[Reidpath]
Sep. 20th, 2013 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
answer_keyby 
onkoona
Shindou Hikaru and the Enchanted Inkwell
Chapter One: "An Ordinary Boy."
Now Shindou Hikaru did not live a hole in the ground, neither wet nor dry, nor neat, nor grubby, nor with a round green front door. Nor did he live in a cupboard under the stairs, dingy or otherwise. No, he lived in a traditional Japanese house in a modern Japanese town, and he was, maybe unsurprisingly, quite ordinary.
Hikaru was a perfectly normal 10 year old Japanese kid. Like most perfectly normal kids he took his perfectly normal life for granted. He didn't wonder where the food his grandmother served three times a day came from, no, he just ate it with relish. He didn't ask why he had to learn so many Kanji in school and so much English after school, no, he just complained about it while he was doing the work. He didn't question why his parents chose to leave him with his grandparents in Tokyo, while they were exploring the Antarctic, no, he accepted their decision and was privately glad he wasn't stuck in sub-zero temperatures all year 'round; the few cold weeks in Tokyo's winter were enough to last him all year. And he never bothered to wonder why, at age 10, he still was playing with his imaginary friend Sai.
Okay, so Hikaru wasn't a 100% ordinary kid, but for the longest time he really thought he was. For as long as he could remember he had had Sai as his friend. One that no-one else could see. When Hikaru had been small, Sai had been small too, and whenever little Hikaru included Sai in his life in front of grown-ups, these grown-ups would humor little Hikaru to his face and tell his grandmother not to worry - kids grow out of that kind of foolishness - behind his back.
The problem was that he didn't grow out of it. Or, more accurately, Hikaru decided it was the grown-ups' problem, not his; Hikaru was fine with having Sai around. So at some point Hikaru decided just not to tell the grown-ups that he included Sai in his play at all, and the whole problem went away on its own.
Hikaru really liked Sai. Unlike Hikaru, Sai was not an ordinary modern Japanese kid. He was a young noble of a by-gone age, and he would speak like someone from a fairy tale or a historical movie. Hikaru had long gotten used to Sai's way of talking and, since they were of the same age, they played together all the time without any communication problems. No, Hikaru kept his connection with Sai firmly outside of the world around him; it was a private matter. Even when it looked to the outside like Hikaru was fully taking part in life, privately he could be talking to Sai about something totally different, and it usually involved one game or another. Sai did love his board games!
So, Shindou Hikaru, who lived in Tokyo with his grandparents and his imaginary friend, took life in its stride, heading where all mostly normal Japanese kids headed. All perfectly ordinary until The Letter arrived.
#@_@#
Chapter Two: "A Very Important Letter."
"Read it again," Sai asked, while he sat in seiza on Hikaru's unmade bed, the trailing ends of his suikan hanging off the bed while the braided loops of his hair danced around his face. Had Hikaru bothered to look at his imaginary friend he would have seen Sai's trademark 'wazzdat?' expression on his face, making the imaginary boy, dressed in the finest silk that a rich imagination could buy, look like a traditional Hina doll. But Hikaru did not look, nor did he have to; all Sai's patented expressions were already known to him and he could hear what face Sai'd put on just by the tone of the little noble's voice.
Hikaru, as usual, decided to indulge Sai and so he precariously tipped back the wooden desk chair he was sitting on while he held out the thick vellum letter in front of him and read yet again,
"Dear Mr Shindou,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"So what does all that mean?" Sai asked again. Hikaru was well aware that his own knowledge of English was considerably better than Sai's. All those after school lessons Hikaru's parents had insisted he take (so he'd be able to travel with them more easily once he was older) had worked very well for Hikaru, but Sai had had neither interest in nor reason to learn English; he was not going to be talking to anybody but Hikaru, so why bother to learn? So Sai had spent the after school lessons reading the Go books and magazines that Hikaru would lay out for him at lesson time. Neither Hikaru nor Sai had ever questioned the indulgence the English teacher had had for what to him must have seemed the totally pointless task of Hikaru, at intervals, turning over the pages of a book or a magazines on the table next to him where Hikaru himself was neither reading nor working.
The flip side of this was that Sai was the one who did all the studying of things like math and history, and he was a lot more advanced in Kanji and therefore in reading. All in all it worked out just fine in Hikaru's book; after all, Sai was but a figment of Hikaru's own imagination, so you could say that Sai was Hikaru. And that was something that Hikaru did say to himself on a regular basis. And Sai had never denied it...
Long story short; Sai's English was rather elementary and truth be told, this fancy letter on the fancy paper wasn't easy for Hikaru to read either. Hikaru re-read it again with all his focus on it and after a while he concluded, "They want me to go to this school in England."
#@_@#
Hikaru had very much hoped that when he showed the letter to his grandparents, and after translating it as best he could into Japanese, his grandfather would just call it nonsense and would assure Hikaru he didn't have to go, and his grandmother would make him noodle-soup to celebrate his not leaving. As it was, Hikaru got his soup but only as a consolation prize, because after seeing the letterhead Gramps was emphatic; Hikaru was to go to England in September.
#@_@#
And that is how Hikaru found himself arriving at Heathrow airport early on Thursday, September 1st, 1998. Very very early for the Brits; 6:30 am. But not at all so early for Hikaru, who'd had to get up at 6:45 Tokyo time to take a 12 hour flight!
Of course he'd tried to sleep, but trying isn't the same as succeeding, and Sai, who never had shown any need for sleep in all their life together, had been super excited by the whole event. And maybe with reason; after all, not everyone got to walk on the plane's wings with clouds whizzing by at break neck speed.
At first Hikaru nearly threw a fit when Sai decided to go on his little jaunt outside of the plane's cabin, but he quickly collected himself when he reminded himself that Sai was only imaginary and therefore impervious to all influences outside of Hikaru's own brain. So once Hikaru had calmed down his wildly beating heart, he started to enjoy his imaginary friend's antics with, truth be told, a bit of jealousy in his heart; it really looked as if Sai was having a lot of fun out there.
#@_@#
Chapter Three: "How do you do?"
Hikaru, armed with a heavy travelling trunk, a rucksack for his necessities and wearing a coat that he felt was too heavy for September, stood a bit forlornly at the exit gate of his flight at Heathrow, while Sai, in his usual silks, was flitting around trying to see all the passing people from every angle at once. The letter his grandparents had received with the plane ticket had also given Hikaru the instruction to stay where he was once he'd arrived; some one would come for him.
After 5 minutes waiting, he got a bit miffed; couldn't they bother to be on time? After 10 minutes he got annoyed. What kinda country was this?! After 30 minutes he got worried. What if the whole thing was some kinda trap to kidnap unsuspecting Japanese kids? After 40 minutes, while Sai was still entertaining himself with the passersby, Hikaru was just coming up with another great thought when a young man came jogging up to them. The man was quite out of breath when he came to a stop and Hikaru moved behind his truck so as to make grabbing him that much harder. He could feel Sai taking up position behind his back. Better be safe than sorry.
"Are you Hikaru Shindou?" the man asked. Hikaru gave him a good long look. The guy was not very tall, but sturdily built, and definitely a senior or older. Maybe even as old as 20. He wore an old dark blue sweater over a white button-down shirt, with brown pants, grey socks and black shoes. His dark brown hair was uncombed and he wore rather ugly round glasses. The only thing that was in any way interesting about the man were his emerald green eyes.
"Yes, I am Hikaru Shindou," Hikaru said, making sure he said his given name first and then his family name. He also forced himself not to bow and add dozo joroshku.
"Oh, marvelous!" the man exclaimed, "I'm Harry Potter; how do you do, call me Harry," and held out his hand for Hikaru to shake. Hikaru hesitated a moment, then wiped his hand on his pants to lose some of the nervous sweat that had accumulated there and then he grasped the man's hand, giving one medium squeeze and returned, "how do you do."
"Who is he? Do we know him?" Sai asked, his voice tinged with suspicion. Hikaru knew Sai didn't like meeting new people (unless they were Go or Chess players); Hikaru attributed it to a natural reluctance for change that is in everybody and that he'd transferred to his imaginary friend, so Hikaru himself wouldn't be feel the need to be shy.
"No, we don't, but someone is supposed to meet us, it could be this guy," Hikaru thought back to Sai.
"Excuse me, is there some way you can verify that you are the person we are supposed to meet?" Hikaru said slowly, as he had to work hard to come up with all the right words, in the right order. Hikaru hoped that seven years of English lessons were going to pay off, or he'd never forgive his folks!
"Oh, your English is simply marvelous!" the young man gushed before continuing, "I'm acting as deputy to the Headmistress of Hogwarts. You see, what with the war, it's all hands on deck, so to say, and since I was going to London anyway to organize supplies, I was roped into picking you up and taking you shopping for school supplies."
The young man spoke a little bit too fast for Hikaru to follow every word he said, but he had caught Hogwarts and picking you up (always assuming he had meant that in the regular way, not anything adult). Hikaru had also caught taking you shopping and he was less sure he'd gotten that right...
