Kitsune no Yobi (狐の呼び)

Saturday 9th October 99

"I'm tired of these trainings!" Draco wined, sitting on the common room's floor. "I haven't done any progress."

His friends looked at each other uncomfortably. What were they supposed to tell him? Harry kneeled behind him and started massaging his neck and shoulders. Hermione got back to the old book, followed by Ron and Pansy, willing to let the couple alone.

"Don't give up, Honey." Harry murmured. "Have you forgotten about what you asked me to wait for?"

Draco felt a shiver run down his spine."I don't know what I'm supposed to do, honestly. We haven't even found what my powers are. I wish my father was still alive... I wish there was someone who could help."

"Draco..." Harry sighed, softly hugging him. "We'll find a way. Hermione still hasn't checked the whole book."

Draco breathed one last time in Harry's neck and got up, determined again. As they were headed to their friends, he gasped in realisation.

"Hermione, check page 5761!"

"Alright, alright." She started leafing trough the volume and stopped once in the middle of it. "Here we go. I'll read out loud. 'There are thirteen different kinds of Kitsune: Tengoku, Kukan, Kaze, Seishin, Kasai, Chikyu, Kawa, Umi, Yama, Mori, Sanda, Jikan and Ongaku. Tengoku Kitsune are heavenly and extremely rare, they can be recognised by their gold like fur and great power and can only be of pure bloo-' Pansy, can you get out a parchment and a quill and write down all the types please."

She nodded and started neatly writing the thirteen names. "Here."

"Thanks, please cross Tengoku, Draco's not a pure blood."

"Alright."

"There's no need to read more about it." Draco sighed. "Next one please?"

Hermione nodded and got back to the reading. "'Kukan Kitsunes are often considered dark creatures as they represent void. They generally show a mischievous temper and are seen as trickster. Most of the time, their fur will be dark.' Pansy, cross this one too. 'Kaze Kitsunes are wind controllers, they can be rough and gentle, loud and quiet. They are powerful creatures and always posses light fur, from pure white to light grey, including yellows and blues. Seishin Kitsune are fox spirits, they are the most common type. Nor weak nor powerful, they can be called average unless tied to a God. In this case, they can gain the powers of invisibility and intangibility. Their fur can be of any colour. Kasai Kitsune are fire controllers. They are one of the most powerful kind, being able to control the famous Kitsunebi, or Foxfire. Their fur can change from a light yellow to a bright blue, according on their strength.' Pansy, cross this one too."

"But I leave Kaze and Seishin, right?"

Hermione nodded. "'Chikyu Kitsune are calm and steady creatures, just like the earth they represent. They can be recognised by their brown and often spotted fu-"

"Cross this one too." Draco cut.

Pansy nodded and Hermione pursued. "'Kawa Kitsune are of the river, calm, they are granted of a steady and smooth power. Their fur will always be light grey.' We can cross this one too. 'Umi Kitsunes are of the sea and ocean, even though they resemble Kaze Kitsune quite a lot. Distinguishing them can be heard as they are both living oxymoron. The fur of a Umi Kitsune will also be of a light tint, the only thing telling the two creatures apart being the nature of their power (wind or water). Umi Kitsunes are also very sensitive to the Moon, and can easily be influenced by its cycles, just like the sea. Yama Kitsune resemble Chikyu Kitsune by the colour of their fur, they are howev-"

"We can forget about this one too." Draco interrupted.

"You don't even know what it's about."

"I don't have brown fur, there's no need to read more."

Hermione sighed and continued. "'Mori Kitsune are of the forest, with a dark fur and mysterious personality..."

"Cross." Draco cut again.

Pansy obliged as Hermione got back to the book, trying not to lose her temper. "'Sanda Kitsune are of the thunder, wild and impulsive. Their fur can be of a pure white, a light yellow or a light blue. They are extremely powerful creatures, able not only to control the thunders but also lightning. Jikan Kitsune are time controllers, they can travel in it, stop it, accelerate it, slow it down. They are the most powerful ones after the Tengoku Kitsune, but their power is very rare and so prized that they had to go into hiding. Their fur will mostly be of a light colour, often a beige or a grey.' Do we keep this one?"

Draco nodded. "Even if it's mostly a beige or a grey, white is a light colour too so we could never know."

"Alright, last one then. 'Ongaku Ki-"

"That's what my father was." Draco interrupted.

"Yes. 'Ongaku Kitsune are of the sound and music. They can be of all melody, fierce or calm, steady or wild, and while they are the most creative kind, they also are the weakest. Their power has soothing and healing properties that some find extremely powerful, but as they have no offensive capacities, they are often looked over by their pairs. They can be easily recognised by their high yellow eyes and fair fur.'"

"Yellow eyes... We can cross this one too." Draco concluded with a broken voice. In a way, he wished he had the same ability as his late father.

Harry rubbed his back and said with a smile: "This leaves us with Kaze, Seishin, Kawa, Umi, Sanda and Jikan, it'll definitely make things easier."

"If you say so." Draco murmured.

"There are pages with more informations on each!" Hermione yelled. "I'll check them all and tell you my conclusion."

"Thanks."

She started leafing trough the book, attentively reading the six pages, scribbling some things here and there. After a moment, she lifted her head with a smile, satisfied.

"I think that we can cross Kawa, Umi and Sanda. Kawa and Umi automatically have blue eyes and Sanda have yellow or blue eyes. Only Kaze, Seishin and Jikan can have grey eyes. To know which one of the tree you are, I had to check the hereditary probabilities. Only a Seishin Kitsune can give birth to another Seishin Kitsune, as their bloodline needs to be pure for their abilities to fully develop. Jikan Kitsunes can only be born from two other Jikan Kitsunes... Which means that you're a wind controller, a Kaze Kitsune."

Draco released a breath he did not know he was holding. "Rough and gentle and loud and quiet, hm?"

"Yep. Here you go, if you want to read more." Hermione smiled, handing him the book.

"'Kaze Kitsunes are wind controllers, they can be rough and gentle, loud and quiet. They are powerful creatures and always posses light fur, from pure white to light grey, including yellows and blues. Their eyes are typically grey, even though sometimes white eyed creatures may appear. They are known to be extremely powerful when paired with Sanda and Umi Kitsunes and have good affinities with flying creatures. They are able to control not only the wind and its intensities but also to have an impact on the weather. Kaze Kitsunes can be excellent fighters if correctly trained and have the strong mental needed.'" Draco recited. "Well, promises to be interesting."

"Maybe you should focus on the shapeshifting now that you know what your powers are?" Ron suggested.

"Good idea, mate." Harry cheered, patting his best friend's back.

And just like that, they got back to it. Training and searching and reading and focussing. After a couple of hours, they gave up and headed to the Great Hall for supper. They would keep up the day after, and the weekends after that if needed.