, her nose in a book as she re-read the first couple of chapters of her charms book to refresh herself while listening with half an ear to what was being said.
"Blimey," Ron said with a yawn as he and Neville finally joined them. "I can't believe you're both up already."
"I've been up for a couple of hours," Harry said, turning to his new friend. "I had to do my morning exercises." Ron shook his head, he couldn't imagine doing anything but maybe eat right after waking up. Up above, the sound of flapping wings signaled the morning post as hundreds of birds, mostly owls but as Harry looked up he noticed at least a couple of birds that were either crows or ravens and one that looked like a hawk, swooped in through windows high above the magical ceiling that showed the sunny morning outside.
Harry smiled as he spied a flash of white and Shiroyuki swooped down to land on his shoulder with a greeting bark.
"Good morning Shiroyuki," Harry said as he scratched her chest feathers then offered her a piece of bacon. Around the table Minerva started to hand out her cubs schedules, pausing as she got to Harry.
"Mr. Hibiki, please pass this note along to your parents," she said as she handed the letter she had written to request Ryoga and Ukyo to come to the castle to speak with the Headmaster.
"Hai Mi- McGonagall-sensei," Harry stopped himself from calling her 'Mimi' as he usually did, blushing under her stern look. "Oh sensei, where is your office at, I have something I've got to tell you about."
"Is it something that needs to be taken care of now?" Minerva asked, her eyes softening. Harry thought about it then shook his head.
"No, I think it can wait until after classes," he said.
"My office is across from my classroom," Minerva said with a nod of her head then continued down the table.
"Se-sensei?" Neville asked. "What does that mean?"
"It's Japanese for teacher," Hermione said as she looked at her schedule. She had all of her books for class already in her bag. A shadow descended on the table as first Kodachi then her brother Tatewaki walked over.
"Harry-sama, could you please have Shiroyuki deliver this letter to Uncle Remus and Aunt Kasumi?" Kodachi asked, holding her letter out to him.
"Mine as well," Kuno said.
"Sure," Harry said with a grin as he took the letters and placed them with the ones he already had on the table, he had written them when he and Hermione had first came to breakfast. "What classes do you have first?"
"Charms with Ravenclaw," Kodachi said.
"Transfiguration," the elder Kuno sibling said. "The elder students plan on leading us to the classroom."
"Great, let me know when you leave, they can show us too," Harry said, glad to have some guidance. The Kuno siblings agreed then headed back to their house tables. "Do you have a letter for your parents Hermione-chan?" Harry asked as he placed all the letters he had in a special pouch to attach to Shiroyuki's leg.
"Not yet, but I can use a school owl when I do," Hermione assured him. Harry turned to Ron and Neville, both of them shaking their heads as well.
"Ok Shiroyuki, I have letters for Mom and Dad, Spice, Uncle Remus and Luna-chan," Harry told his owl. Shiroyuki preened and bobbed her head, stealing another piece of bacon then took off to deliver the letters for her master.
A few minutes later breakfast ended, Harry with Neville's help dragging Ron away from the table and meeting Tatewaki at the doors with a taller, older brown hair boy and another boy their age with curly blond hair.
"This is Cedric Diggory," Tatewaki introduced, waving a hand at the older boy who grinned. "He says he shalt guide us to the Transfiguration classroom."
"It'll be my pleasure, always happy to help," Cedric said.
"I'm Justin," Tatewaki's new friend said with a wave.
As Cedric lead the first year Hufflepuffs and the four Gryffindors to Minerva's classroom, Harry could hear the other student's whisper.
"Is that him?"
"The kid with the bandanna."
"Do you think he remembers what happened?"
Harry huffed softly, he thought he was going to quickly find this fame thing annoying really quick. Still, maybe there was some sort of upside to it all. He knew thanks to Nabiki his vaults were much fuller thanks to the people that had to pay royalties for using his name.
On the way to class, Cedric happily pointed out a few short cuts for the younger years to use if they were in a hurry to get somewhere. He didn't tell them everything, half the fun was discovering Hogwarts's secrets on your own after all.
"Here we are," the teen said once they reached the Transfiguration classroom. "Someone will be here to pick you lot up after class."
The student's filed into the room, quickly finding places to sit. For the most part, Hufflepuff sat on one side of the room and Gryffindor on the other as they trickled in a few minutes later. Harry chose a seat near the middle of the room, Hermione sitting at the desk right in front with Neville quickly sitting beside her. Ron sat on one side of Harry while Tatewaki sat on his other with Justin taking the other seat on the other side of Kuno. Harry looked around the room, there were diagrams of different transfigurations on the wall and in the front of the room sat the teachers desk where a familiar tabby cat sat, watching the students.
