81The Blond Haired Wizard
Disclaimer: Naruto and Harry Potter are both owned by two people. I am not one of them.
Thank you for the favourites, adding to communities (4!), follows and reviews. You guys really rock. Sorry for the late update.
Special thanks Clues2 to for giving an interesting idea and war sage for encouraging me.
This chapter is dedicated to Divya, my friend, who's going through some really important exams.
Without further ado, presenting The Blond Haired wizard, chapter three!
Previously, In The Blond Haired Wizard.
Albus finds a magical kid in a orphanage. The boy, Naruto can consciously apparate. Naruto agrees to come to Hogwarts. Hagrid takes him and Granger for shopping in the Diagon Alley. Hermione and Naruto make bitter first impressions on each other. Naruto gets on the Hogwarts Express
Beware of the man who has nothing to lose, for he has only to gain.
- Anonymous
Chapter 3: Hogwarts
Naruto got onboard the Hogwarts express. He trudged onward, weaving expertly through the throngs of students. It was relatively easy since his luggage had already been taken by an attendant. Out of the corner of his eye, the blond mage-to-be noted that many students were looking at him with looks of curiosity and mirth.
He finally found a compartment with one student, of his age sitting in it.
"Hello. The other compartments are full. Can I sit here?"
The black haired student turned towards him, his face one of a deer caught in the headlights; why, Naruto would never know; and answered "S-Sure. Please sit."
Naruto, himself very nervous, quietly sat down opposite to the raven haired boy.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. This is going to be my first year at Hogwarts. Nice to meet you." the blond ventured, extending his hand.
"Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you too, Naruto." The brunette said, shaking the offered appendage. Marvelling at the firm grip the other boy had. Looking up, Neville finally noticed the orange toad sitting on Naruto's head." You chose a toad familiar too? I thought I was the only one to bring a toad. Most of the others bring owls or cats." Though his tone was curious, his companion noticed the slight irritation in his voice.
"I was going to bring an owl at first. But I wanted my familiar to be different from the others. Secondly, toads are awesome! They can be with you all the time, can easily rest in your pocket, and I have also read that in the past, toads as big as mountains used to fight alongside humans as their comrades!"
"I did hear about it. My gran read me stories about the old warriors of Japan."
"Yes. It was in the fabled era of ninja though. They were also said to be one of the earliest forms of magicians, and could use magic by doing hand seals. Wandless magic! Too bad there are no records of their methods now. It would've been very nice if we could blow fireballs through our mouths." Naruto rambled on. "Maybe we can do it too? I mean we did do wandless magic that led to the discovery of our magic?"
Neville, increasingly comfortable around the cheerful blond, answered, "I don't know about you but my accidental magic was pretty weak. I accidentally lifted a pen in the air, without touching it, and made it explode when I was angry."
"I think there is a Levitation charm that does the same thing. The exploding bit is pretty impressive too. I did some reading on the spells, but couldn't practice them much, as I was not sure if we can do magic in the midst of muggles."
Neville nodded. He too had read about the rules pertaining to the muggle world, particularly the Statue Of Secrecy.
Their conversation was cut off when their door slid open and mop of bushy brown hair peeked through the opening.
"May I sit here? All the other compartments have been filled" a girl's voice asked as the speaker studied the occupants of the coach, stopping to look at the blond. "Naruto?"
Naruto sighed. He had hoped that she would not see him. Lady luck was soo gracious to him.
The wizard to-be conveniently forgot that there were only two people, including him, in the compartment.
"Sure. W-" He started to speak but was cut off by the shriek of 'My toad!' by Neville.
"Jeez. You gotta keep it down Neville. "Naruto chastised. Poking the toad on his head, he gestured to the door the toad had gone through. The toad, seemingly understood, and took off. "There, 'Kichi will find your toad, leave the door open Hermione."
Hermione, who was about to offer Neville her help, shrugged and sat down beside Neville.
"So, what were you two talking about?" The girl inquired.
Neville was the one who answered "N-Nothing much. We were talking about the unintentional magic we did. I had accidentally Levitated a pen. What was yours?"