Anyway, Hikaru though all this at Sai, who in turn nodded sagely and said, "I think you are right, did you notice the crest on his outer garment? It much resembles the crest on the letter." Hikaru had to admit he hadn't noticed; things like crests had lost most of their importance in modern day Japan. And Hikaru had certainly not know that western people still used crests. He had honestly taken the emblem as advertising for a popular brand of sweaters.
"Well, come on, we have lots to do this morning," Harry said and indicated which way to go with his hand. Hikaru got his trolley rolling and off they went with some speed.
#@_@#
Once they were settled on the train to London proper (and Harry amazed Hikaru by quickly casting a spell on Hikaru's trunk so it shrunk into a mini version of itself and urging Hikaru to put it safely in his pocket; it was Hikaru and Sai's first encounter with actual magic, and Sai was mesmerized by it and Hikaru was dead impressed), Hikaru asked his guide, "So what is that about a war, you said?" Well, that got the ball rolling and in the short 20 minute ride Hikaru learned about the Wizarding world and this latest greatest war.
Harry's voice was filled with pride as he recounted the adventures and braveries of his friends and his teachers. There was sadness for all the family and friends he had lost, but Hikaru felt Harry was glossing over all that a bit so as not to spoil the fine day. Harry talked with great admiration of the now Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall.
At some point in the story, Hikaru interrupted with a question, "Look, are you sure I should go to Hogwarts? I'm not a wizard, I think."
Harry had looked surprised. "Well, of course you are a Wizard; Magic itself writes the list of eligible students, and Magic just cannot be mistaken!"
To this Hikaru could only say, "Oh. Okay."
#@_@#
Chapter four: "Shopping is hard work"
After the train, Harry took them through London's underground (a mini version of Tokyo's metro system; much older, more cramped and darker too; Hikaru was not impressed) to a even older and darker pub.
By now Hikaru had lost all sense of the time of day; if he hadn't, he might have been surprised that the pub was even open at 7:30 am. He was not surprised there were only a few people sitting at the worn and dingy tables; the place was giving Hikaru the creeps just passing through, imagine what it would actually be like to sit down for a drink!
But they were only passing through, literally it seemed; in the front door and straight out the back, ending up in a small outside space with brick walls on all sides and only the door behind him as a way out. Then Harry stepped forward to the blank wall and touched it with the same stick he'd used to shrink Hikaru's trunk.
Once Harry had finished his spell, he stepped back. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then Sai gasped next to him and Hikaru felt Sai's imaginary hands grab his arm. He had looked over at Sai when had heard him gasp, but now he followed Sai's gaze back to the wall, which was now not blank at all. The bricks were moving to form an arch that opened unto a whole new street.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley. Come on," Harry said, stepping through the arch, and Hikaru slowly followed with a trembling Sai still holding onto his arm tightly.
#@_@#
Diagon Alley must have been the oldest street Hikaru had ever seen; it reminded him of many of the illustrations in the books by Charles Dickens that his English sensei so enjoyed. Hikaru was somewhat less fond of those books; it seemed that all the stories in them were about poverty and misery, and the text was quite long winded too. But this street looked interesting for all the early hour, especially the store windows filled with items that hitherto Hikaru had always thought of as inanimate, but which jumped and twirled and changed colour willy-nilly.
Sai was fascinated too. Hikaru's other self was running from one side of the street to the other pointing out the oddest things, while Hikaru was starting to feel the weight of the super long day and decided to conserve energy by just following Harry, who had started walking straight down the street to an imposing building at the far end. It had 'Gringotts Bank' written on the facade.
#@_@#
After visiting the bank, where both Hikaru and Harry had stocked up on Wizarding money, Harry took Hikaru around the shops which had now opened.
But as Hikaru was taken to the book shop and the potion's supply shop, he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened at the bank.
Oh, visiting the bank itself had been an adventure, complete with roller coaster ride. But it had been that odd moment when the goblin had looked at Hikaru (with Sai trying to hide behind him) long and hard and then had asked to speak to Harry privately. They'd stepped a little way away, just enough that Hikaru couldn't hear what was whispered, but only what was said aloud, which only was one thing: Harry saying, "look, I don't think he even knows!"
Knows what? was the question, and was he Hikaru or somebody else? The questions stayed with him all the way through the fittings at Madam Malkin's robes shop.
Harry had dropped him off at the robes shop, saying he needed to run a few errands and that Hikaru was to go on Ollivander's new wand shop once he was done.
Finding the wand shop was easy enough, as a brightly painted sign identified it clearly. Hikaru remembered Harry had said something about the old wand maker's shop having been destroyed, and the apparently new sign seemed to jive with that story.
Hikaru was hesitant in opening the shop's door, as it appeared to be dark and empty inside. But the fact that a wand was on the list of items to buy, combined with the fact that Harry had mentioned the shop quite casually, embolded Hikaru to open the door, with Sai at his back.
#@_@#
Chapter five: "Give it a try."
Mr. Ollivander turned out to be the spitting image of Hikaru's own grandfather. Not in looks, of course, but in actions, certainly. Like his grandfather the wand maker had made a corner of the obviously as yet unfinished shop into a comfortable nook from where he could survey the entire premises and still sit quite comfortably. He had a small table with a steaming tea pot, cups and a plate of cake at his left elbow, and another small table at his right with some papers and of course his own wand.
"Welcome!" the old wand maker said, startling Hikaru by saying it in Japanese. Sai promptly answered with the traditional 'treat me kindly' and bowed. After a hesitation Hikaru followed suit.
"I hope you will forgive me for continuing in English, I'm afraid that was all the Japanese that I know," the old man said.
"Oh, it's no problem," Hikaru replied, "I've had an English tutor for years."
"How wonderful! And you have learned to speak English very well, I must say!" Ollivander said, making Hikaru feel proud of himself; all the hard work had paid off at least.
"But now to business," the wand maker announced. And he proceeded to explain about how Hikaru was to find a wand.
"Due to circumstances," Ollivander said, "I find myself less ambulant than I used to be." "I'll bet," Hikaru thought, remembering Harry's war stories. "So I'll point out a wand and you can fetch it and try it," he finished.
The next half hour had Hikaru trying all sorts of dust and debris covered boxes, but each time he opened one, took out the wand and flicked it, nothing at all happened. After yet another failure Hikaru looked over a Sai in exasperation.
"Maybe the Magic is wrong and I'm not a Wizard after all," he thought at Sai, who had been doing his own sight-seeing tour around the tiny shop.
"Would Magic and the people of the honorable Wizard school have let us come from so far, only to be proven wrong?" Sai countered. "Nay, I do not think so, for sure." he continued. Then he turned around, pointed at a box and added, "As I went around I felt something from this one. Maybe you should try it?"
Hikaru approached it and Sai brushed against him as he stepped away to let Hikaru near the box. Hikaru reached out his hand, while Sai looked on over his shoulder. Just as Hikaru's fingers brushed the paper box he felt a warmth radiate from it. He quickly dropped his hand and turned to the shop proprietor.
"If I may, could I try this one?" Hikaru asked.
"Hmm?" Ollivander said as he collected himself from the deep thoughts that had had him staring into space for the last few minutes. "If you feel a wand is calling you, then by all means do! It certainly can't do any harm," he said.
Hikaru nodded his thanks and tuned back to the cupboard full of wand boxes, all with the shortest side showing. He trailed his fingers over them, now a little unsure of which one had felt warm.
"Can you find it again?" Sai asked from a few steps away.
"I'm not sure," Hikaru thought at him, "it was a green box with a grey label, wasn't it?" He could feel Sai moving closer. "I do believe it was," his other self said, stepping closer still and laying a silk sleeve-covered hand on Hikaru's arm.
Hikaru let his fingers roam back and forth one more time and then he felt it again, that warmth, now combined with a glow coming off a dark green box with indeed a grey label on it. He read the label almost as an automatism '1887 Kaya phxF/uniT' It meant nothing to him, so he pulled out the box carefully, leaving a gap in the pile of boxes. He took it to the centre of the room, with Sai still holding on to his arm, looking over his shoulder, and looked over at the wand maker for permission.
"Go ahead, try it out," the man encouraged, sitting forward in his chair.
Hikaru carefully open the box and took out the wand. It felt warm in his hand, and oddly like his game controller from back home; it felt familiar, welcoming. And it appeared Sai was feeling something too, because Hikaru's other self was holding ever tighter onto Hikaru's elbow.
"Why don't you give it a swish," Hikaru heard Ollivander say. Hikaru nodded slowly and then raised the wand slightly so it was pointing outward. He drew a small circle with the wand tip and all of a sudden an explosion of coloured light lit up the room.
"Bravo!" the old man called out from his seat, "that's the ticket! That's the one for you!"
#@_@#
Chapter six: "It knew!"
The last thing on the list was acquiring an owl, a cat, or a toad as a familiar. Hikaru had no clue what that was so Harry explained it to him when they were at the pet shop. By the time Harry was finished Sai drew Hikaru's attention to a black and white kitten in a basket with a few others sitting in one of the dark corners of the shop. Sai was petting it with an imaginary hand and Hikaru could have sworn the kitten reacted, but that was nonsense of course.
Hikaru made his own tour of the shop and was thinking to Sai about each possibility; an owl is smart, a tomcat could fight, a snake, uh, well maybe not a snake. Or a toad. "What do you think, Sai," Hikaru ended his musings and turned back to his other self, only to see what Sai thought; that kitten or nothing.