Harry grinned slightly, he knew his pseudo grandmother’s Animagus form very well and Minerva gave him a sly wink when he caught her eye. Soon the bell rang, signaling the start of class. The rest of the students looked around, wondering where their professor was and whispered to each other. Many of the students jumped as the door slammed open, Lavender Brown giving a little scream, allowing Seamus and Dean to run into the room.
"Whew... she's not even here," Seamus said as he looked around. "Guess she won't know we're late then."
Many mouths dropped open as the tabby cat on the desk jumped off its surface and right before their eyes morphed midair into their missing teacher.
"Perhaps I should transfigure Mr. Thomas into a pocket watch," Minerva said as she stood in front of the gaping Seamus and Dean. "So at least one of you will be on time."
"That was so wicked," Dean said as he recovered.
"Indeed," Minerva said. "Sit down Mr. Thomas and Mr. Finnigan." Both boys quickly scrambled into seats in the back. Minerva walked to the front of the class, giving a short introduction to her craft and the class goals. At the end, she changed her desk into a large pink pig.
"Of course, it will be a few years before you reach this level of transfiguration," Minerva said as she changed her desk back to normal. "For now, we have to start out small and work our way up." From there, she launched into the theory behind that day's lesson, many quills scratching across the paper as the stern professor filled their heads with knowledge.
Harry took out a glasses case from his bag and opening it, took out a pair of black wire rimmed oval glasses which he slipped on before taking notes. He glanced every now and then at his book for the class as he took notes. Minerva moved around the room as she lectured, she paused for a moment when she saw the glasses on Harry's face. She was struck by how he looked more like his father James Potter now that he wore a pair of glasses and a pang of hurt echoed in her heart as she thought of one of her favorite students. She hadn't even known that Harry wore glasses, every picture of him Ryoga had sent her he wore none.
Shaking her head, Minerva quickly continued her lecture on the theory of Transfiguration. As it drew to a close, she started to hand out matchsticks to each of her students.
"Today you will try your hand at one of the easiest known transfigurations," Minerva said as the last matchstick was handed out. "Does anyone know why this is?" A few hands, including Hermione and Harry's, lifted into the air. Minerva nodded to Hermione who beamed happily as she answered.
"Because they are similar in shape and size Professor McGonagall," Hermione said.
"That is correct, five points to Gryffindor," Minerva said with a nod. She demonstrated how the spell worked, having the class repeat the spell and wand movement several times until she felt like they had it down. "Do not worry if you do not get the spell right away, with time and practice you will be able to perform the spell."
Hermione studied her matchstick for a moment, going over the spell and wand movements in her mind over and over until she felt like she had it down. Taking a deep breath, the girl turned to her matchstick and cast the spell, fighting down an excited squeal as the matchstick changed into a sewing needle. Minerva, who was walking around checking on her student's progress and offering advice to those who asked for it, smiled slightly as she picked up the needle.
"Very good Miss Granger, still wooden though it is a silver color but a very good first try," Minerva praised. "Five points to Gryffindor." A bright smile graced Hermione's face under the praise from her head of house. She then turned back to the needle once it was placed back down to see if she could figure out where she went wrong when she attempted the spell, the matchstick should have changed into metal instead of staying wooden. Neville gulped and shyly asked Hermione for help, he hadn't been able to even get the end of the matchstick to become pointy!
Behind them Harry slid his glasses off as he looked at his own matchstick. Trying a trick he read in his father James's journal Harry used his phoenix and holly wand to transfigure the matchstick.
"Hmmm... not quite right," Harry said as he looked down at the needle that was in place of his matchstick. "There isn't an eye on the end."
"How are you two doing that?" Ron asked in slight frustration. He had tried again and again to change his matchstick but it didn't change at all. "What am I doing wrong?"
"What's your trick Harry?" Justin asked as Harry tried again to change his needle completely.
"I just had an image of a needle in my head," Harry said with a shrug.
"Huh?" Ron said in confusion. He flinched slightly as behind him Seamus caught his matchstick on fire.
"The words and the wand movement is just one part of the spell," Harry said. "My Otousan was really good at transfiguration and Uncle Moony gave me his journals from school. In his book, Otousan wrote that you’ve got to have a clear idea in your head when you cast the spell so your magic knows how to shape the spell."
"That's right," Hermione said. "I imagined my mother’s sewing needles when I cast the spell."
"So you got to think of a needle when you cast the spell," Justin said.
"Yeah, otherwise how will the spell know what you're trying to change the matchstick into?" Harry said. Ron chewed over the words in his mind that was a little bit clearer to him than what McGonagall had said. Turning to the matchstick on the desk in front of him, Ron imagined the sewing needles his mother used when she mended his and his siblings clothing. With that image in his mind, Ron cast the spell again and watched in surprise as the needle started to change shape. He panicked slightly when the changes started to stop and quickly channeled more magic through his wand into the matchstick.
