[Fic] Dreaming of magic: Chapter 11 - Kakashi

[gingerspark]

Title: Dreaming of magic
Fandom: Dreaming of sunshine, Naruto, Harry potter
Summary: DOS team 7 reborn into the Harry Potter universe

Previous

Sirius

Sirius had sort of known that there was something odd about all three of Harry's friends. Katherine, of course, was the avatar of a god as well as a seer, so her oddness could be explained. That Katherine credited them for breaking her into Azkaban was notable, but it didn't occur to any of the Blacks that the two boys could be just as magically unusual. However, spending time around all three children made the ways in which Sylvanus and Naruto were equally strange obvious.

The three children were around often enough that he picked up on things, like the sharp minds and quick reactions they all shared. With Harry as a comparison, it was clear to Sirius that the trio were frankly, too patient and focused to be normal. While they could simply be a trio of unusually bright and mature children, it was rather suspicious.

The things they were teaching Harry (mostly disguised as games) were not things magical or muggle children were usually taught. The martial arts wasn't the fencing wizards were taught. It was something else, quick, brutal and designed to work unarmed or with knives. He had no idea where they'd learnt it, or why all three children were so competent.

Combined with what he already knew about Katherine, it was alarming. What were the other two hiding?

Remus had said he was being paranoid, until the kitsune turned up. Makoto, Naruto's father, had sent an owl the day before the trio's Saturday visit, informing him that his son was now often accompanied by a nine-tailed fox. The kitsune was apparently grumpy, but not hostile if you were polite. It was however, an ancient magical being that could probably destroy them with a flick of its tails, and Makoto emphasised that insulting or trying to control the creature would likely end poorly.

Sirius, accompanied by Remus and Arcturus, had scoured the Black Library for mentions of such a creature. What they'd turned up was disturbing to say the least. Nine-tailed foxes were rare, powerful and likely thousands of years old. There were a few nine-tailed foxes who were known to the Japanese magical community, one of which had even been seen as recently as 1930. Before that, the last recorded encounter was in 1850, when a nine-tailed fox had wandered through a muggle village, causing chaos in its' wake.

When the fox materialised in one of the sitting rooms, it was as alarmingly powerful as the library implied. Sirius could feel the wards ringing with the power of the creature in front of him. It was only slightly larger than a normal fox, but its many tails fanned out behind it, creating an illusion of size supported by the deep well of power he could sense through the wards.

Sirius adjusted, respectfully referring the the fox as Kurama-sama and relaxing around him (the fox's affection for Naruto was obvious) but he was still curious.

What did Sylvanus have a connection to?

After weeks of speculation with Moony, he ended up flat out asking.

"So, Sylvanus, do you have a connection to some kind of spirit or god too?" Sirius asked.

Sylvanus scowled. "I can summon Susanoo," he snapped. " But I'm not going to."

Sirius nodded understandingly and backed off, keeping all his questions behind his teeth.

*

Jo

Jo knew she was progressing in her knife fighting lessons, but she still had little idea how well her skills would hold up against a wizard. She was attending muggle classes, and they weren't designed for people trying learn to fight wizards. The few spars she'd had against Lysander and the others indicated that she wasn't nearly fast enough. Against an opponent who could take her down at a distance, she needed to be able to dodge and get into close quarters as fast as possible. She'd be relying on the element of surprise, and it wasn't good enough. Jo wasn't a person who settled for good enough. She pushed herself, she always had. She'd pushed herself to getting a first class law degree, and pushed herself through the ranks of her firm.

The others knew she was frustrated too, but there hadn't been a solution until the summer, when Mary had struck up a conversation with a man in a bookshop who turned out to be a dueling instructor from the Czech magical enclaves. Mary had said the man had been (somewhat surprisingly) willing to teach a muggle, but insisted on testing her first.

Lysander had arranged hiring a room at the duelling school Sylvanus and Katherine attended. Jo waited somewhat nervously in an empty duelling hall for her potential teacher, who was late. She made good use of the time, making sure she was warmed up.

Jo heard a loud click from behind her as she was stretching her calf muscles.

She turned to find Karel Sedlák leaning against a window.

He was wearing wizarding robes, with a light scarf that covered half his face. He walked silently, in much the same way Katherine did, but it was far more intimidating on a grown man. There was an edge of threat in the loose sprawl of his limbs that she'd never seen in her daughter.

He didn't seem to be about to make a move, so she walked over and bowed in greeting as Lysander had instructed her to.

"Good morning, Mr. Sedlák."

"Mrs. Darby." He inclined his head. "Why do you want to learn to fight wizards?" His English was accented, but clear.

He'd gone straight to the point, so Jo decided honesty was the best policy. "I want to be able to protect my daughter," she said, thinking of the wards Katherine had put on the house. Her daughter was scared, and Jo wished she wasn't, wished it was the kind of childish fear that could be solved with hugs and reassurances that the monsters weren't real.

