Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Higher Learning ❯ Demon Attacks; Research Mode ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Author's Notes: About house elfs, do wizards make the plural 'elves' in the books, or elfs? I know what the standard english plural is, but I keep thinking the wizards used ‘elfs’ instead…
Harry Potter corrections (names, spells, canon things) are encouraged. I don’t have copies of the books on me, and it’s been a while since I read them, so I’m working in large part from memory.
Class Schedule - I'm not following the canon schedule (if there is one). Classes have been shifted to allow for more double-house classes, the reasons for which will come out in a while.
Hagrid - I can't do his mangling of the English language, so I apologize upfront.
Note that the focus in this fic will shift back and forth between students and teachers, but the large majority is going to be the adults. I know I’m focusing on the students a lot right now, but only as much as I need to in order to set the stage. After all, teachers are nothing but scholars if they have no one to teach. Kurama and Hiei aren’t just protecting wizards, they’re protecting Professors. :)
Category: Harry Potter-YYH crossover
Warnings: spot of violence and a smidgen of gore
Author: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina

Higher Learning

Part 6: Demon Attacks; Research Mode

Wednesday found rivaling houses in two antagonistic groups at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. The Slytherin students were standing back from Hagrid's latest pet, while Harry and company were the leaders of the Gryffindors, the rest of which weren't about to go closer than necessary.

As much as Harry liked Hagrid, he couldn't blame his housemates for being wary. Hagrid didn't have a very good track record, and his new monster was staring up at them with a face too humanoid for comfort. Ron gulped beside him, and Harry did his best not to grimace.

It was three feet long and looked like a big gray lizard with a bald human head, a skeletal mouth of fangs, and pincers for hands. According to Hagrid, it was a Geezard, a very playful magical creature that liked to jump out and scare people who passed by its habitat.

Harry could well imagine how it scared people. He swore the thing was grinning at them, its long pincers clipping together like some softskinned crab. That long snake tail hadn't stopped flicking since it crawled out to greet Hagrid. And Hagrid could claim it was 'just a lil 'un' if he wanted, but the thing was big enough to swallow any one of them if it decided to.

"So," Ron started, "you think we could sic that thing on Malfoy? It would get food poisoning and then we wouldn't have to deal with either of them."

Harry smirked and sent a look over to where Draco was half hiding behind Goyle with a pasty white, visibly queasy face. Most of the time they had to share their Care of Magical Creatures class with the Slytherin house, their rivals would stand back and look disdainful at Hagrid's enthusiasm. But the moment their professor brought out one of his more interesting beasties, that disdain turned to pure disgust and outright fear. It was almost worth it.

Hagrid was explaining how to react if a geezard scurried out of the underbrush, much of his warnings consisting of don't smile, don't speak, don't touch. Since none of them cared to do any of those things, Harry glanced back to where Hermione was gossiping with Lavender and Parvati. When Hermione didn't pay attention to a professor, she always had a very good reason.

"Now you c'n put em to sleep with magic," Hagrid was saying, his eyes glowing fondly at the evilly grinning geezard. "But feed'n em makes em come back to ya. Right good guards they be with a lil fish now an' then."

He turned to the class and beamed at Harry and Ron, the only ones within a few feet of his pet. "So get yer fish an' jus toss em over. Aim for 'is head, he'll catch em. One at a time, now. Don't want 'im to get too riled."

Hermione left off her talk so she could join Harry and Ron. Her face twisted a bit at the slimy fish in her pail, but she managed to get a good grip on one of them, holding it by the tail between pinched fingers. She quickly tossed it at the geezard.

The creature shimmied strangely, its torso lifting off the ground so it could catch the fish in its mouth. The sounds of it gobbling the meal down were enough to make a few of the Gryffindor girls groan and turn away from both their pails and the geezard.

Now that she'd taken her turn, Hermione moved behind Harry and Ron, her voice quiet. The boys listened without glancing back, their attention on the fish they were waiting to throw and the ugly creature.

"It isn't just this class," said Hermione. "The fourth year Ravenclaws had Magical Creatures with the Slytherins yesterday and the strangers weren't there for it. So far the only classes they've been in are Potions and Defense, all grades. That rules out any pretense of them being students. Warner told Lavender the black-haired one only joins the Slytherins for breakfast. He doesn't follow to the rest of their classes."

