Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unto the Few ❯ Diagon Alley ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Diagon Alley

~~

“So…” Yusuke said that night as the four of them gathered in the room he and Kuwabara shared. “Kagome is a miko…that’s not really good news for us, is it?”

“No.” Kurama said softly. “It is not at all a good thing. Of all of us, Kuwabara is the only completely mortal one, meaning only he is not threatened by her.”

“Then we should dispose of her before she does the same to us,” Hiei said bluntly from his seat by the window.

“Hiei, you cannot just blindly rush into things like that. We do not know if she means us any harm or not.”

“Was her explosion earlier not enough proof for you, Fox?” Hiei replied, turning around to face them now. “She could have incinerated all of us!”

“But she didn’t. If she is as powerful as everyone here seems to think, including you, Hiei, she should’ve been able to fry every single one of us demons to a crisp, had she wanted to. And yet, she didn’t, meaning either great control over her powers, or she meant us no real harm,” Kurama replied readily.

“Hn.” Hiei turned back to watch out the window.

“Ah, leave him alone; he’s got his underwear lodged too far up his ass again,” Yusuke said.

“How do you know that I wear underwear, Yusuke?” Hiei asked from his seat, not bothering to turn around.

Yusuke choked and went blue in the face. “Whoa there, little man! That’s WAY too much information!”

Hiei replied with a “Hn,” that seemed entirely too close to a chuckle for Yusuke’s liking.

“Stupid demon…” the head Tantei muttered.

“What was that, Yusuke?” Hiei bit out, turning around slowly.

“I said—” Yusuke replied, fully intent on bringing about an argument.

“Yusuke…” Kurama said in a warning voice. “This is only our first night here; why don’t you make an effort not to fight so soon into our summer here?”

“Yes, mother.” Yusuke said with sarcasm.

“These people seem really nice,” Kuwabara said, changing the subject.

“Yeah…a little on the weird side…”

“You’re one to talk, Yusuke!” Kurama joked, chuckling and slapping his palms on his knees.

“Yeah, well…We’re not the ones who wave around sticks all the time to do what we want. What we call ‘Spirit Energy’, they call ‘magic’…and with their little wands and some ‘wizard blood’ in ‘em, suddenly they’re better than us.”

Hiei made an indignant noise at this comment, but was ignored.

“Well, we’d best get used to it. It seems that this method is the only way that these people are able to produce ‘magic’.” Kurama noted sagely.

Suddenly, Yusuke said uproariously, “Man, that chick, Nympha-morona-what’s-her-face…”

“Tonks, you mean, Yusuke?” Kurama interjected.

“Whatever. Man, she’s a kick, ain’t she?”

“She certainly is an…interesting individual,” Kurama admitted.

“Oh, get off your high horse and come out with it! You almost shit yourself when she showed up with spiked green hair and that mini skirt!”

Kurama blushed and said nothing, making something that sounded suspiciously like chuckles arise from Hiei’s corner. The kitsune sent a frigid stare at the back of the hybrid’s head.

“Hey, guys, don’t you think that we should start talking in English now?” Kuwabara asked, scratching his head.

“Yes, that would be beneficial…I stopped myself several times today from speaking our language…”

“And Urameshi was confusing the hell outta that Molly lady! He could hardly form a sentence of English!” Kuwabara added.

Yusuke brought his fist down on the top of his buddy’s head. “Can it, monkey-ass. So what if I skipped out on English class a couple of times? I’ll get it. It’s not that hard.”

This statement got non-committal noise from everyone, Hiei included.

“Ah, all of you just go to Hell!” Yusuke said, turning up his nose and crossing his arms childishly.

“Tomorrow is our last day off for a long time, guys…I think we should work in a little bit of an ass-kicking for Urameshi over here, so he doesn’t get rusty!” Kuwabara said, punching his fist into his opposite palm.

Yusuke got a wicked gleam in his eyes and stood, fully willing to take him up on the offer there and then. “I’m willing!”

“Save it for tomorrow, Yusuke, since you obviously didn’t get it out of your system earlier. Tomorrow you can put on as big of a show as you want for these people. As for me, I’m going to bed. I’ll see you all in the morning.” Kurama said, standing.

“Night, Kurama.” Yusuke said, covering a yawn. “I think I’m gonna turn in, too. Night, all.”

Kurama and Kuwabara replied, the former leaving to go the room beside Yusuke and Kuwabara’s, and the latter crawling under the covers fully clothed, immediately asleep. Hiei shook his head and opened the window, jumping out and landing without a sound. He’d had enough ningen for one day, thank you, and now he was going to go rest (as he hardly ever slept) somewhere more appropriate…like a tree. Hn…Humans and their stupid sense of “comfort”.

~~

Kagome woke as the dawn light struck her eyelids in a quiet beckoning call she had learned to answer right away. She hadn’t wanted to wake up, as she was having the most wonderful dream of being told a great legend by Kaede, having the sense that she was a young child, and was enchanted as the tale was revealed to her. Typically, right at the most exciting part, Kagome woke. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then slid out of bed and stretched, reveling in the feeling of her back popping.

Yukina woke only minutes later, as she slept on the ground, beside the bed, and the light took a bit longer to reach her. “Good morning, Kagome-chan.”

“Morning, Yukina. Did you sleep well?”

“I did, thank you.”

Kagome wanted to laugh at how formal the koorime was, but supposed that she’d just been raised right and those practices were to be abided by where she came from. “Where is the bathroom? I think I need to get to know the rest of these people before I trust them well enough to show them my morning face…”

“It’s just down this hall and across the way; the twins stained it bright yellow, so you can’t miss it.” Yukina instructed her.

“Stained it with what, I wonder?” Kagome asked rhetorically, making Yukina giggle as she began changing into her regular kimono.

Kagome found the bathroom with no trouble, but had some issues with working the knobs on the shower and bathtub. After about three minutes of fiddling around with the eight different knobs, a portrait of a blue fairy took pity on her and explained that the ones with the red and blue handles gave hot and cold water and the rest were shampoos. The two green ones were the twins’, a pink one for Molly, a black one for Arthur, an orange one for Ginny, and a light blue one for Ron.

Knowing that Ginny wouldn’t mind her borrowing some of her hair product, Kagome turned on the water, wet her hair, then twisted and pulled out on the orange handle which produced a clear, vanilla-almond scented soap into her hand. After washing her hair (and discovering that by turning the knob the opposite way, you were given conditioner), Kagome washed with one of the matching bars of soap that were lined up along the sides of the wall. As she rinsed off her legs, Kagome wished that she had brought her razor with her, as her legs felt as prickly as a porcupine’s behind.