"Very good Mr. Weasley," Minerva said as she stopped at his and Harry's desk, looking over his newly changed needle, it wasn't perfect; the end was still a match head in the shape of the eye of a needle and the tip on the other end was very blunt but it was still a very good first attempt. "Five points, keep up the good work."
The students around them, hearing Harry and Hermione's explanation and seeing Ron able to change his matchstick, took the advice to heart themselves. Minerva was very proud to see several Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors change their matchsticks into needles. She even awarded Hanna Abbot 10 points for a perfect needle by the end of the class. She was proud as this was the first class in a long time where so many of her students had nearly gotten the matchstick to needle transfiguration right. Not everyone got it of course, Neville's matchstick didn't change at all while Tatewaki's at most changed to a silvery color.
As the bell rang, Minerva assigned homework to be turned in by next class and as the students left, she quietly added, "five points each to Miss Granger and Mr. Hibiki for helping their fellow students."
***
Ukyo sighed and looked out over her restaurant. It had only been a day since they sent Harry off to his boarding school to learn magic and already her family could feel the effects of their oldest being away. Ryoga was depressed in a way he hadn't been in years and her two youngest children were constantly looking around for their beloved big brother. Yoshi and Keiko were too young to understand why Harry was gone. Even Konatsu was missing Harry, Ukyo could tell the way her friend and near brother/sister looked at Harry's room with a sadden look.
"Don't be like that Sugar," Ukyo said as she touched Ryoga's shoulder. He looked up at his wife, his eyes dark with the depression he was feeling.
"I haven't been away from Harry since I rescued him, not like this and not for so long," Ryoga said.
"I know it's hard Ryoga, but you know Harry was excited to learn magic, more than Remus-san could teach him anyway," Ukyo said as she sat down at the table beside him. "And you knew one day he was going to leave."
"It doesn't make it any better," Ryoga pointed out.
"No, it's doesn't," Ukyo agreed. "I miss him too you know. But look at this way, with the way you wander around, I bet you'll end up at his school and see our son a lot."
Ryoga blinked, he hadn't thought of that, he only focused his thoughts on the fact that Harry, a little bright boy that he helped raise into a sweet, fine boy was gone.
"Oh... I guess you’re right," Ryoga said as he brightened slightly.
"I'm jealous in fact," Ukyo said with a small sigh but she had a slight smile to her lips. "You'll get to see Harry a lot more than me, I'll have to wait until the holidays before seeing him."
"Sorry," Ryoga blushed slightly. Ukyo laughed and lightly slapped her husband on the arm playfully. Both looked up as with a small screech Shiroyuki glided into the room through an open window from upstairs. Ukyo looked on lovingly as Ryoga's face lit up as Harry's owl landed on the table and held out her leg. Attached to her leg was a pouch and when Ryoga looked in the pouch there were two letters left inside. He recognized both Harry and Minerva's handwriting.
"Oo, Harry got into that Gryffindor house," Ukyo said as she took and read Harry's letter. "He says he misses us but he already made some new friends. Sounds like he's having fun so far. Of course it's only been a day."
"McGonagall-sensei says we need to come to the school," Ryoga said with a frown as he read the second letter.
"Why?" Ukyo asked.
"Why else? Dumbledore, now that he knows Harry has been with us the whole time, he wants to talk to us," Ryoga said darkly as he handed the note to Ukyo.
"You think he'll try to talk us into giving up Harry?" Ukyo asked, she had heard some of the stories about this Albus Dumbledore. The way Remus talked about him, the man wasn't bad but he was very manipulative, tending to treat people a bit like chess pieces, and liked to think he had all the answers. Ryoga didn't trust Dumbledore in what was best for Harry since he had wanted to place their son with Harry's birth mother's sister.
"I don't know, maybe... maybe not. He may just want to make sure Harry is well taken care of and loved by us," Ryoga said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "McGonagall-sensei doesn't believe that, she told me once a couple of years ago that Dumbledore still believes Harry would be safest with his aunt."
"Well we're not going to let our son live anywhere else but with us," Ukyo said, hitting her fist into her other hand.
"Of course not, we'll just have to make it clear Harry is ours," Ryoga agreed. "And we have the law on our side in both worlds, Harry's adoption is completely legal all the way around. He can't take Harry even if he wants to."
"Damn straight," Ukyo said as she stood. "We should get to the school as quick as possible. Yoshi and Keiko will be very happy to see their Nii-chan."
***
Hagrid cleared his voice nervously as he stood in front of the Cat Cafe, straightening his moleskin coat.
"Nihao Hagrid," A young Chinese Amazon woman said with a giggle. "Here to see Cinnamon again?"
