477 Chapter 433

"Albus." The Deputy Headmistress leveled a rather intimidating glare. The kind that only a teacher could do.

"Minerva –" The headmaster seemed to want to say something but he quickly shrunk down under her intense gaze.

Funny enough, I felt Yasaka's tail tightened around me quite a bit and she was looking at me with a similar kind of look.

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

"Oh, if it isn't our Groundskeeper!" The Headmaster suddenly declared as another figure came into view, seemingly having nothing to do with us as it looked like they were going about their business. "Hagrid, why don't you come on over here!"

It was enough that the Deputy Headmistress stopped looking like she was about to shave his admittedly impressive beard off.

Well played Headmaster.

The newcomer himself was….large.

To put it politely.

No way he was fully human.

The large man awkwardly trotted over at the Headmaster's command. "Headmaster." He greeted back with a jovial tone and a big grin on his face.

Now that I got a better look, he was definitely large. Shit, I looked like a child next to him. Even his clothes looked handmade because there was certainly no way he was shopping off the rack. Big and tall sections had their limits.

Oddly enough, he had this really….gentle vibe to him.

I would almost compare it to Jeanne, if to a lesser extent. Whereas Jeanne was bright, warm and welcoming, he felt more of a duller gentle, but still enough that I almost instinctively felt at ease around him and felt no threat whatsoever.

"Hagrid my boy, come, come." The Headmaster held up his arm. "Introduce yourself to our guests. We have a potential student coming from afar."

"Ah, I'm just the groundskeeper. The names' Rubeus Hagrid." He smiled happily.

"You're big." Kunou blurted out.

"Ah, that I am." He chuckled in amusement. "And you're a wee little lass, ain't ya?"

"I'm not small!" Kunou puffed up. "I'll be as big as momma when I get older."

"That you will." He humored her.

He obviously noticed her features, but there wasn't any change in his expression it seemed, so…points to him so far, it was looking good.

Not that I would be upset that someone was surprised or perhaps even startled to a certain extent. But for him to not even bat an eye made a really good impression.

"I have a bold suggestion." The Headmaster rubbed his beard. "How about letting our Groundskeeper give your daughter a tour while we talk about the finer details of enrollment?" He offered. "Hagrid here knows all the best spots around Hogwarts."

Let Kunou play around the castle instead of being forced into a small room while we negotiated for her to attended? Well….that wasn't a bad idea on the surface.

Yasaka looked at me and then at Kunou before her eyes fell on Hagrid there.

"I'm okay with this, she's been a bundle of barely contained energy ever since we came over, I'm fine with letting her explore a little bit." Yasaka smiled lightly. "Dear, can you let your familiars out to keep her company?"

That's a good idea.

With a thought, I held out my hands and let Sir Wiggles and Lady Wiggles pop out onto them before handing them over to Kunou.

Sir Wiggles already knew what to do, the dutiful Bunny that he was.

Kunou, of course, let out a happy cry, hugging both of them happily.

"Well, I was on my way to feed the owls….I 'ppose I we can go see them first." Hagrid didn't seem to mind.

"Owls?" Kunou's eyes lit up. "Can we pet them?"

"I'm sure there will be a few that don't mind." Hagrid assured her.

Right, let's send my two rabbit familiars into a place that normally treats small rodents as food.

Well, with our blessing she followed the big guy off. And no one had a word of complaint, so I kept my mouth shut as well.

"Well then." The Headmaster clapped his hands happily. "Shall we?" He gestured to the large doors leading into the castle.

Yasaka and I both accepted his invitation to enter. And immediately, we were greeted with a rather immaculate sight. Beautiful stonework meeting an elegant and well crafted tile flooring up to a large staircase.

Hundreds of paintings littered the walls, each one unique enough that there seemed to be no actual theme to them, however…..there was movement.

I would say in about 90% of them, there were images moving. Which….might not sound weird, but they greeted us politely or acted indifferent. There were 'people' walking from one of the painting's edges and appearing in another. People were having a feast in one painting, and a battle in one on the opposite side. A snake slithering across a branch that fell down to a lower painting and nearly got attacked by an startled elephant.

It was obviously magic, but that didn't detract from the whimsical scene that unfolded before our eyes.

They were probably just animated through magical means and repeated certain actions and phrases based on input, but still, it did elicit a sense of fantasy that a School built around Magic should have.

"Welcome, to Hogwarts!" The headmaster said with a bit of flair, arms spread out. "As you can see, Hogwarts is not like most schools, even at first glance."

"That's an understatement." Yasaka noted.

