Look who decided to show up XD Yes, I'm alive (old saying), and I'm back with a new story. I've had countless ideas for a Bleach/HP crossover for about... half a year. And I decided 'Screw This' and started typing. As for some who might know about my other stories, I intend to reach chapter 15 with MST(Moonless Sky's Touch) until the one year anniversary, so fret not. I will be back.

This story begins before the events of Goblet of Fire. I will write until the end of Deathly Hallows. The story might *cough*will*cough* not end like Deathly Hallows. No other Bleach characters will appear in this story. Might be mentioned, might be seen in flashbacks, yes, but they will not take part to this story.

IMPORTANT WARNING! For those who don't know me, I tend to update irregularly. So don't be surprised if chapter two shows up tomorrow and chapter three two months later *embarassed shrug*

Author:Datenshii

Genre: Adventure/Romance (my newest favorite combination)

Rate: T, because of occasional swear words, incoming violence, occasional gore... And me being paranoid.

Pairings: IchiMione, later on. Others are canon. And yes, Ron gets no Hermione. Deal with it.

Disclaimer: Bleach not mine. Harry Potter also not mine. Full-stop.

"Regular talking"

Thinking or pressured words

'Ossan-QuincyZangetsu'

'Shiro-HollowZangetsu'

"Abilities"

Without further ado...

The Ebon Phoenix

Chapter I – The Headmaster's Request

"Are you sure about this, Albus?"

Honestly, I do not know, he would have wanted to say as he, Minerva McGonagall –who had addressed him earlier-, Severus Snape, Remus Lupin and Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody stood before the large stone covered in intricate designs and a language he only barely understood.

Dumbledore knew. He knew that Voldemort was back. If he didn't, the Order of the Phoenix wouldn't be gathered like this. He also knew that Harry would eventually have to face his destiny. But that didn't stop him from worrying, even if he did not show it. So, in hopes that Harry would not get killed along the way, or even have to face Voldemort, this was his last chance.

He mentally thanked his ancestors for being so attached to other cultures, otherwise he would have never found out about this.

"Yes, Minerva. This is it. This is our last hope." Minerva, bless her soul, knew how dangerous this was, after all, he had told her first about this.

Giving a quick mental prayer, the old wizard raised his right hand, in which he held a strange wooden object with a black skull on it, and placed the object in a hole in the stone in front of them. The object immediately fit the hole and a bluish-white light spread from it through the tribal marks and words across the stone.

They suddenly had to take a few steps back and cover their eyes with their arms and the light pulsed and the stone crumbled. A few seconds later, the stone stopped crumbling and the dust settled, revealing something Dumbledore only half-expected.

There, where the boulder once stood, was a tall, sturdy cross. On the cross was also a man, pinned to it like Jesus Christ was said to have been. At first, they thought that the man was part of the cross, that he was a statue, as he was also ivory and seemed to be made of stone.

Until the stone started melting and peeling off him. The last piece of stone on his bare feet melted and fell, and the man took a deep breath in, as if breathing for the first time in ages, and fell off the cross.

While he stood and stretched, the members of the Order of the Phoenix took some time to study him. He seemed around early twenties, but they knew better than to be fooled by his young, handsome face. He had long, wild, bright orange hair reaching to his shoulders and slightly covering his eyes. His skin was naturally tan, and he was around six feet tall. He was clad in strange black robes, resembling a samurai. At his waist stood a sheathed sword, its handle black with red, its hilt resembling a swastika. And when he finally looked at them, they found out his eyes were a warm chocolate brown, filled with ages of wisdom that one 'his age' would not hold.

As they stood there, staring at each other, they vaguely thought he could not speak.

"Sore wa nan-nen…?" he murmured absently, rubbing his wrists.

The British shared a few looks. This was gonna take a while…

"Do you speak English?" Minerva inquired slowly.

The man raised an eyebrow at them, before a sound akin to a chuckle left his lips.

"Yes, I do speak English, Minerva McGonagall," he replied fluently, though a light accent still remained. The witch's eyes widened. How does he know my name?

"Now, I believe there was a reason for which you decided to awaken me, was there not?" he said, directing his gaze to Dumbledore.

The old wizard nodded. "A dark wizard rose from the dead and is threatening the lives of my students. He will soon wage war. His name is Voldemort."

"Ah… Tom Marvolo Riddle. Yes, quite a headache, that fellow. And you want me to eradicate him? You do realize that I was sealed for a reason. I cannot simply interfere with such major events," the man reminded.

"I only request that you protect our students, especially one Harry Potter," Dumbledore corrected.

"The child of the prophecy…" the man gained a melancholic expression as he crossed his arms. However, he abruptly washed it off and stared at the old wizard sternly.

However, Albus did not buckle under the strength of his gaze. Instead, he willingly got to his knees. "I beg of you, Grim Reaper, true founder of the magical world."

The others gasped at this revelation, and the man scowled fiercely. "Do not call me such, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and rise. I am not one for formalities. My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, use it," he declared.

