FicWad

-=-=-=-

The unaccustomed robes kicked up behind him as Kaze walked behind his head of house. He knew Professor Sprout was shooting him concerned glances as she lead him through the corridors, but he couldn't break himself out of his subdued silence to reassure her.

A part of his mind absently noted the landmarks they went past, trying to remember the way through the labyrinthine castle, but the rest was trying very hard not to think about the conversation that had ended only a few minutes before. It was easier said than done, though. Every painting that they passed that pointed and whispered after them was a stark reminder that he was now famous for something he didn't even remember.

He needed to tell Master Taka. That was the one thing he was holding onto. Kaze would tell him, and then Master Taka would know what to do.

Before too long they came to a stop in front of a large, triple-paned window that overlooked the black-watered lake. Professor Sprout stepped up to it and waved him closer. "This is the entrance to the Hufflepuff dormitories," she said kindly. "The password changes every week, and to get in you merely need to say it and step through the middle. This week's password is /sentinel/."

As she spoke, the glass in the center pane rippled and twisted with color and light in much the same way the threads of magic curdled the air during a 'Port. Kaze watched with parted lips, entranced, until the professor took his elbow with an understanding smile.

She led him through the portal, which fell over his skin like cool water and yet left him warm and calmer than before. The room on the other side was decorated tastefully in creams and blacks, accented here and there with a warm yellow. The moonlight streaming through the windows on the far wall was drowned out by the light of, not just one, but three enormous fireplaces containing what could more accurately have been called bonfires.

There were a couple of dozen students already mingling in the common room, and the instant the two were completely through the portal all eyes were on them. "The boys' dormitories are to the left," Professor Sprout told him, pointing him towards the doorway. "The first-year dorms are the farthest back. You can't miss them."

Kaze took a couple of steps forward, ignoring the stares with gritted teeth, before glancing back at her uncertainly. "Don't worry, Mr. Potter, everything will work out, you'll see. If you have any questions, ask one of the prefects, and I'll see you in the morning." She nodded with a warm smile on her round face and stepped back out through the portal, which glittered briefly and then reformed into yet another impossible window.

Kaze had to shake his head. The Citadel was as strange a building as Hogwarts was turning out to be, but it at least had the sense to follow certain rules. If one of its inhabitants wanted to look out a window without leaving the room, it didn't form a window where there couldn't possibly be one.

It simply moved the room.

-=-=-=-

The look his familiar regarded him with when Kaze reached in and pulled him out of the Luggage could only have been described as pure irritation. Now what did you go and do that for? the air elemental hissed, sparking a breeze that tangled his Bonded's too-long hair. I was comfortable!

Something's come up, Kaze replied over their mental link after a glance at the three other boys sharing his dorm. They were already looking strangely at him as he held up what, to them, was thin air; they didn't need to hear him talking to said thin air as well. I need to get a message to Master Taka. I'm going to 'Port you to him.

Zephyr grumbled, but wrapped more tightly Kaze's arm. This had better be important. We were just getting to the good part.

The mage blinked and paused on his way to the lavatory. We?

...Never mind.

The lavatory was unoccupied of course, which was a good thing; Kaze would have had to empty it otherwise, and he didn't really want to think about what that would mean for his reputation inside Hogwarts. He hummed quickly, summoning parchment and stylus before anyone could follow him in, and jotted a quick note to the effect that something unexpected had happened, and that he needed to see his Master as soon as his schedule permitted.

This Boy-Who-Lived development was important, yes, but only to him. Making sure their dimension remained uninfluenced amongst the Sphere was far more crucial than a mere domestic skirmish that had concluded a full decade before.

Twisting the note into a knot around Zephyr's tail, Kaze stepped back as the elemental lifted to hover above a spot in the middle of the bathroom floor. 'Porting a person or object wasn't quite the same as 'Porting oneself, so the boy was careful to concentrate as he began to hum, then sing words under his breath. They'd never figured out just what language he sung when he cast spells, but Kaze knew these meant something along the lines of 'safe journey', and 'don't forget what you're leaving me for'. Whatever language it was, though, the magic invariably listened to it, and always literally, which sometimes led to unforeseen results.

'Porting was relatively simple, if tiring, though, and Zephyr vanished inside the shimmering circle of energy as though he had never been.

Back inside the dorm, Kaze headed for the bed the Luggage rested beside, only to notice that his roommates were now as far away from his bed as they could get. There was a scrap of black fabric caught beneath the trunk's lid that matched the rip in the stout, brown-haired boy's robes.