After about fifteen minutes of taking over the shower, Kagome stepped out of the tub, expecting to find a steam-clouded mirror, but found that it was as clear as day. Figuring that it was some sort of special ventilating, or more likely in this case, a sort of charm, Kagome searched for a brush and comb to untangle her hair. She found a whole drawer of them in a space underneath the sink. Unthinking, Kagome pulled one out at random, and began running the bristles through her hair. Instantly, the hairs the brush ran over were converted into corkscrew curls, making Kagome drop the device in her surprise.

Deciding that maybe, among these many, many brushes there must be one to undo the first action, Kagome raked four brushes through her thick mane quickly. This resulted in a spiral curl, a loss of the chunk of hair the brush had touched, a rainbow streak, and a perfectly straight section. Almost panicking now, Kagome ran all the brushes through her hair until she looked like she had grown a multi-colored and textured afro.

“Oh, no!” She said under her breath, looking back in the mirror into her own shocked blue eyes, taking in the damage. Just then, there was a knock on the door. “Oh, NO!”

“Hey, Higurashi, you done in there yet?”

Kagome recognized the voice as the one belonging to Yusuke. “Uh…” Kagome said loudly, hurriedly gathering all of her things and tied a towel around her head. She ducked her head down as she opened the door swiftly and tried to avoid getting caught by his sharp eyes.

“Whoa, hang on a minute! You got some sort of red-thread coming out of your—” he yanked on several rainbow-dyed strands that were peeking from underneath the towel, resulting in Kagome’s yowl of pain as she dropped and scattered all of her things.

Blushing to the roots of her hair, Kagome watched Yusuke’s sleep-encrusted eyes widen slowly as he took in her new “do”, or in this case, “don’t”.

Kagome gathered her things all helter-skelter in her arms and tried to make a lighthearted comment. “Uh…yeah…Don’t use any of the brushes in the left hand drawer…” Unfortunately, all of this came out as a squeak, and she dashed as fast as she could back to her own room.

She squealed again when she nearly ran over Kurama, who was just coming out of his own room. “Sorry,” she murmured, running full-bore into her room.

Kurama arched an eyebrow, then continued downstairs, as he had dressed and brushed though his long hair, making it presentable. He walked slowly downstairs, avoiding the squeaky steps with ease. Mrs. Weasley was already up, and had plates upon plates of waffles, pancakes, eggs, and sausages.

“Good morning, my dear!” She said, rushing up to him and giving him a squeeze around the middle; it was all the further up she could reach, as Kurama was tall (not nearly so much as Kuwabara, however).

Kurama smiled at the woman who was reminding him more and more of his own mother. When he had told Shiori, his mother, about the letter, he had also confessed his secret life as a Spirit Detective. She had been thrilled about this, but at the same time immediately set about worrying her hair off, as he had known she would. He promised to write her weekly, and so had to be buying an owl soon, which was something he informed Molly of immediately.

“That’s fine, dear. We’re going to get your supplies tomorrow, so you won’t have to worry. Now, sit down and have a meal, dear. You’ve got today off and then it’s nose to the grindstone until the last week of summer break!”

Kurama smiled and sat down, allowing her to serve him, filling his plate full with enough carbohydrates to choke a hippo. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“You’re most welcome, young man. Honestly, I think I would pay you to teach my boys a thing or two about manners.”

Just then, Yusuke stormed down the stairs, shirtless and with a towel draped over his shoulders.

“You’re certainly making yourself at home, Yusuke,” Kurama remarked.

“Hey, they wanted me here; they’re gonna have to deal with the consequences. Oh, and by the way, Higurashi got into something and now her hair looks like she stuck her finger in a light socket.”

“Is that what happened? No wonder she didn’t want to be seen,” Kurama surmised.

“Oh, dear! She must have gotten into something of Fred and George’s…I’d better go and correct it. Yusuke, dear, sit down and help yourse—”

Kurama chuckled and pointed out the other teen. “I think he’s way ahead of you, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Indeed…” Molly said, eyeing Yusuke, whose plate was stacked to the point of overflowing. “Now…to straighten out her hair…” The robust woman climbed up the stairs to Kagome and Yukina’s room, leaving Hiei, Yukina, the twins, Ginny, Ron, and then Kuwabara to amble down the stairs within the next twenty minutes.

Somehow, the plates of food stuffs seemed to never empty, much to the delight of the twins, Ron, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, which resulted in an hour of lounging around doing nothing due to their gorging. Finally, Hiei made eye contact with Kurama, who followed the fiery demon outside. Ginny, hoping to do something interesting, tagged along.

Hiei and Kurama walked side by side, a person’s space between them, but somehow they still managed to look like walking companions. They continued out into the green meadow behind the house where the boys had been fighting last night, and also where the Weasleys practiced Quidditch over the summer.

Ginny started to follow them out into the middle of the green, but a warning look from Kurama bade her stay where she was, and she sat down obligingly. Under usual circumstances, she would have ignored it and followed them out all the way, but these two were, as already proven, anything but usual. Thus, she figured she’d be better off doing what Kurama ordered.

She watched avidly as they squared off, both arms at their sides, just staring levelly at the other. Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash from Hiei, and a glaring swirl of red and black energy spiraled around him.

Kurama responded by releasing the lock on his own energy, sending curls of white mists and yellow and green fireworks around his body, rivaling the height of Hiei’s.

“First blood,” Hiei said tonelessly. “No rules.”

“Agreed.”

Ginny was confused about the short agreement they seemed to have reached. She watched avidly, her eyes riveted on the two as they simply stood and faced off. Then, her eyes caught the flex of Kurama’s left bicep, a nearly imperceptible movement, but it was apparently enough to make Hiei launch into action.

“Wow!” she breathed, focusing on the sudden blur of motion in front of her. She caught the glare of sunlight off of a blade, and a long, snaking green thing, which looked like a whip.

Her eyes danced in awe and delight at their graceful movements as Hiei rushed from one spot to the next, trying to make Kurama loose some of his concentration. Kurama responded by cracking his whip decisively in front of him, using the rebound of it to snap behind him, aiming with amazing accuracy right where Ginny saw Hiei dash to. She gasped aloud as the whip caught him on the right shoulder, three long gashes appearing where the wickedly sharp thorns were.

