Hogwarts' Shinobi

Chapter 5

It was the second lesson of the first day that Sakura had her first potions lesson with Snape. The man, as per his usual, over-dramatic tendencies, had made sure that they arrived at the classroom a minute or two after the students so as to be late, but not unfashionably so. She watched in poorly disguised amusement as the man flung open the door causing it to slam against the wall, cape billowing as he strode to the front. To say he made an impression was an understatement. As he walked, he addressed the class, not even turning to look at them as he did so, "There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." The fact Snape currently held the attention of the class gave Sakura the perfect chance to try out the body-replacement jutsu she'd been practising recently. All she needed at the moment was to flare her chakra slightly and she found herself seated on the desk at the front of the room. She'd chosen to replace herself with a couple of wood splinters which left the desk smooth to sit on as well. Snape cocked an eyebrow at her decision to appear as she did.

The man stopped at the front of the room before continuing his rant, "As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." During the entirety of his talk, Sakura swung her legs gently over the edge of the desk. "Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention" the anger in his voice was rising as he finished his speech. The sudden change in temperament caused Sakura to straighten up, senses going haywire. "Mr Potter. Our new celebrity." Sakura watched in interest as the man quizzed the clueless boy, completely ignoring the girl beside him. Sakura frowned as the boy failed to answer yet another question. Just listening to Snape made her question everything, why was she even here? She knew nothing about potions, nor could she answer any of those questions. What would she really be able to do if somebody got hurt? The sound of Snape's voice coerced her out of her cycle of self-doubt, "Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr Potter?" The rest of the class was of little interest to Sakura. It was mostly just theory work with no injuries so her presence wasn't necessary, a fact which she'd decided herself. However she didn't leave the room, instead, she withdrew a potions textbook of her own and began to take detailed notes, all in Japanese.

During break was when things began to get a little more interesting for the kunoichi. Whilst most of the young witches and wizards received their post by owls of all shapes and sizes, Sakura had a slightly different postman. Heads of students closer to the High Table turned to the girl as she began talking to the rather strange-looking slug in front of her. Sakura had been beyond joyful to discover she could still summon Lady Katsuyu, the slug had been more than willing to comply with her desire not for Lady Tsunade to discover her existence. Sakura already was aware of the fact that the woman would be grieving and knowledge of Sakura's existence would just make it harder. It was when the slug spoke that caused one of the Hufflepuff girls to shriek in surprise, quickly drawing all eyes to Sakura as silence filled the hall. The slug hesitated for a moment as Sakura gave her new audience a shaky smile before standing up and shuffling awkwardly down the aisle between the tables, Katsuyu talking away in her ear. Draco stared at the pink-haired girl in confusion, just who was she really?

Sakura hadn't meant to stumble in on the flying lesson, but when she did, she chose to stay and watch. Snape had disappeared off somewhere during break and she was yet to find the evasive man. But it was lucky that she was there when she was. A surprised gasp escaped her lips at the sight of Neville Longbottom (a name she'd gained by the shouting audience) falling to the ground. She'd instantly begun racing over, just in time to arrive by Neville's side at the same time as Madame Hooch. Sakura calmly approached the woman, "I can help." Madame Hooch looked at Sakura, as did the remainder of the class. "Ah, Sakura, it's good to see you." Sakura hummed in acknowledgement before crouching beside Neville, hands glowing green as she hovered them over the boy's body. She frowned before shifting her right hand over Neville's broken wrist, the cries of pain ceasing as the boy began to lift himself off of the ground. "I've numbed the pain for now, however, it's probably a good idea for us to go see Madame Pomfrey." the class watched the girl in shock at the strange accent she had, not many people had noticed it during the snippets of conversations they'd overheard, but listening to her now, it was pretty clear she wasn't English. She gave Madame Hooch a hesitant smile before speaking, "I'm very sorry, but I really must go and find Professor Snape now, so, if you'll excuse me." She gave everyone a smile before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The class stared curiously at the spot in which she'd once stood, all that remained was a rather out-of-place-looking potions textbook. Draco moved forwards to pick up the book, surprised by the fluttering of paper as sheets fell out. Each of them was filled with strange characters which even Hermione didn't recognise but she still made a mental note to look into it. She was pretty sure that she'd seen similar characters back in her last school, a muggle one.

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The doors of the great hall slammed open, the boom hardly distinguishable from the thunder created by the magical ceiling. "Troll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon! Thought you ought to know." the professor which declared the rather distressing news collapsed only seconds after finishing his proclamation, falling face-first on the floor. It took a few seconds for the students to process what was going on before screams filled the hall as children shoved others, friends, or not, out of the way in an attempt to save themselves. "Silence!" Dumbledore's shout was probably the loudest one Sakura had ever heard in her two lives. The sound echoed across the hall, loud enough to be heard at the back, even though the screams. "Everyone will please not panic. Now, prefects will lead their houses back to their dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons." The hall quickly drained itself of students not long after that and Sakura found herself following the other teachers out of the hall.

It didn't take long for Sakura and the other teachers to realise that the troll had left the dungeon. Nor did it take them long to track it to the girl's bathroom. However, by the time they got there, the damage had been done and the bathroom was destroyed. As Professor McGonagall scolded the boys, Snape encouraged the rather nervous-looking Sakura forwards. McGonagall was just finishing when Snape spoke up, "Sakura, I'll leave it to you to deal with the troll then, okay?" The girl looked up at the man in both pride and fear. Whilst she was thankful that he had that much respect for her, she was still slightly worried that she would lose to the monstrous creature. Shaking away the negative thoughts, she turned her attention to the troll instead. Reaching towards the sleeping beast's head, she sent a wave of chakra into its skull causing the beast to completely still before she wrapped an arm as best she could around the body and hefted the troll into the air. A constant wave of chakra streamed through her limbs as she left the bathroom, unaware of the shocked stares she was receiving from the Gryffindor delinquents.

Sakura was more than content with sitting in the teacher's box at the quidditch match. Hagrid was over with the Gryffindor students and so the pink-haired female had taken the seat next to Snape instead. The match itself was interesting, but not necessarily because of the players. Sakura had never seen people flying on broomsticks before so this whole experience was rather new to her. Unsure of which team to support, Sakura instead chose to watch the game more in a more educational manner than to support a particular side. Of course, the sight of Snape's cloak on fire had given her quite the fright, but other than that, the game went quite smoothly.