InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Final Battle ❯ Just Because it's Canine... ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Kapt. Nemo 
Trying their best to get back into the daily grind of school, the group takes on an interesting DADA class.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.02.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
Trying their best to get back into the daily grind of school, the group takes on an interesting DADA class.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 10.02.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.6K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Completed
Disclaimer - Non posseido Inu-Yasha o Harry Potter. Mi spiace!
RECAP: “Oh, Inu-Yasha? Would you be so kind as to bring Mr. Weasley to the Hospital ward? Miss Higurashi needs to have her cut healed before she turns in,” Inu-Yasha complied wordlessly, heaping the now drooling and snoring redhead over his shoulders once more. “Thank you very, very much. Good night, you two!”
And the three of them left, a long day thankfully behind them.
Chapter 9
“Right! Now, with more force.” Mr. A instructed to a blonde witch, as she continued to fire small bullets of acid-sand at the bunyip, perspiration lining her brow. Finally, the bunyip exploded, instantly re-transfiguring itself to a small candle, broken into three, neat pieces. The witch relaxed her hand, a satisfied smile upon her lips.
“Very good, Marlena! Just make sure you keep your gun arm straight and high. Shoot to kill, not to scare.” Mr. A patted her on the shoulder and transfigured a small stick of gum he had in his pocket. “Next!”
The doors opened unobtrusively, and as Mr. A selected another student to practice for their final exams in Magical Weaponry, Kagome and another wizard rushed in, five minutes late.
“Good morning, Kagome!” Hermione’s voice tenderly greeted her dark-haired friend. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, not bad...Madame Pomfrey healed me pretty easily. Not even a scar!” Kagome yanked up the sleeve of her robe, revealing a clean, smooth wrist. “My head still hurts a bit, though...too much miasma, and not enough sleep.”
“Tell me about it...I don’t know about miasma, but my brain feels like I’ve been inhaling diesel fuel for the past five days! And my eye’s really tender...I wonder what happened to it. I can’t remember a thing about last night!” Ron yawned, gingerly stroking his brow bone.
“Idiot...” Hermione muttered under her breath, hiding palms that were now a bright magenta from having been violently scrubbed of every ounce of perfume. “So is that why you’re late, Kagome?”
“No, actually. I had to visit Professor McGonagall...there was a matter we needed to fix.” She looked oddly at the wizard with whom she entered the classroom, whose head was back to them as he sat alone, watching the students.
“Now, remember, these are moving targets, okay? This means ya gotta be quicker. You need to sharpen your reflexes, and be more alert. Hey, Potter! The test is soon, and you’ve never shown me whatcha got Hope you been studying; come on up here!”
Harry eyed Kagome curiously. He had already predicted that the events of last night would be kept under-wraps for the time being, so as not to cause a panic, but he wondered how and where they were hiding that Inu-Yasha fellow.
He picked up his sword, and stood next to Mr. A. “Now, unlike the boggarts, these are transfigured, moving targets that are designed to attack. So although that manticore we just saw had the mind of a matchbox, it was transfigured to have the instincts of it’s transfigured identity. Now I’ll be here to fix ‘em if you freak out, or one of ‘em gets out of control.
“Alright, let’s get you a beast that I know should have some effect on you...not to give you a hard time, or anything. But I imagine you’ll need all the practice you can get with these guys...” Mr. A raised his eyebrows. Clearly, he was one person to which the events that passed the evening before had not been kept under-wraps.
“Remember, kids! I don’t want you trying to use other spells for these creatures! In this unit, we’re learning physical attacks, what to do when you’re caught in the moment. The attacks may prove to be temporary, but that’s what we’re studying right now. Quick disarming, if you will.” With the flick of his wand, Mr. A transfigured a wastebasket into a looming, dark shape. A frigid chill sank down upon the room, and a slow, rattling breath was emitted from the target.
“A dementor?” Harry nervously looked at the creature. What good was a sword against a soul-sucker?
The dementor swept across the room, its black, tattered robes streaming silently behind it. Harry frowned, determined not to let his thoughts be taken over by a transfigured wastebasket. With all of his might, he lunged at the horrid creature, anxious to give it a death blow.
He almost succeeded, too.