Ginny launched herself to her feet and dashed madly to where the two men were standing as calmly as if they were discussing the weather; Hiei was holding a hand hard to his shoulder to stay the bleeding, and Kurama was standing in a relaxed pose nearby.

“MERLIN! What on Earth were you two playing at! Kurama, you knew Hiei was going to go behind you, and you guys said it was only a practice!”

“It was. It was also only until First Blood, in which case, Kurama won the round, as I am the one, obviously, who is bleeding.” Hiei snapped, looking irritated but resigned. The day he beat Kurama or tied him in an actual battle would be the day Hiei considered himself in his perfect fighting form.

“Wait a moment,” Kurama said, his attention suddenly fully riveted on Ginny. “How did you know where Hiei was going and that I would use a rebound technique to scratch him once he was there?”

Ginny sighed and tapped her foot. “He was circling you, just changing directions and altering the pattern somewhat, and it was due for him to be behind you. You knew, saw, and cracked your whip forward, to make him pause and think that you had misjudged. But then, you swung your wrist around a little bit, and it back lashed and caught Hiei on the shoulder.”

Hiei and Kurama stared at her in silence.

“What!” Ginny said with irritation.

“It is simply that no human—“

“I’m a—”

“Witch, yes, we know. But, you are still mortal, and we have only come across two or three people who can see our actions in battle like that, let alone break down the techniques and explain some of the psychological half of fighting.” Kurama said.

“…So…?”

“So, that means you have a very powerful sixth sense. Perhaps you should talk with Kuwabara? He is a very open person; I’m sure he’d be glad to clue you in. Perhaps you could be trained to develop a Spirit Technique, too.”

“You mean like yours?” Ginny asked Kurama excitedly.

“Perhaps. Why don’t you go inside and talk to him now?”

“Sure! See you guys later!” Ginny called, waving to them over her shoulder.

“That was too easy.” Hiei said.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Kurama replied, all innocence.

“Humans; they are so easy to manipulate. Especially the young ones.”

“Aa.” Kurama replied, a tone of non-concomitance in his voice.

“So, we begin learning this “magic” tomorrow.” Hiei stated.

“Yes; we won’t have a moment’s break until the last week of summer vacation.”

“It can’t be that difficult,” Hiei replied surely.

~~

At about eight o’clock that night, as jet lag was taking its full toll against the transfers, Mrs. Weasley and her husband, along with that strange woman Tonks, briefed them on all of their classes and expectations.

“Now, we don’t expect you to have even half of your classes to the sixth year level. However, we do expect you all to have at least one class within the fifth year range. You will dorm with sixth years, but the only other time you would see your fellow year-mates would be at meals, unless you can manage to achieve sixth-year standards, and you’ll be able to attend the seasonal balls. Noses go to the grindstone starting tomorrow.” Mrs. Weasley said. “Arthur, would you please finish up for me? I have to go and see about the supper cleanup.”

“Gladly, dear.” Arthur said, stepping forward, all eyes turning to watch him now. “Uh…” he straightened his robe sleeve nervously, then started in. “Well, first of all, this will all be re-briefed to you at the start of the term, but this is just for your own benefit. Tomorrow, you’ll be going to a house we’ve had reserved just for your use. You’ll have two classes per day, and on Sundays you’ll have a review. Every month, you’ll have a year’s worth of reviews. If you want to even have a chance at making an average of third-year classes, you’ll have to work late and wake up extra early to practice. Tonks here is going to go over your classes with you.”

Tonks, stepped forward. “Yeah, so, the required classes at Hogwarts are Transfiguration, History of Magic, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. However, since History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, and Herbology are not classes that it is required to know background on, They won’t be in your summer’s schedule. That leaves four core classes. It’s suggested that you take at least one other course too, and those are Ancient Runes, Astronomy, and Divination. There are others, too, but those are the most popular ones. You don’t have to take an extra course over the summer, but during the school year, you’ll have to pick at least one, to help you earn some extra credit.

“The order of your classes will be: on Mondays, Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. Tuesday is Charms and Transfiguration. Wednesday is devoted to your review session. On Thursday, it’s Defense and Potions again. Friday is the same as Tuesday—Charms and Transfiguration, and Saturday is your group review, and you have Sunday to use as you will, but it’s suggested that you use it for your studies.

“Tomorrow, you’re leaving bright and early to get to Diagon Alley to pick up your basic supplies so you can do all of this magic. Defense and Potions are going to be pushed back, so you can have plenty of time to get everything you need.” Tonks blew through her nose loudly, sounding somewhat horse-like, and sighed. “Man, I hate speeches…I bet you guys are pretty tired listening to my nonsense by now, huh?”

Yusuke made a slight noise of agreement as he balanced on the rear two legs of his chair, his feet propped on the table. Kuwabara took advantage of this and nonchalantly shoved him backwards. Yusuke fell back with a very undignified THUD and promptly began swearing a blue streak in Japanese so harsh that Yukina was red up to her hairline. She covered her mouth and squinted her eyes. “Oh my…”

Kurama smacked Yusuke over the head with the flat of his hand; just because the Weasleys didn’t understand Japanese, it was still very rude to say such things in the presence of anyone who wasn’t already used to his foul mouth.

“Damnit, what the hell was that for!” Yusuke shouted in Japanese.

“Watch your mouth, Yusuke!” Kurama said through his teeth.

“Ah fuck it, Fox! Did you not see what that bastard just did to me? And you’re telling me to, ‘watch my mouth’? Be glad I’m not kicking his fucking ass right now!”

“And why, pray tell, are you not?” Hiei asked.

“Cause I’m comfortable right where I am, thanks.” Yusuke crossed his arms from his position on his back, legs splayed in the air, and chair crushed beneath him.

“Yusuke…” Kurama said, shaking his head.

Kagome couldn’t hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing, making every eye turn to her. “S—Sorry! I just…he just…Kami…I’m sorry, but he just reminded me of…some…one…Uh…” Kagome appeared to falter in her cheery smile and blinked heavily for a few seconds. “Sorry…”

“Shit…” Yusuke finally got up, completely ignorant of Kagome’s strange monologue. “Kuwabara, you are a dead man!” he said, switching to English.

“I wish they would stop going back and forth from English to Japanese,” Fred told George.

“Yusuke…” Kurama repeated, sighing and getting up from his position beside the hot-tempered young man. “Never mind. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I apologize for Yusuke; he is too brash on occasion.”

“Oh, it’s fine dear!” Mrs. Weasley assured him, however her eyes said she wished she could tell what on Earth they were saying to one another when they spoke in their native tongue.