"indeed." The Headmaster agreed with that same amused look of his. "Come, let us go to my office to continue our chat. Minerva, if you would be so kind, perhaps a brief history of our school?"

"Of course." The Deputy Headmistress nodded as we walked up the stairs amidst the constant looks and whispers of the paintings. "It all begins just before the turn of the 11th century. Four powerful Witches and Wizards had an idea, to gather the Magical Children of the country and build a school to teach them and house them from the growing unrest around muggles."

"You're talking about the advent of the Church in the lands and their growing presence?" I hazarded a guess.

Her lips tinned, not quite at me or my questions, but more the circumstances. "Quite." She said curtly. "Some people like to cite the Witch burnings, but that was merely one of many extreme examples that pushed Magicals' away from their muggle cousins."

I nodded in understanding.

It seemed like they weren't separated at this point in time, which was about the same back home. The Mages Association got started only a bit prior to that themselves and they still mingled with regular folk and the concept of Magic, while mythical and ethereal, was still something that most considered to exist in the right places.

"The Four founders gathered upon this very spot, finding it the most magically abundant spot in the isles."

"Ah, that makes sense. To support the amount of Magical Protections and sheer amount of Magical Power that's infused even in the air here, this spot must have rather abundant Leylines." I mused.

"Pardon?" The Deputy Headmistress looked at me strangely.

"Did I say something wrong?" I blinked, and even Yasaka was confused.

The Headmaster even looked at me with a strange look, but different from her. "You speak of something not many know about."

"Albus?"

"It's alright, Minerva, it's nothing bad. Nor is it much of a secret. Simply one of those things the Ministry is happy to not talk about nor propagate willingly." He waved it off. "Leylines are old magic, something we don't much use these days. I'm curious, however, how you know so much about the subject to immediately see through it?"

Was….it not obvious?

Were Leylines such a nebulous concept here that people don't know about them? I'm honestly surprised, and while they aren't much used by the average person back home, they were still a consideration and something taught by all….

"Part of my duties is to watch over the Leylines of Kyoto." Yasaka answered for us. Which was true, but it wasn't the whole truth.

"Ah, how interesting." He simply said with a smile.

Okay then.

There's always going to be some kind of disconnect between World normal logic. Leylines seem obvious and rudimentary to someone such as myself, but to them, it's something old and unknown.

Oh well, I wouldn't dwell on it too much.

"As I was saying." The Headmistress awkwardly cleared her throat. "The Four Founders – Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor." She introduced. "They created this school to protect and educate the Magical Children of Britain. Along with the school, they each created a house that embodies one of their ideals. Gryffindor for the courageous, Hufflepuff for the loyal, Ravenclaw for the knowledge seeking, and Slytherin for the ambitious. Each student will go through a ceremony to be sorted into one of the houses for which – bar extenuating circumstances – they will remain for their entire time at Hogwarts."

"And what significance do these' Houses' have?" Yasaka asked.

"They dictate your house mates, of course." She began. "Also your schedules, and for whom you will share a common room and dormitories with. There are….rivalries, as to be expected, as well. And as well as which teams you will be a part of should you be interested in certain extracurricular activities."

That sounded…odd.

Not the idea of helping kids form their own groups to help integrate into the school, but the segregation seemed a bit systematic. I couldn't help but feel that would foster certain insular social groups within each house and the school at large.

But as long as it didn't reach a certain point, it was Kunou's job to navigate all of that. One of the major points was for her to handle things like this on her own and experience some semblance of independence.

We barely turned another corner as something whipped by.

Perhaps it was instinct that everyone made way for it, but I was honestly surprised enough that I sort of paused and didn't immediately do something as it nearly ran into me as well.

There was a ghost floating in the air.

I wasn't unfamiliar with Ghosts, but to see one so blatantly was….odd.

He sort of reminded me of a jester with his attire.

"Peeves, what mischief are you up to?" The Headmaster looked at the floating specter.

"Peeve isn't doing anything." The Ghost did a little flip in the air with a smile that seemed to contradict his words. And his grin grew wider as he inspected us. "Oooh, new icky visitors, I'll be on my best behavior." He floated down, flying around us rather haphazardly.

"Where do you think you're trying to touch?" Yasaka's hand shot out as the ghost's own fingers were about to make for one of her tails.

The Deputy Headmistress let out a small gasp for some reason.

"Y-you're touching me?" The Ghost spoke in confusion as Yasaka's hand wrapped tightly around his ethereal wrist.

Yasaka tilted her head at this surprise. "Where I come from, we have been exorcizing spirits and demons for thousands of years." She narrowed her eyes and released his hand with a harumph.