"Warner? Who's Warner?" Ron was wiping his hands on his robe after having thrown one of his fish. Now he sent a suspicious look at Hermione.

"He's a Slytherin," she admitted, "but he's a fifth year and he really isn't that bad. I think Lavender has a crush on him, she's been talking about him since yesterday."

Ron's face turned a strange color, pale behind his freckles but pink around his temples. "A fifth year and a Slytherin?!"

"Yes, well, I can't say much for her taste, but the fact remains that he tells her all sorts of things about his House. If you thought we were confused, you should hear what the Slytherins are saying. Malfoy claims Dumbledore is trying to fool the Ministry by training new teachers who haven't even left an official magic school."

She sniffed a bit, her expression disgruntled. "I know Dumbledore wouldn't do anything so underhanded, but...Malfoy does have a point."

Harry's face screamed his disbelief, and he was startled so much he dropped his fish as he turned to look at Hermione. He'd been about to ask, the way Ron would have if he hadn't just swallowed his tongue, when the bloody hell Hermione had started agreeing with anything Malfoy said. A rough slithering sound and huffing breaths interrupted him.

"Careful there!" Hagrid bellowed, reaching out to sweep Harry away from the fish he'd dropped.

The geezard ignored the students who scrambled back, its attention on the fish that flopped on the grass in front of it. Hagrid heaved a sigh of relief and sent a worried look down at Harry.

"You all right there?" asked Hagrid. "You don' wanna be droppin' the fish, now. He knows its for 'im, so he'll be goin' after em if you don' throw em far 'nough."

"Right," Harry blurted, wincing at the laughs coming from the Slytherin group. "Sorry about that, it slipped."

"A lil slip'ry they are," Hagrid agreed, his attention turning as he waved for another student to toss one. "Jus' get a grip on the tail an' fling em over. Don' be scared, they're jus' fish."

The girl he was talking to moaned a little, her hand shaking with disgust. She flung the slimy fish so far the geezard scurried back to where it had started, near the edge of the forest. Hagrid moved on to the next one, waving hesitant and wary youths to come closer and not having much success.

Harry sighed and turned an accusing look on Hermione, who frowned back at him. He opened his mouth to say what he'd meant to earlier, only to be interrupted again. Ron had cleared his throat after that choking incident.

"When the bloody hell," Ron blurted, "did you start agreeing with Malfoy?"

Hermione scowled, folding her arms over her chest defensively. "I'm not agreeing with him, I'm just saying he may have a point. We haven't seen them outside of Potions and Defense, and if they're sitting through all the classes, they could be student teachers."

She hurried to explain that to Ron, Harry understanding what she meant from his time in muggle schools. "Student teachers sit in on the classes they plan to teach. Usually they'd help the professor, but considering Snape is teaching, they wouldn't be able to do much."

"That still doesn't explain them not showing on the map," said Harry.

"No," Hermione agreed, "and it doesn't explain Kurama. So far no one else has realized he isn't an animagus. We need to keep that to ourselves. If Dumbledore wanted everyone to know, I'm sure he would have told us at the banquet."

"Keep what to ourselves?" asked Ron. "We don't know anything except that you say he's not an animagus, and he's named after some albino monster. It's not like anyone would believe that, anyway."

"We know there's another one of them," Harry argued. "That Shoo-itchy person we saw on the map."

"Shuuichi," said Hermione.

"That's what I said."

Hermione sighed and gave up, her attention shifting back to Lavender. When it came to gossip, that girl was her best bet. "So far people are latching onto the student teacher idea, though the Slytherins are the only ones saying Dumbledore is doing it against the Ministry's orders. Kurama has spoken to a few of the Ravenclaw students, fifth years, but no one seems to know the name of the other one. I think they're afraid to speak to him."

"Good reason," Ron sniffed. "He's creepy as hell, lurking in the halls like that. The only person he's said a word to is Malfoy And he sits with the Slytherins! Who'd want to talk to him? And I just know he was smirking right with Snape when we had to write that essay. What is a pop-quiz, anyway?"

Hermione couldn't help the small smile that pulled her lips.

They'd had their second defense class yesterday, and while the first half had concerned the rare Hexadragon, the second half had been an in-class essay about the wyvern they'd been assigned to study. She'd been a little disappointed that they only had a half hour to write it, since she could have happily gone into much more detail in her essay. But having the written work in class like that had been different and almost a fun challenge at quality over quantity. Fun for her, but not for her friends. Half the Gryffindors and all of the Hufflepuffs had gone white when Snape ordered the class to start writing.