#@_@#
After Harry had double checked Hikaru's shopping list with all the items bought - cauldron (now in his trunk with his new books and uniform), familiar (in a cat basket with food and water) - they left the Magical district and walked to King's Cross station, where Harry enlarged Hikaru's trunk and put it on one of the carts there. "Since you don't know how yet, and you're not allowed to do magic outside of school, you'll have to take it like this. Don't worry; people will help," he explained.
Getting onto the right platform was interesting, but after the delicious ice-cream Harry had treated Hikaru to after he's bought the wand, Hikaru was finding himself yawning and he had trouble keeping his eyes open. And the moment he'd sat down on the soft red leather upholstered seats in one of the train cabins, his eyes dropped closed and didn't open until hours later someone shook his shoulder to say they'd arrive in 15 minutes and to urge him to change into his uniform, post haste.
#@_@#
After the train ride came a boat ride led by a giant of a man, and Hikaru saw the castle of the first time. "Oh, it's magnificent," Sai gushed next to him, and he had to admit it was. Even looking lopsided with one torrent obviously missing and several vital walls collapsed, it was still very impressive.
The inside was impressive too, but it too had not escaped damage. There were whole chunks missing from some of the steps of the grand staircase the giant had led the first year students to. At the head of the stair stood a tiny man wearing a coat that touched the ground and who had a beard so long it nearly did too. He wore a pointy hat, jauntily tipped to one side and Hikaru realized that this was not a Goblin like the ones at the bank, just a very tiny man, who now raised his hands in welcome and spoke in welcome too; welcoming them to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.
#@_@#
They were all herded into a large hall, lit by candle light, where a tall spindly woman made a long speech Hikaru was just too tired to comprehend. Then another woman stepped forward, younger with short spiky hair that reminded Hikaru of one of his favourite anime characters.
"Wonder if they have TV here?" he thought. "I have spied no such thing here in the this land at all. It's to be feared there may be none," Sai answered. "Damn," Hikaru thought. "Language!" Sai admonished him.
The spiky haired lady announced something called a sorting. Hikaru was now so tired he was really following what people did, not so much what was said. Apparently a name was called and a person stepped forward and took a seat on a stool and was made to wear a hat. Than the hat spoke and there was cheering from one of the four long tables filled with older students. The person on the chair then joined that table. Once Hikaru had grasped the system he just concentrated on hearing his name and blotting everything else out; he was just too tired to take any more in.
"Hikaru Shindou!" was called out and Hikaru almost didn't recognize his own name, because not only was is called backwards, the last syllable of his family name had been mispronounced as 'doo'. But someone prodded him and he stepped forward and climbed on the stool.
#@_@#
Hikaru's head was still spinning when he climbed off the stool and headed to the cheering table. As his hand was taken and shaken by some of the boys at the table, all welcoming him to Hufflepuff house, Hikaru could only think, "that hat knew about Sai. It knew!"
#@_@#
After the feast, which Hikaru dozed through, his house left for the dormitory and he just followed blindly. Some one was kind enough to show him to his bed, a dark wooden thing with curtains all around, on which he flopped, still fully dressed, face down and zonked out.
#@_@#
Chapter seven: "Class begins."
Hikaru was still groggy the next morning while, as per usual, Sai was bubbling over with excitement for the new day. What was not so usual was the content of this new day; Hikaru's very first day at a school of Magic. He had no clue what his subjects for the day were. Oh, he knew their titles from the week schedule, but not what these strange subjects actually would entail. Heck, he didn't even know what books to put in his backpack or what other things to take to class!
A dorm mate, who introduced himself as Everett Silvestry, of Kingston, Jamaica - and who had the dark skin and black eyes and hair to prove his provenance - helped him get the right books for something called Charms and all the right equipment - the cauldron Harry had helped Hikaru get and the right book, plus the scales for the Potions class first thing that morning. Hikaru's mind boggled when he learned Potions would last 2 hours; he knew from his old school that any subject that had to double up like that was bound to be difficult!
#@_@#
Potions turned out to be not so bad. It was taught by a young woman - apparently a great improvement over earlier teachers, some of whom, Hikaru understood, had been really strict and nasty - by the name of Granger.
This teacher was only very strict on safety. (Which disappointed Hikaru at bit; he'd been tempted to just put some of these odd ingredients together and then see what happens. It was what he'd had planned ever since he realized he'd some day take a chemistry class. And he found himself foiled by a snooty lady with a knowing smile!)
The class went well; Hikaru - with Sai prompting him by reading each step aloud from the Potion book - made a Calendula hand cream that the teacher marked as adequate even though it was quite lumpy. The recipe had not required the cauldron, just grinding and mixing of cold ingredients. With, "Next lesson will be making a base potion, page 17 in your textbook. I expect you to have read through the lesson, and don't forget to bring your cauldron," Professor Granger closed the lesson.
#@_@#
Next was Charms. This appeared to be a lesson in how to use your wand and it turned out to be a grave disappointment for Hikaru, because only he could not make his wand do anything, the entire two hours the lesson lasted. The whole thing was made worse by the fact that Sai had apparently no interest in this subject at all, a fact Hikaru couldn't entirely blame him for; after all Sai did not own a wand nor could he have wielded it if he had. So Sai had chosen to perch on the high windowsill of the even higher windows - students sitting down could not see outside - his head turned out towards the coloured glass, dreamily looking out as though he was a Buddha statue, unmoving and unmovable.
#@_@#
Lunch was served in the same great hall that the sorting and the year's opening had been held. But now Hikaru actually had a chance to meet his class mates, and his house mates too. The idea of being divided into four houses was quite foreign to Hikaru, but he was quickly filled in on how it all worked: people of the same house all stuck together and were against Slytherin House. Everybody seemed to be against Slytherin House! Gryffindors were deemed heroes, Ravenclaws were super-smart, Hufflepuff was the nicest, most social group, but nobody liked Slytherins. It all had to do with The War, some one finally said after Hikaru kept asking why (after all, he'd looked over at the Slytherin table and the only difference he could see to any of the other tables was that the students there just all looked so sad).
But then some one else demanded a change of subject and they all started to talk about the Quidditch tryouts in a few weeks' time. Again Hikaru had to ask, but the answers here were A. a lot more informative and B. made him see stars: Quidditch turned out to be a ball game in which you flew in the air instead of ran on the ground; he so much wanted to play that!
#@_@#
Maybe it was a coincidence that the very next lesson was Flying. Everett had told Hikaru that morning that he only needed books for History of Magic and nothing else that afternoon, and so the flying lesson came as a nice surprise for Hikaru. And for Sai too; he had liked his little plane-wing walk a lot the other day and Hikaru could see his other self sparkle with anticipation. Hikaru knew that Sai had little interest in sports as such - board games was his forte - but he knew his imaginary friend did like the outdoors, so Hikaru's own love of dodge ball and baseball, which he'd played every day after school (homework and weather permitting) back in Tokyo, had never come between them. Hikaru hoped fervently that Sai would not begrudge him exploring this new sport of Quidditch. But first he had to learn how to fly.
#@_@#
The flying lesson had gone rather well, Hikaru thought. He had completed the assignment of calling up the broom, sitting on it properly, hovering two feet off the ground and landing on both feet perfectly after only two tries. Sai had sat at his feet, all the while applauding Hikaru's efforts. It had been very satisfying.
Less satisfying was the next double class of History of Magic. If Hikaru had thought Japanese history deadly dull, this turned out to be much worse; the teacher - whom Hikaru strongly suspected of being a ghost, which Everett later confirmed - spent the entire two hours just droning up the text straight from the book.
After Hikaru had caught on to that fact, he started to think at his other self instead. Sai of course protested, but since even he had to admit that with the droning tone and the ghost-teacher's brogue accent, Hikaru couldn't get much of what the man said anyway, and Hikaru'd be better off reading the book later - or make Sai do it, as used to happen back in Japan - so he gave in and they chatted about all they'd seen so far.
Which turned out to quickly become a, for Hikaru, informative conversation; because when Hikaru had lived in Tokyo, Sai would be active only when Hikaru was. While Hikaru slept in his bed, Sai would, well, Hikaru had always supposed Sai would have dozed or something, but now he learned Sai never slept and in Japan he'd just sit and think, but here Sai had spent his time exploring.
Not that Sai could go far, about 10 meters away from Hikaru he said he'd feel ill and had to come back. But even with only a 10 meter radius, both in the castle last night and on the train the day before, there had been loads of things for Sai to see while Hikaru slept.
#@_@#
After dinner that night - and after Hikaru had made a new friend, one Horatio Griddle, Horry to his friends, from London - Sai was taking Hikaru exploring around the castle. There was at least another hour before curfew and Hikaru's own rule of never doing homework until the day before it was due - a rule Sai frowned upon, as he'd ended up saving Hikaru's beacon more than once because of it - had left them without any homework to do, and so with a free evening.
Their explorations took them up to the third floor where corridors seemed to meander this way and that, now running out into a small space with a tall window, now stopping for no apparent reason at a blank wall. It had Hikaru suspecting strongly that it wasn't just the staircases that moved in this odd castle.