“Why don’t we go outside for some fresh air before we turn in? It’s always relaxing for me.” Arthur suggested, meaning he was hoping a full-scale riot between Urameshi and Kuwabara could be avoided by doing something else.

“Nah, forget it. I’m over it,” Yusuke said, dusting himself off.

The other Tantei, Kuwabara included, turned incredulous looks on Yusuke, who shrugged them off, but his eyes held Kuwabara’s in a silent promise of revenge that would be sweet. Kurama glanced at Hiei, who looked back at him, and they shared the same thought.

‘Here we go again…’

~~

As promised, they were woken up at six the next morning. Yukina, Kagome, and Kurama had no issues with this. Hiei was indifferent, because he hardly ever slept in the first place. Yusuke and Kuwabara, however, were decidedly not morning people. They mumbled, groaned, whined and bemoaned the time for an hour before they were awake enough to see in technicolor. The two were half-dressed as the six students stumbled into the kitchen, where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood before of an empty fireplace.

“Is everyone ready?” Arthur asked.

There were various replies of “yes”, “sure”, and “It’s too *! %$ing early for this!”

“Grand. Now, I want everyone to line up, and I need someone brave to go first.”

“First? First for what?” Yusuke asked, coming round enough to be paying at least a bit of attention.

“To use the Floo Powder. Now, Kurama, would you be willing to go first?” Arthur asked.

Kurama nodded and obediently stepped into the fireplace, ducking as he went. His body was relaxed but his eyes were ever attentive for some sort of danger or trap.

“Excellent. Now, all you have to do, is take some of this powder,” Molly held out a can of multi-colored dust particles, of which Kurama took a small handful of. “Throw it down and say very clearly, “The Leaky Cauldron”. Do you understand?”

Kurama nodded however his eyes looked a bit confused and a dash apprehensive. He closed his verdant eyes and threw down the powder in one snap of his narrow wrist. “The Leaky Cauldron.” He ordered. Instantly, a wash of green flames leapt up around him.

Hiei jumped into action, his hand on his sword’s hilt and taking a defensive stance towards the fireplace that was now—empty? What the hell?!

“There now,” Molly seemed satisfied and ushered Hiei, who was in full battle stance, towards the place next. “Come on, dear, it won’t eat you!”

Hiei glared at her, his Jagan sparking in accordance with his perturbed state. “Where is Kurama?” he asked through his teeth, switching his stance to make dead weight out of himself, making it futile for Mrs. Weasley to continue pushing him forward.

“He’s at the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for us! You’ll see if you just hop into the fireplace and do exactly as he did.”

Hiei’s battle and survival instincts were screaming at him to not do as she told him, as it was so obvious a lain-open trap that even that idiot Kuwabara would’ve seen it. But, these people had no intention of harming him—if they did, and they had any sense at all, they would see that he was not easily fooled. So, these people weren’t out to get him—if they were, it would be a mistake in calculation that he hadn’t made in centuries.

Therefore, it was other people whom he had to be concerned with. And all of the enemies he knew of, which was quite many and all of which he kept on tabs, were either in Makai or on the other side of the world. So, against all of his better instincts, he stepped into the fireplace, grabbed a handful of the powder, and said in his husky tone, “Leaky Cauldron”, with all of the authority he could muster.

Hiei’s Jagan saw clearly into the other square-like entrances; more fireplaces, he presumed. Then, the whirling stopped, and his feet were once again beneath him.

“What in all of the hells…” he muttered in Japanese, stepping out of the fireplace, his eyes instantly alert for any signs of danger or his supposed trap. All three of his eyes alighted on Kurama, who was at the moment, being almost physically accosted by an over-zealous bar maid and a small flock of young girls that were flirting outrageously.

“Kurama!” Hiei shouted, seeing Kurama’s ‘help me!’ look. Locking his Jagan on Kurama’s mind, he asked him telepathically, “Have you spoken to them in English?”

“No—they don’t let me get a word in edgewise.”

“Work with me.”

Hiei sidled up menacingly towards the gaggle of adolescents and spoke in his harshest tone a language of Makai that both knew. “Kurama! Death, kill and burn traitorous enemies!”

Kurama got a wicked gleam in his eye as Youko awakened, drawn by the sound of his favorite, malicious language. He knew well and good that Hiei’s choice of wording consisted of the most barbaric sounding expressions in the Makai language. With a wicked grin, Kurama replied in a low tone, “Hiei! Blood and burn flesh from bone, searing skin pleasure sounds upon my ears!”

By now, the girls and young women that had been hanging on and around him were thoroughly shocked and beginning to become scared. The two demons were just about to continue when there was a WHOOSHING noise from the fireplace behind them, and Yusuke, then Kuwabara stumbled out.

“DAMN!” Yusuke said, dusting himself off. “What a ride!”

Kuwabara was glancing around in partial awe at the old-English style pub that they’d been transported to. “Hey! There’s Kurama and Hiei!”

If the words of Makai hadn’t been enough to scare away the girls (who were, despite their state of nervousness, beginning to size up Hiei), then the great ape charging towards them certainly was. They took off in as graceful of a retreat as they could manage, giggling uneasily all of the way.

Moments later, Kagome and then Yukina emerged. The koorime was coughing delicately, and glancing sadly at all of the dust that had accumulated on her best kimono. There was a roar of the green flames and Arthur and Molly stepped out, knocking Yukina, who was in the passageway, aside. Hiei was instantly on the defense, snatching up Yukina before she even lost her balance, making her look up and blush at him. “Thank you, Hiei.”

Kuwabara saw this and was as mad as a wet hornet. He approached Hiei at a quaking stomp, and grabbed him by his collar. “Hey, Shrimp, take your hands off My Yukina!”

Hiei easily peeled Kuwabara’s hand from his shirt and glared at him without remorse. He said nothing to the ticked off man and simply walked back to Kurama.

The Weasley adults had watched this go on and were to the point of wiping sweat from their brows at the brawl that had just been avoided. When they promised to take on all of these teens, they hadn’t known that they would be so volatile. Molly glanced at her husband, and nodded. “Well, why don’t we get to Diagon Alley, then?”

From the corner of his mouth, Arthur asked his wife, “Maybe a calming potion for the lot?”

“I’m getting to that point,” Molly said, her eyes saying that she was not joking.

The pair led the six out back, Arthur pulling out his wand. “Watch carefully, everyone.” They watched in confusion as he tapped his wand in a pattern on the brick wall.