Kurama had been the one to make the comment about pop quizzes as they'd filed out, stacking their essays on Snape's desk. The redhead had said that things could have been worse, since they had been warned of the test. His statement had drawn a few blushes from the girls and a dark scowl from Ron.

Hermione had known exactly what he meant, and she'd been curious about it - either Kurama had lived with muggles, or he'd studied them enough to know about muggle schools. Either way, it made her want to hang around and talk to him some more.

"A pop quiz," said Hermione, "is a quiz you don't get warned about. But that wasn't what we had since Snape warned us we'd be tested on our reading in the next class. I know you read the chapters on wyverns, so there's no reason to complain."

"There's plenty reason!" said Ron, his eyes wide. "I thought it would be a test, like questions and answers. I wasn't expecting to write an essay on the spot like that. And we only had thirty minutes to write it! I panicked, I swear I couldn't remember a thing I'd read after that fox stuff the night before. That's your fault, you know."

"I told you not to follow me, so don't you dare try to blame-"

"Look at the geezard," Harry interrupted, glad to have a good distraction from the impending bicker session. "It's acting all funny."

Hermione and Ron turned to see what he meant, just as Hagrid noticed the same thing. The geezard had frozen in midreach, its torso off the ground. The fish landed in a mushy plop right beside it, but the creature gave no reaction. Its smile was gone, those small beady eyes darting back and forth.

"Hey, now," Hagrid murmured, confusion and concern twisting his face. "What's the matter?"

A loud crashing sounded in the forest behind the frozen creature. Hagrid straightened, going from surprise to disbelief to fear in a matter of seconds. "That's a-"

Something large lunged out of the forest and onto the geezard, which quickly disappeared in a torn spread of blood and scales. The horrified students panicked a moment later, the chaos drowning out Hagrid's shocked and angry bellow.

- - -

Hiei noticed it first, from his comfortable perch on the window sill. He sent one look across the Defense classroom to Kurama. Then he twisted and disappeared out the window.

A few of the fourth years looked up in surprise from the chapter they'd been told to read. They had a clear view of Kurama as he stood and crossed to the window, Lupin and Snape watching warily.

The energy Kurama sensed wasn't enough to be a true threat, but they weren't taking any chances. He shifted, his hair and clothing bleeding to white so quickly none of the students actually saw the change. There were gasps and a few frantic shuffles behind him when they spotted his youko form. Kurama ignored it.

He flattened his palms over the open window, tiny green vines creeping in a solid flow till the entire room glowed with a faint red light. The exits - and potential entrances - were blocked in a matter of seconds.

Kurama glanced over his shoulder, his pale golden eyes glittering at Snape's expression. The man was trying not to look worried, actually managing a faint scowl.

"Continue your class," Kurama said in Japanese. "Hiei should have it taken care of by the time the class is over. I'll lower the kekkai as soon as he comes back."

With a mottled scowl for the showy demon, Snape cleared his throat. He sent his darkest glare at the wide-eyed students. "Back to your reading."

The Ravenclaws were quick to respond, though most of them continued to sneak looks at the silver figure standing across the room. The Hufflepuffs sharing the class with them were a little slower. This was mostly because one of the smaller girls appeared to have fainted. Her friends propped her up in her seat, one of them letting out a little squeak of fear when Kurama smirked back at them.

Lupin sent a sweeping look over Kurama, noting the amused flick of the demon's long silver tail. The display was unexpected, but Kurama was still enjoying the attention. Lupin coughed quietly, hiding his smile behind his hand as he scooted over in his chair.

Kurama smirked at him and perched on the arm closest to the window. This wasn't how he'd planned to show his youko form - certainly not in front of a class of Hufflepuffs, who weren't nearly as fun to rile as the Slytherins - but it was still entertaining. It was just too bad Hiei had to miss it.

- - -

The students should have run to the castle in a somewhat orderly group since they’d all been exposed to a number of scary looking magical creatures during their six years at Hogwarts. Hagrid ordered them inside mere seconds after the thing started tearing into the geezard, so they really should have run as a group. Unfortunately the class was a water-oil mix of the bravest students at Hogwarts, and the students who were known to save themselves first at any cost.

