Chapter Text
“For Merlin, what on earth is happening?”
McGonagall couldn’t stop thinking that meanwhile she walked in what seemed like a place abandoned by the world itself. The buildings were barely holding on, and an aura of evilness and hopelessness involved the entire place. Was the kid really living here? If that case was true (the most obvious option, based on the investigation they made), she didn’t even know how a child could live in these conditions. She already felt pity on that poor boy.
By ignoring the smell of dust and death all above the place, the woman continued her way to... Whatever place the kid is. She had no knowledge about the exact location of the boy, all that she knew was that the kid she’s searching for is in that place. McGonagall really hoped to find him soon.
The sight of the black-haired woman wandered around the place. There wasn’t any indication of the child. A sigh left her lips. She could feel the looks that everyone around were giving to her, it wasn’t strange, because even although she dressed like a muggle will do, she wasn’t Japanese at all , she didn't know the language either, she was really lucky to know a translation spell that allowed her to speak and understand the language of others.
Yokohama was a curious city, both she and Albus, Snape and Pomfrey knew that this city had something strange, in addition to being the second time that a wizard came from this place. This was not a place to be trifled with carelessly. For now she just had to continue searching for that child.
When the hopes that she would find the kid that day seemed ridiculous, the first sign that she succeeded came, and, oh boy, it really came.
Like a destructive storm, a reddish hair entered her vision. It was approaching her really fast; she could barely manage to cast a protection spell around her to prevent it from throwing her to the ground or sending her into the air; and even with that, the woman felt the force of the impact almost knock her. Meanwhile a dust cloud engulfed the place, she only could ask to herself “What was that?” Her questions were answered shortly after the cloud disappeared. A small boy with the same reddish she saw moments before was standing in front of her. The look that he was giving to her was almost deadly, and he was clearly confused about the situation.
“How did you stop me?” he asked. McGonagall could only stare in surprise at the boy in front of her. He… He had what Dumbledore had told them that winter day two years ago. What had he called it? An ability ?
This was new ground for her. She knew of the existence of something like that style, she knew it was powerful; She had just checked it out right now. This boy, who couldn't have been older than 14, had almost knocked her to the ground with the enormous force he had put into that attack. He wasn't someone to play with, she had to be careful. Still, the directory had listed this boy as a wizard, so the woman was just going to follow the usual protocol with muggle-born children.
“The same way you came to me like that, with magic,” she spoke, deciding to lie about his knowledge of ability users out of sheer caution.
The kid was even more confused by that response.
“Magic? That doesn’t exist, old lady,” he frowned, looking at his older. McGonagall wasn’t surprised by the refusal. It was common in the wizards born of muggles to deny the existence of magic. However this was not a conventional case; the woman knew that the boy was hesitant for something else. She only smiled, making sure there were no prying eyes before taking out her wand.
“Aguamenti.”
A stream of water came out of the tip of her wand.
“Lumos.”
The tip of the wand illuminated.
“Engorgio.”
She points at a can that was on the floor, causing it to change its size, making it bigger.
Those were simple spells, but certainly can prove the existence of magic to muggles; and from what she could see in the ginger's gaze, it certainly worked.
The boy's gaze changed, but that expression of bewilderment was still maintained; he also looked defensive, as if in front of him was a mortal danger and something to be extremely careful with. That confused the eldest even more, a child shouldn't have that look on his face, what the hell had happened to him?
“… Are you going to kill me?”
When she heard that question, she felt something ugly twist in her stomach. She had dealt with muggle-borns for years, she had introduced them to magic; dammit, some of them had even been her lions. And during all those years, she never received a question like that. The only time she had felt something like this was when she heard the words of a certain problem child.
McGonagall knew, from the moment she entered that place to look for the ginger she knew. The conditions in that place were not good at all, it was too obvious that this child had not had the opportunity to have a decent life, that he had surely lived in an environment of violence since he was little. The simple fact that his home was that dangerous place explained why the letters they sent never arrived, or why they didn't hear from him until the beginning of the previous school year. Student or not, she couldn't leave the boy alone in that place.
“No- I won't kill you, please don't think that,” she hastened to correct. The woman's gaze was compassionate but saddened by the whole situation. “I'm Minerva McGonagall. I don't come here to do you any harm, but to help you. I want to take you to a magic school where you can learn how to manage that power that is in you.” If the boy really had magic, that is.
The boy's gaze relaxed a little, but there was still skepticism and some doubt in it. She couldn't blame him, so she would just give him his time to process all this new information.