Hermione blushed embarrassedly. "I shocked the boy who was teasing me."
Naruto grinned. The great Hermione was teased about something. Well she did have buck teeth. But it was not so obvious. Eh, He would find out about it later.
"Well, what was your first accidental magic?" Hermione asked, huffing, as she saw him grin.
Naruto grinned wider.
"I apparated. And not only once. I have been apparating for two years now, and I can now do it intentionally. I personally called it jumping, but I read about it in a book, where it was called Apparating. I do have problems doing it sometimes, but at least I have never splinched as I read many wizards do." He said proudly, to his awed companions. They were shocked a 9 year old had apparated, regularly if his words were true. A magical form of transportation that required training for the older wizards, and then too, was dangerous for them, so dangerous that it required a licence to use legally.
Hermione frowned thoughtfully. She had read about the theory on How to Apparate , and it had stated that as with all wandless magic, it needed an intense emotion, in this case, a need to be somewhere. What had the boy got into that he had such a strong need to reach elsewhere?
This was done accidentally though, so she couldn't be sure "That was really impressive Naruto." Hermione finally said, Neville nodding in agreement. She always gave credit where it was due. "Were there any other instances of your prodigious skill shining through?"
Recognizing the challenge, Naruto heartily started "Well there was this one time the Head Matron came to a office filled with flying chairs, and toads..."
The three first years fell into another round of chatters and laughter, Neville regaling the tale of how his family thought he was a squib until his great uncle accidentally dropped him out of the window and he bounced, drawing another bout of laughter from his companions. After some time, 'Kichi came in, with Neville's toad in tow, something which impressed Hermione.
All too soon the steam driven train came to a halt.
Naruto looked out of the window to see a large lake, with several boats docked up on the shore.
The students, hundreds of them, got out of the train, happily chattering with their friends.
Naruto turned towards Neville and Hermione, happily noting that they were waving to him to stick too had two friends. And he was determined to keep them.
"Naruto! Let's get on the boat!" Neville shouted, attracting a few inquisitive stares from the surrounding students, because of the exotic sounding name.
"Coming!" Naruto said smiling, and got in the boat with his friends.
The oars of the boat began to move magically, propelling the boat towards its destination.
A black haired girl, who was in the same boat, sneered at Hermione. "And who might you be buckteeth?" Before Hermione could reply, Naruto cut in.
"Who wants to know, pug face?"
"That's Pansy to you, Blondie" the ravenette retorted.
"Are you insinuating that being blond is an insult, Pansy?" a third, snarky voice said.
"Of course not Draco. I was referring to the mu-" "'NOUGH!" The furious voice of Hagrid intervened. "Don't get into petty squabbles now. We are nearin' the castle."
And indeed they were. The Hogwarts castle loomed like a sentinel in the dark night. It was, in one word, magnificent. Grander than anything the blond had ever seen, that was, admittedly, not much.
So lost in his thoughts was he, that he almost missed the small thank you Hermione mumbled under her breath.
The small smile that graced her lips, though, he did not. It made the fact that he just made an enemy out of the black haired girl, worth it.
As the boats docked, the students finally got off their respective boats, and were escorted to the great hall. On the way, he met Harry, who was with the red haired boy he had seen him with on the train. The boy introduced himself with Ron Weasley.
While Ron was good, and somewhat of a chatter box, he seemed to be too biased for his tastes. Having lived in isolation due to a stupid bias all his life, Naruto did not appreciate people who could be swayed so easily, or were unnaturally sided.
So, he quietly slinked away from the group, Neville following him, and stood some ways back, observing his year-mates.
They were soon called to the great hall. To Naruto, it was a most magical place. A ceiling with that could change in appearance, and show a raging sky? Oh yeah. He was going to enjoy this.
The old man that had given him the invitation was sitting on a table with the other teachers. As if sensing his gaze, he turned towards him, and gazed at him from behind the half moon glasses with those weird blue twinkling eyes, so much like his own.