The floor appeared all but deserted, and looked as if people hadn't been there in centuries. But when Sai and Hikaru turned yet another dark corner, they could hear voices around the next bend. Hikaru made a totally unnecessary shushing gesture to Sai and started to creep to the next juncture, Sai following behind. As they came closer, the voices became clearer, and then they could understand what was said.
#@_@#
Chapter Eight: "What the painting said."
"But I think it should be made clear," a light voice said.
"I did not ask you to do this; I don't desire to be seen as good," a darker voice nearly spat the last word, "And my life certainty doesn't need rehabilitating; I never cared what people thought of me then and I most certainly don't now. Leave it be, Mr. Potter!" the dark voice continued, emotion running higher as the words came out.
"I'm not just wanting it for your sake," the light voice, Harry. Hikaru thought, pleaded, "But for all the students in Slytherin House, and yes, for my mother too. You deserve a better epitaph."
"Pah! I wonder how you even know that word, epitaph. No, Mr. Potter, I will not have my life paraded for all to see." The dark voice sounded final. "Mr. Potter, good day." Definitely final.
Having realized that one of the speakers was indeed Harry, Hikaru really wanted to speak to him about all that had happened to him, but he also didn't want interrupt an obvious fight, so he waited a minute longer and when no more words were exchanged, indicating that one or other had left, Hikaru stepped around the corner with Sai hanging on to his elbow.
He instantly realized he'd assessed the situation wrongly when he saw Harry sitting on a high backed chair in front of a large portrait painting. The occupant of the picture had his arms firmly crossed and his sizable nose turned away from Harry.
"Snape, please," Harry pleaded again, and Hikaru decided to reverse his last step stealthily so Harry and the painting could have their privacy. But it was too late, as 'Snape' had already seen him and prompted by the change of the painted man's focus, Harry looked up and spotted him.
Hikaru, who knew a lost cause when he was in one, came forward sheepishly, shrugged his shoulders elaborately and apologized for the interruption.
"Not at all," Harry said, a big smile on his face. He stood up and beckoned Hikaru closer to the painting, whose subject still looked cross and foreboding with his long face, jet black eyes, lanky hair and funereal black clothing.
"Hikaru, this is Professor Snape, former Headmaster," Harry said, indicating the painting. "And Professor, this is Hikaru Shindou of Tokyo, Japan," indicating Hikaru.
The painted figure turned his head 'round to take a good look at Hikaru, making him shiver - those black irises were really creepy - before giving a grunt and saying, "Hufflepuff, I see. Well, at least they'll keep you out of trouble there." Then the figure looked over Hikaru's shoulder and said accusatorily, "You!" Hikaru stiffened, did the man mean him?
"You, why are you out of uniform?! It'll be points from Hufflepuff if you keep that up!" The man almost sounded delighted at the points lost, but it was not what was worrying Hikaru; Hikaru had followed Snape's gaze over his shoulder and the only person the painted man could be looking at was Sai.
#@_@#
Some half a hour later Hikaru found himself sitting on one of the ornate wooden chairs in the Headmistress' office. His head was still spinning with the revelations of the past half hour.
It turned out that not Hikaru had been eligible for schooling at Hogwarts, but it had been Sai who had the Magical powers. Hikaru himself had very little Magic, only just enough to perceive its effects. Now it all made sense; how spells only seemed to work if Sai was near, like the flying, and how when Hikaru had looked for a wand on his own nothing had happened at all, but as soon as Sai had pointed one out to him and had touched him when he used it, he could do magic with it. And his dismal failures in Charms class.
"So where does this leave me," he asked of the room, keeping his head down in dejection. The Headmistress was sitting behind her desk which Harry leaned against, and Sai was kneeling in front of Hikaru's chair. Hikaru could feel the ethereal touch of his other self. No, not of 'his other self' but of the other being he now knew Sai to be. A being separate from himself, yet conjunct.
"It leaves us where we've always been; in each other's pockets," Sai said, "Or more like me in your pocket, for I cannot affect the world but through you."
"That can be changed," the Headmistress said, who had cast a spell so Sai could be seen and heard, as well as an instant translation spell, "Nay, it must be changed, for your own development, Mr. Fujiwara."
That was another thing that had shocked Hikaru; he had never know Sai had a family name and that it was not Shindou at that. Earlier Harry had speculated that Sai was a ghost of a person long dead, the ancient clothing and speech would suggest it, but Sai insisted he had known no other life than Hikaru's.
At the Headmistress' words Sai looked up at the Scottish lady and said decisively, "I will do nothing that will sever my bond with Hikaru, for he and I are two sides of the same fan. Nothing will come between us."
Hikaru recognized it as a bold statement, because no one could foretell the future. But overly bold or not, Hikaru appreciated the sentiment; for he had seen Sai as his other half all of his life, and to be separated would be heart-rending. And there was the matter of this by Hikaru (and Sai) newly discovered world of Magic in which people flew instead of ran, and Hikaru was damn well not letting that get away from him!
As Sai looked back to Hikaru and saw his broad smile, Hikaru saw its equal on Sai's face. Yes, they'd somehow make it work together.
#@_@#
Chapter Nine: "A Birthday Present"
Hikaru's first few weeks at school just flew by. He had made it into to the Hufflepuff Quidditch trainee team (team B) with which he trained general flying and specific Quidditch moves two afternoons a week. Usually they were flying in an open field, but once they had practiced on the actual Quidditch pitch (which was usually reserved for the house teams' training). Hikaru had absolutely loved it and he could tell Sai was having a ball too, sitting behind Hikaru on the school broom, squealing his delight at intervals.
The rest of the time both Hikaru and Sai were hard at work. Now that Hikaru (and the Headmistress, and the teachers) knew that Sai was a sperate being, Hikaru was stuck doing all his own schoolwork. And Sai was having to do homework by himself for the very first time in his life. It wasn't easy for either of them.
There was also the matter of the things Sai needed to learn that would be of no use to Hikaru. A solution was found (suggested by the portrait Professor) in that Hikaru, for two nights a week, would sleep in a separate room (Harry offered the extra room in his new quarters as the new DADA Professor) where another portrait of Snape hung and where Sai would be taking instruction from the former Headmaster, without disturbing the rest of Hikaru's dorm mates.
Needless to say, Hikaru was less than thrilled to be sleeping in a room with that on the wall, but he was glad he was going to be sleeping while poor Sai was stuck with 'the most demanding teacher Hogwarts had ever known' (the Headmistress' words, not Hikaru's).
But the arrangement seemed to work because Sai was able to change his appearance at will after only a week (now wearing a uniform in front of Snape) and was getting on with affecting the world around him quite nicely; he had managed to push over a heavy candle stick, scaring the crap out of Hikaru's friend. And his friends reported that they could almost see Sai if they squinted really hard or tried to look out of the sides of their eyes. It was progress, of sorts.
And then it was September 19th, the eve of Hikaru's birthday. It was a sleep-under-the-portrait night, but Hikaru had been asked to come to the Headmistress' office after dinner, so he was hoping he was getting a night off on that; Snape gave him the willies, though Sai now seemed to like the creep a lot. And now that Hikaru knew Sai wasn't his other self, Sai's sometimes strange tastes didn't worry Hikaru so much as they used to; to each his own.
But Hikaru was out of luck; the Headmistress had only sent for him to give him a parcel sent from Japan by Muggle mail. He and Sai took it to a deserted corridor - the Hufflepuff dorm and common room hardly provided any privacy - before Hikaru unwrapped it.
Inside were two blue airmail envelopes, one sheet of Hikaru's Gramp's note paper and a box wrapped in once brightly coloured, now faded, rice paper. The note merely congratulated Hikaru on his 11th birthday and was signed by both of his grandparents. One of the airmail letters was from Hikaru's mom and contained the kind of things that are sure to embarrass the heck out of 11 year old boys. The other one was from his dad and, after congratulating him it went on to tell him about the box, the birthday gift, Hikaru assumed.
"Son, I have sent you a family heirloom. Now that you are enrolled in this new school and you live in this new world, it seems fitting that you should have this gift that once was given to your ancestors by a person from your new home. I will also pass along what this honorable giver said about the item: 'Keep this, and when one day a letter comes that bids any of you children or your child's child's children to come to England to learn, give it them, for it is part of their destiny.' And I now give it to you, so it can help fulfill your destiny.
Your loving father."
Hikaru gave Sai a long look before turning back to the box and tearing off the paper. He carefully set the kaya wooden box right side up on his knees and pried the catch open with his nail. He lifted the lid, and inside was revealed a large beautifully cut glass squat bottle with a silver-topped stopper, obviously an inkwell, filled with what appeared to be deep purple ink, which sat right side up in a velvet covered hollow. Hikaru had to look closely to read it, but around the rim of the silver stopper it said 'I write of things past and future' in ornate letters.
#@_@#
With the receiving of this gift the wondrous adventures of an almost ordinary Japanese kid and his slightly excentric and not so imaginary friend began. Over the course of his school career at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hikaru would hardly have time to think about the eve of his 11th birthday, still, this was indeed where it all began.
What wondrous adventures, you ask? Well, that is for another day.
