A/N: Wow, I'm really the queen of slow updates, aren't I? Yeah, I don't think that's gonna change anytime soon. Sorry about that guys. Also, lots of short time skips ahead. You've been warned. Anyways, here begins Chapter the Fifth, in which there are many fan fiction cliches.

Disclaimer: Still don't own either Harry Potter or Bleach.

Ichigo's thoughts

'Shiro speaking' (because FanFiction kept getting rid of my underlines...)

Zangetsu speaking

\\Speaking in Japanese\\ (because parentheses got annoying)

Chapter 5

The next morning, Ichigo awoke to Yoruichi insistently prodding the side of his head with her paw. She looked a little irritated, as if she had been at this for a while. Light streamed through the window, not doing anything to make the room any less creepy. Last night, he had been too tired to truly notice and comprehend everything, but looking around now, he realized that it wasn't just the entrance hall that was decorated the way it was. Did a murderer used to live here or something? He vaguely remembered seeing some stuffed heads or something in the hall... Luckily, the creepiest thing in this room was an empty painting. Glancing around, he noticed that Ron was snoring loudly, and Harry was muttering in his sleep.

\\What do you want, Yoruichi?\\ he whispered, turning back to her.

\\For you to get up.\\ She rolled her eyes at him. \\Gin wants to see you downstairs. Something about getting school supplies.\\ With that, she promptly hopped off the bed and sat by the door, waiting for him to open it.

Ichigo climbed out of bed tiredly. Man, he was exhausted. He had been feeling it ever since he woke up in that alley. The final battle with Aizen had seriously taken its toll on him. He had been so tired last night that he had barely understood the explanations Gin and Yama-jii had given him – even if he had successfully not let anyone catch on to that fact. Even Shiro was tired. Ichigo could hear him snoring in the back of his head. At least he didn't snore as loudly as Ron did.

He grabbed Zangetsu from his place against the wall and tucked the sheathed katana under his obi to hold it at his waist. He then pulled open the door and followed Yoruichi back to the kitchen (yep, there were stuffed heads of some sort hanging on the wall).

Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen, busying herself with making breakfast.

"Oh, Ichigo dear, you're already awake! Here, have some breakfast." She pushed a plate full of eggs and bacon under his nose. His stomach growled hungrily. He quickly thanked her and took it, sitting down at the table. Mrs. Weasley was rapidly becoming one of his favorite people. She was extremely nice and her food was fantastic. Maybe not as good as Yuzu's cooking – nothing ever would be – but it was still delicious. Yoruichi sat on the table next to his plate and gave him an imploring look. He rolled his eyes and gave her a couple pieces of bacon. As he ate, he noticed Mrs. Weasley leave to wake her children.

Gin entered the room about five minutes later, carrying a large bundle in his arms, as Ichigo was just finishing eating.

\\What's all of that?\\

\\Your school things. Or some of them.\\

\\Where'd you even get those?\\ Ichigo asked, eying the large pile of clothes and books that Gin had just set on the table. Most of the clothes were black robes – probably the school uniform. The rest were a couple pairs of striped pajamas, an extra shihakusho or two, and some sandals and tabi. He had forgotten that he wasn't wearing any shoes. He decided he should put those on right then.

The books had titles like Standard Book of Spells and A History of Magic. He was grateful that the books all seemed to be in Japanese, although he had a feeling that the spells probably didn't translate.

\\The clothes had ta come directly from Soul Society since ya' can't wear clothes that aren't made o' reishi,\\ Gin explained, interrupting his musings. \\Had ta get the books from Dumbledore-san since they don' sell 'em in Japanese at the stores. Figured your Zanpakuto could use a break.\\

That made sense. Wait. \\How'd you – ?\\

\\You've been speaking near perfect English. Doubt ya' learned how to speak that well at school.\\ His voice was condescending, which irritated Ichigo, but what he said was true. He had learned some English at school, but you definitely couldn't learn to speak it perfectly there. Plus his English was a little – okay, a lot, but he wasn't going to admit that – rusty, seeing as he kept missing class for his shinigami duties (and that was another thing. Why did Hollows always have to attack during English?).

Ichigo nodded at Gin, acknowledging that he was right. Then something the older shinigami had said previously occurred to him.

\\What'd you mean by 'some of them'?\\

Gin pulled a list out of his sleeve and Ichigo briefly wondered why Gin seemed to like to use his sleeves as pockets. \\There are several other things we gotta get, which is what we're gonna do now.\\ He waved the parchment in Ichigo's face.

\\And where are we gonna get these?\\ Ichigo asked, snatching the list from Gin and looking it over. Seriously, where were you supposed to buy a magic wand?

'At a magic trick store, King. Where else?' Shiro sounded groggy. He'd probably just woken up. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from making annoying and completely pointless comments.

Oh, just shut up.

He caught a fleeting image of Shiro childishly sticking out his tongue.

\\Diagon Alley,\\ Gin replied happily. \\Let's go.\\ Ichigo watched Gin saunter over to the fireplace and take a flower pot full of some sort of powder off the mantle. What was he doing? The Shinigami captain looked back over his shoulder. \\You comin'?\\

\\Right now?\\ If they were leaving right now, what was Gin doing, playing with a fireplace? Ichigo glanced at Yoruichi – who was quietly munching on the bacon he had given her earlier. Apparently, she didn't find anything weird about what Gin was doing.

\\Yes, right now. Get over here.\\ Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Was Gin mocking him – more than usual at least? He was standing patiently by the fireplace, his usual grin plastered on his face. There was no way to tell if he was joking or not.

\\What about those?\\ he pointed to the pile of stuff on the table, as he came over to stand by Gin.

