The Midnight Bloodline

The next few weeks passed in almost a blur as they all prepared to start the new school year. Fudge had to make sure that everything was properly set up for Anisuke’s mates to act as both teachers and as an investigation team, it was surprisingly easy to set up the proper documents and to acquire a potion to help them learn the spells and theory that they would need to know. Anisuke was stunned that a potion like that existed but Fudge was quick to warn him that people under the age of twenty four couldn’t handle it, the brain had to be fully developed or it could cause serious brain damage. Sesshomaru planned his lessons and also the order he would inspect the teachers, he was looking forward to making sure that Hogwarts was deserving of his mate’s presence. Naraku also planned his lessons as well as writing up several tests to see just how far behind the children were, he also secretly planned to make fools of every single child that had even looked at his little one wrong. Kouga, well, Kouga was being himself, lounging around without a single thought about what he was going to teach, he knew that his class couldn’t be planned without seeing just how out of shape the little humans were, he figured that he would have his work cut out for him. Anisuke finished up the homework he hadn’t had the time to finish before as well as studying and checking in with his real friends, warning them about how tough his mates would likely be as teachers, he was actually looking forward to it.
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“I packed my clothes, books, potion ingredients, Hedwig’s things, and my broom; I think that’s all I need.” Anisuke was frantically running around the room checking each and every corner to make sure that he wasn’t going to leave anything behind, while his three amused mates watched from the sidelines.
Kouga finally had enough as he stepped forward and lifted the smaller male into his arms. “You have everything, you’ve checked no less then three times already this morning, and even if you did manage to leave something behind, I’m sure that Cornelius would send it to you.” He sat the now blushing Anisuke on the ground and planted a small kiss on the tip of his nose. “Now we need to get to the train station to get a compartment before they are all filled with noisy, smelly human children.”
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They arrived at the station almost an hour early, flooing directly into the platform to avoid contact with any muggles so they wouldn’t have to completely hide their appearances, only their more inhuman traits. They all breathed sighs of relief when they found the platform empty of students and quickly made their way onto the train. They found a compartment to their liking towards the back of the train and set about warding so that no one that they didn’t want to see would be able to get in. Anisuke’s mates quickly shrunk their trunks and pocketed them, they didn’t trust the old man in the least little bit when it came to their personal effects. After they had made all of their preparations they sat back and watched the window, waiting for the students to start arriving, wanting to see what the article had wrought.
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Hermione had talked her parents into dropping her off early so that she had time to prepare to see Harry, and go over her plan about what she was going to say to him when he got there. She knew that if she didn’t get back into his good graces that she would never get any kind of recognition after Hogwarts, no matter how many NEWTS she managed to get. She laid her trunk down next to the wall and began pacing back and forth going over her speech under her breath, completely unaware that the very person she was practicing for, along with his three mates were listening to every word. “Harry, you have to believe that I had no idea that the Headmaster was taking your money and putting it into an account under my name. Your one of my only friends, you saved me from the troll after all. We have been through so much together every year; I never turned my back on you, not even once! We’ve been friends since first year; we can’t let something like this destroy that friendship. Just give me the chance to prove that I really am your friend and that I would never betray you like that.” She might have been able to earn his forgiveness if she would have stopped with that. “He’ll definitely believe that, he’ll probably forgive me on the spot and I’ll still have the power of being his friend even if I won’t be getting his money and family books anymore. Maybe I can figure out a way to get his mates to abandon him, then I could console him and become more then his friend. The wife of the Boy-Who-Lived could have anything she wanted; I would be the most powerful woman in the Wizarding World.”
It took every ounce of self control Anisuke’s mates had to keep from ripping the little fool’s head of her shoulders in the most gruesome way. How could she be so cold and calculating when talking about ruining someone’s life like that? Their opinion of human females dropped, excluding Rin, even lower, which considering the fact that they had had to deal with Kagome, which was really saying something. Anisuke just sighed and continued to watch the girl that he had once considered his best friend continued to plot as she paced, if he had still been human he would have probably believed the speech she had concocted and the thought made him slightly ill. He had always forgiven them, he had always been afraid to be alone but now he had his mates and they could all go to hell.