Hagrid had rushed forward to attack the monster, though he knew it was too late to save his pet. The poor geezard wasn’t anything but bits and pieces now. The sight was enough to make him roar in anger and slam his shoulder into the abadon’s bony side. He knocked it onto its back and managed two good hits before it kicked him off, sharp talons scraping across his chest.

He shook the injury off, determined to keep the demon there long enough for the students to get to safety. A lot of them were smart, resourceful kids, but against this sort of monster, their wands wouldn’t be much good.

A Gryffindor girl screamed as she was shoved aside and nearly trampled by Goyle. Two of her classmates immediately retaliated with a hex that, due to the panic, missed its target by a good four feet and sent Draco to the ground instead. After that it was something of a free-for-all, with only a fourth of the students actually running to the castle.

Harry and his friends hadn’t gotten very far before they found themselves ducking over a prostrate Neville, who appeared to have been hit by a fist or two, rather than a spell. The boy was out cold. And they were quick to realize that Hagrid wasn’t fairing much better. His large size made him a prime target for the spells that were flying around the yard, and even a half giant could only take so much before the hexes began to affect him. He stumbled for a moment, just long enough for the monster to overbalance him.

“It’s bloody well going to eat him!” Ron yelled.

Harry, being the student with the most experience at reacting on the spot, left his back to Ron and sent every hex he could think of at the monster. The disarming spell managed to knock it away from Hagrid, but nothing else so much as made a dent. It turned large insect eyes on him and straightened until it stood at a full ten feet tall.

Harry gulped and backed closer to Ron, his mind flying for more hexes he hadn’t tried yet.

Hermione hurried to help, but she continued to keep an eye on the stray spells that were bouncing around behind them. They wouldn’t do Hagrid much good if they were jittering around or flopping on the ground from a random curse.

The monster was watching them, mere feet from where Hagrid lay curled on the grass. But it wasn’t moving anymore. It almost appeared to be swaying, spindly spider-like legs bent backwards and stretched grotesquely. Then its bony jaws opened as it took a deep breath. They could hear the air pouring into its mouth.

“What is it?” asked Harry, his eyes darting to Hermione. “Why is it just-“

“Get down!”

The three didn’t stop to question the order, or to wonder who’d given it. They ducked, just as something cold burst in the air above them. Small flecks of ice showered on their heads, mixed with melted drops of liquid that stung where they landed.

Hiei knew he’d messed up by hesitating so long, and he made up for it now. He didn’t really blame himself, considering the absolute stupidity he’d found on the yard. It had been enough to leave him staring in stark disbelief. Child wizards attacking each other while a potentially deadly demon prepared one of their own professors to be its next meal. It was mindboggling. He’d never understand humans. Never.

The Abadon had spotted him after a minute, reminding him of his task. He blasted through the poisonous ice attack as easily as he’d have dodged Kuwabara. And his leap took him right to the monster, with enough speed to send the thing flying onto its back. After that it was just a matter of indisposing it so he could find out what its purpose had been.

Ron hissed at the stinging red spots that lit up on the back of his neck, and he brushed off the bits of ice that had landed on Neville. He had an idea they’d burn when they melted. Harry and Hermione were brushing themselves off as well. Ron sent them a sharp look when he realized they weren’t keeping an eye on the monster. Then he saw why.

“It’s that guy,” said Ron. “What does he think he’s doing? Oh! Oh, that’s just wrong…!”

Harry turned in time to see one of the monster’s bony arms land a few feet from them, torn right out of its socket. He blanched and choked, his face turning pale green when the limb jerked a little before going still.

The other students must have remembered themselves because the spells died down, silence spreading over the yard. It was quiet enough that they could hear the sucking sound as Hiei finished dismembering the Abadon of those extra limbs. Then a new sound emerged as someone threw up noisily on the grass.

Hiei grimaced at the sounds the boy was making, and sent one disgusted look back at the student. If a legless Abadon made them sick, he could just imagine how they’d react to a headless one. He supposed he could have taken it into the forest first, but he wasn’t going to pamper human children.

The demon gurgled, flopping a bit as it began the process of growing limbs to replace the ones Hiei had torn off. That would take at least an hour, so Hiei wasn’t too concerned. He was crouched on the demon’s plated chest, so he had a good view of its multi-faceted eyes. Holding its gaze, he tugged off his headband and opened his jagan.