The Ghost metaphorically backpaddled far away from her into the air.

"Ahem." The Headmaster cleared his throat. "Peeves, you know the rules. Don't disturb our Guests, your behavior this time was not acceptable. We will be having a conversation later and I will give you a suitable punishment. Now, begone." He waved his hand and an invisible force pushed the Ghost through the ways away with a small cry from the specter.

Hmm.

It seemed like the Magical Energy of the Castle moved at his command. Well, it made sense that the Headmaster would have all but complete control of a place that had so many Magical effects woven into its foundation.

I wouldn't be surprised if he could activate all the nasty defense mechanisms I detected by just walking inside with but a thought.

"Why do you allow a Ghost to run rampant?" Yasaka asked. "Surely you could properly exorcize it?"

"Ah that is….an interesting dilemma." Headmaster let out a small sigh. "You see, Peeves isn't a normal Ghost, he is a Poltergeist. I'm making this distinction on behalf of our true Ghost residents. We have a few hundred Ghosts that roam the castle as the Castle's Magic sustains their existence. They are just as much a part of the school as any of the staff. They have been here far longer than any of us, and this is their home just as much as theirs. Who am I to tell them they must leave for they will be here far after I'm gone."

That….made an odd amount of sense.

It's an interesting take on Ghosts, however.

I'll just make sure to keep Meridia far away from here because just her presence alone might accidently force them to move on.

In any case, this probably will only excite Kunou even more.

"And here we are." He finished as we approached a statue of a Gargoyle. "Gum Drop." He seemed to randomly speak, but the statue shook and trembled before a screeching sound arose and it began moving across the tiled floor, revealing another staircase.

It was only a short walk up the stairs until we arrived at his office.

A desk sat at the front with two angled staircases behind up to an observation deck that looked over something, but I couldn't quite see from here. And it was worth mentioning the plethora of books that decorated the bookshelves all around. And I suppose the few portraits that hung on the walls that silently observed us even if they didn't move overtly, their eyes didn't stay still.

"Please, have a seat." He gestured to the two chairs on the other side of his desk while he took his obvious seat and his deputy Headmistress stood at this side. "I believe it's time to get down to business. Fawkes, how much longer are you going to stand there?"

I looked up at the bird that had been on my head the entire time.

He let out a low noise and sort of leapt off my head and glided to the perch on the side of the room.

Well, where to start?

"You have a beautiful school." Yasaka began with the pleasantries.

"Thank you, I take great pride in the school. Out of my many positions, I believe my office of Headmaster is the one I am most proud of." The Headmaster smiled.

He didn't seem like a bad person at all.

"I suppose we should cut to the chase then." Yasaka relented quickly. "I – we," She corrected, looking my way. "Have the desire to enroll Kunou into your school as we've already informed you."

"Yes." He stroked his beard. "As I relayed to Mister Schweinorg here, I admit this situation isn't normal. Not to say we don't get foreign students, but none so…."

"Politically volatile?" Yasaka offered in a bit of self-deprecation.

"Ah, I was going to say unique." He chuckled. "My knowledge of your culture is minimal, so please correct me if I am wrong. She is….akin to what we would consider a Princess in standing among your people?"

"That's a good enough approximation." Yasaka nodded.

"We have hosted members of the Royal Family in the past centuries, so we are not unwilling to concede certain requests due to her status, but you must know that we treat all of our students fairly."

"I assure you, that is exactly what I'm hoping for our daughter." Yasaka quickly replied. "We want her to experience a rather normal time at school. For her to learn Magic and make friends without the weight of my position scaring away or mudding the waters, so to speak."

Normal for what a Magic School would offer anyway.

"If I may, is Mahoutokoro not an option? I couldn't imagine that she would have a hard time at the Japanese Wizarding school even so. I have not had much contact with the Headmistress over there in some years, but she runs a very tight ship and would handle all matters professionally."

I had no idea what that was, and neither did Yasaka, but the context clues were rather obvious.

Yasaka shook her head. "There are circumstances that we would prefer Kunou not be in Japan for a while for our peace of mind. A safe place for her to go to school, make friends, and have a bit of independence are what we need."

"I see." He said, though I doubted he actually did. But I could imagine he was making some wild guesses in his head.

It's not like we had to overly lie here.

A bit of truth in our vague answers would go a long ways.

"If you are set on your choice, then there should be something you are aware of. While Hogwarts is perhaps the best Magical School in the world, at this moment, we are a bit…short handed." He frowned slightly. "Due to a series of unconnected circumstances, we are down a handful of teachers for this upcoming year and we will do our best to fill the roles, there is every possibility that we will have to stretch ourselves a bit thin to accommodate."