“What is that supposed to do?” Hiei asked disdainfully.

His question was answered by a rumbling noise, as brick and cement rearranged to form an arched entryway into a narrow, but crowded alley.

“Well shit.” Yusuke said under his breath.

“Wow…” Kagome breathed, stepping away from her position at Yukina’s side, in-between she and Kurama.

“Welcome to Diagon Alley, everyone! Now, our first stop is Gringotts, because we’ve got to get you your money.”

“But, we brought our own—“ Kagome began to say.

“No, no, you can exchange that for some extra money, if you’d like, but the school’s funds will cover you for the supplies and a small allowance for the trips to Hogsmeade.”

“Oh.” Kagome said, putting her purse away.

“So, where is this place then? This “Greggingoatee” place?” Yusuke asked with his usual surliness.

“That’s “Gringotts”, Yusuke,” Mr. Weasley corrected him. “And it’s right up ahead. That big white building that’s leaning to the side? Do you see it?”

“Yeah, I can see—Damn!” Yusuke concluded, upon seeing the size of the huge bank.

Hiei’s eyes shifted to Kurama, who was standing calmly to one side, looking up at the building.

“Don’t get any ideas, Fox.” He warned him under his breath. “Can you read Latin?”

“Youko can—some at least.”

“Then read the warning above the door.”

Kurama’s eyes skimmed the plaque, but instead of looking placated, his eyes took on a golden gleam. “Youko loves a challenge…” he said dreamily.

“Then get Youko under control, because I get the feeling that if you broke in, it would be very difficult getting out. You have to be in one piece for the start of the term.”

“Demons heal quickly,” Kurama told him right back.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Come on, let’s go.”

The two followed the rest of the others inside, and stared wonderingly at the place around them. They were sized up by two little, ugly beings that Mr. Weasley explained as Goblins. They marched up to an empty desk, where a goblin sat on an elevated stool, skimming an unearthly large book with a pointed, yellow nail. His beady eyes glanced up at them. “What can I do for you?”

His words were courteous, but Yukina and Kagome had to shudder at the slightly dead and warning tone in his voice.

“We are the Weasleys, and these are the six foreign students to be introduced to Hogwarts this year.”

“Ah…yes. Mr. Dumbledore has secured an amount for them each, has he not?”

“Yes, and we are here to pick it up.” Arthur said uneasily. He too, then, must have been a bit wary of the beast-like creature.

“Do you have the key?” the goblin asked, holding out a surprisingly smooth and well-tended hand, despite the ugliness of the nails protruding from it.

“Yes, yes, right here!” Arthur dug anxiously into his coat pocket and produced the key, giving it delicately to the short-statured creature.

“Hmm…follow me.”

The eight did so, and got into two separate carts that were a lot like the ones miners used to use. As soon as they were all sat down, the carts took off at break-neck speeds, tearing and ripping up and down and around hairpin turns. Finally, they came to a screeching halt in front of a huge steel door. Yukina’s hair was sticking out at odds and ends, and was almost as green as her hair. Kagome was holding her stomach and gasping, trying not to heave up her breakfast.

Kurama leaned over, concealing something into his hand as he reached behind his head. When he opened his hand, a sprig of something dark green was in his palm. Kagome looked at him with confusion, but Yukina smiled gratefully and took half of the sprig, popping it into her mouth, chewing then swallowing thankfully. “It will calm your stomach,” Kurama explained.

Kagome picked it up carefully, sniffing to see if there was any scent—a little bit of a mint…She considered on the effects of it, as Yukina was a demon, and she was a human and a miko…but another lurch in her belly made the decision for her. Kagome stuffed it into her mouth, not even bothering to chew it for more than two seconds, and immediately felt a calming sensation. She sighed with content, and sat back as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the goblin from before came back to the carts, carrying a large sack of gold and six smaller sacks.

Arthur distributed them each with a number of large gold disks, and even more of smaller silver and bronze coins.

“This is your money?” Yusuke asked incredulously.

“Yep!” Arthur said proudly. “Now sit tight for the trip back.”

Kagome moaned and Yukina looked sadly at the cold steel cart she was sitting in. Kurama readied more of the plant that was the relation of mint to hand the girls, should they start to look ill.

The ride back up was just as thrilling as the one down, and now Mrs. Weasley and even Yusuke was looking a bit pale.

Kurama sighed and manipulated his energies to split the spring into a small branch. Quickly, the ride was over and they all practically fell out of the carts.

“Damn, they should install some seatbelts or something…” Kuwabara muttered, holding his head.

Kurama silently distributed the leaves to everyone, except Hiei, who told him to buzz off. They emerged back outside, feeling much better, although the Weasleys were looking at Kurama strangely; probably wondering how and where Kurama had come up with the remedy.

Shrugging it off to ponder later, the adults led the others into an Apothecary shop, instructing them to find the items on the list that they gave them, then pay for them. Kurama almost had to be forcibly removed from the shop, as he was very intrigued by all of the different ingredients to make, as they called them here, “potions”.

Next they were taken to Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, where each was measured by a self-operating tape measurer, and then given four plain black robes, the girls given a fur muff, gloves, a half-length or a full length cloak, and each picked out a dress or a nice suit, and a robe for special occasions.

Yukina picked out a stunning dark, deep sea green dress that was startlingly reminiscent of the kimono, decorated with silver sparkles and actual moving designs of dolphins and water, along with a white silky cape. Kagome decided on a dark sapphire dress (also very kimono-like in its build) that faded to black from the top to the bottom, with light blue splashes of color on the hems, with a sheer black cape.

Hiei chose, as was foreseeable, all black, with no cape. He had his own back at the Burrow. Kurama picked out a pair of dark green, loose fitting pants, with a white top that buttoned up, and a half-length black cape. Yusuke picked out gray pants with a tanned long-sleeved top with yellow trim and no cape, and Kuwabara got a very nice all-blue getup that Yukina told him he would look very handsome in. This, of course, sent Kuwabara past Cloud 9 and up to Cloud 16.

Flourish and Blots was next, where they picked up rolls of parchment, quills, and ink wells, along with quill sharpeners and ink refills. “Okay, let’s go and get you your trunks and then we’ll head to the last stops, then.”

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley led them as they exited. Yukina and Kagome walked out in a pair, laughing and talking, and Yusuke and Kuwabara were arguing. Kurama and Hiei were last, walking a companionable distance apart.