As the blond observed the headmaster, Dumbledore stood up to address the students."Welcome students, to the start of a new session at Hogwarts. A warm welcome to all the first years, who will be becoming a part of this castle today. My name is Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts. I wish you a productive and happy year. Follow all the rules and help your fellow students. The forest is forbidden for all the students. Also, Mr. Flinch has requested me to tell you all that there should be no running and magic use in the corridors." as he finished, Dumbledore brought out a black hat. "The first years will be sorted into different houses based on their character traits, and wishes. Your actions during the school year will lead to deduction or enhancement of points to your house. At the end of the year, whichever house has the most number of point, wins the cups. I sincerely hope that you may become an asset to your house. Now," he said conjuring a stool, "Let the sorting begin."
The students, one by one, sat on the chair and got sorted to one of the four houses. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw.
"Uzumaki, Naruto"
The announcement was followed by sudden gasps by many students, as well as teachers. If one were to look closely, they would see a wide eyed, embarrassedly blushing brunette.
Naruto, of course was the only person who noticed this, and smiled cheekily at her, earning a glare in return.
He went up to the podium and sat on the chair. An old hag placed the talking cap on his head.
Then he heard a voice inside his head.
Years later, Naruto would swear up and down that it was a manly shout of defiance.
It sounded more like a girl shrieking.
'Hush boy. I am only here to sort you correctly. Now,let us see... hmm..cunning, even if you don't seem so; troubled past, desire to prove yourself, desire to protect what you love...interesting...ambitious, resourceful...a perfect' "SLYTHERIN!"
The last words, which were spoken aloud, were met by the united cheering of the Slytherin house members. Naruto smiled happily. They were happy that he was sorted to their house. He turned to the direction of his newest friends. Neville, and Harry smiled at him, Hermione's was a bit hesitant but not too far behind. Ron. (If he remembered correctly) though, was scowling at him. A disgusted look visible on his blue eyes.
Oh well... he didn't like him anyway.
He walked to the Slytherin table. A few students smiled at him, and some even patted his back. He went on and sat in an empty space, presumably reserved for the first years.
Much to Naruto's secret chagrin, Hermione, Neville and Harry were all sorted to Gryffindor. He was hit by a pang of envy on seeing her, Harry and that red haired boy sitting together.
To distract himself, he looked at his own housemates. The pug faced girl, Pansy Parkinson, he reminded himself, was grouping together with two other girls. The boy with pale blond haired boy who had interacted with Harry in the stairs, too was in his house. In fact he was coming in his direction.
"Nice to see that the sorting hat still works properly. My name is Draco Malfoy." he said as he took a seat beside Naruto, extending a hand in Naruto's direction.
Naruto obliged, "Good to meet you too Draco, I am Naruto Uzumaki." He said, shaking the offered appendage.
They both sat down together, making small talk. Naruto soon realized that Draco was nice to talk to. Well, till you were anything other than muggle born. He could not help but wince whenever the pale blond boy vocalised his dislike of 'Mud-bloods'.
Deciding finally that enough was enough, Naruto argued, "You know, you shouldn't talk about them like that. I mean the purebloods have descended from mud bloods. So, it would be hypocritical to say that we hate Mud-bloods. That would mean we hate our own ancestors"
Draco frowned. This was the first time someone had not only called him out on what they thought was wrong, but also challenged his beliefs.
"My father told me that the Mud-bloods are an abomination that should not exist. They have stolen the magic of purebloods" Draco asserted. Naruto frowned deeper at this.
"Your father may be right Draco, but sometimes, we should form our own opinions about some matters. An old man at the orphanage told me this."
Naruto remembered that old man very well. Though the man had not told his name to Naruto, he had been one of the only adults who had cared to interact with the orphanage pariah. Also, the unique habit of smoking a pipe while talking was hard to forget. He used to come to the orphanage to play with the little kids, especially him, and would always have some wise words for him. Then one summer, he stopped coming. The matrons had become even colder to him after that. "We can always see if they are all they are cracked up to be during the year. I am gonna base my opinion on my own experiences"
Naruto saw the thoughtful expression Draco had adopted and smiled. He was thinking about it. That was the best outcome this situation could have had. He was half afraid that Draco would take this as an insult towards his family.