Hermione continued to practice until the platform began to fill with students new and old with their emotional parents crying and fussing over them. She kept a silent vigil as the students made their way onto the train; many of them shot her glares that would rival Snape on one of his happier days. She didn’t pay attention to any of it, all she was focused on was getting back into Harry’s good graces, and then they would all have to apologize to her. She waited until the final whistle rang through the air before she hurriedly boarded the train, Harry hadn’t showed up. She sighed as she searched the train for a compartment that would allow her to ride along. She ended up in one of the compartments next to the engine with Ron, just wonderful. She ignored Ron’s whining about how he was being picked on for the lies in the Prophet and the twins weren’t even being glared at. Now Hermione was glad that she had been smart enough to keep Ron out of the loop, the boy probably would have blown any chance she had at earning her position back, and he just wouldn’t shut up!
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The train ride was blissfully short and quiet for Anisuke and his mates. The only rough patches were the rather desperate attempts to open the compartment door by both Ronald and Hermione; it would seem that no one wanted to share with them. Anisuke noticed that the twins had no problem getting a place to sit, not that that surprised him at all, out of all of the Weasleys the twins were his favorites, hands down. They would have never participated in anything that their family stood accused of, they only wanted to make people laugh and to have fun every minute of their lives, a noble goal. Anisuke found himself thinking about what wonderful foxes the twins would make.
When the train arrived at Hogwarts the four yokai had to part ways, Sesshomaru, Kouga and Naraku had to be in the Great Hall when the students entered at used a carriage specifically for teachers that left before the others. Anisuke made his way toward one of the empty carriages in the front before he could be recognized, though the chance of that was rather low, he paused outside of the carriage for a moment to run his hand affectionately down the thestral’s side before he entered the carriage and placed privacy spells to keep anyone that he did not trust from entering. He had always been able to see the thestrals, he had seen his mother die right in front of him when he was a baby after all, it used to be a subconscious memory, but now it was something he could recall clearly, thanks to the Dementers of third year. He was actually rather glad about it; at least he had one memory of her in life, even if it was her death.
It was several minutes later that the carriages took off toward the castle, no one had managed to join him, Neville and Luna always rode in one of the back carriages, they both took their time. Neville normally ended up spending several minutes just trying to capture Trevor and Luna was Luna. Anisuke almost couldn’t wait to see how everyone reacted to the new him and with the tyranny his mates were capable of if provoked, or always in Naraku’s case. He had no doubt that they would make sure that everyone got exactly what was coming to them and the knowledge brought him a sense of peace that was absent throughout most of his childhood. He sighed as he leaned back and waited for the carriages to arrive at the castle and the fun to begin.
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Anisuke’s mates arrived at the castle to find themselves the center of what they concluded was supposed to be an intimidating welcome party. All of the teachers bar Trelawney were waiting on them the moment they entered the Great Hall.
The man that they assumed was Dumbledore due to the outrageous robes and the annoying twinkling eyes stepped forward to gain their attention. “Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, I am Albus Dumbledore the Headmaster of this school.” He began motioning to the teachers around him. “This is the Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall.”
The regal looking woman stepped forward before Dumbledore could continue his introductions. “It is a pleasure to meet you. If you don’t mind my asking, how is young Harry doing? He is one of my favorite students,” the clearing of a throat interrupted her and brought a blush to her cheeks, “to be honest he is my favorite student.”
A smile crossed Kouga’s face as he put most of his weight on his left leg. “The name is Kouga and the little one is doing just fine now that he is away from those despicable excuses for humans.” All three of Anisuke’s mates watched as the woman’s eyes flared with anger and took note of the other teachers that reacted to the statement.