The section of Sedlák's face she could see showed no emotion.

"Hm." He nodded. "You have been learning knives, yes?" He created a knife with his wand, and held it out to her. "Try to cut me."

An hour later, she was exhausted, had been knocked out a dozen times (annoyingly, it was clear that he could hit her with the knockout spell at any time), and still hadn't touched him.

He offered her a hand up from where she'd woken up after she'd failed to dodge the stupid red light again.

"You will do better with a staff, I think. We start tomorrow at six."

Jo beamed at him, and he gave her a wave and retreated out of the window (did he have something against doors?) pulling a book out of a pocket as he dropped out of the second floor window.

*

Kakashi

Karel was as prodigious in this life as he had been his last, despite his best efforts. He had held himself back a lot, hoping not to stick out as prodigy this time round. He'd been aiming for 'bright but not exceptional', but due to a combination of ignorance of typical childhood development and a conspiracy on the part of his parents, he'd overshot somewhat. He'd discovered this only upon being sent to Durmstrang, and finding that he was miles ahead of his peers, and that his sensor abilities were practically unheard of in the wizarding world.

He'd noticed, of course, that his younger siblings had picked up language and motor skills slower than he had, but he hadn't realised quite how badly he'd misjudged average development until he went to school.

A series of exasperated letters to his mother revealed that they'd hoped to help him achieve his greatest potential without making him arrogant or pressuring him. In retrospect, he could recall nothing but pride and encouragement from his parents, which would have been wonderful if he'd been an actual child.

As it was, he entered Durmstrang fluent in five languages: the Czech of his birth, the German and Russian which were the teaching languages of Durmstrang, and English and French, which his mother said would be useful. He had a greater theoretical knowledge of magic than most third year students and picked up the practical side with ease. It was in duelling however that he truly excelled.

Karel had learnt several styles of wizarding sword combat as a child, as well as the shortstaff and unarmed combat. He'd spent a portion of his childhood re-working the many kenjutsu and taijutsu forms he knew from Konoha to work alongside a wand. He hadn't appreciated how little most wizards focused on fighting until he'd easily outpaced his classmates in his first combat class. It took him two months in the vicious environment of Durmstrang to reach competence equivalent to most seventh years.

There were so many things the others failed to understand about fighting, that Karel, with a lifetime's experience, grasped with ease. For each spell, there were times and places where it could be employed to the best effect, and times when another spell would be better. Other wizards often just... used whatever came to mind, or used the same three or four spells and nothing else. It was infuriating.

He understood that they didn't need to fight much. He was prodigiously talented and had not even been moved up a year. He'd been given additional private tutoring with the duelling master, but there was no talk of even taking exams early. Why would there be? There was no military he was expected to join. His talents would benefit no one but himself. There was no rush, no reason to push him through the exams as soon as he could scrape a pass.

Karel was in his fifth year when he decided to pass on the skills he'd learnt in his last life. He'd spent a Sunday morning at his shrine, reflecting on the decision. The other students had learnt early to leave his shrine alone, (it had only taken the one incident, and some 'accidental' fire spells). The small table in a corner of his dorm room held he pictures he'd drawn as a toddler, finally possessing enough motor control and desperate not to forget their faces, rested on a table. The pictures showed two iterations of Team Seven along with drawings of Tenzo, Gai, Kushina and his pack.

He knew he hadn't been the best teacher for his genin and realising that he'd never noticed one of his students had been reincarnated had really cemented that. He hadn't been able to support Sasuke or Naruto in the ways they'd needed, because he hadn't really understood how, or even what they needed. In retrospect, he could see Shikako, more mature than she should have been, carefully guiding them into better places. Welcoming them all into her family. His genin might not have turned out so well if one of them hadn't been both older than she looked and good with people.

On the other hand, his genin had turned out wonderfully, and he could do much better in this life. He wasn't going to be the primary adult figure for any of them - they had parents, and other teachers. He wasn't going to be responsible for the psychological well being of a child in Sasuke's situation again.

He'd taught his younger sibling the shinobi basics of course, building on their childing imitation of his katas. His younger siblings were all better fighters than wizards their age, even if they weren't up to ninja standards. Their cheerful and innocent enthusiasm for learning was a sharp contrast to the terrified determination he remembered from his own child in Konoha. They had nothing to fear, no reason to push themselves. They just enjoyed learning from him and getting better at something.

Passing his skills on to people outside his family was new, but in the end it was an easy choice. Karel started with the youngest students of Durmstrang, genin aged, sent off to school with staves they had no idea how to handle. He observed their practices, corrected their forms, poked at their weaknesses and taught them how to improve.

In his fifth year, he was given responsibility for teaching an entire class of first years wizarding sword combat, from scratch for about half of them. Secure in the knowledge that it was unlikely these children would be drafted into a war, he found himself enjoying it.