The demon was obviously under a spell, probably imperiatus, which worked well against weak youkai. The only questions Hiei had was what exactly the target had been, and whether there was any point in letting him live once the spell was broken. Any demon who would let himself be used that way was better off dead. Otherwise, he’d just go right back to his ‘master’ and wait till he was used again.

‘Though that might not be a bad thing,’ Hiei admitted to himself. ‘You can take this memory with you…’

Hagrid stirred and let out a low groan. Harry and Hermione hurried over to lever the large man into a seated position. They continued to stare at the stranger, their attention locked on a glowing green eye that appeared to be set in the boy’s forehead.

“Un,” Hagrid grunted. “When did he get here…? Guess I should be wond’rin how the buggy got in, on sec’nd thought…”

He shook his head, pushing the helpful hands off his shoulders. “I’m all right. You an’ the rest go on back to the castle now. Not much I can do for a class when my pet’s been eaten up…”

Hermione stood slowly, her eyes not shifting away from that green glow. The stranger was just sitting there, that green eye staring into the monster’s face. She didn’t know what to make of it, or why the sight of it made her stomach clench into a fearful knot. It was…unnatural. Alien.

A thought struck her mind like lightning. Hermione ducked back and caught Harry’s arm, tugging him over to where Ron was trying to wake Neville up.

“Luna,” said Hermione. “I need to talk to Luna, right now! Let’s go inside. Here, Ron, you take that side and I’ll take this one. Really, Neville, you could stand losing a little weight…”

“What do you want to see Loony for?” asked Ron, raising an eyebrow.

“I have an idea, about him.” She jerked her head back to where the stranger was. “If anyone would know, it would be Luna. Those tabloids she reads, I’m sure she’d know. Yes, she’s just the person who’d know…”

Draco had recovered from his hex and was settled in a bragging swagger, a few Slytherins following him to the castle and hanging on every word. He sneered when he saw Harry, and raised his voice so it would carry.

“I recognized it immediately, of course,” said Draco. “Our family had the skin of one of those, like a giant locust. My great grandfather killed it years ago. As far as demons go, they’re nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, right,” Ron mocked, “and that’s why you were crawling on your bum to get away from it. You’re full of it Malfoy.”

“Watch your tongue, weasel,” Draco shot back. “You wouldn’t know a demon if one sat on your head. I saw the three of you back there, trying to take it down with what? A hex? You’re bigger morons than I thought. And considering I see each of you as quite the moron, that’s saying a lot.”

“What do you know?” Harry sniffed. “You were running away with your tail between your legs.”

“I know better than to bother stunning a demon,” said Draco, a wide smile curving his lips when a few of the girls shivered around him. “Even your halfbreed giant knew better than that.”

“Oh, come now,” Hermione broke in, disdain clean on her face. “There’s no such thing as a demon, even muggles know that. It’s just a word people use for things they’re afraid of.”

“How grand,” Draco drawled, nearly purring with satisfaction. “Miss know-it-all mudblood proves she’s an idiot after all.”

Ron started, his face flaming as red as Hermione’s. “You bloody git!”

Crabbe shoved his way in front of the Slytherin group, but Draco merely stepped to the side so he could see his target. If there was one thing he loved more than getting one up on Potter, it was knowing something Granger didn’t. The bookworm memorized everything she read, but she wasn’t a pureblood, so she had a lot to learn about the real wizarding world.

“Every pureblood with any pride in history knows demons exist,” said Draco. “Of course that was a demon. Haven’t you ever seen one, Potter? The last I heard, you’d even been inside the head of one, thanks to that scar of yours. My family has owned several demons over the years. All purebloods have at one time or another. But I suppose a dingy mudblood wouldn’t know that, now would she.”

“Sod off,” Harry spat, rolling his eyes. “You can spout whatever you want to your cronies, but we know you’re just making it up as you go along.”

“What an attitude, and here I was trying to help. Tell me, Granger, since you know everything there is to know about everything. Where do you think the ingredients for the dark arts spells came from? Only the oldest pureblood families have the parts needed to cast those spells. That is why they’re called ‘dark’ arts. Because simpering fools like Dumbledore can’t use them. As long as they can’t, they don’t want anyone else to, either.”

“You are so full of it!” Ron scoffed, almost laughing at the pompous, knowing tone Draco had adopted. “You’re just trying to make excuses because your father’s a convicted Death Eater. I can’t believe you have to gal to insult Dumbledore when your pureblood father is in Azkaban. That’s rich, even for you, Malfoy.”