Harry’s sword sank sickly into the lower half of the dementor, angering it (if indeed, a dementor can be angered.) Caught off guard, Harry’s mental defenses slipped, and a piercing scream nearly ripped his eardrums. ‘Can’t do the Patronus for this one...what can I do?’
The screaming was getting louder, until Harry dropped his sword, trying to cover his ears. He only vaguely noticed a figure running to stand in front of him, glowing and warm.
The screaming stopped.
Harry looked up, the glowing figure panting and slightly trembling.
“What...the hell...was that?!” Kagome shuddered, shaking as she moved to rip her broken arrow from the smoldering tatters of the wastebasket. “It felt so...so...terrible!”
“WELL DONE, KAGOME!” Mr. A whistled. “That’s exactly what I want! You all need to concentrate your power into the weapon, and just shoot. Er, go for it.”
“Kagome?” Harry incredulously implored.
“Harry, that was a very decent job you did, too. And you would have surely done away with the dementor, had I permitted you the use of your Patronus charm...but what we need to do is show you how easily anyone can be caught off guard by that which we fear the most. In an instant, you don’t have time to cast a spell. You just gotta go for it...which you did, just not in the right spot! If you were going for a man, however, I’d say you had great enough aim to...aheh, disarm him. Heh. Remind me not to piss you off, hahaha!” Mr. A guffawed, and looked back at Kagome. “Now, Kagome, let me see that again.”
Mr. A hastily took out a pack of cigarettes, and ripped a slender stick from the small box. Another flick, and it was immediately transformed into a brown-furred crocotta.
Kagome stepped back, and was about to shoot her arrow, when she stopped. The giant wolf-dog stared her down, lips curled up and growling defensively. Kagome stared back, her muscles relaxed. With determination, she tried picking up her bow and arrow once more, and aimed...and then dropped her posture once more, looking at the crocotta, who looked at her, growling softly, shaking its head and flapping large ears.
“Um, Mr. A? ...I can’t shoot it.” Kagome sighed. The wolf-dog had since silenced, and sat on its hind legs, letting loose a lazy yawn.
“Kagome, with all due respect, you don’t have a choice.” Mr. A said, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
“But–look! He’s just...lying there.” Which was true; the vicious creature who was bestowed with teeth that could break diamonds and an appetite for anything living, had his massive head rested on great, big paws, snorting in obvious boredom.
“Well, we’ll fix that...” With a slight swish, a spark jerked the crocotta to life, snarling and yapping, lunging at Kagome. Kagome’s reflexes, although conditioned to be fast, were simply not fast enough, and she ducked as the great beast soared over her head, clawed paws missing her scalp by mere inches. Scrambling to get up, her bow slipped out of her hand, and arrows spilled across the floor.
The wolf-dog slammed into a coat of armor, sending silver-metal plates ricocheting across the room, one in particular colliding into the surprised head of Mr. A, and sending him down for the count.
Several students screamed, dodging the shower of metal, while some ran to get out of the room. A small handful ripped their wands out in preparation to defend themselves and their classmates. Several cried out spells, but the beast was too fast. Harry even took his sword and charged it, only to get belted by the weight of its swishing tail.
Kagome had almost reached her bow, when she saw the enraged beast returning for her once more. “Ah...ah...” Kagome stuttered, not knowing what to do. It snarled, and made a forceful leap in her direction. “KYAAA!!!”
“Take that, ya lame-ass hyena!”
The crocotta was pelted across the room, as the mysterious wizard with whom Kagome came late struck it, protecting her behind him. Dazed, the crocotta looked at the wizard, and shook its head and snarled, circling its new target.
Without warning, it lunged at the wizard, who lazily glared at the beast, and then grabbed a large, white sword from his side. With one long stroke, the beast was obliterated, and the burnt-out stub of a cigarette softly burned on the ground.
“Well, so much for hiding...” Inu-Yasha shook his head and uncomfortably adjusted the cloak that hung around his broad shoulders. “Are you alright, Kagome?”
“Yeah...thank you.” She took his waiting hand and steadied herself, getting to her feet.
“Inu-Yasha?” Hermione asked, her knuckles slowly regaining their color from their tight, wight grip on her wand. “What happened to you?”
Inu-Yasha’s appearance had differed reasonably from last night. His ears were hidden by a thatch of short, black hair, the irises in his eyes were slightly darkened from a bright gold to a light hazel, and his body looked oddly suffocated beneath layers of clothing.