Blushing a bright red, Kaze strode over to the trunk. "Open," he demanded, reaching for the bit of cloth when it docilely obeyed. "Sorry about that. It's... very territorial," the mortified boy explained, holding the scrap out for its owner to take. "Sorry. I'll have a talk with it..."

The other wizard nodded jerkily in acceptance, coming just close enough to snatch the bit of his robe away. "I've never seen a trunk with legs before. Guess I shouldn't be so curious next time," he offered in return once he'd reached a more comfortable distance. "I'm Ernie Macmillan."

Kaze gave him a smile, still a tad pink. "Harry Potter."

"We know," the other brunet in the room blurted out, and then blushed. "I mean... I'm Wayne. Wayne Hopkins."

The mage twitched ever so slightly at that reminder of his fame, before looking expectantly at the last member of their dorm, a slender boy with curly, dirty-blonde hair who was watching them with bewilderment. "Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"It's nice to meet you," Kaze said politely, and the others returned the sentiment. There was an awkward pause, the four of them looking around at each other, until Justin coughed.

"I don't know about you blokes, but I'm knackered. I'm heading to bed," he said, skirting carefully around the Luggage as he aimed for the bed to Kaze's right. "Don't know what they're going to be throwing at us in class, but I'm not going to face it half-dead."

With a murmur of agreement, the four new Hufflepuffs called it a night.

Though first, Kaze very carefully told the Luggage not to eat his dormmates.

-=-=-=-

There were no windows in their dorm, but nevertheless sunlight somehow conspired to sift gently inside and wake the reluctant young wizards. Nearly as one boy they hid their faces beneath the covers in an attempt to ignore it, but they only gain a brief respite, as a few minutes later one of the prefects stuck his head in with a grin.

"Up and at 'em, sunshine! Come on, you lazy lot, or you'll miss breakfast!"

Kaze was the first to emerge from his cocoon, blinking blearily at the prefect. "What time is it?" he wondered out loud.

The answer made him groan. Were they always going to have to get up this early? At home with Master Taka, the only times he hadn't been able to sleep in were when they were visiting another dimension and couldn't be rude to their hosts, or they had to pick an herb or sing a spell precisely at dawn.

Zephyr hadn't yet been sent back, so Kaze dressed quickly. The cheerful prefect led him out into the common room, and once the other boys had risen and caught up with them, they all trooped down to breakfast.

There weren't many other people in the Great Hall yet when they arrived. Those few who were glanced up at them as the door opened, then back down at their plates, only to do a double-take as they recognized Kaze in the midst of the Hufflepuffs.

"Come on," the prefect, who had introduced himself as Gail McFadden, said loudly, taking Kaze's elbow much as Professor Sprout had the night before. "Ignore the lot of them, if they're going to be rude enough to stare."

The young mage twisted enough to give McFadden a grateful smile as he was propelled to the Hufflepuff table and pushed firmly down in front of an empty place setting. Justin sat to his left while Ernie and Wayne had circled around to the other side of the table and sat across from them, and before more than a second had passed the platters between them had filled to overflowing with food.

More students trickled in while they ate, along with their professors. Sprout, who gave Kaze a cheery little wave as she caught sight of him, was between the bear-like man who had brought all the first-years from the train and a very pale man with a purple turban on his head. The stern-looking witch who had called Master Taka a kidnapper- Kaze took a moment to give her a glare that was barely more than a narrowing of his eyes- was at the other end of the table, something he was very grateful for.

Another prefect, this time an older girl he didn't know the name of, came walking down the table with a sheaf of papers in her hands. "Finch-Fletchley?" she called out.

Justin raised his hand, and she handed him one of the papers. "Hopkins, Macmillan?"

They waved and received their papers, but the prefect handed Kaze's his without having to call his name, accompanied by an awed smile. The Guardian felt the muscles in his jaw tighten in irritation as he looked down at the paper, and found it was a schedule.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts first," Wayne commented, reaching for another piece of toast. "At least it's not History of Magic. My brother says the History professor is dead boring."

"More like just plain dead," one of the older students further down the table called over, grinning, and several of her companions laughed.

Kaze almost asked what they meant, but something made him turn his head just in time to see Zephyr glide through the still-closed doors of the Great Hall, hover just long enough to make sure he had his Bonded's attention, and then dart back out again.

"Excuse me, please," he said, wiping his chin with a napkin as he rose. The others gave him curious looks, but no one stopped him as he walked quickly towards the doors and out.

Zephyr didn't stop in the entrance hall, but led him outside into the morning sunshine. And leaning against the wall, waiting for him, was Kaze's master, with concern in his blue eyes.

"What's this about a problem?"