"W-will you help us, Lord Kurosaki?" Remus asked meekly. The old wizard couldn't blame him; he was facing one of the oldest beings in existence.

The man looked like he wanted to sigh in aggravation at the title, but looked towards him instead. "Yes, I will help you. I was going to help you from the beginning, but decided that one has to walk before they can run," Ichigo answered nonchalantly. The wizards' jaws dropped, but they recovered quickly.

"Now then, how are we going to house this guy? After all, a twenty years old man clad in a student's robe walking around Hogwarts and attending classes would be pretty suspicious," Alastor wondered, looking at Albus.

A light twinkled in the old wizard's glasses-covered eyes and he smiled. "I think I have just the cover for you," he said, addressing Ichigo.

…

"And this, is Diagon Alley, Mr. Kurosaki," Minerva presented, waving a hand behind her. The man's eyes studied the wizards-filled street with a tint of nostalgia.

"It is unchanged," he murmured with a smile. Minerva turned to look at him with curiosity. "What year is it?" he suddenly asked.

The witch gave him a lightly surprised look. "1994," she answered nonetheless. She saw a proud look spread over his face, and she just couldn't help but ask. "How long has it been since you last stepped here?"

He hummed in thought and brought a hand to rub his chin, which only now she noticed was covered in light stubble. "Well, nearly nine centuries, if I recall clearly. Yes, I remember being sealed only after I knew that wizards and witches had a safe haven to live into."

That brought even more questions. "Who sealed you, Mr. Kurosaki? And why?"

At that, Ichigo's eyes were lightened by a flame of fondness and pride. "My little stubborn pupil, though when he sealed me, he wasn't that little anymore. As for why, well," his eyes dulled. "Let's just say that sacrifices have to be made in exchange for peace."

Minerva recognized the look of pain and instantly decided not to push it. However, she couldn't help but ask, "And who was this pupil? For a man to be able to seal you, he must have been strong."

Ichigo chuckled. "I guess you could say that. After all, I did teach him everything I knew about magic. His name was Merlin."

The witch stopped in her tracks. Merlin…? Bloody Merlin?! The legendary wizard who was said to have been thought by Salazar Slytherin himself was this man's disciple instead…? Albus was right. This man here is a living legend. Minerva was now disappointed at the fact that not much was known to the magic folk about this… immortal. He was the founder of the magic world, and they knew nothing about him, other than his name, his other name and the fact that he was older than the muggle Bible. Possibly even older than that.

As if reading her thoughts, his expression turned bitter and he gave her a sad smile. "Believe me; I would rather have them worship a dead wizard in my place. It's better this way."

The Transfiguration professor nodded, resigned, and changed the subject. "Our time is limited, and there are still many places to visit. Shall we?"

Ichigo smiled, this one being warmer than the last, and followed her.

…

Their first stop was the Gringotts Wizarding Bank. When the witch first offered to pay for his expenses from Albus's account, he refused, saying that he had his own account.

Upon entering, all goblins stopped in their tracks to stare stupefied at their new guests. Ichigo only gave them all a meaningful glance and they hurriedly returned to their work, occasionally shooting him looks when they thought he wasn't looking.

He marched up to the goblin on a pedestal. "I wish to make a withdrawal from vault 5," he said, fishing a golden key from his pocket –pocket the witch didn't know he had until then- and handing it to the goblin.

The goblin shakily took the key, gave it a quick glance and rang a bell near him, and two goblins appeared to Ichigo's side. "Follow us, please," one of them said. Ichigo took his key back and nodded. The goblins turned to look at Minerva.

"She's with me, she can come too," Ichigo answered the unasked question.

The goblins nodded and guided them to the man's vault. During the journey, the goblins kept whispering to each other and glancing to their guest. Ichigo, wanting to relieve their stress, attempted a joke, "I am not going to reap any of your souls, now stop being so cautious."

One of them sighed in relief, while the other turned to face Ichigo. "We apologize, my lord. It is just that you were claimed dead nearly a millennia ago. Seeing a legend such as you enter our Bank like you were never gone is pretty… shocking."

Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't worry about it. Just keep it to yourselves. I'd rather the humans don't find out so soon," he muttered.

The two nodded their heads and continued walking. After a while and a couple dragons, something that left Minerva a bit shaken, they reached a tall, black vault entrance. One of the goblins unlocked the vault and Ichigo and his companion entered it.

Minerva stared in awe at the mountains of gold. While she followed Ichigo deeper into the vault, she also noticed something peculiar in one of the corners. Her eyes widened and she brought a hand to her mouth as she gasped, barely restraining a scream.

Ichigo turned to look at her and at what caught her attention. A body laid leaning against the wall, its skin pale, its hair orange. "Oh, that. It's not a real corpse. It's just a shell."

Minerva forced herself to take her eyes off the Ichigo-look-alike. "A shell…?"

"Yes. An artificial body of sorts," he said and he walked towards it, turned so that his back was facing it, and sat, disappearing. The skin of the 'corpse' turned tan, and it started moving, its eyes opening to reveal the chocolate brown of her companion's eyes. He stood and stretched, before turning to her again. "See? Now, I need you to keep quiet about this. Not even Dumbledore needs to find out, though I doubt he doesn't know."