“Professor McGonagall altered his appearance for the sake of blending in with the rest of the students. I guess that was short-lived.” Kagome chuckled slightly, her hand lingering on Inu-Yasha’s.
“Inu-Yasha? Y’mean...wait a minute!” Ron frowned, completely in the dark about the wizard who stood, an expression of exasperation directed at the redhead.
“A thank-you would be enough after you drooled all over my haori last night...keh.” Inu-Yasha looked away, and strode purposefully in the direction of the unconscious teacher. Ron blinked in utter confusion, looking to Hermione.
Meanwhile, Kagome ran over to Harry, helping him up from the wreckage on the floor. “You alright Harry?”
“Yeah...” he responded distantly. “Thanks.”
“No, I should thank you! You tried to help me out there, and you could’ve gotten hurt!” Kagome looked into his eyes, the light of her concern making him blush.
“Anytime...” He murmured shyly, shaking her off and picking up his sword. A groan emitted from the corner of the room, as Inu-Yasha hoisted Mr. A to his feet.
“What the hell do you think yer doing? Sickin’ that thing at Kagome like that...she could’ve gotten killed, you bastard!” Inu-Yasha said, albeit steadily holding him in place.
“Inu-Yasha, please! He’s my teacher!” Kagome ran to them. “Are you alright, Mr. A?”
“Oh, yeah...I’ve had much worse happen to me, believe me. But who’s this little twirp?” The older man looked the wizard up and down, frowning at his impertinence.
“What did you call me, human?!” Inu-Yasha loomed at the man, baring his canines.
“Y’heard me, kid! Watch your mouth when you’re in my class, or get out! That clear?” Mr. A returned, raising his voice, but maintaining his cool. Inu-Yasha frowned, but backed down, grumbling under his breath.
“I’m twice your age, anyway...” He mumbled sourly.
“NOW, then.” Mr. A addressed the class, surveying the damage done to the room. “I apologize, the situation got a little out of control. BUT. That will happen sometimes! So to those of you who tried defending yourself, I commend you. Congratulations, Harry, I believe you’ve earned yourself 10 points for Gryffindor,” Mr. A said, nodding towards the sword and Harry. “I wasn’t conscious, so I couldn’t say truthfully whether or not you tried to take the crocotta down, but judging by the sword in your hand and that nasty cut on your lip, I trust you made a valiant effort. Nice job,” He smiled, rubbing the large bump on his forehead. “Alright, on that note, class is dismissed. EXCEPT, you, you, and you. And if you want, you two can stay too.” Mr. A pointed to the obvious five as the others rushed out the doors.
Turning around, Mr. A conjured two cold compresses, and passed one to Harry, while softly applying the other to his own injury. “Well,” he began. “It appears that your performance a few minutes ago will raise some questions. But,” Mr. A said, directing his words to a frowning Inu-Yasha. “Keep your disguise up for now. Let people wonder...it won’t hurt any. Just so long as their parents don’t find out their kids are going to school with a demon, half or not.”
“Keh. It’s not as if I want to be here.” Inu-Yasha retorted, hiding the slight affront he took in defense for his demon side.
“Yeah, well, you’re here, so that’s that. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore has informed me of all that has happened last night, so there’s no need to keep quiet about it in my presence. In fact, he’s asked me to work with you guys in finding a way to permanently shut the portal.
“So what we need to do first is to establish that you, Inu-Yasha, will always be around Kagome, am I right?” Mr. A raised his eyebrows at the half-demon.
“Yeah, what’s it to ya?”
“Kagome’s blood has increased considerably in value, and if anyone of a less-than-questionable nature sees her alone, they probably won’t hesitate in spilling a little for themselves.” Mr. A gravely looked at the girl in question. “And I figure, with an arrow-arm like that, we’ll wanna keep her around a while.” He winked jovially, and she responded with a smile, although slightly disarmed.
“And Harry, this means you too. The five of you have the implicitly important job of protecting each other. If someone gets a hold of Kagome’s blood, you got ten guesses as to who the first person they’re gonna go after is going to be.” Mr. A looked pointedly at Harry. “Not that I know what any prophecy is, and I don’t waste my time on any of those dumb tabloids, but I can only imagine it don’t bode too well for you.