They stopped briefly to purchase trunks to carry their things in. Then they were in front of an ancient old shop called “Ollivander’s Wand Shop”.

“Well, this oughta be interesting,” Yusuke said, turning his head to look up at the sign.

The doorbell clanged as they filed into the cramped area, as the floor-space, most of the chairs, and every available wall-space was covered in long, thin, rectangular boxes. “Ah…” a sharp, but aged voice called from a back room, before an elderly man walked out, white hair all crazed and wild. “Yes, yes, good, I was expecting you. Who’s first?”

Yukina looked back and forth between the other members of the group, and slowly raised her hand. “I…Me—Ano—”

Ollivander nodded at her confusion of how to put what she wanted to say into English. “Right over here, dear.” He said a foreign word, and immediately a tape measurer shot out from his wand tip, going to work on taking her measurements on her left hand and arm. When about two minutes had gone by and all of the lengths had been taken, Ollivander clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth in thought, then went about jostling through all kinds of boxes before pulling out one. “Here; this one is five inches, phoenix feather core, maple wood.”

Yukina took the wand by the hilt and held it uncertainly for a bit until Ollivander realized she didn’t know what to do with it. “Just wave it around and see what happens.”

The koorime nodded and flicked her wrist, sending a shot of lime green out of the tip, setting several papers on the floor on fire. Yukina squeaked, surprised, but Ollivander was unmoved. “Right then…no more phoenix feathers for you. Ah…here…this one. It’s ash, springy, 7 2/3 inches, and unicorn hair core. Give it a wave.”

Yukina squinted on eye shut in preparation and flicked the end. A strum of Japanese instruments whispered around the room. “Well, that’s the one for you then!” Ollivander said happily. “Step towards the counter now, dear. Who’s next?”

Yusuke took a confident step forward, standing firmly all throughout his measurements. Ollivander immediately set off, retrieving a ten-inch, evergreen, unicorn hair. That wand set the shop owner’s hair on fire; the next one with a unicorn hair in it exploded as soon as Yusuke touched it. “Right…so, you’re obviously not made for a unicorn hair core…you seem more like a phoenix feather anyway…” The third wand was an aspen, 10 ½ inch long, with a phoenix feather core.

This time there was a huge drop then rise in temperature when Yusuke waved it, and the lights flickered on and off. “Ah, another perfect match. How about you, young man?” He gestured to Kuwabara. While he was taking measurements, Ollivander walked around him carefully, muttering. “Strong…proud…yes, but I wonder…” Before the tape was even done taking measurements, Ollivander was off, returning with a burnished bronze colored box. “This one, here is a unicorn hair core…I think it’s suited to you. 7 ¾ inches, light and stiff, Royal Maple wood.”

Kuwabara snatched it up eagerly, and the wand glowed on contact of his hand. Ollivander clapped gleefully. “Excellent! A fit on the first try—it doesn’t happen very often! Now you, little sir…why not you next?”

Hiei glared death at the man for calling him a “little sir” but stepped up quickly. When lengths were taken, Ollivander stopped to pause and consider, taking in Hiei’s stance, posture, and expression. “I think I know what might be good for you.” He returned moments later from a shelf with a box in hand. “Why not try another phoenix feather in this group? This one is sycamore, 7 ¼ inches long. Wave it around a bit.”

The entire group had to duck and the females each screeched when a shot of red light bulleted out of the tip of the wand, ricocheting off of walls, chairs, and exploded about half of a shelf of wands. Ollivander peered over his desk, where he had taken refuge, then crept out, snatching the wand from Hiei’s hands. “Okay, no phoenix feathers for you…”

Five more wands were tried on before Ollivander got an enlightened look on his face and scrambled into the back room, emerging with a black box in hand. “This ought to be the one! Ebony, extremely stiff and weighty, dragon heartstring core, 11 ½ inches long. Wave it about.”

Hiei, who had been looking more and more skeptical by the moment, grasped the handle and glared at the piece of wood menacingly as he waved it. Again, everyone ducked as another bullet, this one black, zoomed around the room, then took the form of a—black dragon? The lighted beast roared and swept around the room, jaw open and consuming. Ollivander was ready to snatch the wand from Hiei when Kurama snagged onto his shirt. “No, that one is best suited to him.”

“I think I know more about—“ Ollivander began, offended, when he stopped upon seeing the look on Hiei’s face as the beast continued around the room. A sort of twisted glee and slight menace that apparently, meant the runt was happy—strange folk, these Japanese. “Very well, you’re next, young man,” Ollivander told Kurama, ordering the tape to go after Kurama’s arm as Hiei’s dragon finally dissolved.

The first wand given to Kurama was from a lime tree, and was very short and strange looking; he exploded that wand into nothing but ashes. The next one was from another fruit tree, an orange, and was long and slender, with a unicorn hair core. This one caught on fire instead of exploding and Ollivander snatched it away from him pronto. Sighing and rubbing his head, the manager looked at Kurama closer for a few moments before shaking himself out of his sort of trance and going after another box in the back room.

He returned with a soft beige box and extended it to Kurama, who took it as Ollivander explained that it was rose wood, eleven and six-eighths inches long, with a dragon heartstring core. A green-gold glow swallowed his hand and the smell of roses and herbs filled the room, as Kurama’s eyes took on a slightly golden tinge and elongated. The effects quickly disappeared, however.

Ollivander seemed happy enough, then pulled out Kagome, who was the last one and sent his tape out after her measurements. When that was done, Ollivander paused, considering. “Well, missy…Let’s see here…I think it’d be best to start you out on a unicorn horn core.”

Kagome silently agreed, as she was a miko, and accepted the wand he handed her with anticipation. She griped the tan wand firmly and waved it with a gentle swish. The wand EXPLODED with a supernatural-thundering BOOM that echoed for some ten seconds afterwards. Kagome was thrust back onto her bottom at the force and stared in awe as orange and red clouds faded. Seconds after she came out of her initial shock, her right hand began to sting and bleed.

Glancing down, she saw harsh burn marks raking across her palm where she’d held the wand’s handle. Yukina’s eyes widened as she saw the damage and hurriedly grabbed onto Kagome’s hand, closing both of hers over her friend’s. An icy blue glow surrounded them and when she pulled away her hands, Kagome’s palm was healed. This whole incident had gone unobserved by the Weasleys, but was caught by Hiei, who silently approved of his sister’s actions.

Ollivander stood back, amazed and confused, but he was not nearly as confused as Kagome and the Tantei, who had been positive that a unicorn hair would accept being held by a miko. Why was she rejected?