Albus cleared his throat to bring the attention back to himself as he continued his introductions. “This is Pomona Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuff and the Herbology professor.” A short squat woman who appeared to be kind if somewhat absentminded stepped forward and curtseyed before retreating. “This is Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin and the potions professor.” A rather sour looking man toward the back merely scowled at them before he looked away, he would need to be observed. “This is Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw and the charms professor.” A man who could rival Jaken in lack of height squeaked as he was mentioned. The introductions continued until they knew the names of every professor, present or not and it was time for them to take their places at the head table for the feast and the beginning of the school year and Dumbledore’s nightmare if Anisuke’s mates had anything to do with it.
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The students entered the Great Hall with their normal lack of structure and quickly hurried to secure their favorite seats at their house tables. Anisuke waited until he saw Neville and quickly pulled the surprised boy to the Gryffindor table and sat down. The young man stared at him for a few moments before his eyes lit up with recognition. “Harry! Man you look great, your coming of age must have been incredible.”
Anisuke felt his cheeks light up, no one but his mates had really told him that he looked good and he considered them bias. “Thanks, it was definitely not what I was expecting, but I really couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out.”
Neville smiled as he saw Harry’s eyes sparkle, his friend deserved to have three mates that were totally devoted to him. He had watched his friend suffer the past four years without having the power to do anything to help him and he was extremely grateful that he would no longer have to nurse Harry back to health after the summer holidays or worry about him constantly. His Gran had bore witness to many of his many almost breakdowns over not being able to help his friend, she had even tried to get custody but was denied without a hearing by the old coot. She had been furious and had immediately given the man a tongue thrashing he wouldn’t soon forget.
Luna watched the two boys from the Ravenclaw table with knowing eyes. She had known it was her Harry the moment she had laid eyes on him. He was her brother in all but blood and she was glad that he would now be taken care of the way he deserved to be, she had seen it after all, and she was rarely if ever wrong. Maybe she would introduce his mates to the infestation of Nargles in the dungeons; the feral one would probably have fun with it.
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The first years were sorted quickly, none of them were under the hat as long as Anisuke had been, and Dumbledore stood to make his normal nonsense before the meal appeared and the entire Great Hall was filled with the sounds of silverware and hungry students. Anisuke filled his plate and ate slowly as he listened to the conversations all around him. Most of the students were talking about how their summer holiday had gone, or about the article. Many students were surprised that something like what was in the article could even happen; the pureblood children and many of the half-bloods had to have the muggleborns explain what the article had hinted at about his relatives. When it was explained many of them looked at the muggleborns around them with disgust, they couldn’t believe that muggles were so barbaric.
He picked up Hermione’s mumblings about how she would have to catch him after the feast to convince him that she was on his side. She had been shocked when she had seen him, only after Neville had called him by name rather loudly. She was astonished by how much he had changed with his coming of age, all she had gotten was a small power boost and it looked like he had been remade into an adorable god. She immediately started to plot about how to get him away from his mates, he was just too cute, and she had to have him and his power of course. She had been named a prefect, one of the few things that Dumbledore still had complete control over, and she could use that as a reason to get Harry alone.
Ron was completely devoted to the food in front of him. He had noticed Harry the moment he saw him even if he did look like a girl, he almost thought he was one at first. He hadn’t believed anything that he read in the article. He figured that if they lied about his family’s involvement then they had to be lying about everything else, right? His family couldn’t have been taking money from Harry or he wouldn’t have to wear his brothers’ old things he would have anything he wanted. He didn’t see what the big deal about taking a little of Harry’s money was about anyway, he had more then enough and he had been put in a lot of dangerous situations because of Harry and figured he deserved a little money.
Ginny couldn’t tear her eyes away from Harry long enough to have a conversation or to even eat. He had been cute in a nerdy kind of way before but now he looked like a cherub without the wings. His mates would definitely have to go, she would be his wife if it was the last thing she ever did, he was her hero and she wanted to make him hers. Her mother had always told her that she deserved to be his wife and she knew that her mother would be so happy to make Harry part of the family. She spent the rest of the meal plotting with the image of red-haired green eyed children running through her mind.