Karel returned home at the end of the year with his tentative plans to become a teacher solidified into certainty. Of course, this was when a group idiots who thought themselves the second coming of Grindelwald tried to take over the world. Starting in the magical district of Prague would have been strategically sensible had there been more than dozen of them, but as it was it was pathetic.

It was, from Karel's perspective, barely a skirmish. He'd been in the apothecary, buying ingredients for his nin-dog project, when there was a crash and the sounds of spellfire and shouting. He dropped his acromantula fangs and dashed outside to the sight of a group of wizards in their twenties wearing Grindelwald's symbol and threatening several shoppers.

Karel sighed, using a quick shunshin to get to the centre of the fray. It was all over very quickly, none of the fanatics were particularly competent duellers, and he was quickly joined by an elderly witch with a disturbing fondness for castration hexes and a wizard wielding a staff with moderate competence.

It was the aftermath, however, that really threw him. Everyone kept telling him how brave he was and how sad it was that someone so young had had to fight. Karel spent the next week avoiding a reporter who wanted to talk about his "astonishing duelling skills" and his plans for the future.

It was annoying and distracted him from focusing on little Polinka at a crucial time in her fang growth. Polinka was his pride and joy. He'd raised her from a newborn puppy on a steady diet of experimental potions, and she was a very clever little Pomeranian. Vladislav, his Samoyed, was already learning to climb trees.

No one could ever replace his pack, but avoiding dogs out of grief wasn't sensible. It had been fifteen years, and Polinka and Vladislav brought him so much joy. He was relatively certain the ways he'd tied them into his magic would extend their lifespan, which was reassuring. Karel couldn't bear the idea of losing a pack again.

When he returned to school, dogs in tow, he'd gained the mixture of awe and fear he remembered from civilians Konoha. It was painfully familiar, but it was easy to fall into old routines.

Karel left Durmstrang with excellent marks in his NEWTs and decided to take a few years off to explore the world.

It was very, very different from the elemental nations. He was free in a way he'd never been before. Karel could visit almost any country on the globe. He could dress as a muggle and explore the vast and fascinating muggle world, or any of the hundreds of wizarding enclaves around the planet.

Karel put his slightly rusty infiltration skills to good use, picking up muggle patterns of behavior and dress with ease. He'd spent much of his childhood thinking of muggles as this world's civilian equivalent, but it was far more complicated than that. Muggles had their own militaries and fought their own wars. They had widespread technology and were largely unaware of the wizarding world. It was fascinating.

Muggles outnumbered wizards on a scale that was difficult to comprehend. The communities Karel had grown up in were only a tiny fraction of the population. It only took walking into a bookshop to see the difference. The wizarding world's fiction publishing industry was woefully small. Karel rapidly developed a fondness for muggle romance novels.

He drifted in and out of both worlds, spending time on the duelling circuit and learning muggle martial arts. Even years distant from Konoha, the willingness of most people to share their skill sets still surprised him.

Snatches of a familiar language overheard in Berlin sent him to Japan. He found the language familiar enough, if oddly accented, but neither the wizarding nor muggle culture was that of Konoha. There were no connections to his former home, so he stayed only long enough to learn a Tokyo wizarding accent.

He taught often, trying to hone the skills he was aware he hadn't really had in his past life. He could train of course, and his students had been brilliant, but there were whole methods of teaching he wished he'd known back with Team Seven.

The outgoing woman who struck up a conversation with him in wizarding London made an intriguing request - why would a muggle woman want to learn to fight wizards? It was odd, especially for an adult. What would the best way to go about taking down a wizard if he didn't have magic? His thoughts drifted to Gai's mini-me, who'd managed ably without the ability to use chakra.

It was interesting enough to agree to meet the woman.

*

Jo

Jo could feel all her bruises as she slumped onto Theo's sofa. She'd spent every morning practicing the forms Karel had shown her, but she'd still been knocked out repeatedly. On top of that, this was a big step up in her exercise routine, and all her muscles ached.

"That bad?" Theo asked.

"Ugh. Everything hurts," Jo said.

"How are your lessons going?" Theo leaned forward looking concerned.

"Good, good. Just not used to this much exercise," Jo reassured her friend. It was hard work, but she was learning fast, and more than that, learning the things she'd need to fight a wizard.

"I looked up your teacher," Theo commented suddenly.

"Mm-hm?" Jo raised an eyebrow.

Theo sighed. "Durmstrang has a reputation for the dark arts, I was worried."

"And what did you find?" Jo asked.

"He's twenty, finished school two years ago." Huh. Jo had thought he was closer to her age, not barely out of his teens. "Powerful and eccentric. He got nine NEWTs, top marks in all of them," Theo added.

"That's good?" Jo wasn't familiar with the wizarding exam system yet, she'd intended to look into it more once Katherine started school.