Hmm, he was being rather forthcoming.

"Since you're being frank, so will I. While I care about Kunou's education, it's not the primary reason for her attending here. I can't claim to know much about your human society, but there's every possibility she stops caring about Magic down the road. Or even if she does not, she will live much longer than a human would."

"We want her to enjoy her childhood properly." I joined in. "And I can say with some confidence that anything she's missing in terms of education, we can quite easily fill the gaps if she pursues this path further."

"An odd perspective, but not one I can argue. I will also value our students' education foremost, but I agree that the lessons learned in these halls do not always come from the classroom." The Headmaster smiled. "If you view our current predicament without a problem, then I will not speak of it further. However, there are certain requirements for one to attend Hogwarts. Some I agree with, and others are out of my hands. The Ministry is very particular on the 'heritage' of our students." He said with no small amount of disgust in his tone.

"You're talking about if she's human or not." Yasaka said dryly.

"Unfortunately, the Ministry places a large emphasis on such things." The Headmaster nodded. "Regardless of my will, I cannot change those facts."

"Technically speaking, Kunou's father was a human." Yasaka responded, the same thing I said before to the Goblin. "I believe they allow half humans, by that definition, yes?"

"That is the case." He smiled, not rejecting her. "And how old is she?"

"She will be turning 11 in a little over a week." I answered this time.

"Just in time for the new school year." He looked contemplative. "As for the other regulations, everything would appear to be in order. There are no laws or rules that prevent your daughter from attending, I merely need to register her with the proper paperwork for a foreign student. With that settled, what do you want."

He did say they could accommodate certain situations.

"Speaking of heritage." Yasaka emphasized with the same tone he used. "I am led to believe that your society here is very racially motivated. How much can I expect my daughter to be bullied?" For emphasis Yasaka swished her tails for the obvious insinuation.

"We do not allow discrimination." He also emphasized. "However, children will be children sometimes and we cannot police them every moment of every day. They are mostly left to their own devices outside of class. I will not lie and say that there isn't a portion of the students that agree with the Ministries' policies."

"We want Kunou to be able to learn how to deal with bullies herself." I continued where she left off. "As much as it goes against my instincts as a parent, she needs to be able to deal with difficult people in life. That being said, Children can be cruel. Kunou can protect herself, and she will do so if she is threatened, Headmaster. However, if someone crosses a line that shouldn't be crossed, it won't be a matter of some disciplinary action on the school's part."

There was a hint of something as I said that, like a tense moment where he almost rose to show off his hardened side.

Was it a threat on my part? Perhaps. But it wasn't meant to be a 'threat', in that regard.

I was acting in the capacity of a parent warning that if their child was harmed, there would be hell to pay, and I doubt any other parents would fault me for my protectiveness.

"I will make sure to express to the students what should and should not be done at school." Was the Headmaster's vague answer.

"Speaking of non-humans, I would like to make it clear that certain aspects of our biology are not there for random people to touch." Yasaka immediately stated. "No more should a person touch another on their rear or privates should anyone be grabbing at her tails or ears."

The Deputy Headmistress looked the most startled by what she said. Perhaps startled might be wrong, but she sort of had a realization as Yasaka said that. "I will take personal care to remind the students about boundaries of personal nature." She just as quickly reassured her. "It has been a very long time since we have had an incident that involved 'unwanted advances'. And they will be dealt with as harshly as possible."

I'm glad that Yasaka brought it up because that's something that would have slipped my mind. But I'm glad they take a very firm stance against any kind of physical harassment.

And I think there were unspoken things there that could only be understood between women.

"May I ask, how strict are the punishments here?" Yasaka didn't speak up again, so I was assuming that the delicate topic was settled. "Kunou is a good girl but….she can be a bit of a hellion when she's in the mood. She won't have any malicious intent, I can promise that, but I can't say for sure that some chaos might not ensue."

The somewhat awkward atmosphere that developed only a moment prior evaporated quite quickly.

"We have had our fair sure of chaos, Mister Schweinorg." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in amusement. "It seems that every generation we have some pranksters that liven up the school years at their own discretion. As long as no maliciousness is involved and no serious harm is conducted, we will handle things lightly and properly. Detentions are the most common form of punishment, but we also have a system of points dedicated to each house. If one of the house's members causes a problem, we can deduct points before attempting further disciplinary actions."

"And what's the purpose of these house points?" Yasaka asked for clarification.

"The winner at the end of the year wins the House Cup."

"And what's that?"

"A trophy."