Dumbledore was seething behind his twinkling eyes and benevolent smile. He most certainly did not want his pawn’s mates in his school, he was the leader here and now they would be evaluating him! The boy was smiling and talking to the Longbottom boy, he would need to get the boy back under the watchful eyes of the Granger girl, hopefully she would be smart enough to get back into his good graces on her own as he doubted that he would be allowed anywhere around him with his dominants in the castle, hopefully one of his little puppets would take care of them for him.
Minerva was silently analyzing the three mates of her favorite student. Sesshomaru seemed to be very controlled, he was obviously from a noble family from the way that he held himself. He had only spoken once to introduce himself and he had a voice that made you feel as if you shouldn’t even dream to think of yourself as his equal. She found herself being reminded of Lucius Malfoy’s way of speaking, but Sesshomaru’s was far more effective. Kouga reminded her of the Marauders, which earned him a high place in her eyes; he seemed to be fun-loving with a wicked sense of humor. She had a feeling that being around him would be quite the experience. Naraku, well to be perfectly honest, he scared her a bit. He had an air about him that let you know that he would have no problem ripping you limb from limb if you were deemed as a threat or a hindrance, he reminded her of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his eyes were even a demonic red as well. She knew that he was the most dangerous out of the three simply because he wouldn’t even hesitate to cut you down; the others would probably weigh their options first. Meeting them had relaxed her though, she knew that men like them would do everything in their power to make sure that Harry was both safe and happy, which is what she wanted no matter how that happened. She would stand by him even if he suddenly decided to aid the Dark Lord she would follow; she owed him and his parents that much at least for failing to protect him.
Snape was a very nervous man underneath his ever present scowl and glare. He could tell that Harry’s mates would have no tolerance for any of the teachers; if he managed to incur their wrath they would most likely take great pleasure in making his life unlivable. He had been shocked when had had discovered the boy wonder’s home life was not what he had been led to believe it was. He was also mildly ashamed of himself, many Slytherin half-bloods and the few muggleborns that made it in had been abused in one fashion or another, he should have picked up on the signs that he could now remember clearly. He could remember how fragile the boy had looked after every summer, how he was always the smallest in his year or even the year below him, how he tensed whenever one of his friends touched him, and how he would never eat very much at the beginning of the year and gradually worked his way up to larger meals. He knew that his dislike of James had blinded him to the real Harry Potter and he was sure that he would pay for every glare he had sent the boy and he would accept his fate no matter how painful it might be.
It took every ounce of control Sesshomaru had to keep from mass genocide of the student body. Many of them were whispering about how good his mate looked and how they wished that he wasn’t already mated. Some of them were actually trying to come up with a way to take Anisuke from them. He committed those students to memory and start planning all of the torture he would inflict on them, they would feel his anger even if he couldn’t physically harm them, he could mentally and emotionally scar them. He also planned to go over every teacher with a fine toothed comb; he didn’t want any of that old codger’s pawns around his little fox.
Kouga was casually observing all of the students and teachers as they ate; he watched everything from what they ate to how they acted around those they sat with. He wanted to know everything about them to see if they deserved to breathe his mate’s air. He found most of the students to be gossiping children that made his feel mature, which is quite the feat. The teachers appeared to be deep in thought, many of them would glance their way periodically, and some of them seemed to be plotting something, probably how to win their favor.
Naraku was already planning his first evaluation. He would not go easy on these humans, they had ignored his mate’s suffering so it was only right that they got to experience a little of that pain themselves. He was also planning how best to teach the students their lesson, some of them were saying things about Anisuke that made his anger boil, they talked about him like he was a piece of meat. He would make sure that they never thought about him that way again, if they had the capacity to think at all.
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After the food had disappeared and the students’ hunger was sated for the time being, Dumbledore stood from his place at the head table to make his yearly speech. “Now that you have all been fed and watered we can get the start of term formalities out of the way.” He looked out into the sea of faces with his twinkle in overdrive. “I’m sure that you all read the Prophet and know that Hogwarts will have the pleasure of three new teachers as well as two new classes this year. We will have Mr. Naraku Miasma as the new defense teacher, Mr. Sesshomaru Taisho as the teacher of a new core class, swordplay, and Mr. Kouga Ookami the professor of our new physical education class that will be added to the core curriculum as well. They will also be evaluating the staff to reassure the Ministry that the school is being run the way that it should be.”
