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."

Ichigo couldn't help but laugh. "What?" Ichigo pulled the three into an uncomfortable hug. "I thought I had actually done something wrong. You all actually had me worried there for a moment."

Ron broke out of the hug. "We're being serious."

"Oh come on; Granger, Weasley, Potter, what in the world gave you the idea that I'm a death eater?" Their expressions quickly turned flustered.

"We heard Binns and Nick talking about how you were sent to spy on Harry Potter, and that they were scared to go anywhere near you. And we see the way some of the other teachers look at you," Hermione explained.

Ichigo sighed. "Oh you poor children. Alright, come with me," Harry, Ron and Hermione were hesitant. What if he was leading them to their doom? What if he was going to lead them to a trap and dispose of them? Despite their better judgement, they followed the man anyway, forgetting about their next class. Curiosity did kill the cat, or in this case, three naive students.

He lead them to his chambers and the four of them entered silently. They took their seats on the couch and armchair in front of the fireplace, Ichigo in the latter, understandably. "I am not a death eater, first and foremost, quite the opposite, actually. But, I am spying on you three, and I suppose Binns and Nick do have a good reason to be frightened of me."

"And why is that?" Ron asked.

"Let's just say that I have certain... assets, that they do not find very appealing."

"And what could those possibly be to scare a ghost?" Hermione asked.

"Always the clever one, always asking the right questions," Ichigo replied. "My background is very unusual, and it might be a bit hard to grasp. I find myself struggling to find a way to explain, actually," Ichigo took a moment to think. If he had the time, he would simply ask Dumbledore to come here and explain it himself, since he would most likely do a much better job. "I was a warrior, a soldier on the losing side of a war."

"I was the last trick up our side's sleeve. This war had taken many lives, and although it happened very quickly, we could never get a foothold. There was this one man, Aizen, who lead the other side, and his power was immense, much more than You-Know-Who could ever hope to achieve. He created undead warriors that outnumbered us dramatically. He harnessed the power of a very special stone - not unlike the sorcerer's stone - called the Hogyoku, something that granted its user immense power. He easily defeated our leader, a very wise and powerful old man."

"At first, I stood no chance against him. I had to fight with my own power in order to gain the most out of it. I defeated it, and I gained strength that I had never imagined. It was when I went to battle Aizen that everything went wrong," flashbacks of a destroyed Karakura town filled his mind, of beaten comrades. A dark and heavy pit fell in his stomach, and he struggled to find words. "I guess our power was too much, I don't really know what caused it. I was never very smart about stuff like that. My friends always teased me about not having a lot of common sense."

"Anyways, somehow both of our worlds collapsed into each other, and everything was destroyed. I suppose being the one with the most power, I managed to survive it. The next thing I knew I was waking up in this world, right before the time of Christ. To the best of my knowledge, the world rebooted itself, but none of my kind existed anymore... I was alone... my family and friends - everyone I knew was gone. I didn't really have a purpose anymore, the only reason I had ever really fought was to protect those close to me who couldn't protect themselves."

"I was desperate, so I tried to give some of my powers to the only one crazy enough to believe my story. But instead of making someone like me, I ended up creating the first wizard. I was upset, but I didn't try it again. I was worried that I might end up killing someone, so I stopped trying, assuming that it wouldn't pass on. Well, to my surprise, his children had the same abilities that I had given him, and they kept passing on to the next kin. I also found out during this time that I had stopped aging."

"I suppose it's because Death could not claim my life for I did not belong to this world. Most things I can only assume, because I simply don't have enough knowledge to actually answer them. With my powers being in every witch or wizard that came into this world, I am connected to all of them, even you three. I suppose that's why I'm such easy company. Eventually, for reasons I don't wish to explain, I had Merlin seal me away, until recently, when Dumbledore awakened me to keep an eye on you. Unfortunately, I don't wish to get too involved with your matters, so that's really all I can do is to protected you physically. Hence why I'm here."

"...Suppose what you're telling us is true, that still doesn't explain why Binns or Nicholas would be afraid of you. Does that have to have something to do with 'your kind'?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I'm known as the Grim Reaper, both in this world and what used to be mine. I can leave my body in order to send spirits to the 'other side' so to speak. Or through the veil, as you would have it. I had other tasks, but those are unimportant now."