\\Just leave 'em. You should probably leave your Zanpakuto on the table too.\\

Ichigo was instantly against that idea. No way was he leaving Zangetsu alone in a house full of crazy magic people. Even if some of them were fairly nice. \\I am not leaving Zangetsu here!\\ Ichigo snapped, hand straying to the hilt of the sheathed katana.

\\Ichigo!\\ Yoruichi sounded extremely irritated. \\Stop acting like a rebellious child.\\ She glared at him, but her voice grew softer and lost its sharp edge. \\Leave your Zanpakuto on the table. Nothing will happen to it.\\

Reluctantly, Ichigo walked back to the table and set Zangetsu down, after which, Gin offered the flower pot to him.

\\Take some an' listen carefully.\\ Ichigo cautiously took a handful. Gin was actually being semi-serious for once, so he figured this must be important. \\Now, you're gonna throw that in the fire. When the flames turn green, step in an' say, 'Diagon Alley'. Make sure ya' say it clearly or ya' won' end up in the right place. Best have your Zanpakuto help if ya' can't say it clear through yer accent.\\ Ichigo raise a skeptical eyebrow, but didn't object. He figured Gin was just being crazier than normal. If it was just him telling him to do this, Ichigo probably would have said no. But Yoruichi was sitting next to Zangetsu on the table, glaring at him and waiting for him to follow orders. She still looked vaguely ticked off and a ticked off Yoruichi was worse than any threat Gin could ever come up with. But even so, Ichigo trusted Yoruichi. She would not tell him to do something if he was going to get seriously injured doing it – not if there was another, safer option. In the back of his mind he could feel a thrum of assurance from Zangetsu. Shiro, however, – the stupid Hollow, even if he was grateful for the silence. Didn't he know they might be about to burn up? – had fallen back asleep.

He took a calming breath and tossed his handful of powder into the flames. They instantly flared green. He quickly stepped in, ignoring the fact that all his instincts were screaming not to.

(Wait, not all his instincts because his Hollow was made of his instincts and the jerk was still fast asleep!)

Surprisingly the flames didn't burn, but gave off a comforting warmth instead. Logically, that shouldn't be possible. Weren't green flames supposed to be among the hottest forms of fire? But then again, this was obviously magic. Who needs logic?

"Diagon Alley." His mind barely registered what happened next. He was spinning, spinning so fast it made him sick. He could see blurs and flashes of other people's homes and other places as he flew past. Then, suddenly, it stopped and he tumbled head over heels out of the grate into a dimly lit bar. There were strangely dressed people everywhere – although, he had to admit that his clothing was no less strange – wearing robes, pointy hats and smoking pipes. The fire flared up behind him and he turned to find Gin stepping from the green flames.

\\So, how do ya' like the Leaky Cauldron?\\ Gin asked, walking over to him as Ichigo clambered to his feet. \\Did ya' enjoy the trip?\\

\\You could have at least warned me!\\ Ichigo snarled, glaring. \\And what's the 'Leaky Cauldron'?\\

\\Now, where would be the fun in that? Ah, and this,\\ Gin gestured around himself dramatically, \\is the Leaky Cauldron. Now, let's get going. We have things to buy!\\ Gin started happily in the direction of a door at the back of the bar, ignoring the stares he was receiving from the other occupants of the room.

\\And we're gonna buy these things in a pub?\\ Ichigo asked sarcastically, following behind Gin and doing his best to ignore the stares as well. He was kind of failing.

\\Course not.\\ Gin pushed open the door, revealing a small, bricked in courtyard on the other side. Ichigo shot Gin a questioning glance, but he merely walked towards the far wall and tapped a seemingly random brick with a long finger (1). The bricks rearranged themselves, forming an archway and revealing a long twisting street.

As he followed Gin through the archway and down the street, Ichigo couldn't come up with a word to describe the place. Magical seemed too obvious and cliché, even though the place definitely was in every, sense of the word, magical. Insane was the word he finally decided on, however. Shops and stalls lined the street, packed close together, one after the other. People dressed in brightly colored robes were everywhere. With all the reiatsu flowing around, all the unstable looking shops, and all the colors surrounding him, the place felt like complete chaos to Ichigo.

As Gin led him down the street, Ichigo decided that they should never let Urahara – or Kurotsuchi, for that matter – find out about this place. They would have a field day. In fact, it would be best if no one from the Twelfth ever stepped foot in the alternate reality.

Gin stopped abruptly, making Ichigo almost run into him. The silver haired man stared intently at the shop's sign for a moment, while Ichigo quickly took in the appearance of the rest of the place. The window of the shop was dirty, and all that was in it was a wand sitting on an old pillow. The rest of the narrow shop looked old and battered as well. Above the door, gold lettering declared the place's name to be 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.'

\\You go in there,\\ Gin prompted after making sure they had found the right place. He handed Ichigo a bag of coins. \\I'll start on gettin' the rest of your stuff. Don' wander off an get lost while I'm gone.\\ He then walked off, disappearing into the crowd with his signature large grin.

Ichigo pushed the door to the wand shop open and cautiously stepped inside. The interior of the store was filled with shelves, piled high with long rectangular boxes, and a single spindly chair. The shop seemed completely void of all life.

"Can I help you?" Ichigo jumped and spun around. A small old man stood right behind him, blinking up at him with pale, silver eyes. Ichigo had not been able to sense the man's reiatsu at all.

"Ano... I'm here to buy a wand..." Ichigo felt like an idiot. It was completely obvious that he was there to buy a wand. And just saying that sentence out loud made him feel stupid. Unfortunately, Shiro had woken up again – he sounded much more awake than last time – and was now laughing at him in the background.