Whatever else Dumbledore was planning on saying was interrupted by Sesshomaru as he stood and eyed the student body before he spoke, his voice easily silencing Dumbledore and the whispers from the student body. “We are not here to reassure anyone. We are here to make sure that this school is safe by any means necessary. This Sesshomaru will also make sure that the students are capable of holding their own with a weapon to prepare them for the real world as they are not prepared now.”
As he sat down Kouga stood and aimed a smirk at the old man. “I’m here to see if any of the staff need to be reassigned or removed and to make sure that you kiddies are strong enough to last longer then a few minutes in a duel.” He looked into the sea of young faces. “You may think that magic is the only thing that you need, but in a duel of any kind you will need to move faster then your opponent and you will need to have the stamina to keep up or you will find yourself on the wrong end of your opponent’s wand. I will push you to your physical limits and then I will push you beyond them and you will hate me by the end of the year.” He watched the students pale with a satisfied air.
Naraku was the next to gain their attention, many of them cried out as they caught sight of his blood red eyes for the first time. “I am here to make sure that your professors and your Headmaster deserve their titles. I will teach you how to recognize and defend against the dark arts. I will teach you when to shield and when to dodge. You will learn to counter on a moments notice, how to cast without words, and how to truly defend yourselves should you ever find yourself in a life or death situation. I will accept nothing but your very best and if you think that memorizing the theory will help you, you are wrong. The words of a book cannot prepare you for action, in the real world a book will not save you without the experience to back it up.” Hermione and many of the Ravenclaws looked like they were going to have breakdowns. “If you fall behind or I find that you are not taking my class seriously you will find yourself in detention for the rest of the semester until you begin to take things seriously. This is not a game where you can just start over if you fail, if you lose a duel you may lose your life.” He finished his speech with a glare that told the students that he was not playing around.
Dumbledore gathered his wits and finished with the normal reciting of the rules and proceeded to release the students who filed out of the Great Hall without a single peep. The only student who stayed behind was Anisuke. He walked up to the head table as his mates came around the table. Dumbledore twinkled at him. “Harry my boy, you should hurry and catch up to the rest of the Gryffindors or you won’t know the password to your dorms.”
Anisuke cocked his head to the side as his mates moved to stand behind him. “Why would I need to know the password to the Gryffindor dorms? The mating laws clearly state that any mate that still attends school is to be housed with their mate in a private room, I’m sure that the house elves have already prepared a room for us.”
Dumbledore could feel his patience dwindle. “My boy, surely you would want to spend time with your friends, and it really wouldn’t be proper to share a room with three grown men, just think about what the other students would think,” He was trying to play to the hatred Harry felt toward being the center of attention.
Anisuke knew what the man was trying to do and was frankly pissed but he hid it behind an innocent smile. “Headmaster, I’m sure that the other students would understand that as mates we are entitled to having a place to properly get to know one another without the interference of strangers and if I feel the need to spend time with another student there are plenty of other place for us to spend time. I thank you for your concern but it is getting rather late and I do have classes tomorrow, so I will have to bid you a goodnight.” Anisuke turned on his heel before Dumbledore could formulate a replay and gracefully swept from the Great Hall with three very amused mates trailing after him, leaving the stunned staff to collect themselves.
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Anisuke was awoken the next morning by his mates attempting to leave the bed without him noticing, which is most definitely impossible with the way they tended to sleep. They all looked sheepish as he glared and grumbled as he entered the bathroom to get ready for his first day of class.
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Anisuke was one of the first students to make it down for breakfast for obvious reasons and had to wait several minutes for Professor McGonagall to notice that one of her lions actually made it to breakfast before the Ravenclaws. She handed him his schedule with a small smile and he looked over it quickly before wishing he had just stayed in bed.