#@_@#
The End
#@_@#
onkoonaShindou Hikaru and the Enchanted Inkwell
Chapter One: "An Ordinary Boy."
Now Shindou Hikaru did not live a hole in the ground, neither wet nor dry, nor neat, nor grubby, nor with a round green front door. Nor did he live in a cupboard under the stairs, dingy or otherwise. No, he lived in a traditional Japanese house in a modern Japanese town, and he was, maybe unsurprisingly, quite ordinary.
Hikaru was a perfectly normal 10 year old Japanese kid. Like most perfectly normal kids he took his perfectly normal life for granted. He didn't wonder where the food his grandmother served three times a day came from, no, he just ate it with relish. He didn't ask why he had to learn so many Kanji in school and so much English after school, no, he just complained about it while he was doing the work. He didn't question why his parents chose to leave him with his grandparents in Tokyo, while they were exploring the Antarctic, no, he accepted their decision and was privately glad he wasn't stuck in sub-zero temperatures all year 'round; the few cold weeks in Tokyo's winter were enough to last him all year. And he never bothered to wonder why, at age 10, he still was playing with his imaginary friend Sai.
Okay, so Hikaru wasn't a 100% ordinary kid, but for the longest time he really thought he was. For as long as he could remember he had had Sai as his friend. One that no-one else could see. When Hikaru had been small, Sai had been small too, and whenever little Hikaru included Sai in his life in front of grown-ups, these grown-ups would humor little Hikaru to his face and tell his grandmother not to worry - kids grow out of that kind of foolishness - behind his back.
The problem was that he didn't grow out of it. Or, more accurately, Hikaru decided it was the grown-ups' problem, not his; Hikaru was fine with having Sai around. So at some point Hikaru decided just not to tell the grown-ups that he included Sai in his play at all, and the whole problem went away on its own.
Hikaru really liked Sai. Unlike Hikaru, Sai was not an ordinary modern Japanese kid. He was a young noble of a by-gone age, and he would speak like someone from a fairy tale or a historical movie. Hikaru had long gotten used to Sai's way of talking and, since they were of the same age, they played together all the time without any communication problems. No, Hikaru kept his connection with Sai firmly outside of the world around him; it was a private matter. Even when it looked to the outside like Hikaru was fully taking part in life, privately he could be talking to Sai about something totally different, and it usually involved one game or another. Sai did love his board games!
So, Shindou Hikaru, who lived in Tokyo with his grandparents and his imaginary friend, took life in its stride, heading where all mostly normal Japanese kids headed. All perfectly ordinary until The Letter arrived.
#@_@#
Chapter Two: "A Very Important Letter."
"Read it again," Sai asked, while he sat in seiza on Hikaru's unmade bed, the trailing ends of his suikan hanging off the bed while the braided loops of his hair danced around his face. Had Hikaru bothered to look at his imaginary friend he would have seen Sai's trademark 'wazzdat?' expression on his face, making the imaginary boy, dressed in the finest silk that a rich imagination could buy, look like a traditional Hina doll. But Hikaru did not look, nor did he have to; all Sai's patented expressions were already known to him and he could hear what face Sai'd put on just by the tone of the little noble's voice.
Hikaru, as usual, decided to indulge Sai and so he precariously tipped back the wooden desk chair he was sitting on while he held out the thick vellum letter in front of him and read yet again,
"Dear Mr Shindou,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"So what does all that mean?" Sai asked again. Hikaru was well aware that his own knowledge of English was considerably better than Sai's. All those after school lessons Hikaru's parents had insisted he take (so he'd be able to travel with them more easily once he was older) had worked very well for Hikaru, but Sai had had neither interest in nor reason to learn English; he was not going to be talking to anybody but Hikaru, so why bother to learn? So Sai had spent the after school lessons reading the Go books and magazines that Hikaru would lay out for him at lesson time. Neither Hikaru nor Sai had ever questioned the indulgence the English teacher had had for what to him must have seemed the totally pointless task of Hikaru, at intervals, turning over the pages of a book or a magazines on the table next to him where Hikaru himself was neither reading nor working.
The flip side of this was that Sai was the one who did all the studying of things like math and history, and he was a lot more advanced in Kanji and therefore in reading. All in all it worked out just fine in Hikaru's book; after all, Sai was but a figment of Hikaru's own imagination, so you could say that Sai was Hikaru. And that was something that Hikaru did say to himself on a regular basis. And Sai had never denied it...
Long story short; Sai's English was rather elementary and truth be told, this fancy letter on the fancy paper wasn't easy for Hikaru to read either. Hikaru re-read it again with all his focus on it and after a while he concluded, "They want me to go to this school in England."
#@_@#
Hikaru had very much hoped that when he showed the letter to his grandparents, and after translating it as best he could into Japanese, his grandfather would just call it nonsense and would assure Hikaru he didn't have to go, and his grandmother would make him noodle-soup to celebrate his not leaving. As it was, Hikaru got his soup but only as a consolation prize, because after seeing the letterhead Gramps was emphatic; Hikaru was to go to England in September.
#@_@#
And that is how Hikaru found himself arriving at Heathrow airport early on Thursday, September 1st, 1998. Very very early for the Brits; 6:30 am. But not at all so early for Hikaru, who'd had to get up at 6:45 Tokyo time to take a 12 hour flight!
Of course he'd tried to sleep, but trying isn't the same as succeeding, and Sai, who never had shown any need for sleep in all their life together, had been super excited by the whole event. And maybe with reason; after all, not everyone got to walk on the plane's wings with clouds whizzing by at break neck speed.
At first Hikaru nearly threw a fit when Sai decided to go on his little jaunt outside of the plane's cabin, but he quickly collected himself when he reminded himself that Sai was only imaginary and therefore impervious to all influences outside of Hikaru's own brain. So once Hikaru had calmed down his wildly beating heart, he started to enjoy his imaginary friend's antics with, truth be told, a bit of jealousy in his heart; it really looked as if Sai was having a lot of fun out there.
#@_@#
Chapter Three: "How do you do?"
Hikaru, armed with a heavy travelling trunk, a rucksack for his necessities and wearing a coat that he felt was too heavy for September, stood a bit forlornly at the exit gate of his flight at Heathrow, while Sai, in his usual silks, was flitting around trying to see all the passing people from every angle at once. The letter his grandparents had received with the plane ticket had also given Hikaru the instruction to stay where he was once he'd arrived; some one would come for him.
After 5 minutes waiting, he got a bit miffed; couldn't they bother to be on time? After 10 minutes he got annoyed. What kinda country was this?! After 30 minutes he got worried. What if the whole thing was some kinda trap to kidnap unsuspecting Japanese kids? After 40 minutes, while Sai was still entertaining himself with the passersby, Hikaru was just coming up with another great thought when a young man came jogging up to them. The man was quite out of breath when he came to a stop and Hikaru moved behind his truck so as to make grabbing him that much harder. He could feel Sai taking up position behind his back. Better be safe than sorry.
"Are you Hikaru Shindou?" the man asked. Hikaru gave him a good long look. The guy was not very tall, but sturdily built, and definitely a senior or older. Maybe even as old as 20. He wore an old dark blue sweater over a white button-down shirt, with brown pants, grey socks and black shoes. His dark brown hair was uncombed and he wore rather ugly round glasses. The only thing that was in any way interesting about the man were his emerald green eyes.
"Yes, I am Hikaru Shindou," Hikaru said, making sure he said his given name first and then his family name. He also forced himself not to bow and add dozo joroshku.
"Oh, marvelous!" the man exclaimed, "I'm Harry Potter; how do you do, call me Harry," and held out his hand for Hikaru to shake. Hikaru hesitated a moment, then wiped his hand on his pants to lose some of the nervous sweat that had accumulated there and then he grasped the man's hand, giving one medium squeeze and returned, "how do you do."
"Who is he? Do we know him?" Sai asked, his voice tinged with suspicion. Hikaru knew Sai didn't like meeting new people (unless they were Go or Chess players); Hikaru attributed it to a natural reluctance for change that is in everybody and that he'd transferred to his imaginary friend, so Hikaru himself wouldn't be feel the need to be shy.
"No, we don't, but someone is supposed to meet us, it could be this guy," Hikaru thought back to Sai.
"Excuse me, is there some way you can verify that you are the person we are supposed to meet?" Hikaru said slowly, as he had to work hard to come up with all the right words, in the right order. Hikaru hoped that seven years of English lessons were going to pay off, or he'd never forgive his folks!
"Oh, your English is simply marvelous!" the young man gushed before continuing, "I'm acting as deputy to the Headmistress of Hogwarts. You see, what with the war, it's all hands on deck, so to say, and since I was going to London anyway to organize supplies, I was roped into picking you up and taking you shopping for school supplies."
The young man spoke a little bit too fast for Hikaru to follow every word he said, but he had caught Hogwarts and picking you up (always assuming he had meant that in the regular way, not anything adult). Hikaru had also caught taking you shopping and he was less sure he'd gotten that right...
Anyway, Hikaru though all this at Sai, who in turn nodded sagely and said, "I think you are right, did you notice the crest on his outer garment? It much resembles the crest on the letter." Hikaru had to admit he hadn't noticed; things like crests had lost most of their importance in modern day Japan. And Hikaru had certainly not know that western people still used crests. He had honestly taken the emblem as advertising for a popular brand of sweaters.