"Yes, of course." Ollivander gazed at him intently for a moment. "It is not often that a wandmaker gets to supply a wand for the dead."

That threw Ichigo for a loop. How could this guy tell he wasn't alive? It wasn't like he looked like a dead person. This guy seriously freaked him out. "W-what?" he managed to choke out.

Ollivander, now searching for something on one of the many shelves, replied, "I never have, but one of my ancestors supplied a wand to an old man who dressed like you, but with a white coat and carrying a heavy wooden cane."

"Old man Yama bought a wand?" Ichigo asked baffled, and then felt stupid (again) for asking because, of course, Ollivander would have no idea who he was talking about. And there only happened to be one person that fit the description Ollivander had just given him anyways.

"Ah, you know him? This purchase happened about a thousand or so years ago, but yes, he indeed purchased one." Ollivander disappeared deeper into the shop, returning a few minutes later with an armful of boxes. "Hmm... normally I'd measure you, but I have so few of these kinds of wands, that we can't be picky about wand length." He was rambling about the wands now. "These are the oldest wands in the shop, each with thestral hair as a core. Thestral hair is highly volatile material for a core – which is why wandmakers almost never use it – but it's the only thing that seems to work for your kind... Here, try this one..." Ollivander's eyes were practically brimming with excitement now.

He took the offered wand from Ollivander, who immediately snatched it back.

"No, no... Definitely not... That probably would have destroyed the entire shop..." Ollivander said to himself, picking out another wand and offering it to Ichigo. He took it cautiously, as if picking up a live snake, having heard Ollivander's muttered words. Ollivander did not snatch the wand back this time, instead instructing Ichigo to 'give it a wave'.

Ichigo flicked the wand, sending all the wands from one of the shelves crashing onto the floor. He grimaced and handed the wand back to Ollivander. "I don't think it's this one."

"No, but that was closer... Let's see, that wand was made of holly..." Ollivander rummaged through his stack of wands.

Several wands, broken objects and what felt like hours later to Ichigo, they finally found it. The second Ichigo touched the wand, he knew it was the right one. Something about it just felt right in his hand, the same way Zangetsu did – needless to say, he still preferred Zangetsu over the stick. The other confirming factor was the red and black sparks that shot from the tip, the same color as his reiatsu.

"Hmm... Mahogany (2), twelve and a half inches, and with thestral hair, of course... That will be eight Galleons." Ichigo pulled out the money pouch and looked inside, wondering what Galleons looked like. The pouch was full of gold coins and nothing else – Gin had probably done this so he wouldn't have to explain the monetary system.

"Uh, these are Galleons, right?" He held up one of the coins. Ollivander nodded in confirmation, so Ichigo pulled out eight of them and paid. He left the shop quickly, wanting to get away from the old man. It was quite obvious that Ollivander knew how to see spirit ribbons – and most likely read reiatsu, even if he shouldn't have been able to feel Ichigo's. The guy, in Ichigo's opinion – and much to Shiro's amusement – was creepy.

Gin had not yet come back. Ichigo tried to find his reiatsu, but Diagon Alley was so filled with different and chaotic reiatsu everywhere that it was difficult to sense anything at all. He couldn't go looking for Gin either. If he did, he would most certainly get lost and Gin had given a specific order against that. So Ichigo leaned against the wall of the wand shop, entertaining himself by watching all the strange things that were going on, and waited.

Gin slipped quietly into Knockturn Alley. He had no reason to worry about being seen – he'd be the first to admit that he definitely looked more out of place in Diagon Alley than he did in its darker counterpart – but there was no need to advertise where he was going either.

No one bothered him on the way to his destination. His perma-smile and the menacing aura that surrounded him made it perfectly clear to all the lowlifes who lived there that he was, without a doubt, the scariest thing in the alley.

Borgin and Burkes was just up ahead and Gin could see a blond head of hair through the dirty window. Lucius Malfoy. Malfoy seriously annoyed Gin. He reminded him of the scum in Rukongai who had tried to act more superior than Rangiku and him, had always tried to bully them out of their food (tried. Like heck he was gonna give up his dried persimmons to some punks!) even though the idiots had no reiatsu and therefore didn't need it. In fact, Voldemort's whole group of followers made him think of those sewer rats back in Rukongai. Just being around them irked him.

But this was no time to think about that and get annoyed. If he did, he'd be more likely to stab Malfoy with Shinsou than to actually do his job. That wouldn't end well for either of them – he really didn't need a scolding from Yamamoto – so Gin took a deep breath, thought about Rangiku – because it was always easier not to be annoyed when he thought about her – and walked into the shop.

Gin finally came back half an hour later. All he had bought in that half hour was a large trunk. In the the mean time, Ichigo had decided to start experimenting with his new wand. He had discovered that the wand made channeling and controlling reiatsu much easier. Still, that was all he could do with it – channel reiatsu – and so all that really happened whenever he flicked or waved it was red and black sparks shooting out.

(Except for the last time he had tried and accidentally zapped someone, making their hair turn a strange shade of magenta. He had quickly put the wand away and Shiro had been begging him for a turn ever since.)

Look, Gin's back. You can have control... if you want to do the shopping...

The Hollow quickly declined. He didn't like shopping, even if it was in a magical alley full of strange things.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and strolled over to Gin, who quickly turned and led him to some other shop.

The rest of the trip went fairly quickly since they didn't have to visit the bookshop or the robe shop. It was the oddest shopping trip Ichigo had ever been on. He had never, in his wildest and strangest dreams, imagined himself buying supplies for making potions, or any of these other things for that matter.