"Yea... I mean yes, I'm her' to see Cinnamon," Hagrid said, his face flushed and stumbling slightly over his words. The young woman giggled again and opened the cafe's door, leaning in.
"Cinnamon! Your boyfriend is here!" She called, Hagrid's face getting even redder.
"Gel, stop that!" Cinnamon hissed as she quickly moved to the door. "Hagrid! I have not seen you for days, I thought you forgot little old me."
"No, nothin' like that," Hagrid quickly assured her, waving his hands. Cinnamon laughed softly, the other half giant was so cute when he was flustered. "School year was startin', had to take care of my ground keeping duties."
"Oh I'm just kidding, I know your job is important," Cinnamon said with a laugh, holding her fingers in front of her mouth. Hagrid blushed again but smiled as hearing Cinnamon's laugh, he thought it was quite pretty.
"Oh... well I've got some time free now, I was wonderin' if you like to go to Three Broomsticks with me maybe?" Hagrid fiddled with the sleeve of his coat, he had never asked anyone out before. Sure he had seen plenty of pretty women over the years but Cinnamon was something else, and not just because she was a half giant like himself.
Cinnamon's face lit up, a smile stretching over her pink lips.
"Of course, I'm due for a night off," she said. "It sounds like fun. Let me tell the elder I'll be gone for the night." She ducked back into the Cat Cafe, giving an amused glance at her tribe sisters as they giggled over her and Hagrid. ^Oh be quiet you two, there's no need to giggle like a pair of young warriors.^
^But Cinnamon, it's so cute how he gushes over you,^ One of the two girls responded in Mandarin.
^And he's just your size too!^ The other girl said. Cinnamon rolled her eyes, though she couldn't disagree that Hagrid being tall as her was very attractive.
A few minutes later Cinnamon exited the restaurant, giving Hagrid another smile.
"Shall we then?" She asked. A beaming smile crossed Hagrid's face and offered an arm for Cinnamon to take. She giggled softly but wrapped her arms around Hagrid's. They ignored the whispers all around them as they headed toward the middle of Hogsmeade where the Three Broomsticks was located.
Madam Rosmerta, the current owner of the Three Broomsticks Inn, looked up as her door opened, a welcoming smile already on her face. Rosmerta was a woman in her late 40's, and many in the town would happily say she looked good for her age. Of course, as long as Wizards and Witches lived compared to Muggles, 40 to 50 was barely anything. Rosmerta was known to be very curvy with a pretty face and loved to wear glittery open-toed high-heels. She was friendly to just about everyone who came into her pub and loved Hogsmeade weekends to see the eager faces of the students. She knew a great deal of the male population of Hogwarts fancied her at one point or another, and there was nothing wrong with a little playful flirting, it was all in good fun after all.
Her grandfather had been the last owner of the inn and pub, giving it to Rosmerta when he was too old to run it. He in turn had supposedly won it in a poker game, at least according to him.
"Welcome to Three Broomsticks," Rosmerta called out as she walked over, a tray of drinks balanced on her hand. "Hagrid! How nice to see you! Who's your lady friend?" Rosmerta looked up at Hagrid and Cinnamon, she had heard the rumors that there was a woman as large as Hagrid in Hogsmeade in that new restaurant at the edge of town but this was the first time she had ever saw her. The other woman was very pretty, if a bit muscular looking. Not overly so but Rosmerta could tell she was strong. 3)
"'Ello Madame Rosmerta," Hagrid said in his usual booming voice. "Jus' showing Cinnamon around, she’s new to the area."
"You work at the new place on the edge of town correct?" Rosmerta asked. "I hope you're not here to steal any more of my customers." She winked at Cinnamon good naturedly to show there were no hard feelings.
"Don't worry," Cinnamon said in English that was only a little accented. "You're just as pretty to keep the men coming."
"Good to hear! Well, find yourself a place to sit down and I'll be with you in a minute," Rosmerta said as she swept away into the crowds.
"Errr... 'm not sure what sort o' drink you like Cinnamon," Hagrid said as they found a table to sit at. The chairs were a little small for them but both half giants made due.
"Don't worry Hagrid, I can handle anything," Cinnamon said, leaning forward slightly and giving a flutter of eyelashes and a full pouty smile. Hagrid blushed but grinned back and when Rosmerta came over, ordered a bottle of Firewiskey for the both of them.
***
Author notes: (1) Spoiler, the phoenix is a girl in this world.
(2) There is an episode in the anime, not sure of the episode name, that mentions that Takewaki and Kodachi have an unnamed uncle. Doesn't say if the man is related to their father or mother but he sends some different ninjas to Takewaki to see if he wanted to hire them. So through his uncle Takewaki knows and has connections to ninja clans.
(3) Just think of the Amazonians from the Futurama series.
Edit 8-25-14: Only a couple of things needed to be fixed up here.
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