Finally, Draco smirked. "My father is always right on these kind of things. If you don't believe me, we will see soon enough if those abominations and the trash of Gryffindor are really worth to being wizards or not." the other blond just shrugged, not caring if they were right or wrong.
The feast was served just after Malfoy and Naruto were done talking.
Of course, Naruto got the noodles, his favourite, right in front of him. The lover of all-things-that-contained-noodles wasted no time in inhaling the stuff, much to the disgust of the surrounding Slytherin.
As the feast ended (much to the relief of the house members around the blond), the Headmaster got up, and asked them all to sing the school song with him, conjuring ribbons and forming the words with them.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts,
Hoggy Warty Hogwarts Teach us something, please,
Whether we be old and bald Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.(1)
After all of this was over, they were led to their houses by the respective house prefects.
Next day
The next day saw Naruto walking in the hallways of Hogwarts, towards his first Potions class.
Walking towards the dungeons, his lips twitched in remembrance of last night's events after the feast.
Flashback
The first years were huddled together in a parody of a line behind the house prefect, Gemma Farley.
The reason, you ask?
Well, walking towards the dungeons in a creepy, dark corridor in a magical castle with speaking paintings could do this to you.
"The Slytherin house was founded by Salazar Slytherin. He looked for potential of becoming great in his students. So, you must have something that can make you great if you were sorted in Slytherin."
A few of the first years, most notably Malfoy, straightened.
The prefect continued "The symbol of our house is a snake, the wisest of creatures. And our colours are green and silver." Naruto could almost hear 'Kichi croak in annoyance at snakes being called the wisest of beasts.
A fellow first year asked the question which was brewing in everyone's minds "Ms. Gemma, why do all the dark wizards come out of Slytherin?"
The house prefect frowned thoughtfully, before she gave him an answer.
"All houses have produced dark wizards. The other houses are in denial about it. Though Slytherin does have a reputation of dishing out many of the well known dark wizards like The-one-who-should-not-be-named. The primary reason for this could be that the dark lord was in Slytherin, and thus, primarily recruited from his house. Anyway, this house has also produced some excellent mages like Headmaster Phineas Black, ex-professor Horace Slughorn, and many more."
The Uzumaki scion noted with some awe, how the prefect's speech had easily lifted the students' spirits, who were now looking prouder than ever at the fact they were sorted into such a glorious house.
The prefect continued, pointing towards one of the walls "This is the entrance of the Slytherin common room. To enter, you have to say the password. The current password for entry in the common room is Venomenous Fang. It is changed every month."
The wall parted, revealing a dimly lit hall. What little lights were lit was all green.
"This is the Slytherin Lair, as we call it. It is built inside an underground dungeon, and the windows provide an excellent view of the inside of Hogwarts Lake. The temperature here hardly ever changes, except in the winters, when it becomes pleasantly cold. We like to think this as a dark, and mysterious shipwreck. Of course, once you start living here, it becomes surprisingly homey."
Naruto took a look around. She was accurate in her statement about it being a dark and mysterious place. The temperature, contrary to his initial belief, was not humid at all. But there did seem to be staleness in air.
"-there. Now all students in the Slytherin follow a simple rule. We stick by each other. In front of the houses, we show a united front. Anyone who dares harm one of us-" the air seemed to thicken,
"-faces all of us"
Naruto couldn't stop a grin from blossoming over his face.
Flashback End
After that, they had been shown their Dormitories, which he shared with Blaise, Theodore, and Malfoy. A small orange toad quietly hopped on the blond's head.
"'Kichi! Where were you?" The toad just snuggled in his hair. "Whatever. I will learn how to communicate with toads. Just don't get yourself in trouble till I do." With that, the wizard resumed his walk towards the class.
Potions class, Hogwarts.
Naruto was seriously considering Hogwarts as the creepiest place on earth. Ghosts? Check. Dormitories built in dungeons? Check. Portraits which seemed to be alive? Check. Sentient stare-cases? Check.