"That's ridiculous," Theo said. "Five is normal. Six or seven is excellent. Nine is excessive - I don't think anyone in my year at school even took nine."

"So he's very clever then," Jo surmised.

"Very clever," Theo agreed. "He's been turning up on the duelling circuits on the continent since he left school, and his record there is just as exceptional. He tends to turn up and demolish his opponents. He's won everything he's entered."

"Damn. That's impressive," Jo said. She'd known he was very skilled, it was obvious even to her that he was confident in his abilities for good reason, but that was something else.

"It is. He was also the one who intervened in that thing with the Grindelwald imitators trying to take over Prague a few years ago. He was sixteen and he took down eight adults." Theo looked slightly pained. "He killed two of them."

"Jesus," Jo breathed. "Well, at least he knows what he's doing." She was immensely uncomfortable with the idea that he'd killed people, especially so young, but, well. She might have to kill someone herself, given that she was learning to fight for a reason. It was a different for the others - a stunning spell was just as easy as a lethal spell, and they all had a chance at holding their own in a duel. Jo didn't, and she knew she needed to finish a fight as quickly as possible. She'd got used to the idea.

Theo hummed noncommittally. "He teaches at Durmstrang, the youngest teacher they've had in decades."

"Do you think - do you think we should ask him to teach the kids?" Jo asked, shifting nervously. She knew Karel was dangerous, but over the past few weeks she'd started to get to know the reserved young man. He was kind, and he doted on his dogs. He was also curious, asking all sorts of questions about the muggle world over the post-training breakfast she'd dragged him to. He was sharp as a tack and spoke a vast number of languages. Most importantly, he had worked to adjust his teaching to her capabilities - she got the feeling he would be able to handle their trio.

Theo looked surprised, but bit her lip and frowned into her mug for a few moments. "Maybe. Master Trevenant has been saying he hasn't got much to teach them until they get wands. They did learn a lot from Alastor last year."

The children's brief tuition by the semi-retired Auror had been interesting to say the least. Alastor was a deeply eccentric man, even by the standards of wizards. He'd refused all food and drink, and Jo really hated to describe a prosthetic as creepy, but that eye had freaked her out. What she'd heard of the man's reputation from Theo and Lysander hadn't helped. Alastor Moody was reputed to be a paranoid man with a tendency to stun first and ask questions later.

Alastor's easy understanding of Katherine's approach to security had been disconcerting. Putting her eight year old next to a war veteran and watching them approach problems in a similar way had been something of a revelation. Jo didn't really understand what her daughter did and didn't 'see' but it was clear to her that her daughter understood war and violence in a way a child raised in safety shouldn't.

Jo snorted at the idea that they'd learnt from the spar with Alastor Moody. "Not about fighting." They'd taken down an experienced Auror, and they were still learning as fast as they could. None of the adults knew what the children were preparing for, but it couldn't be good. If Karel could help prepare the kids for whatever it was, then she was all for it.

"Introduce them and see how it goes?" Theo suggested.

*

Karel

Karel was enjoying his time in England. He'd found an interesting student, a couple of people to spar with, and a decent magical B&B to stay in with his dogs. Finding and reworking a style that would work well for a muggle fighting wizards was an interesting challenge, and he was already thinking about passive magical enhancements that would make Jo's staff a more effective and practical weapon.

Jo was determined to overcome the difficulties she faced in fighting a witch or wizard and was pushing herself hard. She'd started far too late in life to be able to achieve the flexibility or reflexes he'd expect from a child in Konoha, but he was confident she'd have a decent chance against most wizards. Most wizards were terrible fighters.

*

Jo

"I've invited my teacher over for dinner on Friday, could you tell the boys for me?" Jo said over breakfast. The boys were staying over for the weekend, and they could be a bit odd about strangers in the house. "He'll be bringing a couple of dogs with him," she added.

Katherine looked up from her cereal. "Your teacher?"

"My teacher, yes. He's a wizard, so you can talk about magic if you want," Jo said, paying attention to Katherine's reactions.

Her daughter mostly seemed confused. "What are you learning?"

"He's teaching me staff fighting," Jo answered.

"Why are you learning to fight?" Katherine asked, bewildered. "You're a lawyer."

Jo wrapped her hands around her mug and contemplated the best way to answer that question. "You don't talk about it, and I understand you have your reasons, but you've been focused on learning to fight for a long time. And one of the first things you did when you learnt runes was to protect the house."

Katherine's face went blank.

"I don't know who you're preparing to fight, but I - I don't want you to fight if you don't need to. You're so young Katherine, it's not fair." It wasn't, and Jo hated it. Hated that her daughter had been given the gifts she had, hated that she had to watch her child prepare for war. Hated that her daughter couldn't or wouldn't talk about what she was preparing for.