“I don’t have any magic; you must be confusing yourself with someone else.”
“Oh, you do have magic, child. As I told you, the way you came towards me is nothing if not proof of your magical ability.”
The boy's gaze didn't seem at all impressed, he looked like he was actually thinking that she lost her mind. The teacher already expected this, the power from before was more than attributed to magic, it was attributed to the peculiar condition of ginger. Of course, she had to continue with the small role she had gotten herself into, so she couldn't reveal herself that easily.
“It's not magic, it's my ability- Do you even know what abilities are?”
Abilities, the mention of these no longer surprised him. What truly caused a great impact on the woman was the fact that this child revealed the existence of her power in such a simple way. Weren't the abilities supposed to be almost as hidden as the magic itself? A wizard had no authorization to reveal the existence of magic to people who did not possess it, but this child claimed to have an ability without giving it much thought.
How had they managed to stay hidden so well that not even the magical community knew of their existence? It was terrifying, the idea that this secret group had so much power that they could hide their existence from the public eye so easily without needing anyone at all to know of their existence… Genuinely terrifying.
The boy, not receiving any response, continued. “…Whatever- What did you mean by “magic school”?” he asked. “Something like that sounds strange.”
“Magic schools exist to teach young wizards around the world how to wield their magic and control it so that it is not harmful to others,” McGonagall explained, earning a raised eyebrow from the younger boy. “That means that you are going to be taught to control the magic that resides within you.”
“…Hm.” The boy's gaze lowered, thoughtful for a second, before looking up. “Chuuya Nakahara, that's my name.” A soft sigh escaped his lips. He leaned against a nearby wall and glanced at the enlarged can before finally looking at her. “Assuming you're telling the truth about this magic school and everything... What exactly do you want from me? Where is it located? You don’t look like you’re from around here at all.”
Chuuya Nakahara? That was not the name they had registered… They had the name
“Chuuya Kashimura”.
This was definitely weird. First, he’s an ability user, and now the name that they have doesn’t matched with the name that this boy was giving to her. That only confused the woman like never before, but she wouldn't risk asking more for now.
At the question the woman smiled slightly. “I simply want to take you there so you can develop your magic, the school is always happy to welcome new wizards. And as far as the location goes… Well, it's in England. We don’t usually receive students from so far away, but you and another boy are a very special case, since you both come from here.”
It was obvious to the transfiguration teacher that the last fact was what raised the alerts. Well, as soon as she mentioned the location of Hogwarts, the boy's expression went from being moderately relaxed to total alert. His shoulders tensed and the anger could be seen in his eyes.
“HAH!? England? No, I refuse. I won't go with you. I'm not going to leave my friends here alone, they need me. My family is more important for me to abandon them for something stupid.” The fury was evident in Chuuya's eyes, McGonagall couldn't understand why the boy's reaction, family? The boy was without a doubt an orphan, what was happening then?
She couldn't afford to worry about that now, but rather the fact that things had escalated very quickly, and if things continued like this, there was no way she could get the ginger to go with her. The woman took a couple of steps back, observing in strange and amazed the red aura that surrounded the boy's body.
“Chuuya- Please calm down, this is a great opportunity for you, we can talk to your family and make sure everything is going to be okay.” She had to get him out of that place as soon as possible.
“It's still a no. They need me to be here, I can’t go away and leave them.”
He definitely didn't seem to want to cooperate. And that was not good at all for the oldest. She sighed as she thought of ways on how to convince the minor. Until she saw how he began to walk away. She couldn't leave him.
"Hey wait! "Things can still be discussed, young Nakahara."
"No. That's my final answer. Magic exists and it's amazing or whatever you want, but I'm not going to go to some stupid magic school on the other side of the world, get lost now.”
And without further ado, the minor walked away without giving the woman any opportunity to explain herself. She literally couldn't do more, since she left as she arrived. That red aura only became stronger, and Chuuya seemed to have conjured his ability again, since his body became lighter and it could be said that he flew through the air, moving away from the woman who couldn't keep up with him without risking discovery.
Well, that hadn't gone well at all.
Although at least now she had an advance, she already knew in which area the ginger lived, so it was a good first step to get him to go with her to Hogwarts. And with a little luck, having Chuuya with them, they could find out more about ability users and if that boy really possessed magic.
Although at least now she had an advance, she already knew in which area the ginger lived, so it was a good first step to get him to go with her to Hogwarts.