An underground potions class with animal appendages suspended in visible solutions? Double check.
Looking around, he noted that the others were just as repulsed by the sight as he was. Most of them were Gryffindor, as they were to have a class with them this time.
The class slowly filed in, Malfoy sitting with two other Slytherin students. Hermione, predictably, sat alone in the middle row. Neville sat next to him, offering him a tentative smile. Naruto quickly set down besides Neville. Curiously Harry and Ron were nowhere to be found.
The professor of the potions class, professor Snape, was also his house leader. The man had a crooked nose; his mouth pressed in a firm line, and wore an all black cloak.
He seemed to search for someone. When he did not find it, his eyes seemed to gain a mischievous twinkle. 'Or,' the blond thought to himself, 'I am just imagining things.'
"My name is Severus Snape, the Leader of the Slytherin house. This year, I will be your potions master. There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science of the potion making. However, for those of you who possess the pre-disposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses; I can tell you how to brew glory , bottle fame, and even put a stopper in death(1). I-" the professor stopped his bored drawl as two students, Ron and Harry came in through the door "-was going to teach you about the Boil-Cure potion. But since we are all finally here, will Mr. Potter deem it worthy to answer me 'What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?' "
Two pairs of hand went up enthusiastically at that. Snape paid them no mind, and continued to ask increasingly hard questions from Harry. When Harry didn't answer, Snape would ask either Hermione or Naruto, and get prompt and accurate answers from both.
This only seemed to increase Harry's discomfort. Snape continued the impromptu quiz, inwardly impressed by both Naruto and Hermione, and more than a little disappointed by Lily's son's apparent negligence to self-study. It seemed he had some traits of that blasted Potter.
Finally he relented, putting on a sneer "Looks like fame doesn't bring brains, right Mr. Potter?" he questioned in a bored drawl.
While Harry was hanging his head in embarrassment, Naruto and Hermione were both glaring at each other.
"You didn't know the third one did you!?" Hermione whispered furiously.
"Totally did! It was you who didn't know the fourth answer! You just bobbed your head when I answered." Naruto returned.
"I know the whole process of brewing poison curing potion. Not only two of the ingredients." Hermione retorted cheekily, leaving Naruto no choice but to relent. He had only started studying the books for ten days.
And she was really competitive. But Naruto Uzumaki was nothing if not unyielding. He would show her! He would be the best at potions!
Also, a little prank would do her ego good. Just a little prank. Nothing too dangerous.
"Mr. Uzumaki if you would snap out of the Primitive daydreams your brain can manage."
"Y-Yes Professor!"
For now though he would have to endure five more hours of Potions, Transfiguration, Charms ,History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy and Herbology.
A few weeks later.
The days passed by quickly for the Uzumaki scion. Naruto didn't get to interact much, what with everyone busy with their new-found workload. He did make some friends though. One of them was Daphne Greene. She was a fellow pureblood Slytherin, and best of all; she detested the insulting of mud bloods that seemed so rampant in their house. Though the difference in interests had led to the friendship being platonic, Naruto still cherished her as a friend. He had also befriended Blaise, an ambitious and reclusive Slytherin boy. He had also befriended another reclusive 7th year named Kabuto. He had silver hair that he left tied in a ponytail, and wore the same type of glasses Harry had. Kabuto usually helped him with any kind of homework that he had a problem in, and had even taught him a Disarming spell, under the promise that he won't tell anyone.
Naruto understood, fast enough, that in Slytherin, there were three types of people. One, who were very ambitious, and the ones in the higher end of the pecking order. The second type who were ambitious, but not overtly so but they acted in what they interpreted as the Slytherin way. And the third, the Non- Ambitious lot. They either flocked up with the first category, or became pariahs to their own house.
This led to a formation of groups, where the students having the same ideologies would come together. Naruto and to some extent, Kabuto, though, were peculiar cases. He was ambitious, very much so, but no one was able to guess his motivation. So they left him alone for the most part, only interacting when there was something of substance. Nobody ever even tried with Kabuto.