"Well, come on, we have lots to do this morning," Harry said and indicated which way to go with his hand. Hikaru got his trolley rolling and off they went with some speed.
#@_@#
Once they were settled on the train to London proper (and Harry amazed Hikaru by quickly casting a spell on Hikaru's trunk so it shrunk into a mini version of itself and urging Hikaru to put it safely in his pocket; it was Hikaru and Sai's first encounter with actual magic, and Sai was mesmerized by it and Hikaru was dead impressed), Hikaru asked his guide, "So what is that about a war, you said?" Well, that got the ball rolling and in the short 20 minute ride Hikaru learned about the Wizarding world and this latest greatest war.
Harry's voice was filled with pride as he recounted the adventures and braveries of his friends and his teachers. There was sadness for all the family and friends he had lost, but Hikaru felt Harry was glossing over all that a bit so as not to spoil the fine day. Harry talked with great admiration of the now Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall.
At some point in the story, Hikaru interrupted with a question, "Look, are you sure I should go to Hogwarts? I'm not a wizard, I think."
Harry had looked surprised. "Well, of course you are a Wizard; Magic itself writes the list of eligible students, and Magic just cannot be mistaken!"
To this Hikaru could only say, "Oh. Okay."
#@_@#
Chapter four: "Shopping is hard work"
After the train, Harry took them through London's underground (a mini version of Tokyo's metro system; much older, more cramped and darker too; Hikaru was not impressed) to a even older and darker pub.
By now Hikaru had lost all sense of the time of day; if he hadn't, he might have been surprised that the pub was even open at 7:30 am. He was not surprised there were only a few people sitting at the worn and dingy tables; the place was giving Hikaru the creeps just passing through, imagine what it would actually be like to sit down for a drink!
But they were only passing through, literally it seemed; in the front door and straight out the back, ending up in a small outside space with brick walls on all sides and only the door behind him as a way out. Then Harry stepped forward to the blank wall and touched it with the same stick he'd used to shrink Hikaru's trunk.
Once Harry had finished his spell, he stepped back. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then Sai gasped next to him and Hikaru felt Sai's imaginary hands grab his arm. He had looked over at Sai when had heard him gasp, but now he followed Sai's gaze back to the wall, which was now not blank at all. The bricks were moving to form an arch that opened unto a whole new street.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley. Come on," Harry said, stepping through the arch, and Hikaru slowly followed with a trembling Sai still holding onto his arm tightly.
#@_@#
Diagon Alley must have been the oldest street Hikaru had ever seen; it reminded him of many of the illustrations in the books by Charles Dickens that his English sensei so enjoyed. Hikaru was somewhat less fond of those books; it seemed that all the stories in them were about poverty and misery, and the text was quite long winded too. But this street looked interesting for all the early hour, especially the store windows filled with items that hitherto Hikaru had always thought of as inanimate, but which jumped and twirled and changed colour willy-nilly.
Sai was fascinated too. Hikaru's other self was running from one side of the street to the other pointing out the oddest things, while Hikaru was starting to feel the weight of the super long day and decided to conserve energy by just following Harry, who had started walking straight down the street to an imposing building at the far end. It had 'Gringotts Bank' written on the facade.
#@_@#
After visiting the bank, where both Hikaru and Harry had stocked up on Wizarding money, Harry took Hikaru around the shops which had now opened.
But as Hikaru was taken to the book shop and the potion's supply shop, he couldn't stop thinking about what had happened at the bank.
Oh, visiting the bank itself had been an adventure, complete with roller coaster ride. But it had been that odd moment when the goblin had looked at Hikaru (with Sai trying to hide behind him) long and hard and then had asked to speak to Harry privately. They'd stepped a little way away, just enough that Hikaru couldn't hear what was whispered, but only what was said aloud, which only was one thing: Harry saying, "look, I don't think he even knows!"
Knows what? was the question, and was he Hikaru or somebody else? The questions stayed with him all the way through the fittings at Madam Malkin's robes shop.
Harry had dropped him off at the robes shop, saying he needed to run a few errands and that Hikaru was to go on Ollivander's new wand shop once he was done.
Finding the wand shop was easy enough, as a brightly painted sign identified it clearly. Hikaru remembered Harry had said something about the old wand maker's shop having been destroyed, and the apparently new sign seemed to jive with that story.
Hikaru was hesitant in opening the shop's door, as it appeared to be dark and empty inside. But the fact that a wand was on the list of items to buy, combined with the fact that Harry had mentioned the shop quite casually, embolded Hikaru to open the door, with Sai at his back.
#@_@#
Chapter five: "Give it a try."
Mr. Ollivander turned out to be the spitting image of Hikaru's own grandfather. Not in looks, of course, but in actions, certainly. Like his grandfather the wand maker had made a corner of the obviously as yet unfinished shop into a comfortable nook from where he could survey the entire premises and still sit quite comfortably. He had a small table with a steaming tea pot, cups and a plate of cake at his left elbow, and another small table at his right with some papers and of course his own wand.
"Welcome!" the old wand maker said, startling Hikaru by saying it in Japanese. Sai promptly answered with the traditional 'treat me kindly' and bowed. After a hesitation Hikaru followed suit.
"I hope you will forgive me for continuing in English, I'm afraid that was all the Japanese that I know," the old man said.
"Oh, it's no problem," Hikaru replied, "I've had an English tutor for years."
"How wonderful! And you have learned to speak English very well, I must say!" Ollivander said, making Hikaru feel proud of himself; all the hard work had paid off at least.
"But now to business," the wand maker announced. And he proceeded to explain about how Hikaru was to find a wand.
"Due to circumstances," Ollivander said, "I find myself less ambulant than I used to be." "I'll bet," Hikaru thought, remembering Harry's war stories. "So I'll point out a wand and you can fetch it and try it," he finished.
The next half hour had Hikaru trying all sorts of dust and debris covered boxes, but each time he opened one, took out the wand and flicked it, nothing at all happened. After yet another failure Hikaru looked over a Sai in exasperation.
"Maybe the Magic is wrong and I'm not a Wizard after all," he thought at Sai, who had been doing his own sight-seeing tour around the tiny shop.
"Would Magic and the people of the honorable Wizard school have let us come from so far, only to be proven wrong?" Sai countered. "Nay, I do not think so, for sure." he continued. Then he turned around, pointed at a box and added, "As I went around I felt something from this one. Maybe you should try it?"
Hikaru approached it and Sai brushed against him as he stepped away to let Hikaru near the box. Hikaru reached out his hand, while Sai looked on over his shoulder. Just as Hikaru's fingers brushed the paper box he felt a warmth radiate from it. He quickly dropped his hand and turned to the shop proprietor.
"If I may, could I try this one?" Hikaru asked.
"Hmm?" Ollivander said as he collected himself from the deep thoughts that had had him staring into space for the last few minutes. "If you feel a wand is calling you, then by all means do! It certainly can't do any harm," he said.
Hikaru nodded his thanks and tuned back to the cupboard full of wand boxes, all with the shortest side showing. He trailed his fingers over them, now a little unsure of which one had felt warm.
"Can you find it again?" Sai asked from a few steps away.
"I'm not sure," Hikaru thought at him, "it was a green box with a grey label, wasn't it?" He could feel Sai moving closer. "I do believe it was," his other self said, stepping closer still and laying a silk sleeve-covered hand on Hikaru's arm.
Hikaru let his fingers roam back and forth one more time and then he felt it again, that warmth, now combined with a glow coming off a dark green box with indeed a grey label on it. He read the label almost as an automatism '1887 Kaya phxF/uniT' It meant nothing to him, so he pulled out the box carefully, leaving a gap in the pile of boxes. He took it to the centre of the room, with Sai still holding on to his arm, looking over his shoulder, and looked over at the wand maker for permission.
"Go ahead, try it out," the man encouraged, sitting forward in his chair.
Hikaru carefully open the box and took out the wand. It felt warm in his hand, and oddly like his game controller from back home; it felt familiar, welcoming. And it appeared Sai was feeling something too, because Hikaru's other self was holding ever tighter onto Hikaru's elbow.
"Why don't you give it a swish," Hikaru heard Ollivander say. Hikaru nodded slowly and then raised the wand slightly so it was pointing outward. He drew a small circle with the wand tip and all of a sudden an explosion of coloured light lit up the room.
"Bravo!" the old man called out from his seat, "that's the ticket! That's the one for you!"
#@_@#
Chapter six: "It knew!"
The last thing on the list was acquiring an owl, a cat, or a toad as a familiar. Hikaru had no clue what that was so Harry explained it to him when they were at the pet shop. By the time Harry was finished Sai drew Hikaru's attention to a black and white kitten in a basket with a few others sitting in one of the dark corners of the shop. Sai was petting it with an imaginary hand and Hikaru could have sworn the kitten reacted, but that was nonsense of course.
Hikaru made his own tour of the shop and was thinking to Sai about each possibility; an owl is smart, a tomcat could fight, a snake, uh, well maybe not a snake. Or a toad. "What do you think, Sai," Hikaru ended his musings and turned back to his other self, only to see what Sai thought; that kitten or nothing.