The money had apparently been supplied by Dumbledore, from the Hogwarts vault at Gringotts, the wizarding bank. When questioned about why they hadn't just gone to the bank themselves, Gin merely replied, 'Goblins don't like us' and offered no further explanation.

Goblins?

Ichigo decided to just go with it.

After all the supplies had been bought and stuffed into the trunk that Gin had acquired, they made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron and sat in a secluded corner. Gin summoned a Hell Butterfly.

Ichigo watched curiously as the butterfly fluttered around the trunk a few times then landed on top of it. The trunk dissolved, and the butterfly flew away.

\\Ano... what did you...?\\ Ichigo asked, staring wide-eyed. Admittedly, he had seen much stranger things before, but that had been very... Unexpected, to say the least.

\\Ah, tha'. The butterfly sucked the trunk into a pocket dimension. It'll take it back ta Grimmauld Place. Now, let's go.\\

They used the fireplace to get back to headquarters, finding Mrs. Weasley making sandwiches in the kitchen when they arrived.

"Oh, you're back! I was just making lunch," she told them as they stepped out of the grate. "The others are in the drawing room if you want to go find them. And Ichigo dear, I had Ron take your things to your room."

He thanked her, glancing at the table. Indeed, the pile of books and clothes from before were gone. Zangetsu, however, remained.

As Mrs. Weasley returned to making sandwiches, Ichigo retrieved Zangetsu from the table and followed Gin, who had been waiting for him at the kitchen door.

They made their way back to the room they had talked in the night before, minus the cushy chairs that Dumbledore had conjured. \\What are we doing in here?\\

\\Putting a seal or two on ya'. If ya' haven't noticed yet, yer reiatsu has been steadily droppin'. It's to the point where I can feel the bare edges of it all the time. Soon it'll be down to about equal the Captain-commander's fully released power. If tha' happens, I'll be crushed an' the humans will die. There's a reason tha' the Captain-commander never comes ta the world of the livin', ya' know.\\

\\But why has it been dropping?\\ Ichigo asked, alarmed.

Gin only shrugged. \\You'd know better than I. It's your reiatsu after all.\\

Ichigo...

What is it, Ossan?

Your reiatsu dropping is the after effects of the Final Getsuga Tenshou.

So you mean I'm still gonna lose all of my powers?!

Calm down. That is not what I said. It seems the effects of the Final Getsuga Tenshou in this world are not as severe. You will not lose all of your reiatsu. More likely, it will just drop back down to how it was before the Dangai. You will never be able to use the Final Getsuga Tenshou again, however.

Not that I'd want to... Why are the effects less severe?

Ichigo got the mental image of Shiro shrugging.

'Different worlds, different rules, King.'

And then Gin was snapping his fingers in front of Ichigo's face. \\Yo, ya' in there? This is no time for spacin' out.\\

\\Stop that,\\ he snarled, pushing Gin's hand away. \\Now weren't you going to put some seals on me?\\

\\That's why I need ya' ta stop spacing out. The first seal will only bring yer reiatsu down ta about average Captain level. I need ya' ta focus on holding yer reiatsu in while I put the next two on.\\

\\Uh...\\ Had Gin forgotten that he had no idea how to do that? He stared at Gin blankly.

\\Alrigh'! Quick reiatsu control lesson! Focus on yer reiatsu. Ya' can feel it all around ya', right?\\

Ichigo closed his eyes and focused. Yes, there it was, flowing out of him and filling every corner of the room, seeping out the crack under the door. He nodded in answer to Gin's question.

\\Good. Now gather it. Pull it back to yerself. Feel the energy flow back into ya'. It's the same as usin' Shunpo, just instead of gatherin' it in yer feet an' releasin' it, gather it in yer center an' keep it in.\\

Ichigo took a deep breath and did as instructed. It was surprisingly easier than he'd thought it would be. No wonder Ishida had always thought him stupid for not being able to control his own reiatsu.

\\Got it,\\ Ichigo informed Gin. He felt Gin pull the collar of his shihakusho back and press down on his collarbone with his palm. Gin muttered something under his breath and Ichigo felt a tightening on his reiatsu, a portion of it becoming inaccessible. The same thing happened two more times, until Gin finally drew his hand back, stepping away. Ichigo opened his eyes. He rubbed the spot on his collarbone and wondered what the seal looked like. He didn't really know if he liked the idea of walking around with a flower tattooed on his chest.

As if reading his mind, Gin said, \\There isn't a mark, if ya' wanted ta know.\\

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at him. \\Why not? Isn't there supposed to be one?\\

\\I modified it little. Wouldn't wan' anyone wonderin' about strange tattoos on ya', now would we?\\

Thank goodness! Now he wouldn't have to make up another lie off the top of his head! \\Yeah... Oh hey, where'd Yoruichi run off to?\\

\\Probably in the drawin' room with those kids. Let's go find her.\\ Ichigo followed Gin to the drawing room. He was getting a little annoyed with following Gin places, but if he didn't do what Gin said, Yoruichi would most likely claw his face off. Or worse.

The drawing room was long, had a high ceiling and a green color scheme. (Ichigo had noticed that green seemed to be a popular color in number twelve, Grimmauld Place.) The walls were olive and the velvet curtains – which seemed to be damp – were a moss color. Battered tapestries clung to the walls and dirty cabinets stood on either side of a fireplace. A writing desk sat in the corner, shaking from time to time.