“So. You guys–it won’t be so hard for you two–“ he looked at Kagome and Inu-Yasha. “–and I know you three are as thick as thieves–“ he gestured to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “–but you all need to establish a firm bit of trust in each other. Look out for yourselves, and go out of the way to avoid putting yourselves in danger. I mean it.” Mr. A sternly looked at them, a hard edge of seriousness in his voice. “I’ve heard what kinda messes you guys have gotten yourselves into, and a lot have those have either ended in luck, near misses, or the pain of others. So from now on, I want you to put some hard thought into your actions. Please, for all our sakes.” He added, warding off any argument from the aggravated Dog demon in the corner.
“Alright, then. That’s all I’m gonna say for now, so you guys can head off. I’ll clean up,” He said, shooing them off, and at the same time restoring the room to its neat, manageable state. The group began to gather their things and take their leave, Inu-Yasha rolling his eyes and shifting under the fabric of his clothes.
“Oh–and, Kagome, I hope you learned your lesson.” Mr. A said, as Kagome looked up at him. “ Just because it’s canine, doesn’t mean you can trust it.”
She smiled and nodded, and followed the rest outside.
Once they had gotten a few feet beyond the closed doors of the classroom, Ron let out what he had clearly been suppressing for the duration of the conversation.
“Alright, did I miss something?!”
________________________________ ____________________________________________________
“Hey, Kagome...what the hell kinda food is this crap?” Inu-Yasha eyed the victuals planted in the platters at the lunch table warily. “Where’s the ramen?”
“Oh, it’s okay Inu-Yasha...here! This is spaghetti. Remember I tried making it for you last y–erm, the other day?” Without waiting for his response, Kagome began piling some noodles on his plate, adding a little fish, meat, and other items. “Here. Try it!” Inu-Yasha eyed her warily. She sighed. “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you something different. But only if you try it.”
Kagome shook her head. Dealing with Inu-Yasha was no better than having to deal with her kid brother sometimes.
“So...what kind of food did they have in the Foodal Era?” Ron snickered at the pun, but waiting for an honest answer. “Did you guys have to eat sushi all the time? Or do you eat sushi all the time now?”
“Common misconception, Ron! Sushi isn’t the only thing they eat in Japan, you know...it’s like saying all we eat are fish-and-chips! How can you be so rude?” Hermione glared at the boy on her right.
“Well, sorry, Hermione. I didn’t even know fish-and-chips were that popular, anyways!” Ron snapped.
“They are for muggles, anyway. Pumpkin Juice, then.”
Harry rolled his eyes at the two, and looked at the girl across from him. “So, what do you eat, then?”
Kagome looked at him pensively. “Well, back in the Feudal Era, rice was still a staple food...there was also fish...and gruel. But I never really liked that, much. Um, depending on the season, there were quite a few nice vegetables and fruits...and I remember I had some really nice rabbit stew in the winter, once. There’re a bunch of things, really! They’re just not packaged. In current Japan, there’s still rice...you can get anything you get in England, really. Well, not the enchanted stuff here...but we have a WacDonalds. And Yoshinoya’s...but that’s fast-food Japanese-style. And we also have Sushi restaurants, but that’s kind of like steak. You get what you pay for, and not everyone loves it.”
“KAGOME! RISH ISH RIWY GOORD!” Inu-Yasha exclaimed through a mouthful of sausage. “WAH ISH IT?”
Harry looked at the half-masticated food on the plate diagonal to his. “I think that’s a hot dog.”
Instantly, he regretted his response as he, Ron and Hermione were showered with a rain of potato bun and frankfurter, emitted from Inu-Yasha’s volcanic mouth. Kagome quickly patted him on the back. “Not that kind of Hot Dog, Inu-Yasha! That’s just a name! It’s just a name!”
Sputtering, he shook his head, holding back a gag. “Well, that’s a stupid name! Ugh! I just imagined eating Sesshou-Maru...disgusting...” He shuddered, and downed the pitcher of water ice water in a gulp.
“Ah...heh. Sorry, you guys!” Kagome looked at her food-covered tablemates apologetically. “Anyone for dessert?”