#@_@#
After Harry had double checked Hikaru's shopping list with all the items bought - cauldron (now in his trunk with his new books and uniform), familiar (in a cat basket with food and water) - they left the Magical district and walked to King's Cross station, where Harry enlarged Hikaru's trunk and put it on one of the carts there. "Since you don't know how yet, and you're not allowed to do magic outside of school, you'll have to take it like this. Don't worry; people will help," he explained.
Getting onto the right platform was interesting, but after the delicious ice-cream Harry had treated Hikaru to after he's bought the wand, Hikaru was finding himself yawning and he had trouble keeping his eyes open. And the moment he'd sat down on the soft red leather upholstered seats in one of the train cabins, his eyes dropped closed and didn't open until hours later someone shook his shoulder to say they'd arrive in 15 minutes and to urge him to change into his uniform, post haste.
#@_@#
After the train ride came a boat ride led by a giant of a man, and Hikaru saw the castle of the first time. "Oh, it's magnificent," Sai gushed next to him, and he had to admit it was. Even looking lopsided with one torrent obviously missing and several vital walls collapsed, it was still very impressive.
The inside was impressive too, but it too had not escaped damage. There were whole chunks missing from some of the steps of the grand staircase the giant had led the first year students to. At the head of the stair stood a tiny man wearing a coat that touched the ground and who had a beard so long it nearly did too. He wore a pointy hat, jauntily tipped to one side and Hikaru realized that this was not a Goblin like the ones at the bank, just a very tiny man, who now raised his hands in welcome and spoke in welcome too; welcoming them to Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.
#@_@#
They were all herded into a large hall, lit by candle light, where a tall spindly woman made a long speech Hikaru was just too tired to comprehend. Then another woman stepped forward, younger with short spiky hair that reminded Hikaru of one of his favourite anime characters.
"Wonder if they have TV here?" he thought. "I have spied no such thing here in the this land at all. It's to be feared there may be none," Sai answered. "Damn," Hikaru thought. "Language!" Sai admonished him.
The spiky haired lady announced something called a sorting. Hikaru was now so tired he was really following what people did, not so much what was said. Apparently a name was called and a person stepped forward and took a seat on a stool and was made to wear a hat. Than the hat spoke and there was cheering from one of the four long tables filled with older students. The person on the chair then joined that table. Once Hikaru had grasped the system he just concentrated on hearing his name and blotting everything else out; he was just too tired to take any more in.
"Hikaru Shindou!" was called out and Hikaru almost didn't recognize his own name, because not only was is called backwards, the last syllable of his family name had been mispronounced as 'doo'. But someone prodded him and he stepped forward and climbed on the stool.
#@_@#
Hikaru's head was still spinning when he climbed off the stool and headed to the cheering table. As his hand was taken and shaken by some of the boys at the table, all welcoming him to Hufflepuff house, Hikaru could only think, "that hat knew about Sai. It knew!"
#@_@#
After the feast, which Hikaru dozed through, his house left for the dormitory and he just followed blindly. Some one was kind enough to show him to his bed, a dark wooden thing with curtains all around, on which he flopped, still fully dressed, face down and zonked out.
#@_@#
Chapter seven: "Class begins."
Hikaru was still groggy the next morning while, as per usual, Sai was bubbling over with excitement for the new day. What was not so usual was the content of this new day; Hikaru's very first day at a school of Magic. He had no clue what his subjects for the day were. Oh, he knew their titles from the week schedule, but not what these strange subjects actually would entail. Heck, he didn't even know what books to put in his backpack or what other things to take to class!
A dorm mate, who introduced himself as Everett Silvestry, of Kingston, Jamaica - and who had the dark skin and black eyes and hair to prove his provenance - helped him get the right books for something called Charms and all the right equipment - the cauldron Harry had helped Hikaru get and the right book, plus the scales for the Potions class first thing that morning. Hikaru's mind boggled when he learned Potions would last 2 hours; he knew from his old school that any subject that had to double up like that was bound to be difficult!
#@_@#
Potions turned out to be not so bad. It was taught by a young woman - apparently a great improvement over earlier teachers, some of whom, Hikaru understood, had been really strict and nasty - by the name of Granger.
This teacher was only very strict on safety. (Which disappointed Hikaru at bit; he'd been tempted to just put some of these odd ingredients together and then see what happens. It was what he'd had planned ever since he realized he'd some day take a chemistry class. And he found himself foiled by a snooty lady with a knowing smile!)
The class went well; Hikaru - with Sai prompting him by reading each step aloud from the Potion book - made a Calendula hand cream that the teacher marked as adequate even though it was quite lumpy. The recipe had not required the cauldron, just grinding and mixing of cold ingredients. With, "Next lesson will be making a base potion, page 17 in your textbook. I expect you to have read through the lesson, and don't forget to bring your cauldron," Professor Granger closed the lesson.
#@_@#
Next was Charms. This appeared to be a lesson in how to use your wand and it turned out to be a grave disappointment for Hikaru, because only he could not make his wand do anything, the entire two hours the lesson lasted. The whole thing was made worse by the fact that Sai had apparently no interest in this subject at all, a fact Hikaru couldn't entirely blame him for; after all Sai did not own a wand nor could he have wielded it if he had. So Sai had chosen to perch on the high windowsill of the even higher windows - students sitting down could not see outside - his head turned out towards the coloured glass, dreamily looking out as though he was a Buddha statue, unmoving and unmovable.
#@_@#
Lunch was served in the same great hall that the sorting and the year's opening had been held. But now Hikaru actually had a chance to meet his class mates, and his house mates too. The idea of being divided into four houses was quite foreign to Hikaru, but he was quickly filled in on how it all worked: people of the same house all stuck together and were against Slytherin House. Everybody seemed to be against Slytherin House! Gryffindors were deemed heroes, Ravenclaws were super-smart, Hufflepuff was the nicest, most social group, but nobody liked Slytherins. It all had to do with The War, some one finally said after Hikaru kept asking why (after all, he'd looked over at the Slytherin table and the only difference he could see to any of the other tables was that the students there just all looked so sad).
But then some one else demanded a change of subject and they all started to talk about the Quidditch tryouts in a few weeks' time. Again Hikaru had to ask, but the answers here were A. a lot more informative and B. made him see stars: Quidditch turned out to be a ball game in which you flew in the air instead of ran on the ground; he so much wanted to play that!
#@_@#
Maybe it was a coincidence that the very next lesson was Flying. Everett had told Hikaru that morning that he only needed books for History of Magic and nothing else that afternoon, and so the flying lesson came as a nice surprise for Hikaru. And for Sai too; he had liked his little plane-wing walk a lot the other day and Hikaru could see his other self sparkle with anticipation. Hikaru knew that Sai had little interest in sports as such - board games was his forte - but he knew his imaginary friend did like the outdoors, so Hikaru's own love of dodge ball and baseball, which he'd played every day after school (homework and weather permitting) back in Tokyo, had never come between them. Hikaru hoped fervently that Sai would not begrudge him exploring this new sport of Quidditch. But first he had to learn how to fly.
#@_@#
The flying lesson had gone rather well, Hikaru thought. He had completed the assignment of calling up the broom, sitting on it properly, hovering two feet off the ground and landing on both feet perfectly after only two tries. Sai had sat at his feet, all the while applauding Hikaru's efforts. It had been very satisfying.
Less satisfying was the next double class of History of Magic. If Hikaru had thought Japanese history deadly dull, this turned out to be much worse; the teacher - whom Hikaru strongly suspected of being a ghost, which Everett later confirmed - spent the entire two hours just droning up the text straight from the book.
After Hikaru had caught on to that fact, he started to think at his other self instead. Sai of course protested, but since even he had to admit that with the droning tone and the ghost-teacher's brogue accent, Hikaru couldn't get much of what the man said anyway, and Hikaru'd be better off reading the book later - or make Sai do it, as used to happen back in Japan - so he gave in and they chatted about all they'd seen so far.
Which turned out to quickly become a, for Hikaru, informative conversation; because when Hikaru had lived in Tokyo, Sai would be active only when Hikaru was. While Hikaru slept in his bed, Sai would, well, Hikaru had always supposed Sai would have dozed or something, but now he learned Sai never slept and in Japan he'd just sit and think, but here Sai had spent his time exploring.
Not that Sai could go far, about 10 meters away from Hikaru he said he'd feel ill and had to come back. But even with only a 10 meter radius, both in the castle last night and on the train the day before, there had been loads of things for Sai to see while Hikaru slept.
#@_@#
After dinner that night - and after Hikaru had made a new friend, one Horatio Griddle, Horry to his friends, from London - Sai was taking Hikaru exploring around the castle. There was at least another hour before curfew and Hikaru's own rule of never doing homework until the day before it was due - a rule Sai frowned upon, as he'd ended up saving Hikaru's beacon more than once because of it - had left them without any homework to do, and so with a free evening.
Their explorations took them up to the third floor where corridors seemed to meander this way and that, now running out into a small space with a tall window, now stopping for no apparent reason at a blank wall. It had Hikaru suspecting strongly that it wasn't just the staircases that moved in this odd castle.