"I know I'll never be able to hold my own in a wizarding duel, but I don't want you to have to worry about me getting kidnapped or something. Karel's teaching me so I can protect myself," Jo explained.

Katherine was gazing into the middle distance, and continued to be unresponsive as Jo tried to get her to finish her toast and put her shoes on. Jo sent her off for the day hoping that Sylvanus and Naruto would be able to support her. Katherine's behavior was worrying, reminding Jo of the years before Katherine had met Sylvanus, when she'd been withdrawn and quiet. Jo had taken her to the doctor a few times, but they'd assured her that in the absence of stress or trauma, it was likely just Katherine's personality. Understanding that Katherine was a seer had changed everything for Jo. Just because she hadn't lived through trauma didn't mean she wasn't exposed to it. It hurt that it had taken until Katherine was five for Jo to notice that, but she knew now. Little Katherine must have been so stressed by her abilities to shut down so much. Even though there was nothing Jo could have done, she still felt guilty.

When Katherine returned that evening she seemed better, focused rather than disconnected, and Jo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hi, Mum," Katherine said, kicking off her shoes. "I've got some knockout seals that I can charge for you, and if you use oak for the staff then I think I can add a deflection array, and I might be able to put something on one end so it transfers a knockout seal."

Jo smiled. "Katherine, breathe. I think you should talk it over with my teacher when he comes over tomorrow, I don't really know what would work."

Katherine nodded, pulling out her notebook and starting to make notes.

Jo smiled fondly. "So, are knockout seals what they sound like?" she asked.

*

Jo

Jo had lied about what time she expected Karel to turn up, so the doorbell rang only a few minutes after the time she'd planned.

She opened the door to see Karel standing beside the his dogs, the little Pomeranian standing on the shoulders of the big white one. He was dressed in casual clothes rather than the wizarding robes she'd always seen him in before. He was doing a much better job of dressing like a "muggle" than most wizards did, in his jeans and buttoned shirt he could have blended in with any student his age. The thin scarf covering the lower half of his face was a little odd, but not enough to stand out in London.

"Karel, good to see you, come in," she said, stepping back and smiling.

"Aaah. Good evening," Karel responded, stepping over the threshold. As his gaze caught on the runes Katherine had carved into the doorframe, Katherine appeared in the hallway, closely followed by the boys.

Karel paused, one foot over the threshold, staring at the children. Jo watched as Karel's eyes widened in shock, and then panic, before he vanished. There was no crack like apparition, only a swirl of leaves where Karel and his dogs had been standing.

Jo stood by the open door, glancing between the children and the space where Karel had been. Naruto was the only one still looking shocked, although she thought she'd caught a glimpse of a similar expression on Sylvanus and Katherine's faces as they'd seen Karel.

"Well," Jo started. "I - do you think he'll be back?" Jo was used to both the eccentricities of wizards in general, the eccentricities of Katherine's trio in particular, and was getting know Karel, but this was a new one. She had told him her daughter and her friends would be there, so it couldn't just be some sort of fear of children in general. Asking Katherine was always a good bet, and she had no idea what to make of this.

Katherine narrowed her eyes at the doorway. "He will be," she stated, seeming unusually vehement. Was this reaction because she wanted to interrogate Karel about putting runes on a staff?

"That's good," Jo said glancing out into the garden. "Do you know when?" she asked, wondering about dinner.

"Nope, sorry," Katherine said. "We should probably put some food aside for him," she suggested after a moment.

"Do you know what's going on? Is Karel alright?" Jo asked gently.

The three children exchanged glances.

"He'll be alright in a while I think," Katherine said.

Jo nodded. That was vague, but reassuring. The children were doing the meaningful glances and hand twitches thing they did when they weren't going to discuss something with the adults.

"I'll get back to cooking then," Jo said, leaving the children to discuss whatever it was in private.

Karel rang the bell again half an hour or so later, as Jo was serving. The children were out of the kitchen and down the hall before she'd put the serving spoon down.

Jo followed them to find Karel standing in the doorway, Pomeranian tucked under his arm while the children beamed at him.

"Ah, Jo," he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that, I saw a spider," he said.

"Arachnophobic, are you?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "Well, come in, and I'll introduce you to the children."

Karel nodded and he and his dogs followed her to the kitchen, awkwardness still apparent in his body language, despite the children's encouraging smiles.

Once they were all settled around the table, the children all beaming at Karel and his dogs, Jo started introductions.

"Kids, this is Karel, he's teaching me martial arts. Karel, this is my daughter Katherine and her friends Sylvanus and Naruto," she said.

Karel gave the children an awkward little wave as they started eating.

"What are your dogs called sensei?" Naruto asked, bouncing in his seat.

"Aaa. This is Polinka," he said, gesturing to the Pomeranian lying on his lap, who perked up at the sound of her name.