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Alrighty, that’s all for now! I promise I will try extra-extra hard to update more quickly! And I also promise that I will try to include more meat in my chapters...or do you guys enjoy seeing how the characters just interact with each other? I don’t know. Thank you for reviewing! It makes me smiiile! :D
RECAP: “Oh, Inu-Yasha? Would you be so kind as to bring Mr. Weasley to the Hospital ward? Miss Higurashi needs to have her cut healed before she turns in,” Inu-Yasha complied wordlessly, heaping the now drooling and snoring redhead over his shoulders once more. “Thank you very, very much. Good night, you two!”
And the three of them left, a long day thankfully behind them.
Chapter 9
“Right! Now, with more force.” Mr. A instructed to a blonde witch, as she continued to fire small bullets of acid-sand at the bunyip, perspiration lining her brow. Finally, the bunyip exploded, instantly re-transfiguring itself to a small candle, broken into three, neat pieces. The witch relaxed her hand, a satisfied smile upon her lips.
“Very good, Marlena! Just make sure you keep your gun arm straight and high. Shoot to kill, not to scare.” Mr. A patted her on the shoulder and transfigured a small stick of gum he had in his pocket. “Next!”
The doors opened unobtrusively, and as Mr. A selected another student to practice for their final exams in Magical Weaponry, Kagome and another wizard rushed in, five minutes late.
“Good morning, Kagome!” Hermione’s voice tenderly greeted her dark-haired friend. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh, not bad...Madame Pomfrey healed me pretty easily. Not even a scar!” Kagome yanked up the sleeve of her robe, revealing a clean, smooth wrist. “My head still hurts a bit, though...too much miasma, and not enough sleep.”
“Tell me about it...I don’t know about miasma, but my brain feels like I’ve been inhaling diesel fuel for the past five days! And my eye’s really tender...I wonder what happened to it. I can’t remember a thing about last night!” Ron yawned, gingerly stroking his brow bone.
“Idiot...” Hermione muttered under her breath, hiding palms that were now a bright magenta from having been violently scrubbed of every ounce of perfume. “So is that why you’re late, Kagome?”
“No, actually. I had to visit Professor McGonagall...there was a matter we needed to fix.” She looked oddly at the wizard with whom she entered the classroom, whose head was back to them as he sat alone, watching the students.
“Now, remember, these are moving targets, okay? This means ya gotta be quicker. You need to sharpen your reflexes, and be more alert. Hey, Potter! The test is soon, and you’ve never shown me whatcha got Hope you been studying; come on up here!”
Harry eyed Kagome curiously. He had already predicted that the events of last night would be kept under-wraps for the time being, so as not to cause a panic, but he wondered how and where they were hiding that Inu-Yasha fellow.
He picked up his sword, and stood next to Mr. A. “Now, unlike the boggarts, these are transfigured, moving targets that are designed to attack. So although that manticore we just saw had the mind of a matchbox, it was transfigured to have the instincts of it’s transfigured identity. Now I’ll be here to fix ‘em if you freak out, or one of ‘em gets out of control.
“Alright, let’s get you a beast that I know should have some effect on you...not to give you a hard time, or anything. But I imagine you’ll need all the practice you can get with these guys...” Mr. A raised his eyebrows. Clearly, he was one person to which the events that passed the evening before had not been kept under-wraps.
“Remember, kids! I don’t want you trying to use other spells for these creatures! In this unit, we’re learning physical attacks, what to do when you’re caught in the moment. The attacks may prove to be temporary, but that’s what we’re studying right now. Quick disarming, if you will.” With the flick of his wand, Mr. A transfigured a wastebasket into a looming, dark shape. A frigid chill sank down upon the room, and a slow, rattling breath was emitted from the target.
“A dementor?” Harry nervously looked at the creature. What good was a sword against a soul-sucker?
The dementor swept across the room, its black, tattered robes streaming silently behind it. Harry frowned, determined not to let his thoughts be taken over by a transfigured wastebasket. With all of his might, he lunged at the horrid creature, anxious to give it a death blow.
He almost succeeded, too.
Harry’s sword sank sickly into the lower half of the dementor, angering it (if indeed, a dementor can be angered.) Caught off guard, Harry’s mental defenses slipped, and a piercing scream nearly ripped his eardrums. ‘Can’t do the Patronus for this one...what can I do?’