The floor appeared all but deserted, and looked as if people hadn't been there in centuries. But when Sai and Hikaru turned yet another dark corner, they could hear voices around the next bend. Hikaru made a totally unnecessary shushing gesture to Sai and started to creep to the next juncture, Sai following behind. As they came closer, the voices became clearer, and then they could understand what was said.
#@_@#
Chapter Eight: "What the painting said."
"But I think it should be made clear," a light voice said.
"I did not ask you to do this; I don't desire to be seen as good," a darker voice nearly spat the last word, "And my life certainty doesn't need rehabilitating; I never cared what people thought of me then and I most certainly don't now. Leave it be, Mr. Potter!" the dark voice continued, emotion running higher as the words came out.
"I'm not just wanting it for your sake," the light voice, Harry. Hikaru thought, pleaded, "But for all the students in Slytherin House, and yes, for my mother too. You deserve a better epitaph."
"Pah! I wonder how you even know that word, epitaph. No, Mr. Potter, I will not have my life paraded for all to see." The dark voice sounded final. "Mr. Potter, good day." Definitely final.
Having realized that one of the speakers was indeed Harry, Hikaru really wanted to speak to him about all that had happened to him, but he also didn't want interrupt an obvious fight, so he waited a minute longer and when no more words were exchanged, indicating that one or other had left, Hikaru stepped around the corner with Sai hanging on to his elbow.
He instantly realized he'd assessed the situation wrongly when he saw Harry sitting on a high backed chair in front of a large portrait painting. The occupant of the picture had his arms firmly crossed and his sizable nose turned away from Harry.
"Snape, please," Harry pleaded again, and Hikaru decided to reverse his last step stealthily so Harry and the painting could have their privacy. But it was too late, as 'Snape' had already seen him and prompted by the change of the painted man's focus, Harry looked up and spotted him.
Hikaru, who knew a lost cause when he was in one, came forward sheepishly, shrugged his shoulders elaborately and apologized for the interruption.
"Not at all," Harry said, a big smile on his face. He stood up and beckoned Hikaru closer to the painting, whose subject still looked cross and foreboding with his long face, jet black eyes, lanky hair and funereal black clothing.
"Hikaru, this is Professor Snape, former Headmaster," Harry said, indicating the painting. "And Professor, this is Hikaru Shindou of Tokyo, Japan," indicating Hikaru.
The painted figure turned his head 'round to take a good look at Hikaru, making him shiver - those black irises were really creepy - before giving a grunt and saying, "Hufflepuff, I see. Well, at least they'll keep you out of trouble there." Then the figure looked over Hikaru's shoulder and said accusatorily, "You!" Hikaru stiffened, did the man mean him?
"You, why are you out of uniform?! It'll be points from Hufflepuff if you keep that up!" The man almost sounded delighted at the points lost, but it was not what was worrying Hikaru; Hikaru had followed Snape's gaze over his shoulder and the only person the painted man could be looking at was Sai.
#@_@#
Some half a hour later Hikaru found himself sitting on one of the ornate wooden chairs in the Headmistress' office. His head was still spinning with the revelations of the past half hour.
It turned out that not Hikaru had been eligible for schooling at Hogwarts, but it had been Sai who had the Magical powers. Hikaru himself had very little Magic, only just enough to perceive its effects. Now it all made sense; how spells only seemed to work if Sai was near, like the flying, and how when Hikaru had looked for a wand on his own nothing had happened at all, but as soon as Sai had pointed one out to him and had touched him when he used it, he could do magic with it. And his dismal failures in Charms class.
"So where does this leave me," he asked of the room, keeping his head down in dejection. The Headmistress was sitting behind her desk which Harry leaned against, and Sai was kneeling in front of Hikaru's chair. Hikaru could feel the ethereal touch of his other self. No, not of 'his other self' but of the other being he now knew Sai to be. A being separate from himself, yet conjunct.
"It leaves us where we've always been; in each other's pockets," Sai said, "Or more like me in your pocket, for I cannot affect the world but through you."
"That can be changed," the Headmistress said, who had cast a spell so Sai could be seen and heard, as well as an instant translation spell, "Nay, it must be changed, for your own development, Mr. Fujiwara."
That was another thing that had shocked Hikaru; he had never know Sai had a family name and that it was not Shindou at that. Earlier Harry had speculated that Sai was a ghost of a person long dead, the ancient clothing and speech would suggest it, but Sai insisted he had known no other life than Hikaru's.
At the Headmistress' words Sai looked up at the Scottish lady and said decisively, "I will do nothing that will sever my bond with Hikaru, for he and I are two sides of the same fan. Nothing will come between us."
Hikaru recognized it as a bold statement, because no one could foretell the future. But overly bold or not, Hikaru appreciated the sentiment; for he had seen Sai as his other half all of his life, and to be separated would be heart-rending. And there was the matter of this by Hikaru (and Sai) newly discovered world of Magic in which people flew instead of ran, and Hikaru was damn well not letting that get away from him!
As Sai looked back to Hikaru and saw his broad smile, Hikaru saw its equal on Sai's face. Yes, they'd somehow make it work together.
#@_@#
Chapter Nine: "A Birthday Present"
Hikaru's first few weeks at school just flew by. He had made it into to the Hufflepuff Quidditch trainee team (team B) with which he trained general flying and specific Quidditch moves two afternoons a week. Usually they were flying in an open field, but once they had practiced on the actual Quidditch pitch (which was usually reserved for the house teams' training). Hikaru had absolutely loved it and he could tell Sai was having a ball too, sitting behind Hikaru on the school broom, squealing his delight at intervals.
The rest of the time both Hikaru and Sai were hard at work. Now that Hikaru (and the Headmistress, and the teachers) knew that Sai was a sperate being, Hikaru was stuck doing all his own schoolwork. And Sai was having to do homework by himself for the very first time in his life. It wasn't easy for either of them.
There was also the matter of the things Sai needed to learn that would be of no use to Hikaru. A solution was found (suggested by the portrait Professor) in that Hikaru, for two nights a week, would sleep in a separate room (Harry offered the extra room in his new quarters as the new DADA Professor) where another portrait of Snape hung and where Sai would be taking instruction from the former Headmaster, without disturbing the rest of Hikaru's dorm mates.
Needless to say, Hikaru was less than thrilled to be sleeping in a room with that on the wall, but he was glad he was going to be sleeping while poor Sai was stuck with 'the most demanding teacher Hogwarts had ever known' (the Headmistress' words, not Hikaru's).
But the arrangement seemed to work because Sai was able to change his appearance at will after only a week (now wearing a uniform in front of Snape) and was getting on with affecting the world around him quite nicely; he had managed to push over a heavy candle stick, scaring the crap out of Hikaru's friend. And his friends reported that they could almost see Sai if they squinted really hard or tried to look out of the sides of their eyes. It was progress, of sorts.
And then it was September 19th, the eve of Hikaru's birthday. It was a sleep-under-the-portrait night, but Hikaru had been asked to come to the Headmistress' office after dinner, so he was hoping he was getting a night off on that; Snape gave him the willies, though Sai now seemed to like the creep a lot. And now that Hikaru knew Sai wasn't his other self, Sai's sometimes strange tastes didn't worry Hikaru so much as they used to; to each his own.
But Hikaru was out of luck; the Headmistress had only sent for him to give him a parcel sent from Japan by Muggle mail. He and Sai took it to a deserted corridor - the Hufflepuff dorm and common room hardly provided any privacy - before Hikaru unwrapped it.
Inside were two blue airmail envelopes, one sheet of Hikaru's Gramp's note paper and a box wrapped in once brightly coloured, now faded, rice paper. The note merely congratulated Hikaru on his 11th birthday and was signed by both of his grandparents. One of the airmail letters was from Hikaru's mom and contained the kind of things that are sure to embarrass the heck out of 11 year old boys. The other one was from his dad and, after congratulating him it went on to tell him about the box, the birthday gift, Hikaru assumed.
"Son, I have sent you a family heirloom. Now that you are enrolled in this new school and you live in this new world, it seems fitting that you should have this gift that once was given to your ancestors by a person from your new home. I will also pass along what this honorable giver said about the item: 'Keep this, and when one day a letter comes that bids any of you children or your child's child's children to come to England to learn, give it them, for it is part of their destiny.' And I now give it to you, so it can help fulfill your destiny.
Your loving father."
Hikaru gave Sai a long look before turning back to the box and tearing off the paper. He carefully set the kaya wooden box right side up on his knees and pried the catch open with his nail. He lifted the lid, and inside was revealed a large beautifully cut glass squat bottle with a silver-topped stopper, obviously an inkwell, filled with what appeared to be deep purple ink, which sat right side up in a velvet covered hollow. Hikaru had to look closely to read it, but around the rim of the silver stopper it said 'I write of things past and future' in ornate letters.
#@_@#
With the receiving of this gift the wondrous adventures of an almost ordinary Japanese kid and his slightly excentric and not so imaginary friend began. Over the course of his school career at Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hikaru would hardly have time to think about the eve of his 11th birthday, still, this was indeed where it all began.
What wondrous adventures, you ask? Well, that is for another day.
#@_@#
The End
#@_@#