All the other teens were in there, waiting for the sandwiches that Mrs. Weasley was currently making. Yoruichi sat and watched them all imperiously – especially Ron, it seemed. All of them looked a bit nervous and kept shooting Yoruichi wary glances. The second Ichigo entered the room, she hopped down from her perch, strode over to him and rubbed her head against his leg, purring loudly. He stooped down and picked her up.

After a moment of silence in which the rest of the teens watched Ichigo pet the cat, Ron burst out, "How come it's so nice to you?!"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked, sitting down next to Ginny on the couch.

"The cat! It's feral! It attacked me for no reason. I was just taking your things up to the room and I went to pick up your sword and it attacked me!" Fred and George snickered at this, obviously finding their brother's pain hilarious. Harry and Hermione both winced, having been witnesses of Yoruichi's vicious assault. Ginny just rolled her eyes. Ron held up his scratched and bitten hands for all of them to see.

Ichigo scratched Yoruichi behind the ears and smirked back at Ron. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Gin walking quietly across the room towards the fireplace. No one else seemed to have noticed except Yoruichi, whose eyes were tracking his progress across the room. "Well I did tell you not to touch it. Now you know what happens. You're lucky Yoruichi stopped you before you could. Zangetsu would have done much worse."

"Zan-ge-tsu?" Ginny asked, sounding out the new word. "Who's that?"

"The sword," Ichigo answered, still keeping one eye on Gin, who was now inspecting the contents of one of the cabinets, acting as if he were just curious instead of actively looking for something. "That's his name." Ichigo wondered if he should tell anyone that Gin had just picked up a large gold locket and slipped it into his shihakusho. He chose not to. After all, Yoruichi had seen it too, but actually seemed more relaxed and content now that Gin had the locket in his possession.

Hermione's curious voice pulled him from his thoughts. "Did you just refer to your sword as a he?"

Yoruichi stilled, her purring stopping almost immediately. Gin was watching him intently. Ichigo forced himself to act natural, despite his slip up and the fact that Yoruichi's claws were now digging into his leg. He scrunched his eyebrows together, making a face that he hoped looked confused and said, "Ano… is 'its' the right word?"

The curiosity on Hermione's face cleared as she came to the – incorrect – conclusion that he had just made a slip up with his English. She seemed to have not noticed his earlier mistake about his sword being able to do something to Ron. She nodded in answer to his question and the conversation turned to Fred and George teasing Ron about being afraid of 'kitty cats' while Ron insisted that Yoruichi was a 'Devil Cat'.

It irritated Ichigo to pretend that Zangetsu wasn't alive. He had come so close to losing Zangetsu forever. Before being pulled into the alternate dimension, he had been able to feel Zangetsu's presence fading, and the thought of being alone had filled him with an overwhelming fear.

(That fear had been quickly squashed, however, because Zangetsu had never approved of fear.)

Ichigo had felt Zangetsu's sorrow and despair when they had used the Final Getsuga Tenshou. He was so much more in tune with Zangetsu – and his Hollow, by extension – now, after fighting him for three months straight, so it hadn't been hard to pick up on what the Zanpakutou spirit was feeling. And after feeling that, he had no desire to pretend that Zangetsu wasn't alive. He had been arrogant in assuming that his Zanpakutou didn't care what happened and was only there to help him protect the things that he wanted to protect.

"What I wanted to protect was you, Ichigo…"

Never again, he had promised himself, would he ignore the fact that Zangetsu was a living being who had his own opinions and desires. Never again would he so utterly disregard those opinions and desires. Never again would he let himself come so close to losing Zangetsu.

Never again.

But in this case, he had no choice. He could not refer to Zangetsu as a sentient being in front of these people without giving them information about Shinigami, and while members of the Order knew that he was a Shinigami, Dumbledore had specifically said that that information was not to be shared with the teenagers. If he did tell Harry and the others, not only would he have Dumbledore to deal with (who seemed just a bit too much like Yamamoto for Ichigo to not be wary of him), but Gin would probably stab him with Shinsou – multiple times – and Yoruichi would cut out his tongue so he wouldn't be able to give away anymore secrets.

So it was with a great deal of guilt – even though Zangetsu was reassuring him that he understood – that Ichigo resolved to make sure that he referred to Zangetsu as an 'it' from that point forward.

While Ichigo had been making his resolution, a sort of game had begun, involving Fred and George being chased around the room by a very red and angry Ron as they sang, "Ron's afraid of a kitty cat~!" over and over. The rest of the teenagers were watching them, highly amused. It was when Ron tripped and the twins laughed raucously that Gin spoke up, now standing closer to the door. Ron quickly got up again and continued to chase the twins, but the rest of the teens turned to look at Gin as he talked.

"I'll be leavin' now! Be a good boy while I'm gone, alright Ichi-kun? Do what they tell ya' to an' don' cause any trouble!" He moved to leave, but paused in the doorway, his back to them. \\Shoot to kill, Shinsou!\\

Only Ichigo and Yoruichi really understood what happened next. There was the sound of wood splitting, a loud screech, and the three red-haired maniacs stopped dead in their tracks. All heads turned in the direction of the writing desk in the corner, which now looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to its side. Black smoke poured from the hole, briefly swirling around the room before dispersing (3). Silently everyone swiveled to face the doorway, but Gin was already gone.

"What the…?"

A couple nights after he first arrived, the Order of the Phoenix held another meeting. Gin decided to announce – rather loudly – that Ichigo would be joining the Order as well. This caused Mrs. Weasley to become spitting mad and whack Gin over the head with a frying pan for being "the most irresponsible parent" – Ichigo had choked when he heard that – "I have ever seen! Not even Sirius is this bad!". Gin had finally won the argument – after regaining consciousness – when he assured her that Dumbledore had indeed given his permission.