"It's nice to meet you Polinka," Katherine said, reaching a hand out to the little dog, who stuck out a paw. Jo caught a fond smile on Karel's face as Katherine shook Polinka's paw.

"And this is Vladislav," Karel continued, scratching the large white dog's ears.

Katherine shook hands with this dog too.

"They're not normal dogs," Sylvanus observed.

"Ah, no," Karel said. "They're much cleverer." The proud smile was visible even with half his face covered.

Sylvanus raised an eyebrow, eyeing Polinka closely. "Karel, is Polinka venomous?"

Jo's eyes widened as Karel grinned. "Yes, she is, aren't you Polinka?" he said, practically cooing at his dog, who yapped in affirmation.

A venomous dog was entirely in keeping with what she knew of Karel, but Jo still managed to be surprised. She briefly considered bringing up the safety of children around a venomous dog, but all her interaction with Karel's dogs had shown them to be eerily intelligent and perfectly behaved.

"Cool!" Naruto said, grinning at the dogs.

"So, you're a duelling teacher?" Katherine asked.

Karel nodded. "I teach at Durmstrang most of the year. Staff combat, fencing and duelling."

"That's where you went to school? Where were you born?" Sasuke asked.

"The Czech enclaves, in Moravia," Karel responded.

"Hey, hey, what's Durmstrang like?" Naruto asked.

Jo noted the children's interest in Karel's background. She didn't think she'd ever seen them this interested in the details of someone's life before. Of course, Karel was foreign and an interesting person, but they seemed unusually focused on him.

"Ah, it's very cold." Karel's uninformative answer earned him three flat, unamused looks, but the children dropped the subject.

"How did you end up teaching Aunty Jo?" Sylvanus asked, finally glancing away from his interrogation of Karel to make eye contact with her.

"I met a woman in a bookshop," Karel said, tone bland.

"Eh? Aunty Jo?" Naruto asked.

"No Naruto, he met your mother, and she happened to mention that I was looking for someone to teach me to fight," Jo explained, since Karel seemed to be enjoying getting a rise out of Naruto.

"Ah, mum does that. She's brilliant isn't she?" Naruto beamed at Karel, who nodded.

"How did you three meet each other?" Karel asked.

"I found Kako when we were five." Sylvanus said, grinning sharply as Katherine buried her face in her hands. "She was exploring Diagon Alley on her own."

Karel stared at Katherine with the same exasperation Jo felt whenever that was brought up. "Five?" he asked.

Katherine groaned. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Karel pinched the bridge of his nose. "And how did you meet Naruto?"

"My mum and Sylvanus's mum went to Hogwarts together," Naruto said.

"No adventures, he just flooed into our house," Sylvanus added.

"What's your family like?" Katherine asked.

"Ah, I have four younger siblings," he announced, wearing the warmest smile Jo had seen from him.

"Four?" Naruto said, looking surprised. "Wow."

"How old are they?" Sylvanus asked, sounding intrigued.

"Tereza is fourteen, Pavel is eleven, Otakar is nine, and Lenka is six," Karel said, still smiling fondly.

"What are they like?" Jo asked. Karel had never been this open about his background before.

"Tereza plays quidditch, she's a keeper," Karel said, hesitating for a moment before pulling a photo out of a pocket and handing it to Jo. Jo held the photo as the children scrambled out of their seats to take a look and Karel expounded on his family. It was a wizarding photograph, the figures moving and smiling at the camera. A middle aged man and woman sat in the centre, a small child on the man's lap. Karel stood behind them, alongside three other children. They all shared the same white-blonde hair and seemed happy and relaxed.

*

"-decentralise the power runes, then we can run a defensive array as well as the knockout runes," Katherine said, bent over a pile of discarded designs.

Jo sat back and watched the group argue back and forth. Karel had summoned several reference texts, and Sylvanus and Naruto were bickering back and forth about the magical implications of rowan over oak. Books were spread out over the kitchen table, and Vladislav had his head in Naruto's lap.

From what she could tell, Katherine and Karel were trying to figure out how to fit more features on her staff, while Naruto and Sylvanus were deciding... something about inherent protective magic?

Jo had realised early on that she had very little to contribute and had settled in to watch Karel interact with the children. He'd adjusted to their level of magical knowledge very quickly, and was giving succinct explanations for the areas they hadn't covered. Most interestingly, he'd easily accepted that Katherine's ability with runes exceeded his own with no hint of chagrin or the surprised admiration that made Katherine so uncomfortable.

Watching him easily talk the trio through the theoretical difference between two kinds of magical attacks, Jo decided to persuade the other parents to let Karel teach the kids.

*

Karel

Karel had thought he was alone for twenty years. He'd grieved for all his losses, grown to love his new family, got better at interacting with people.

Stepping into his student's house to see his genin (and it couldn't be anyone else, that was their chakra) was world-shaking. He'd panicked, hit by a wave of grief and joy, and he'd run.