Hermione had remained silent through most of the argument, but now she bit her lip and clenched her teeth together to keep from speaking up. She was used to insults on her, but hearing that spiel against Dumbledore was too much. And Ron was right. It really was far-fetched, even for Draco. All of it was utter nonsense, except maybe the history of the creature itself…

She was glaring at Draco, so she saw when his face went white. For a second she wondered if he regretted having slandered Dumbledore like that. He was staring over her shoulder like he’d been overheard by the wrong person.

Hermione glanced back and stumbled away from the furious person behind them. Hiei’s white headband was back over his forehead, but his wide red eyes were burning holes amidst a very angry face.

“Your kind never learn,” Hiei hissed.

The boy swallowed audibly, and Hiei blinked. Behind him, the pieces he’d torn from the Abadon burst into black flame. Draco lurched back, and Hiei flitted to him, jerking on the boy’s tie until they were the same height.

Tilting his head, Hiei whispered directly into the frozen boy’s ear. “Keep thinking that way, and you’ll make a fine DeathEater. Demon body parts for spells? You like that idea? Do you want to know what demons make from human body parts? I’m sure your precious Dark Lord Voldemort would be happy to show you with the next pet he sends.”

The exchange lasted a few seconds at most. By the time Crabbe jolted forward to pull Hiei away, Hiei had already disappeared.

Draco stood absolutely still for a moment, blind to the wide-eyed looks he was getting from everyone, even Harry. Then he turned on his heel and almost ran to the castle, his lackeys staring after him in confusion.

After a moment of silence, the Slytherins stumbled off after their leader. Harry shook his head and turned to look back to the forest, where only a few smears of red showed evidence of the attack. The remains of the geezard were still visible, but the monster was gone.

“What was that?” Ron mumbled, looking a little lost. “I mean…what was that? What did that bloke say to him? And did he just… Where did he go?”

“He couldn’t have disapparated,” Hermione said faintly. “Not on Hogwarts grounds…”

“Did he set the monster on fire?” asked Harry. “I’ve never seen fire like that. It didn’t even touch the grass…”

“Library.”

Hermione straightened her shoulders and prodded Ron to make him take his share of Neville’s weight. Her eyes were gleaming with determination to straighten this entire mystery out. Today. Right now.

“We’re going to the library,” said Hermione. “And if Luna isn’t in there, one of you is going to find her. We still have an hour of this class left. We’re going to make the most of it.”

“Um, Hermione…?” Harry started.

“What?” Hermione snapped. “I know you two hate the library, but we are going to get to the bottom of this, and right now the library is the best place to start. A little reading won’t kill you, and if you had any sense of self-preservation you’d want to know what's going on here. Whatever this is, it’s bound to lead back to you, Harry. It always does. So there’s no point complaining about it when-“

“I’m not complaining,” said Harry. “I just think maybe we should drop Neville off in the infirmary first.”

“Oh,” said Hermione. “Right…”

- - -

The students were filing out of the Defense class when Hiei slipped in the door, not minding that he started a few of the teens. He walked straight to Snape's desk and hopped up to sit on the edge of it. He was rewarded with backwards stares from the exiting class, and a very quiet growl from the irritated professor.

Hiei swore he could hear how tightly Snape was grinding his teeth. He smirked and shot a look over at Kurama, noting the happily flicking tail that was just visible over the edge of the windowsill. The fox was seated sideways in the window, with his legs in the room, tail out. And his tail was swiping in a lazy arc as satisfied as his wide smile.

"Having fun?" Hiei taunted.

"Mm."

The last student left the room, and Snape stalked over to shut the door behind him. Then he rounded on Hiei with flashing eyes. "Get off my desk this instant!"

Lupin snorted, but quickly hid his smirk when Snape's gaze snapped over to him. Kurama let out a titter that wasn't quite loud enough to be a fullflown chuckle. And Hiei folded his legs comfortably beneath him with a 'want me to move, then move me yourself' challenge in his amused eyes.

"I see I don't have to ask if you had fun," Kurama commented. He was enjoying the nice breeze, namely the way it ruffled his tail and hair.

Hiei waited until Snape took a very tense seat behind him, saying without words that he wasn't going to rise to the bait. Once that opportunity for fun was passed, he hopped off the desk and went to lean near the open window.