The screaming was getting louder, until Harry dropped his sword, trying to cover his ears. He only vaguely noticed a figure running to stand in front of him, glowing and warm.
The screaming stopped.
Harry looked up, the glowing figure panting and slightly trembling.
“What...the hell...was that?!” Kagome shuddered, shaking as she moved to rip her broken arrow from the smoldering tatters of the wastebasket. “It felt so...so...terrible!”
“WELL DONE, KAGOME!” Mr. A whistled. “That’s exactly what I want! You all need to concentrate your power into the weapon, and just shoot. Er, go for it.”
“Kagome?” Harry incredulously implored.
“Harry, that was a very decent job you did, too. And you would have surely done away with the dementor, had I permitted you the use of your Patronus charm...but what we need to do is show you how easily anyone can be caught off guard by that which we fear the most. In an instant, you don’t have time to cast a spell. You just gotta go for it...which you did, just not in the right spot! If you were going for a man, however, I’d say you had great enough aim to...aheh, disarm him. Heh. Remind me not to piss you off, hahaha!” Mr. A guffawed, and looked back at Kagome. “Now, Kagome, let me see that again.”
Mr. A hastily took out a pack of cigarettes, and ripped a slender stick from the small box. Another flick, and it was immediately transformed into a brown-furred crocotta.
Kagome stepped back, and was about to shoot her arrow, when she stopped. The giant wolf-dog stared her down, lips curled up and growling defensively. Kagome stared back, her muscles relaxed. With determination, she tried picking up her bow and arrow once more, and aimed...and then dropped her posture once more, looking at the crocotta, who looked at her, growling softly, shaking its head and flapping large ears.
“Um, Mr. A? ...I can’t shoot it.” Kagome sighed. The wolf-dog had since silenced, and sat on its hind legs, letting loose a lazy yawn.
“Kagome, with all due respect, you don’t have a choice.” Mr. A said, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
“But–look! He’s just...lying there.” Which was true; the vicious creature who was bestowed with teeth that could break diamonds and an appetite for anything living, had his massive head rested on great, big paws, snorting in obvious boredom.
“Well, we’ll fix that...” With a slight swish, a spark jerked the crocotta to life, snarling and yapping, lunging at Kagome. Kagome’s reflexes, although conditioned to be fast, were simply not fast enough, and she ducked as the great beast soared over her head, clawed paws missing her scalp by mere inches. Scrambling to get up, her bow slipped out of her hand, and arrows spilled across the floor.
The wolf-dog slammed into a coat of armor, sending silver-metal plates ricocheting across the room, one in particular colliding into the surprised head of Mr. A, and sending him down for the count.
Several students screamed, dodging the shower of metal, while some ran to get out of the room. A small handful ripped their wands out in preparation to defend themselves and their classmates. Several cried out spells, but the beast was too fast. Harry even took his sword and charged it, only to get belted by the weight of its swishing tail.
Kagome had almost reached her bow, when she saw the enraged beast returning for her once more. “Ah...ah...” Kagome stuttered, not knowing what to do. It snarled, and made a forceful leap in her direction. “KYAAA!!!”
“Take that, ya lame-ass hyena!”
The crocotta was pelted across the room, as the mysterious wizard with whom Kagome came late struck it, protecting her behind him. Dazed, the crocotta looked at the wizard, and shook its head and snarled, circling its new target.
Without warning, it lunged at the wizard, who lazily glared at the beast, and then grabbed a large, white sword from his side. With one long stroke, the beast was obliterated, and the burnt-out stub of a cigarette softly burned on the ground.
“Well, so much for hiding...” Inu-Yasha shook his head and uncomfortably adjusted the cloak that hung around his broad shoulders. “Are you alright, Kagome?”
“Yeah...thank you.” She took his waiting hand and steadied herself, getting to her feet.
“Inu-Yasha?” Hermione asked, her knuckles slowly regaining their color from their tight, wight grip on her wand. “What happened to you?”
Inu-Yasha’s appearance had differed reasonably from last night. His ears were hidden by a thatch of short, black hair, the irises in his eyes were slightly darkened from a bright gold to a light hazel, and his body looked oddly suffocated beneath layers of clothing.