Not far of course, he wasn't about to let his genin out of his sensing range, despite the urge to run away from his failures. He ended up on the roof, surrounded by the achingly familiar chakra powering the security seals, hugging his dogs.

Polinka lapped gently at his wrist as he buried his face in Vladislav's fur. His genin were here. They'd died, but they were safe. He could feel them. All he had to do was stand up, knock on the door, and he could talk to them. Really talk to them, not just talk to his shrine. His face was wet.

Karel realised he was sobbing. He slowed his breathing, focusing on the familiar magic of Vladislav and Polinka and the feeling of their fur under his hands.

Eventually he managed to calm himself and cast a quick charm to fix his face.

God, he had no idea what he was going to say. He was pretty certain Jo had no idea her daughter was reincarnated, and he had no way to explain his reaction. He wasn't sure what his genin would have told her either. Fuck.

He rang the bell.

The door opened moments later to reveal his genin, tiny and happy to see him. He stared, cataloguing the ways they'd changed, their new faces. They were so young, he'd never seen them at this age before - they looked about Otakar's age.

*

After spending the evening with Jo and his genin, Karel said goodbye to Jo at the door, then disillusioned himself and settled onto the roof to wait.

It wasn't long before a window clicked open. Karel renewed the anti-shedding charms on both dogs, and swung all three of them through into a bedroom. He landed lightly on his feet and was instantly swarmed.

"Sensei!"

Karel ruffled Naruto's hair and pulled his genin in for a hug. Having younger siblings had done wonders for his comfort with physical affection. They eventually settled in a circle on the floor of Shikako's bedroom.

"I've got soundproofing seals up, don't worry about noise," Shikako said, leaning back against the bunk bed.

"We're glad you're here sensei, but..." Sasuke started.

"You shouldn't have been there," Shikako said. "Do you know how you ended up dragged in?"

Karel winced. Shikako's tone indicated that she'd already guessed what had happened. "Aah, I tried to pull you out with Kamui," he confessed.

Shikako seemed to have already come to the correct conclusions, but he was still treated to three matching looks of pain.

"I had to try," he said.

"Rule one, sensei," Naruto pleaded.

Karel raised an eyebrow at the trio of hypocrites in front of him.

"We all died, Naruto," Sasuke pointed out dryly.

Shikako sniggered as Naruto turned to Sasuke with a look of betrayal.

"New rule one," Shikako said. "No dying again."

Karel snorted. "No dying again," he said firmly, lips quirking into a smile as Sasuke and Naruto nodded.

"You know, your mother thinks you're a seer," Karel said, giving Shikako a pointed look. Her Jounin-level sense of appropriate safety measures really, really alarmed Jo.

"I am," she said, looking at her hands. Why did she look guilty?

"You were a seer before too?" Karel asked, several things coming together in his mind. The anxious shame as she said it, together with well - she'd always been scared and driven in a way that made more sense if she knew what was coming. Seeing the future made as much sense as reincarnation, but why hadn't she said anything?

Shikako nodded, eyes still on the floor as Naruto scooted closer and took her hand.

Karel pushed through the flicker of hurt and thought about the situation she'd been in. He'd probably have struggled to believe her, without the context of what was possible in his new life. And there were certain factions in the village who, well... After a moment he leant forward and patted her on the head. "You made the right choice," he reassured her.

Shikako slumped against Naruto, and Karel wondered how much that secret had weighed on her.

"What are you preparing for this time?" he asked. Jo was certain she was preparing for something, and while some of that might be attributed to misunderstanding ninja paranoia, he doubted all of it could be if his favourite student could really see the future.

"Voldemort's still sort of alive," Shikako said. "He'd going to target our friend Harry."

"Ah. And you've been training him?" That seemed like the route they'd take.

They nodded.

"And our friend Neville," Sasuke added. "Taijutsu, tactics and bits of wandless magic."

"How much have you managed to learn about magical combat?" Karel asked.

"Ugh, no one will actually spar with us properly until we have wands," Naruto complained.

"We had one spar with Moody, but he was holding back and we took him out pretty easily," Sasuke said.

"We've been taught sword duelling, but anything involving magic has been theoretical," Shikako added.

Karel nodded. "So you have no idea how useful the things you're practicing are."

"Exactly," Naruto groaned.

"It's very frustrating," Sasuke said.

"Ah, it did take a while before I figured out the best way to go about things," Karel said blandly.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Sedlák? You're that Sedlák, aren't you."

Karel smiled silently at the bemused looks from Naruto and Shikako.

Sasuke sighed. "He turns up on duelling circuits occasionally and curbstomps everyone else."

Shikako and Naruto nodded in comprehension. Karel pouted. Was he really that predictable?

"You'll teach us right, sensei?" Naruto asked, peering up at him with wide eyes.