This led to him being a loner, despite having many people he could talk to. No one spoke against him after learning of his lineage. Not even Pansy Parkinson. Also, it seemed Malfoy had taken a shine to the Uzumaki boy, and had made it clear that whoever insulted Naruto, insulted him. And that was something they didn't want to do.
Naruto though, was oblivious to many of the school politics. He was practically skipping to the next class for the day. Today, he was very happy.
For today was the flying broom lesson!
He had been excited to ride a broom ever since he had read about it in the book.
'And I'm gonna be the best rider-ttebayo!'
The blond pumped his fists in the air, before realizing the blasted tic had made its return.
You see, ever since the old man had taught him how to speak Japanese, this tic had appeared out of nowhere! The old man, though had merely smiled, as if he had expected it to have happened.
Naruto quickly went through his morning routine and arrived at the ground where the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin had lined up. He quickly stood beside one of Malfoy's lackeys, Vincent Crabbe. After sharing the usual grunt of acknowledgement with Malfoy, he spied Neville and Hermione, and waved merrily at them. Neville waved back, smiling.
The first year kept his distance from Seamus though. He still remembered what happened during the charms class.
Flashback
The Slytherin and Gryffindor were having yet another co-class. It seemed that Dumbledore got his kicks out of putting the two rival houses together, and seeing them squabble.
The charms professor, a short man who was also the head of the Ravenclaw house, named Filius Flitwick, was moving around the classroom, correcting the movements and incantations.. It was rumoured that he had been a duelling champion in his prime. While he didn't have a flair of dramatics like his colleague, Flitwick was still a wonderful teacher.
Today, they were learning a levitation charm. An easy enough charm that Naruto had mastered in three tries.
"Wingaaarium Levioooosa!"
Well, not for everyone ,it seemed. Seeing Hermione instructing Ron, Naruto decided that he should, too, help his partner. He poked the faulty charm caster, to get his attention
"Well, what do you want?" the boy snapped.
"Your movements are right, but you are muttering the wrong incant. It id Wingaardium Levi-osa" the blond suggested.
Scowling, Seamus tried to repeat the incant. "Wingaardium Leviusa!"... Boom!
Every one stared dumbfounded at Seamus, who seemed too shocked by the explosion he caused to do anything else but stare ahead. Naruto inched away from the Gryffindor warily.
And they said the Slytherin were dangerous.
Flashback End
Naruto shuddered. He didn't want to be near a boy who could turn a harmless Levitation Charm into a Explosive spell. He quietly went up and stood beside Blaise, who was trying his best not to laugh at his sort-of-friend's antics.
Naruto scowled at him.
Madam Hooch finally made an appearance then. She had sharp features, like a hawk, with silver coloured hair and tanned skin.
"All right. First years, I am Madam Hooch and I will teach you all an essential skill if you want to become a good wizard. Riding a broomstick." Noting that she had the attention of all the students, she continued, raiding her hand over her stick. "To start, I want you all to raise your hands above your respective broom, and say 'up!' "
As she said this, some of the more eager students had already started to try calling their broomsticks up.
"Up!" Naruto said, picturing the broom coming up, into his waiting hand.
Nothing happened. The blond calmed his mind, thinking only about the broom "Up." he calmly intoned. This time, the broom zapped up into his hand. He looked around to see Malfoy, and Harry already done.
"Now, you need to sit on the broom like this," she showed the position they were to be seated in, "and then think about the direction you want it to go in."
The first years all sat on their respective brooms. Naruto decided this was his time to shine. After sitting, he thought about going forward. A gentle breeze seemed to waft around his locks, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the other students looking at him, impressed.
'Yatta!' He had done it!
The instructor opened her mouth to congratulate the boy for being one of the first in the class to successfully fly when his stick suddenly started rocking back and promptly sped towards the forbidden forest.
"AAAAH-!" Naruto yelled, trying desperately to get some control over the situation he had got himself in.
"Mr. Uzumaki! Exert your will on the broom! Order it to stop!"