“Professor McGonagall altered his appearance for the sake of blending in with the rest of the students. I guess that was short-lived.” Kagome chuckled slightly, her hand lingering on Inu-Yasha’s.
“Inu-Yasha? Y’mean...wait a minute!” Ron frowned, completely in the dark about the wizard who stood, an expression of exasperation directed at the redhead.
“A thank-you would be enough after you drooled all over my haori last night...keh.” Inu-Yasha looked away, and strode purposefully in the direction of the unconscious teacher. Ron blinked in utter confusion, looking to Hermione.
Meanwhile, Kagome ran over to Harry, helping him up from the wreckage on the floor. “You alright Harry?”
“Yeah...” he responded distantly. “Thanks.”
“No, I should thank you! You tried to help me out there, and you could’ve gotten hurt!” Kagome looked into his eyes, the light of her concern making him blush.
“Anytime...” He murmured shyly, shaking her off and picking up his sword. A groan emitted from the corner of the room, as Inu-Yasha hoisted Mr. A to his feet.
“What the hell do you think yer doing? Sickin’ that thing at Kagome like that...she could’ve gotten killed, you bastard!” Inu-Yasha said, albeit steadily holding him in place.
“Inu-Yasha, please! He’s my teacher!” Kagome ran to them. “Are you alright, Mr. A?”
“Oh, yeah...I’ve had much worse happen to me, believe me. But who’s this little twirp?” The older man looked the wizard up and down, frowning at his impertinence.
“What did you call me, human?!” Inu-Yasha loomed at the man, baring his canines.
“Y’heard me, kid! Watch your mouth when you’re in my class, or get out! That clear?” Mr. A returned, raising his voice, but maintaining his cool. Inu-Yasha frowned, but backed down, grumbling under his breath.
“I’m twice your age, anyway...” He mumbled sourly.
“NOW, then.” Mr. A addressed the class, surveying the damage done to the room. “I apologize, the situation got a little out of control. BUT. That will happen sometimes! So to those of you who tried defending yourself, I commend you. Congratulations, Harry, I believe you’ve earned yourself 10 points for Gryffindor,” Mr. A said, nodding towards the sword and Harry. “I wasn’t conscious, so I couldn’t say truthfully whether or not you tried to take the crocotta down, but judging by the sword in your hand and that nasty cut on your lip, I trust you made a valiant effort. Nice job,” He smiled, rubbing the large bump on his forehead. “Alright, on that note, class is dismissed. EXCEPT, you, you, and you. And if you want, you two can stay too.” Mr. A pointed to the obvious five as the others rushed out the doors.
Turning around, Mr. A conjured two cold compresses, and passed one to Harry, while softly applying the other to his own injury. “Well,” he began. “It appears that your performance a few minutes ago will raise some questions. But,” Mr. A said, directing his words to a frowning Inu-Yasha. “Keep your disguise up for now. Let people wonder...it won’t hurt any. Just so long as their parents don’t find out their kids are going to school with a demon, half or not.”
“Keh. It’s not as if I want to be here.” Inu-Yasha retorted, hiding the slight affront he took in defense for his demon side.
“Yeah, well, you’re here, so that’s that. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore has informed me of all that has happened last night, so there’s no need to keep quiet about it in my presence. In fact, he’s asked me to work with you guys in finding a way to permanently shut the portal.
“So what we need to do first is to establish that you, Inu-Yasha, will always be around Kagome, am I right?” Mr. A raised his eyebrows at the half-demon.
“Yeah, what’s it to ya?”
“Kagome’s blood has increased considerably in value, and if anyone of a less-than-questionable nature sees her alone, they probably won’t hesitate in spilling a little for themselves.” Mr. A gravely looked at the girl in question. “And I figure, with an arrow-arm like that, we’ll wanna keep her around a while.” He winked jovially, and she responded with a smile, although slightly disarmed.
“And Harry, this means you too. The five of you have the implicitly important job of protecting each other. If someone gets a hold of Kagome’s blood, you got ten guesses as to who the first person they’re gonna go after is going to be.” Mr. A looked pointedly at Harry. “Not that I know what any prophecy is, and I don’t waste my time on any of those dumb tabloids, but I can only imagine it don’t bode too well for you.