Karel sighed. "Maa, I suppose so. You'll have to persuade your parents though."

He might not have been able to save them, but he could still protect them this time round. Teach them everything he could. This time, he wouldn't fail.

He smiled fondly as Sasuke stifled a yawn. It was nearly midnight, and his genin were physically nine, it was time for him to leave. He could sneak in and see his genin tomorrow.

*

Lysander

Lysander watched the man Jo insisted would be a great teacher for their kids. He was young, slender, and had a reputation as a terrifyingly effective fighter. That he'd been willing to teach a muggle had been surprising and spoke well of him. The increase in Jo's abilities had been impressive - she'd used her new staff this morning and managed to knock him out in a spar.

Jo had also reported that the children had responded well to him, being more open with him than she'd ever seen them around an adult they didn't know. Katherine appeared to like and trust the man, and Lysander had learnt to trust her instincts about people.

Still - the man was unapologetically lethal and a Durmstrang teacher. Merlin knew what dark arts he might teach the children.

"Do you have any experience teaching younger children?" Lysander asked.

Sedlák looked innocently confused. "I did teach my younger siblings. But...do you really think that's applicable to your kids?" he said, skepticism obvious.

Jo snickered. "He's got you there Lysander."

Lysander had to admit she was right. People who met the trio and expected normal child behavior tended to, well, struggle. The kids were wonderful, kind, and well-behaved. They just weren't - they didn't react like most children. Lysander would never forget the casual lunchtime analysis of You-Know-Who's strategic failings, and neither would his brother, who had studiously avoided the children ever since.

"What would you teach them?" He asked eventually.

"Whatever they need to know to be capable of fighting a master of the dark arts and winning," Sedlák stated.

Lysander felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and by the way the others froze beside him they felt the same.

"You think they'll have to..." Theo whispered.

"Ah, better safe than sorry?" Sedlák tried, smiling awkwardly.

"How long can you stay in England?" Jo asked, voice far steadier than Lysander felt he could manage.

"I'm leaving at the end of August," Sedlák said, "But I only need to be at Durmstrang during the week, I could visit every other weekend."

Lysander shoved down the overwhelming fear at the idea of Sylvanus fighting for his life and stared at the man. Why was he willing to give up half of his weekends to teach the trio?

"You want to teach them, don't you," Mary said.

Sedlák's face was impassive.

"Why?" Lysander asked.

Sedlák shrugged. "Katherine managed to redesign three different rune arrays inside an hour. Sylvanus and Naruto helped her. They're a good team. They're good kids, they're preparing to fight and they need all the help they can get."

That was true, but Lysander wasn't sure it was the whole story. Still, the man was right, the children needed to learn things Sedlák could teach them.

"Alright then," Lysander said, resigning himself to the eccentric wizard's presence in the children's lives.

*

Woohoo! Hello, I know it's been a while. IRL stuff happened, editing this one was a bit of a struggle because it's long af.

Thanks as always to my betas, Charlie, notanautomaton and LilyBound.

The next chapter might be a while, I'm doing camp nanowrimo this year, so I'll be focusing on getting things written rather than editing and posting them.

Comments

[nemesisnecrosis]

Yay! So glad to see where Kakashi ended up. :D Also, oh man, his dogs XD of course she's venomous!
More well adjusted Kakashi is always excellent. Showing up at duelling competations to curbstomp everyone there!

[tpyrene]

Fantastic chapter. I really liked Kakashi's backstory and all of the implied world building. Although I have a really hard time visualizing him using a wand for some reason. Anyway I'm glad he finally had a good family life. Of course now he needs to either teach at Hogwarts when they're ready for school or have them all go to Durmstrang...which would be all kinds of awesome. But of course I doubt Neville or Harry would go anywhere but Hogwarts. Plus they'll all want to be there when Quirrelmort is around. Hmm. Now that I'm thinking though, they suddenly have access to a competent, adult ninja-wizard. So plans could change and Shikako might want to go on the offensive. Hmmmmmm.

[staroftime]

This be amazing! I confess to being curious as to whether Shikako has told Kakashi about Aoba yet?

[john_burton_lee]

"Karel raised an eyebrow at the trio of hypocrites in front of him."

This is my favorite line from this part. It encapsulates the dynamic of Team Seven so well.

[aagaucaaugga]

I really love this story, but with access to Aoba and Kakashi, and not having to hide the reincarnation or the "seer" thing, I am struggling to imagine how Voldemort even gets a new body, unless Madara is floating around crazy somewhere they seem like they would curbstomp any random wizard villian.

[gingerspark]

hahaha, there was a thing, a hint. Not all death eaters are as useless as pettigrew XD
This is very true, team 7 could probably curbstomp voldemort, but the problems in the wizarding world are bigger than voldemort tbh.

[gingerspark]

she's told him before the interview with the parents, it'll be in the next chapter