Ron stared at him, his mouth agape. "Can you still do that?"

"I still have some abilities, yes, but most have been lost in favor of magic. My sword, or katana, is the only physical remnant of my old life."

"It must be hard, being the last one."

Ichigo looked at Harry. "It is. But I'm not really alone anymore, am I? I have you three, and the other students, and Dumbledore. So it's not all bad, not really," he replied. The three remained in his rooms for the rest of the day, Ichigo excusing them from their classes. He told them stories of his family and old friends. It was uplifting to finally talk about those he lost in depth, it finally gave him some sort of closure. Somehow, that pit in his stomach seemed less heavy, less daunting, and more like a sense of purpose, pushing him towards bigger and better things. Ichigo was glad it happened with these three, for he wouldn't have it any other way.

When the sun left the sky, Ichigo sent the students back to their dorm, not wishing to keep their company any longer. He was surprised that they had believed his story without much questions, but with the things that they had been through, Ichigo could see how they were very open-minded. Once they returned to their common room, Ichigo set out for Hagrid's hut. They had started somewhat of a weekly dinner, and Ichigo had not realized how late it had gotten, so he quickly ventured out to the half-giant's home.

When he reached the home, he didn't bother to knock, knowing that his visit was expected. He was mistaken in his however, when he tripped over Hagrid's dog, who was laying in front of the doorway. A loud thud resounded, alerting Hagrid of his new guest. The half-giant entered the room and found Ichigo sprawled on the floor, his hound sitting on top of the man. Ichigo didn't seem to mind too much, however.

"Perhaps I should've knocked first, I supposed," Ichigo joked. Hagrid laughed and helped the wizard up.

"I'm glad yer here Ichigo, I was worried you weren't goin' te show up tonight. Thought perhaps you got yerself wrapped up in a student fight or somefin."

Ichigo dusted off his clothes. "No, I just lost track of time is all. So, what's for dinner tonight, friend?"

"Stew," Hagrid explained as he left for the kitchen. Ichigo followed behind him and sat at the table next to the fireplace, where a large pot sat over it. The room was warm and inviting, and the air around it was calm. Hagrid served them dinner once the stew was done cooking and they ate, making small talk as they did so.

"So, what do ya think of the tournament?" Hagrid asked after a particularly loud sip of dinner.

"I'm not sure, actually. I'm a bit surprised that something that dangerous is held for only 17 year olds, but I can't really talk. I am excited to see the other wizarding schools, though."

"I heard," Hagrid whispered as if there was someone else in the hut, "That the headmistress of that French school... is tall."

Ichigo stared at the half-giant. "Tall?" he asked.

Hagrid nodded. "Yeah, I heard, that she's almost as tall as me."

"Wow, that's quite a feat. Are you interested?"

"How could I know that? I ain't met her yet!" he said, his cheeks turning a darker shade. Ichigo chose not to comment, instead he smirked as he sipped another mouthful of stew. They finished dinner quickly after that, and parted ways soon after. Ichigo returned to his chambers. It was now late into the night and he wanted some rest. The new schools would be arriving soon, and he wanted to make sure that he kept his guard up. Something about this triwizard tournament didn't seem right to him. It didn't sit well with him in his stomach. Also, now that Harry, Ron, and Hermione has some idea of who he was, he would have to see how that changed their relationship. He hoped it wouldn't be too severe of a change.

Ichigo heard a distorted voice in his mind, 'I wouldn't worry too much over it, King. You always attract lunatics, so they'll stick around.'

'Honestly, I'm not sure if that's to comfort me, or to offend me.' He replied.

'He means well,'   Zangestu said. 'Take the encouragement as you can, you and I both know how rare it is.'

'That is true, I'm just glad he's filling strong enough to be snarky.' Ichigo replied.

'Hey, I'm still here you two.' Zangestu and Ichigo rolled their eyes.

*Shout out to new beta reader, AWholeFleetOfShips

**Sorry for the short and late chapter, but I had finals over the past two weeks and tried to get this chapter out as soon as I could. Don't worry, I have mighty fine plans for the next one.