Ebon Phoenix [#1] [Complete]

Be Our Guest

Chapter 5

Be Our Guests

When the announcement came about the visiting schools, Hogwarts became a flurry of activity. The students were buzzing and the staff were preparing. Ichigo managed to throw in a few helpful hands here and there, but he had not been very invested. Both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were founded after his sealment - as was Hogwarts - so he only had glimpses of understanding and memories about the schools. Ichigo found himself almost as excited as he was before the first day of school. What would their students be like, and how did their level compare with those of Hogwarts' students?

After being amongst the students of Hogwarts for a month or so, Ichigo could tell what they knew, which was very selective. They knew almost nothing about the Dark Arts, which wasn't surprising due to their lack of proficient professors in the subject. That was the only thing Ichigo admired about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, he at least knew how to teach, albeit in the wrong way. According to Harry, their last Defense Against the Dark Arts professor turned out to be a werewolf. It was a popular rumour amongst the students that the position was cursed, and that no one ever lasted more than a year.

Ichigo didn't doubt it.

He had become rather close to Harry and his two friends, Hermione in particular. She was like a little sister to him now, and it was a bittersweet feeling. She reminded him of Yuzu constantly, her sweet but stern personality almost identical to his little sister. Hermione was her own person, however, and Ichigo found many qualities within her that made her something unique. She was loyal, and easily flustered. She was extremely intelligent, but didn't have any kind of street smarts. She loved to read books and learn everything she could. Ichigo was happy that there was a young wizard so eager to move forward and push themselves. She would often find her way to his chambers, whether for help or just to talk, and she mostly had her two friends with her.

Harry was like a nephew to him, in a way. Ichigo was interested in his hobbies and his well-being, and liked to speak with him. Although Ichigo didn't enjoy Quidditch the way Harry and Ron did, he listened to them talk about their favorite teams, and agreed to go with them to the next world cup. Hopefully, that one would go better than this year's had. Ron felt like a little cousin to him since they weren't as close as Ichigo was with the other two, but that was alright. Ron would often complain about his relationship problems and hand-me down clothes, and Ichigo would always listen. His inner spirits would often tease him about it.

The past few days, however, they had been eyeing him warily, Hermione the most of all. Ichigo at first hadn't noticed, it was Shiro who had pointed it out. For the life of him, the wizard couldn't place what he had done that would have made them so suspicious. The only thing that had come to mind was his zanpakuto, but that was in plain sight for all the students to see, and none had ever come to question it. Of course, they all carry around wooden sticks to protect themselves, so that could make them be less cautious around physical weapons. That still left Ichigo with an unanswered question, though. Whatever he had done, it seemed to affect them personally.

Thus it didn't come as a surprise when they cornered him in the hallway after Moody's class. They looked genuinely hurt, and Ichigo couldn't help but feel awful inside for whatever he had done to hurt them so. They pulled into an empty classroom.

"Okay, man, fess up," Ron spoke first. "We know you're not being honest with us, so just tell us why you're here, as if we didn't already know."

Ichigo tried to calm them down. "Okay you three, let's just-"

"We heard Professor Binns and Headless Nick talking about you, so there's no reason to keep lying to us," Hermione interjected.

"Yeah, mate" Harry chimed in. "If you're a spy for Voldemort, than just tell us know so we can deal with you."