“Well…after that, I don’t think it would be wise choice to have anymore of those hairs as your core…hmm…I was sure that one would work for you…”

Mrs. Weasley seemed to still be catching her breath. “Please, Ollivander, could you hurry? I don’t mean to rush you, it’s just that we left Ginny back with Fred and George and Ron, and I don’t know what kind of…mischief…they’ll be getting into by now.”

“Ah, of course, Molly. I think this won’t take much longer. Now my girl, just hold tight; I think I might have just the one for you.” Ollivander dug under some boxes that had been scattered by Hiei’s dragon and finally pulled out a cream colored box. “Ah, here we are. Silver birch, slightly bendy, 10 ½ inches, phoenix feather core. Give it a wave.”

Kagome nearly cringed to try another one after the last wand had exploded, but did as he said and grabbed hold of the smooth, whitish and butter-cream colored handle. Her hand flicked the tip in an oval, and immediately a shower of blue sparks fell from the ceiling in glittery flakes. Ollivander sighed happily. “Another customer well-served. I’ll take pay for these wands now, all of you.”

The would-be students crowded at the counter, passing over their payment, then were ushered out of the door by the Weasleys.

“Come on, then! We’ve got to get you over to the house so you can start on your first day of studying, and then Molly and me have to get back home so we can right whatever it is that Fred and George have managed to explode.” Arthur told them, exiting Diagon Alley.

Once they were back inside the Leaky Cauldron, they used the Floo powder again, this time with instructions to move out of the way as soon as you landed, to avoid another collision.

“What are we supposed to say to make it go?” Yusuke asked, being the first volunteer this time around.

“Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.”

~~

They were greeted as they arrived at the new building by dark walls and dusty corners. Only a lone person stood by the table, ticking his fingers in agitation against the worn wood. The students looked about them in obvious curiosity, staring openly at the dank house.

Kurama discretely covered his nose at the old, slightly mildewed scent that was slowly pushing its way into his senses. He exchanged a look with Hiei that told him the hybrid wasn’t much more pleased.

Who is that, I wonder? Kurama asked Hiei telepathically.

I don’t know and I don’t care. Was his short response.

Kurama mentally rolled his eyes at his friend’s brashness.

“You’re late,” the strange, pale man at the table said, just as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were stepping out of the fireplace last.

Arthur seemed taken aback at this man’s appearance and stuttered out, “We got…held up in the Alley.”

“Hmm…Fine. Lupin is late, so we will begin with Potions classes now. Hurry up! I’m already wasting my summer time for you so don’t make me tolerate your presence any longer than I must.”

“Damn, he’s like a Hiei clone!” Yusuke said under his breath in Japanese.

Snape turned on him and replied stonily in the same language, his accent perfect, “Mr. Urameshi, you will refrain from speaking in your native tongue in my presence—you are in England now, and are expected to speak English.”

Yusuke sneered at him and was only stopped from retorting smartly by a rap on the head, courtesy of Kagome, much to everyone’s surprise. Only Hiei caught the soft muttering of, “Where on Earth is that command necklace when you need it?”

Hiei relayed this to Kurama mentally, whom shrugged, replying that he knew nothing about it. “Hn…” Hiei said softly, tucking that bit of information away for later contemplation.

They were led to a staircase, with strict instructions to remain silent until they’d reached the room they’d be practicing in. The Weasleys left, informing them that they’d be able to leave at 5:30—seven hours from then.

They were led past a large painting that was covered in a black velvet curtain, and a chalked white circle encompassing an area around it.

“What the hell is that?” Yusuke asked, walking over to the painting.

“Don’t even think—“

Too late—Yusuke had raised his fist to knock on the curtain.

“Don’t worry; he never does.” Hiei assured the teacher.

The curtains flew open and an old, gaunt woman with barbaric eyes glared out at them, and began screaming obscenities at the top of her painted lungs. “YOU DAMNED FILTHY WORTHLESS PEOPLE—WANDERING AROUND IN MY HOUSE! FILTHY MUDBLOODS THE LOT OF YOU—GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY PURE HOUSE RIGHT THIS INSTANT BEFORE I MAKE YOU! STRANGE BLOODY FOREIGNERS ARE WANDERING AROUND IN THE FAMOUS BLACK HOUSE—OH THE SHAME! I HAVE NOT SEEN SUCH FILTH SINCE I WAS YOUNG—DIRTY! DIRTY THE LOT OF YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY—”

Snape charged up to the curtains and hauled them shut, the woman going quiet immediately. “Do NOT under ANY circumstances EVER disturb this painting or so help me you’ll find yourself at St. Mungo’s before you can utter a damned word.”

“What kind of painting is it supposed to be?” Yukina asked curiously.

“Yeah—I never seen a painting that moved and talked!” Kuwabara said, scratching his head.

“Welcome to the Wizarding World,” Snape said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. “Now, if there are no more questions…?”

“I’ll bet he’s the life of the party,” Yusuke muttered, making Kagome giggle softly.

Snape lifted the edge of his lip in a silent snarl and led them into a room in the attic where three long tables were set up. “As much as I disagree with handicaps, I was instructed to give you all potions to enhance your memories and expand your mind to make you capable of memorizing for the rest of the summer. Without it, I doubt you would be able to memorize half of the things you are learning today. Line up and drink what I give you immediately.”

The six students queued up, each accepting the tiny vial of bright yellow liquid they were given, and all downed them at once. Out of them all, Kuwabara probably made the most disgusted face, while Yusuke easily picked up the award for most…creative verbal description of taste. Namely, “Holy shit! This stuff tastes like ass!”

Snape seemed to enjoy their ire, and said with a hint of a smile in his voice, “Now, set out your cauldrons, two to a table, and get out your gloves and knives.”

Yukina and Kagome, predictably, set up their stations beside one another, with Kurama and Hiei, then Yusuke and Kuwabara each at the other two tables.

“I will not tolerate talking unless you are spoken to by myself firstly. You will refer to me as Professor Snape, or Sir and not by simply “Snape”. As you know less than even the below average first year witch or wizard, I will grant you some slack and permit all questions relating to Potions making.

“I would normally spend several weeks on lecture on the art of Potion making, the history of the potion, its ingredients, and the steps. However, since we are so limited on time, you will not have to do these things. You will have several long essay assignments, and I will expect them in half of the normal due-dates. Your first task will be to make one of the simplest potions in the Wizarding World—the Pepper-Up Potion. This potion is helpful in making the ill feel more energized, the sports player’s mind more functional, or to help you stay awake.” Snape looked as though he had never spoken so many words at one time in his life.