"It was an Abadon," Hiei sniffed. "Testing the waters. He wasn't supposed to attack students, just put them in danger to get a response. Someone, I suspect that blobby ningen boy, told them there were strangers here. He didn't expect demons. I wiped his mind of that, but he will report a strong opposition of unknown variety. Give them something to worry about."

"Blobby ningen boy?" asked Kurama, a wry smirk twisting his lips. "Would that be Crabbe or Goyle?"

"Either or both."

Hiei stared at Kurama for a long minute, his expression blank. Then he frowned. Kurama grinned and gave up his seat.

"Just keeping it warm for you," Kurama teased.

With a low grumble about stupid foxes, Hiei stretched out on his perch. It was the only window in the room, that made it his. Kurama was used to being closed in with human stink. He wasn't as likely as Hiei to go stircrazy from the lack of fresh air.

Hiei nodded at Lupin, catching the man's attention. "Your pet's an idiot. Brave, but still an idiot. He used a few dozen spells on the Abadon without noticing they had no affect. But that wasn't nearly as disgusting as the behavior of the group itself."

He sent a sharp look at Kurama, not bothering to hide how disgruntled he was.

"They were attacking each other," said Hiei, "like bickering fools, mere feet from the demon, as if they didn't even see it. The giant was hit, and only three of them went to his aid. I didn't see that ningen moral thing you harp on down there at all. They were worse than oni fighting over scraps."

And that was all Kurama needed, to have Hiei use wizards as another excuse to condemn the entire human race. Kurama sighed and shifted back to his redhaired form. It just wasn't fun letting loose when he had to lecture and stand up for something his demon self had despised.

"They're human," said Kurama, "but they're still wizards, and teenagers at that. Imagine Kuwabara and Yusuke. I'm sure none of the students actually meant to hurt each other."

Lupin was sharing an almost worried look with Snape, both having come to the same conclusion. Snape grimaced and looked away, and Lupin sighed in something akin to embarrassment.

"Were they Gryffindors and Slytherins?" asked Lupin. "Harry and Draco in particular, by chance?"

"It's common behavior?" Hiei demanded, his expression exasperated.

"The two really don't mix well," Lupin admitted. "You might say the school sets them to be rivals in all things. They tend to clash when they're together..."

Snape sneered, shooting a mocking look over at Lupin. "Gryffindors are so arrogant they go out of their way to start trouble."

Lupin bristled and sent a cold look right back at him. "You can't blame the entire class because one Gryffindor treated you badly when you were a student. Of all the seventh years, the Slytherin class have started each and every fight, with Draco Malfoy being the most arrogant, and you know it."

"One Gryffindor?" Snape repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Which one would that be? Are you accepting guilt or absolving yourself of it?"

"I'm not doing this again," Lupin said sharply. "Harry hasn't done anything to you. He isn't arrogant and he certainly doesn't go out of his way to start trouble. You're the one who centers on him as if you expect him to curse you when your back is turned. Just have to get the first hit in at every opportunity, don't you. You never gave him a chance to-"

"Now, boys, don't make me separate you."

Two irritated looks snapped to Kurama, and he smiled pleasantly. Hiei snorted from his place on the window sill.

"It is common behavior," Hiei sniffed, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know," Kurama drawled, "they're doing much better than they were when we first came here. At times, they almost act their age. You can't be surprised that they slip now and again."

The desk creaked ominously from how tightly Snape curled his hands on the edge of it. And Lupin scowled from behind a vague flush of irritated embarrassment. He shot one look at Snape before taking a deep breath and bringing his calm smile back into place.

"Anyway," Lupin said tightly, his smile threatening to crack. "Were any of the students injured? Or Hagrid?"

"The giant said he'd be fine," said Hiei. "He dismissed the class and went to see to his wounds. The only students hurt were the ones hit by curses from each other. Your pet was a little singed from one of the Abadon's attacks, but nothing more than a light rash."

"Could you please not call him my pet?" Lupin requested, still holding his civil smile. "I know some people like to refer to him that way, but he does have a name. Harry or Potter, or both if you like."

Hiei snorted. "He's your pet. Just like the other one is his pet."

That last bit was given with a jerk of his head toward Snape, who promptly scowled.

Hiei continued to address Lupin, though he sent a sideways look at Snape. "At least yours protected his own. His is all talk, too much talk."