Gin's announcement also caused no small amount of resentment to be directed towards Ichigo from the rest of the teenagers in the house. That, too, was resolved, however, when Ichigo promised to tell them some of what was discussed in the meetings. Of course, the only info he shared was the information approved by Yoruichi and Gin, such as the fact that someone named Hagrid was away, negotiating with giants. this eased their anger, but Ichigo could tell that Harry was still a little ticked that he was not being included in the actual meetings.

In the week leading up to Harry's trial, several people – including Harry himself – expressed their hope that Ichigo would be able to come and testify to Harry's innocence. Ichigo had actually been fully expecting Dumbledore to ask him to do so. Instead, Dumbledore outright forbade it. Ichigo was a foreigner, without a passport, and they couldn't get one for him either since he didn't technically exist in this alternate dimension. Getting one from his home dimension would be just as hard, since he was dead there. Because of this Dumbledore decided it would be best to keep Ichigo's existence on the down-low, so that the Ministry didn't try to deport him or something.

So when the day of the hearing came, Harry left with Mr. Weasley and no one else. And when Harry came back, announcing that he had been cleared of all charges, Ichigo gave him an actual smile and a pat on the back while Shiro joined in singing "He got off, he got off" with the twins and Ginny – albeit, he did so inside of Ichigo's head.

The rest of August was filled with nonstop studying for Ichigo. Gin and Yoruichi had decided to start teaching him what they had picked out as the most useful Kido spells. He wasn't very good at it, still not being the best at reiatsu control. Oh, sure Gin had taught him how to keep it concealed – and even that still wasn't habit – but that was different from actually knowing how to use it for Kido. The spells tended to blow up in his face or fizzle out without ever working at all. He did manage a few, however – which was more than Renji could claim. They had also taught him how to summon a Hell Butterfly and every once in a while, one of them found the time to put up a few protective barriers, soundproof an unused room and then proceed to beat the crap out of him.

(When that happened and Ichigo was feeling particularly tired, he'd let Shiro have control. The Hollow enjoyed this immensely when it happened. Gin and Yoruichi did not.)

In addition to the Shinigami training he was receiving from his two mentors, members of the Order were teaching him beginner's magic. It was a lot like Kido, just with shorter chants and a magic wand. Ichigo was actually much better at wizarding magic. As he had noticed before, the wand helped channel his reiatsu, making it less likely for the spells to blow up in his face. Of course, he still wasn't very amazing at it and by the end of the summer, barely knew enough of the basics to get by. It had been extremely frustrating to try and cram four years of magical education into a little under a month.

Ichigo had also wanted to try using the wand to do Kido, but Gin and Yoruichi had strictly forbidden it. Apparently, they had both decided that Ichigo trying anything like that would result in him getting maimed or killed. Plus, Kido spells were usually stronger than wizarding ones, so the wand probably wouldn't be able to handle all the reiatsu being poured into it.

Any free time he managed to find was spent practicing English – he'd randomly have Zangetsu stop translating so he could see how much he understood – or hanging out with the other teens. He especially liked hanging out with the twins – Shiro quite liked their sense of humor – and Ginny, who he was coming to think of as another little sister – not that she need anymore older brothers. He spent time with Harry, Ron and Hermione as well, but Harry was usually sulking, Ron got on his nerves and Hermione kept randomly popping questions about Japanese magic. Those three were starting to drive him a little crazy.

Letters from Hogwarts arrived at the end of August. Ichigo received one along with the others, even though he already had all of the supplies he needed. The only thing important in his letter was a permission slip for Hogsmeade – a village by Hogwarts, Ginny had explained – weekends, which he had Gin sign since he didn't think they'd accept a pawprint from Yoruichi.

Hermione and Ron's letters contained a shiny red and gold prefect's badge each. Mrs. Weasley was absolutely ecstatic and decided that they would be having a party that night to celebrate the two being made prefects. Professor Minerva McGonagall was also bringing the sorting hat – something else Ginny had told him about – over that day to sort Ichigo, so Mrs. Weasley said it would also be a party to celebrate him getting into whatever house he got sorted into. Ichigo knew that they were all hoping for Gryffindor, just as much as he was. After all, he'd rather go into a house where he already had friends… Shiro, however, seemed to like the idea of Slytherin – from what Ginny had said, the Slytherins sounded like Shiro's sort of people. But then again, Shiro really enjoyed playing pranks with Fred and George and he wouldn't be able to do that if he were in Slytherin.

Ichigo didn't even consider being put in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. While he generally got good grades, he didn't consider himself that smart. Ravenclaw sounded like a house full of people like Ishida and Hufflepuff, while he was loyal – extremely loyal – to his friends, just didn't feel right. After all, Shiro was technically the other half of his personality and he would have no trouble stabbing anyone in the back. Shiro was only loyal to himself.

Gryffindor, however, seemed to fit quite well, especially with Zangetsu's motto being "Forget your fear".

The professor showed up around midday, while Mrs. Weasley was still out shopping. With her, she brought an old, tattered wizard's hat that had several patches on it and looked about ready to fall apart.

They gathered in the kitchen. Most of the people who lived in the house were away at work, so the only people there were all the teens, Sirius, Yoruichi and Gin.

"Alright, take a seat," she told Ichigo, gesturing to the bench by the table. After he obeyed her orders, she explained, "I will place the hat on your head and it will sort you. Do not be alarmed when it speaks."

Oh, was that what it was going to do? Ginny had been rather vague when explaining how exactly the hat sorted people. Well, at least talking wasn't all that weird, not when you'd seen perverted, talking lion plushies before.

McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

"Well this is certainly interesting…" a voice echoed in his mind, and not one of the voices that were there normally. Ichigo twitched slightly, but managed to keep from jumping. The ever-present scowl on his face deepened. He really didn't need another voice in there.

Ichigo felt Shiro and Zangetsu become more alert as the hat began to sift through his memories, but they didn't say anything.

"Stabbed a sword through your heart just to protect your family, eh? That shows both loyalty and courage…"

This continued for quite a while. He could see the others in the room exchanging glances, wondering why it was taking so long.

"Well… I think I've decided for you, but the problem is…"

What? What's the problem?

"There are two others in here with you. that black cloaked fellow is quite smart, and the white one is very cunning – very ambitious. I don't know who to sort…"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and sighed. Why did the hat have to make this difficult?

I am a sword. There is no need to sort me, Zangetsu spoke up.

'King's king right now. He's the one in control of our body, so he's the one you're sorting. Now hurry up before I lose my patience and decide to tear ya' ta shreds!' Shiro cackled gleefully. Wow, it was weird to hear the Hollow talking any sort of sense.

"Alright then…" the hat started hesitantly, "if that's the case, then I guess it'll have to be… GRYFFINDOR!" Ichigo pulled the sorting hat off, completely unsurprised. It had been just as they'd all speculated and hoped, only with the added complication of the sorting hat wanting to sort the three parts of his soul into separate houses. Of course, having guessed the correct outcome before hand did not stop Ginny and Hermione from hugging him and the boys from cheering very loudly.

Mrs. Weasley, who had arrived sometime while the hat was debating, gave him a hug as well and then scolded Gin for not being congratulatory enough (she had decided to help him be a better father figure), prompting Gin to give him an awkward pat on the back. He received lots of purring from Yoruichi.

The party that night was a loud affair. Ichigo spent most of it with Fred and George, listening to their ideas for new jokes and the results of the latest tests on the Skiving Snackboxes. Ichigo decided that, once they were perfected, he'd need to get his hands on a few Puking Pastilles. They would be very helpful with getting out of things once he got back to Soul Society. Captains' meetings, fights with Kenpachi… the possibilities were endless. Shiro was busy trying to decide which captain's tea it would be funniest to slip them in.

Ichigo noticed Harry slip off in the middle of the party, after talking to Moody. He didn't follow, deciding that it would be better to give him some alone time. Ichigo resolved to speak with him later. He seemed to be sulking about Ron being made a prefect instead of him. Ichigo wasn't an expert on jealousy, by any means, but he figured that Harry could probably use a friend that wasn't a prefect while he got over it.

The twins disappeared soon after – going to make some deal with Mundungus, no doubt – leaving Ichigo to go find Ginny. It didn't take him long.

"Harry left early," she said when he walked up.

"I know." Ginny looked worried. Ichigo wasn't – no matter how much everyone thought he was – oblivious. He had figured out that Inoue had a crush on him without anyone telling him, after the whole Hueco Mundo disaster (he'd have to deal with that when he got back. He just didn't reciprocate her feelings. Hopefully, Tatsuki would help him). Had recognized the look in Karin's eyes and the emotion in her voice when she mentioned a new friend – a white haired, twelve year old boy that was extremely good at soccer. (If he hadn't been so busy at the time – so stressed about the war – he would have recognized the description of Toshiro. Oh, that kid was so dead.) So to Ichigo, it had become freaking obvious over the past month that Ginny had feelings for Harry. She, however, pretended not to. She was much better at pretending than Inoue was. Inoue was always flustered around him. Ginny managed to act perfectly normal around Harry.

"He's just been acting so angry lately…"

Ichigo nodded in agreement. "He'll be okay. I think he's just stressed out about this Voldemort business." She flinched at the sound of Voldemort's name, but made a sound of agreement.

"Why do you guys do that?"

"Do what?" she asked innocently, a questioning look in her eyes. Did she not even realize that she flinched every time someone said Voldemort's name?

"You know, flinch or wince every time I say Voldemort. Refuse to call him by his name. Why?"

"Um, it's because… uh…" she floundered.

Ichigo sighed. "It's because you're scared, right? You're afraid of what he'll do to you if he hears you say his name."

Ginny nodded mutely.

"Look, I get that names have power. Believe me, I do," his hand strayed to Zangetsu's hilt, "but it's not like saying his name will summon him. Fearing his name only gives him more power over you. How are you supposed to fight someone if you run away at the mere mention of his name?"

Ginny stared at him incredulously for a moment and then said, "Alright. No more You-Know-Who then. Just… Voldemort." Ichigo was impressed. She hadn't even stuttered.

"Or any degrading nicknames you can come up with. Those work wonders too."

The next morning, they left for Hogwarts.

(1) This is working with the idea that magic is actually just reiatsu. When the wizards tap the brick with their wands, all they're doing is channeling reiatsu into it. Since Gin does not need a wand to channel reiatsu, he can get into Diagon Alley by tapping the brick with his finger. He cannot, however, do other magic without a wand.

(2) Mahogany: Good all-around wandwood. Well-suited to Protection Magic. Associated with strength - trees are said to be able to survive even when lightning strikes. The wood has some healing properties; in general considered more inclined to White Magic than others. Users are also considered to be strong in Astronomy. More likely to bond with someone of considerable energy. Some wandmakers consider it a more typically masculine wood, due to some of its medicinal uses. (Information comes from the lovely people at squarewarts.) Most of this sounds like Ichigo, doesn't it? Especially the whole, Protection Magic part…

(3) Boggarts are usually thought of as a type of spirit, therefore, it should be possible to kill one with a Zanpakutou. Because they are a type of spirit, I assumed they would not have an actual form after they are disposed of, so in the world of DG and the OotP, boggarts dissipate into black smoke after being killed.