He tapped his wand on the blackboard and a list of ingredients and directions appeared. “I will not walk you through these steps but if you have a question that is actually worth my time to answer, I will do so. There will be no talking. Ingredients are at the back of the room.”

Kagome read through the directions and ingredients twice before leaving to go to the back of the room to gather the peppermint root, oil of mint, branch of lilac and five thorns of a briar branch. Once she returned to her table, she noticed that Yukina was having some issues splicing the thorns in half, as they were hard and her knife wasn’t cutting through. “Here, Yukina. Hold the knife like this,” she corrected her hold on the handle. “Now try it.”

“I believe I told you that talking was not permitted, Miss…”

“Higurashi, Kagome Sir.”

“Miss Higurashi. The next time I catch you talking without my permission, you will have a detention that will be paid once Term begins.”

“Yes, sir.” Kagome said, bowing her head, giving Yukina an apologizing glance.

“Get back to work.”

The six pupils ground their lilac blossoms and minced the peppermint roots and crushed the mint leaves. Once their potions were all complete, Snape instructed them to spoon their potions into a jar and close the lid, and set them on his desk. “Mr. Urameshi, I believe the instructions said that your potion should turn out to be a “rosy pink”. Would you care to explain to me why yours is orange?”

“No, not really.”

“Why do you not test your potion then, to see what the effect is. Perhaps it will serve as a lesson to these others what can happen when you fail to follow the instructions.”

“Sure.” Yusuke snagged his jar off of the counter, opened the lid, and spooned a teaspoon full of the thin orange potion onto the utensil. He downed the liquid in a gulp, licking his lips. “Hmm…tastes kinda nutty…with a hint of…” He trailed off as his face turned red, then magenta, little red spots showing up all over his skin. “Damn…this shit’s itchy…”

“It seems you have recreated the cross between the potion for adrenaline and the one for the cure of chicken pox. Congratulations on your first T, Mr. Urameshi.”

“T? What’s that stand for?”

“Troll.”

“Uh…okay…So how long until this potion wears off?”

“Most likely another hour or so.”

“Damn.”

~~

Five potions and three and a half hours later, they were dismissed for a break and a meal, all sporting some sort of side effect from drinking a faulty potion—Snape’s way of punishing them for not following directions. Yukina had nearly cut her finger off by being unable to properly grip a handle, Kagome had thrown up from having to slice open a dead frog and remove its heart and liver, and Kuwabara had been put into a brief coma from an overdose of calming potion.

Yusuke had finally gotten over his short case of itchiness and pink coloring, and Hiei, surprisingly enough, had even managed to botch up a Hilarity potion and was now barely able to contain his excitement—at everything.

As strange luck would have it, Kurama was the only one who came out of the lesson unharmed and all in one piece—a fact that Snape seemed most unhappy with. The look in his eyes said that he would try his hardest to assure that Kurama screwed up at least once the next lesson.

As they were consuming a brief, late lunch (Kagome ate nothing, as she wasn’t exactly feeling quite up to par), a tall, vaguely handsome man came into the dusty kitchen. “Well, hello,” He greeted them. “I take it you all are the students I’ll be teaching, then?”

“Yes,” Yukina said.

“How about your names, then? Not that I’ll remember them by any means, but at least I’ll have given it the old school try, right?”

The students, not particularly accustomed to such a cheerful person except for Botan and in Kagome’s case Shippou, were a little awkward and didn’t exactly know how to act. Kagome swallowed and stood, bowing formally. I’d better make a good impression on as many of these people as I can, she told herself. “I am Kagome Higurashi, sir.”

Yukina took her cue and followed suit. “My name is Yukina.”

“Yukina…?”

The ice maiden simply looked at him in confusion until Kurama leaned in and whispered, “I believe he wants to know what your family name is.”

“But I don’t…”

“Then give him the word for Ice Maiden—he won’t know any better.”

Yukina nodded and blushed politely, facing the new teacher. “Yukina Koorime, sir.”

“It’s a pleasure, Miss Koorime. Now, for these gentlemen…”

Kurama stood next, “Kurama Minamino.”

“Kuh-rah-muh-Meen-ah-mee-noh…Hell, it rhymes Domino, so I will probably end up calling you that.”

Kurama smiled slightly, humoring the teacher. “Whatever comes easiest, Sir.”

“No, no, I’ll get it right eventually…Now, you two young men, what are your names?”

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at each other—obviously something had transpired between them as they each got identical quirks in their eyebrows. Yusuke stepped forward. “The Mighty Kazuma Kuwabara, at your service, sir.”

Kuwabara stepped up, glaring at his buddy for portraying him in such a silly fashion… “The Pompous Hot Air Bag, and Second Best Fighter in Tokyo, Yusuke Urameshi!”

“Kazuma” broke character and whaled on “Yusuke”. “I do not sound like that you freak of nature! And that would be “THE Best Fighter in Tokyo”, idiot! Get it straight!”

The teacher put his head in his hands for a moment and said, “Ah…another set of pranksters…splendid. Therefore Mr. Urameshi would be the…shorter? Of you two?”

The two devilish grins were good enough of an answer. Finally, he turned to the shortest of them all—but also perhaps the least approachable. “And what would your name be?”

“Hiei.”

“Hiei…?”

Without missing a beat, as he had been prepared since Yukina’s trip-up, he replied, “Jaganshi.”

“Ah, very good then, Mr. Juh-gahn-shee... It’s a pleasure to meet you all; my name is Professor Lupin. Feel free to refer to me as simply Lupin outside of the classroom and school.”

Murmured responses went up, and the girls and Kurama bowed politely.

“I’ll be the one teaching you some background in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

Yusuke snorted at that, making Lupin’s attention switch solely to him. “What appears to be so funny, Mr. Urameshi?”

“Ah, not much. Just that we all probably know more about “Defense Against the Dark Arts” than you do.”

“Oh, really? Well, we’ll see later, won’t we? Now, if you’re all finished, why don’t you come with me and we’ll begin.”

~~

A/N: I have a list of potions mentioned in the book series that I found on Mugglenet, but few of the potions outline the ingredients. I also have a list of ingredients (also from Mugglenet), but rarely does it say which potions the ingredient is used in. Therefore, I will be pulling things out of my butt like there’s no tomorrow in order to come up with steps to create potions, etc, etc. Thanks for your patience!