"That's it?"

"Quite."

"So you use peer pressure to keep the students in line?" I blinked. "That's…devious and oddly impressive."

"Thank you." The Headmaster took the compliment quite happily.

I was starting to like him.

"With that being said, I would like to have a guard accompany Kunou."

"A guard?" Dumbledore furrowed his brow.

"Yes, I can't feel at ease unless someone is here just in case."

"I'm afraid that won't be a viable option. This is a school for children. The parents would be in an uproar if they found out that there was a guard following her around and skulking the common rooms and dormitories." He rejected.

"What about outside? She shouldn't be in trouble while she's in her room. But simply to have him on hand around the castle?"

"It would cause a similar problem. If I allowed it once, many others would desire the same thing. I assure you, Hogwarts is a safe environment and no harm will come to her within these halls."

"You have to understand, Headmaster. Kunou isn't a normal student, as much as I want her to have that experience, she needs someone close by at the very least." Yasaka was standing firm.

"I'm sorry but we cannot accept such a thing. It would be protection for your daughter, yes, but for everyone else, it would be a strange person in the school that's not tied to our staff."

"I..may have a solution." I interjected into their argument. "If you wouldn't mind, what exactly were the positions that needed filling for the school year?"

The Headmaster looked at me. "Care for Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Magical Theory, And Defense Against the Dark Arts. We have a potential teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but we are still considering the others."

"A second question, are familiars allowed in school?" I asked as well.

"They are allowed under school rules as long as they are not a danger to the students and do not cause a distraction." He nodded.

"So here is my thought, I have some people I know that might be able to fill a couple of your positions." I glanced at Yasaka and she realized who I was talking about. "A friend of mine, a very accomplished Witch. And she has a mundane – muggle Fiancé who is a History Teacher with years of experience and the proper degrees outside."

"…..a Muggle to teach…muggle studies?" The Headmaster mused.

"That's….not a bad idea, Albus." The Deputy Headmistress chimed in. "We can't deny that the class itself has fallen to the wayside in the last couple decades and we usually have to resort to finding a muggleborn that may not even be a proper teacher. Merlin knows the Magical Born Children need to know what's going on outside of our society." She muttered something under her breath about an 'Arthur Weasley'.

"And he knows about our Wizarding world?" The Headmaster asked.

"He's aware." I nodded.

For what it counts as being aware.

The Headmaster looked thoughtful. "I can't say I'm against the idea. A family friend, you say, would be within acceptable parameters for acting as a 'guardian' for your daughter. And if they are truly competent in their job, I would have no reason to reject them. However, I can't merely accept them based solely on your word, if they are willing we can arrange an interview."

Yasaka then tugged on my slightly. "Do you think she'll agree?"

"Maybe, worst case, it falls through." I said openly for the Headmaster to hear as well. "I haven't talked to her yet, so I can't promise anything, this is mostly hypothetical. So, worse case as I said, she declines. Then we're back where we started, everything is sorted but we want someone to watch over Kunou. We could always have someone stationed off school grounds – they said there's a small village or town nearby? Let someone stay there, and Kunou can carry Sir Wiggles and Lady Wiggles with her just in case."

"I'm sorry, did you say Sir Wiggles?" The Headmaster asked.

"Yes, is there a problem?"

"No, please continue." He said with a very big smile for some reason.

Yasaka bit her lip, and she looked like she was struggling with herself. "Maybe I'm just being too protective." She finally relented. "We can make ample preparations even if we can't have a guard nearby inside the school for every moment of the day."

It's not like she wouldn't have a vast amount of protection on her. Combined with Sir Wiggles, and someone stationed that can arrive in a timely manner, well, I think it'd be fine.

I'll ask Meridia to lend a hand there as well. A little surprise in case anyone tried to actually harm her and somehow gets past everything else.

"Wonderful." The Headmaster clapped. "Now that the matter of enrollment is sorted, let's talk about the situation that arose some nights ago. Fawkes has been very tight lipped; I would like to know the finer details."

"So, is a million Galleons a good starting point?" I immediately offered with a straight face. As even that wasn't much to me in all honesty.

"You know what? Our illustrious Aurors can handle it, I'm sure."

"Albus!" The Deputy Headmistress squawked.

"Don't worry, Minerva, there's finally a budget for the Transfiguration club you wanted!"

"D-don't try to bribe me!" Though, it seemed to work fine.

"Now, Mister Schweinorg." He expertly diverted her attention away from the donation I promised. "What is the name of this Witch you want to refer?"

"Medea." I said simply. "Of Colchis."

He went oddly silent.

[***]

A/N

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