Minerva nodded slowly. "But… why would you need an artificial body?"

"I am called Grim Reaper for more than one reason," he replied cryptically. "That, and my other nickname, which I'm sure more people will recognize."

The witch raised an eyebrow but didn't ask any further. She knew better than to push her luck.

"Do you have everything?" He nodded. "Let's go. You still need clothes and a wand. And a pet, if you wish."

…

A while later, the two were visiting Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Ichigo scrunched his nose at the uncomfortable robes while poor Madame Malkin fussed around, trying to satisfy his requirements. After dozens of outfits, he finally settled on a pair of black trousers, a black blazer with a high collar, a black coat with a red undergarment and four coattails, black combat boots –something she found ridiculous- and black leather gloves.

Madame Malkin scrunched her nose too at his preference of black and the boots, but handed him his clothes with a mutter of 'ridiculous sense of fashion'. Ichigo only shrugged at her opinion.

The two next headed to the Ollivanders Wand Shop. They entered the shop and waited for Garrick Ollivander to appear.

And appear he did, as his head popped from behind a shelf, and the moment he looked at Ichigo, his eyes widened in recognition.

An excited smile appeared on his face. "What can I do for you?" he asked, as if begging him to say he needed a wand.

"I wi-"

"Of course you do!" Ollivander almost squealed as he motioned with his wand and a measuring tape started measuring every part of his body. Well, almost every part.

"Your wand arm, please," he requested. Ichigo raised his left arm, something that made the Animagus raise her eyebrows. She looked at his waist and saw that his sword rested on his left side. That meant he fought with his right hand. Or at least, that he was right-handed. Though she didn't see why he would carry a sword around if he didn't use it. Maybe he was ambidextrous, but even those folk prefer to use their wands with their right hands.

Each time Ollivander came with a new wand, Ichigo would try to say something, only to be interrupted as the silver-eyed man would vanish behind his shelves again. After a few dozen wands and a very, very destroyed shop, Ichigo sighed in irritation. "Ollivander!" he shouted so as to stop the wandmaker.

Said wandmaker stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his client. Said client rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The basement. There is a wand in the basement, one you and your ancestors haven't been able to match with a wizard. Ever."

Ollivander's eyes widened before they gained a knowing glint. He nodded and disappeared behind his shelves. Two minutes later, he came back with a black, dusty box. He took out the pure black wand and gave it to his customer.

Ichigo suddenly smiled with fondness as the tip crackled with black flames and a wind blew his hair. He looked at the destroyed shop around him and with one swish it instantly repaired itself.

"Thirteen inches, rigid, great for all combative magic and Transfiguration, judging from the ebony. As for the core… I must admit I do not know. In all our family's generations, no one ever found out what core this wand has," Ollivander murmured with awe.

"Thestral hair."

Minerva turned abruptly and gave Ichigo a shocked stare. "What did you say?"

"This wand's core is Thestral hair. And you couldn't have known, because this wand was not made by one of your ancestors," Ichigo explained to Garrick, who was staring at him with curiosity. "I gave it to Gina Ollivander, your many-greats-grandmother, to keep it safe until my possible return."

"So this wand was yours all along?" the silver-eyed man asked in disbelief. Ichigo nodded. Minerva had the urge to facepalm. Here he was, hinting at his immortality, right after he himself said to keep his identity a secret. Good thing that Ollivander probably wouldn't believe him. He would have to be crazy to do so.

"My father told me stories about you and your legendary wand, and about your 'death'. I knew you were alive. The entire Ollivander family knew this. But I didn't think that was your wand and that you would come and retrieve it personally."

Ichigo chuckled at the expression of disbelief on Minerva's face. Apparently she didn't think that the wandmaker would believe he was immortal. He knew how Ollivanders are.

"How much for the wand?" Ichigo stated with a smirk.

"Nothing! It was never ours to begin with. It would be a dishonor to ask you to pay for it. And don't worry, I will not reveal your identity to others, Ebon Phoenix," the wandmaker stated.

Ichigo nodded and thanked him. "I know. I always confided in the Ollivanders."

With that, Minerva and her 'ward' left the shop. The witch glared at her companion. Ichigo smiled in amusement at her expression. She knew there was much she didn't know about him, and that obviously bothered her. But he also knew that she was only pretending to be so bothered.

He was glad friendship didn't change through so many centuries.

To be continued…

This is it. Ask anything about this story in a review, and I will answer (as long as it doesn't require me spoiling anything) either in the next chapter, or a PM. If there are some spelling errors, please keep in mind that I do not have a betareader for any of my stories. I am not an expert in the HPverse, as it's been years since I last watched the movies and I only read about half of the books and I read them in my own language. I would appreciate it if any of you would point out when I am not following the HP timeline and I will tell you if it was intended to be so or I was simply mistaken.

Thank you for taking your time to read the author's notes.

Some of you know the routine, those who don't:

Read and Review! They keep me going!

-Datenshii