'Stop!' " Stopstopstop! You stupid broom!"
The broom had other ideas though, as the words only served to make it fly faster. Naruto tried o gain control, an exercise in futility, as the wind whipping on his face was not helping him concentrate any. 'All will be all right, don't worry' repeated the Blond like a mantra, trying to calm his frantic mind.
The broom, as if sensing it's rider's thoughts, stopped abruptly. "Now that was what I was talking about!"
And promptly nosedived towards the ground.
"AAAAAH! Ouch! Ah!" the young wizard wailed as he hurtled towards the ground, and finally landed in a heap.
He blinked his eyes slowly, willing his aching muscles to move. 'Ouch. Why do these things happen to me?' he whined.
Getting up, he whipped out his wand and looked around for any kind of danger in the forest. A small black creature the size of large dog attracted his attention.
The creature, Naruto observed, was some kind of hybrid between a bird and an animal. With a shiny midnight-black coat for protection against the weather and glinting Black eyes.
Naruto warily stepped closer. The creature ,'A Hippogriff!' he reminded himself, watched warily as the human came closer. When he was in range, Naruto extended his hand and patted the head of the Hippogriff softly. The hybrid leaned in closer to the gentle touch, letting out a small squawk of approval. The wizard smiled.
Squatting down, he peered into the Hippogriff's black orbs.
"You are surprisingly friendly, compared to the others of your kind I've read about." The Hippogriff turned around and pushed its hind leg towards the blond "Wha-" It was then that Naruto saw the dark red liquid seeping down the black fur, staining the hand that was holding it "Oh. You're really hurt." he muttered, shocked and a little saddened. Wracking his brain for any spells that could heal a wound such as this, he grinned when he remembered something he had read in the morning. He took a sharp rock, and nicked his finger on it. Picking up his wand, he muttered a small incantation. Soft green light emanated from the tip of his wand, and seeped into the wound. The cut skin sewed itself together painfully. Naruto closed his eyes to stop the burning sensation from showing, regulating the amount of Magic he pushed into the wand until the burning sensation faded to a warm, pleasant feeling. Apparently satisfied by his proficiency with the spell for now, he turned towards the hippogriff.
"Come on here now" The creature complied and brought up it's paw. Naruto muttered the same incantation, the green glow again appeared, though this time, it was almost airy. When the wound finally close the Hippogriff let out a small purr-like voice and tackled his saviour, wrapping it's wing around him. Naruto laughed and petted it's head softly.
"Now, now... No need to butter me up now, I already did all I could" the Hippogriff squawked indignantly, and pecked the blond's head.
"H-Hey I was just joking you know. Merlin's beard, how can all the animals understand me?" He said exasperatedly, standing up to get away. The Hippogriff just rubbed its beak against his leg. "Okay, okay... If I am going to have to meet you again" the Hippogriff let out a happy squawk, "then I cannot, in good conscience, keep calling you The Hippogriff now, can I?" the creature bobbed his head "Let us see now. You are black, and I'm sure you'll grow up to be a fierce warrior" the blond continued, oblivious to the puffed out chest of 'The Hippogriff' "I got it! You will now be called Kaali (2). Do you like it, Kaali?"
The second tackle and another round of pleased squawks were answer enough.
A/N: This is first half of the Philosopher's stone. I tried to make it as interesting as I could. The chapter underwent many revisions, hence the delay.
1.) Straight from J.K. Rowling.
2.)Kaali is the name of The Goddess Of War in Indian Mythology.
I am actually contemplating removing harry from the character list.
The two characters from the Naruto world are only added to make the visualisation better. The old man (Saru) will not be seen again. He is actually the Head of Ministry of Magic of Japan. This will have no bearing on the story. Sarutobi hid Naruto from the Japanese ministry. That's it.
Kabuto has a bigger role to play. These will be one of the last Naruto characters present. As always, please tell me what you think about the fic.
Santé!
Update:There were a few flaws in formatting that came into being when I transferred the text from word. I've corrected most of them. Sorry :)