A/N: Long chapter, long chapter. Sorry if you hate long chapters, but there really wasn't a good place to cut it. And yeah, I know it ended kind of abruptly. I'm mean that way. As a gift because I took so long to update, there is a little crack-ish excerpt type thing that doesn't fit into the actual story line, as well as some answers to reviews, below.

Thanks again, and don't forget to review!

Ichigo looked up from the picture of Voldemort that Dumbledore had somehow acquired. The old man had had the presence of mind to have the picture developed the muggle way so that it didn't move. "I don't get what you guys are so worried about. Killing him should be easy."

The Order could only stare at him in disbelief. Why in the world would he think this would be easy after only glancing at a picture?

"Why do ya' say tha', Ichi-kun?" Gin asked, knowing Ichigo had to have some sort of explanation.

"Well, look at him." Ichigo gestured to the picture on the table. "He's bald."

Now the faces around him just looked confused. What did Voldemort being bald have to do with anything?

"...And?" Dumbledore prompted patiently.

"That's it. He's bald."

"Tha' makes no sense, Ichi-kun."

"Yes it does! Think about it, Taichou. All the really powerful people have long hair."

"Oh? Really?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Yes, really. Every time Aizen got more powerful, his hair grew. When I fully hollowfied or used the Final Getsuga Tenshou, I had long hair. And it's not just us! Grimmjow has long hair when he's in resurreccion. Byakuya, Ukitake, Kyouraku, Unohana, even Kenpachi. The strongest captains all have long hair."

"Wha' about the soutaichou?" Gin asked, opening his eyes slightly.

"He has a really long beard and his eyebrows are about ten times longer than any normal eyebrows should be."

"Hmm… ya' have a point. I seem ta remember Hirako Shinji havin' long hair back when he was captain o' the Fifth…"

"Exactly! And even if he cut it, it's still down past his chin. The only real exception I can think of is Ikkaku. But I beat him with only my Shikai and little to no actual experience in battle."

"Even Dumbledore has long hair and he's the strongest wizard we know," Tonks chimed in.

Everyone turned to look at Dumbledore, who seemed to be pondering something.

"Professor?" Ichigo prodded.

"I believe we should not have let Harry get that haircut after the Triwizard Tournament…"

For those who haven't seen the movies, Harry has long hair in the fourth and really short hair in the fifth.

Also, no offense to anyone who's bald… Sorry if you didn't find it funny, but I found it hilarious. What's with Tite Kubo and long hair, anyways?

Okay, so I'm not gonna answer all the reviews, but I want all of you to know that when you review, it makes me very happy. So thanks. Anyways, a couple reviews had some good questions that I thought needed some answers, so lets get to that!

Justin: You know, I always kinda freak out when I open reviews because I'm kinda insecure about my writing, but I absolutely love all the constructive criticism you give me! It makes me think through my plot points better. Anyways, as for the whole "reiatsu beyond your comprehension" and vaporizing people thing, take a look at Bleach chapter 420, page 14. Aizen specifically says, "A two-dimensional being can never interact with a three-dimensional one." The key word there is 'never'... And then he says, "As long as I do not purposefully lower my level and allow interference, neither humans nor Shinigami should be able to feel my reiatsu." I hope that explains where my theory from last chapter came from. Plus, I honestly believe that Yamamoto has a high enough reiatsu to be able to vaporize human souls, and he isn't a three-dimensional being. That's just how I interpret the reiatsu levels, sorry if you don't agree. I think you might have misunderstood the whole Shino Academy thing. Yamamoto is not opening another one. He's just finding some wizards in Rukongai (like the Potters) that he wants to become Shinigami. Thought I should probably clear that up... But thanks for the suggestion of that story to read. I'll hopefully get around to reading it sometime. :) Thanks for pointing out that Zangetsu's and Ichigo's conversation in the last chapter is redundant. I'll do my best not to do that again. As for Kenpachi... I might eventually go back and edit the beginning chapters, but for now, Ichigo just didn't put that together because he was tired (because I totally agree with your reasoning) and is now being kept in line by Yoruichi (who in his opinion, is probably a bigger threat). Wow, that was a long answer... but you did leave a long review! Anyways, thank you again!

Ebru Gunduz Lestrange: Good question! The answer is... no. Sorry, but I never really like it when Harry ends up with Shinigami powers (or even just being able to use Kido). Not that it doesn't work in other stories, I'm just not going to be using that idea in mine. Plus, other than Kido, there isn't much else Harry would be able to learn at this point, and Ichigo is not so great at Kido, so I don't think he'll be teaching that anytime soon. But thank you for reviewing, and the question was much appreciated!

Chibi D luna: "Will Shiro befriend Draco?" You'll just have to wait and see because I haven't quite decided yet. :) That could be fun... Thanks for the review!

And a big thank you to: Analanat, Umbra Venator, Bekaaronketchum, Winter's Folly, Catcrazzed, hornet07, Phantom Claire, Panda-Angel-Wings, Waywardneko, lioness2000, Mondtanz, xbox432, Golden feathers Edward, Undead Assassin, silverfairy125, Xeraphina Laurentia, BigDangFanboy (I know 'dang' isn't actually part of your username, but I don't swear in any way, shape or form. It's nothing against you, just a personal choice on my part. Sorry if this offends, but I didn't want to leave you out of the thank you.), and anyone who I missed (because I really didn't mean to).

Thank you all so much!