“So. You guys–it won’t be so hard for you two–“ he looked at Kagome and Inu-Yasha. “–and I know you three are as thick as thieves–“ he gestured to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. “–but you all need to establish a firm bit of trust in each other. Look out for yourselves, and go out of the way to avoid putting yourselves in danger. I mean it.” Mr. A sternly looked at them, a hard edge of seriousness in his voice. “I’ve heard what kinda messes you guys have gotten yourselves into, and a lot have those have either ended in luck, near misses, or the pain of others. So from now on, I want you to put some hard thought into your actions. Please, for all our sakes.” He added, warding off any argument from the aggravated Dog demon in the corner.
“Alright, then. That’s all I’m gonna say for now, so you guys can head off. I’ll clean up,” He said, shooing them off, and at the same time restoring the room to its neat, manageable state. The group began to gather their things and take their leave, Inu-Yasha rolling his eyes and shifting under the fabric of his clothes.
“Oh–and, Kagome, I hope you learned your lesson.” Mr. A said, as Kagome looked up at him. “ Just because it’s canine, doesn’t mean you can trust it.”
She smiled and nodded, and followed the rest outside.
Once they had gotten a few feet beyond the closed doors of the classroom, Ron let out what he had clearly been suppressing for the duration of the conversation.
“Alright, did I miss something?!”
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“Hey, Kagome...what the hell kinda food is this crap?” Inu-Yasha eyed the victuals planted in the platters at the lunch table warily. “Where’s the ramen?”
“Oh, it’s okay Inu-Yasha...here! This is spaghetti. Remember I tried making it for you last y–erm, the other day?” Without waiting for his response, Kagome began piling some noodles on his plate, adding a little fish, meat, and other items. “Here. Try it!” Inu-Yasha eyed her warily. She sighed. “If you don’t like it, I’ll make you something different. But only if you try it.”
Kagome shook her head. Dealing with Inu-Yasha was no better than having to deal with her kid brother sometimes.
“So...what kind of food did they have in the Foodal Era?” Ron snickered at the pun, but waiting for an honest answer. “Did you guys have to eat sushi all the time? Or do you eat sushi all the time now?”
“Common misconception, Ron! Sushi isn’t the only thing they eat in Japan, you know...it’s like saying all we eat are fish-and-chips! How can you be so rude?” Hermione glared at the boy on her right.
“Well, sorry, Hermione. I didn’t even know fish-and-chips were that popular, anyways!” Ron snapped.
“They are for muggles, anyway. Pumpkin Juice, then.”
Harry rolled his eyes at the two, and looked at the girl across from him. “So, what do you eat, then?”
Kagome looked at him pensively. “Well, back in the Feudal Era, rice was still a staple food...there was also fish...and gruel. But I never really liked that, much. Um, depending on the season, there were quite a few nice vegetables and fruits...and I remember I had some really nice rabbit stew in the winter, once. There’re a bunch of things, really! They’re just not packaged. In current Japan, there’s still rice...you can get anything you get in England, really. Well, not the enchanted stuff here...but we have a WacDonalds. And Yoshinoya’s...but that’s fast-food Japanese-style. And we also have Sushi restaurants, but that’s kind of like steak. You get what you pay for, and not everyone loves it.”
“KAGOME! RISH ISH RIWY GOORD!” Inu-Yasha exclaimed through a mouthful of sausage. “WAH ISH IT?”
Harry looked at the half-masticated food on the plate diagonal to his. “I think that’s a hot dog.”
Instantly, he regretted his response as he, Ron and Hermione were showered with a rain of potato bun and frankfurter, emitted from Inu-Yasha’s volcanic mouth. Kagome quickly patted him on the back. “Not that kind of Hot Dog, Inu-Yasha! That’s just a name! It’s just a name!”
Sputtering, he shook his head, holding back a gag. “Well, that’s a stupid name! Ugh! I just imagined eating Sesshou-Maru...disgusting...” He shuddered, and downed the pitcher of water ice water in a gulp.
“Ah...heh. Sorry, you guys!” Kagome looked at her food-covered tablemates apologetically. “Anyone for dessert?”
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Alrighty, that’s all for now! I promise I will try extra-extra hard to update more quickly! And I also promise that I will try to include more meat in my chapters...or do you guys enjoy seeing how the characters just interact with each other? I don’t know. Thank you for reviewing! It makes me smiiile! :D