He turned his head to stare at Snape and Kurama, namely Snape. "He recognized the Abadon as a demon and stated as much in front of other students."

"He would recognize it because he comes from a pureblood family. Abadon is a familiar creature." Snape's expression was dark, but his tone was notably missing the proud emphasis Draco placed on the term pureblood.

"Did he identify it in front of Harry and Hermione?" asked Lupin. "If Hermione heard that, she won't let it go until she gets herself into trouble. The only information on demons is in the restricted section, and that's only available to the leaving class."

"She heard it," said Hiei. "He made sure she heard it."

He frowned at Lupin's worried expression. Then he shook his head and pinned Snape with a sharp look. "He's going to be recruited or killed if he continues that act of his. He almost has himself convinced he believes what he says. His father hasn't contacted him, but it's only a matter of time before he does. If they use him, you lose your pet."

"He's not a pet," said Lupin.

Snape and Hiei both turned to look at him in surprise, and Lupin scowled back at them. "Neither of them are pets. I'll thank you to find another term or learn their names, Hiei."

Kurama tilted his head, an amused smile lighting up his eyes. "Hiei?"

"Fine," Hiei sniffed. "Draco. Harry. Happy now? Idiots..."

"Add in Hermione," said Kurama. "She'd be my pet if I were a teacher here."

Hiei's eyebrow twitched and he scowled out the window, grumbling in a low Makai tongue. Lupin sent a playful scowl at Kurama.

"Why did you teach him about teachers' pets, anyway?" asked Lupin.

"Oh, that wasn't me," said Kurama. "You have Snape to thank for that."

The two sent pointed looks at Snape, who glared back irritably. He didn't bother to deny it, though he'd only been talking about Harry when he'd used the term. He hadn't expected Hiei to latch onto it and turn it back on him the way he had.

"Just get on with the report before the next class starts," Snape muttered.

"That's the report," said Hiei. "It came, I dismembered it long enough to undo the spell and erase its memory of me, I rolled it deep enough into the forest that it would be hidden while it regrows its limbs, I scared the Slytherin - Draco, I said his name, stop looking at me like that - and I came back here. The Abadon will be making its way back to wherever it came from this evening. And, no, Kurama, it didn't know where it came from. Their Dark Lord will catch it partway and bring it back."

"How did it get on school grounds?" asked Lupin.

"The same way the spiders did, I imagine," said Kurama. "Demons, magical creatures, it doesn't matter what you choose to call them. There are no wards keeping them out of the forest or the school. They aren't susceptible to the spells put in place to keep away your average human."

"You might want to tell the giant that," Hiei commented. "He didn't think demons could get into the forest. He lost a geezard in the attack."

Lupin's eyes widened, his expression more than a little sympathetic. "He'll blame himself if we don't tell him. I don't think any of the normal professors realize demons can come in that easily."

"You can tell him," said Hiei. "You and Kurama. You'll have to keep him clear of the forest for the full moon, anyway."

"Right," Lupin nodded, "I wasn't thinking that far ahead."

Hiei shifted a bit on the window and frowned over at Kurama. "Coffee."

Kurama blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"This is as bad as the tournament," Hiei shrugged. "We had it there, so they should have it here somewhere."

"I'm sure they do have coffee here," Kurama said slowly, "but...are you asking me to get you some, or telling me to?"

Hiei raised an eyebrow back at him. "Does it matter?"

A soft laugh sounded from Lupin's side of the room, and Kurama sighed.
Hiei knew where the kitchen was as much as Kurama did, but he refused to go near it on principle. Those house elfs were more than Hiei could handle with a calm and non-homicidal mind. They'd decided early on that to keep Hiei from killing any of the voluntary demon slaves, Kurama would fetch whatever they decided to eat from the kitchens. Actually, Kurama had decided it after Hiei's first run-in with an elf left the poor creature more than a little shaken.

"I guess it doesn't matter," Kurama admitted. "I just thought it would be nice if you asked."

"Be quick," Hiei smirked, "and I'll thank you when you get back."

Kurama shot a saccharine smile at Lupin. "Isn't he sweet? And they say demons are rude, mannerless brutes."

- - -

Luna Lovegood wasn't in the library as Hermione had hoped the Ravenclaw girl would be. But Hermione kept an eye out for her, and went ahead with what she had in mind. She set Harry and Ron to skimming all of the thickest 'creature' books she knew of for the word demon. They barely protested at all, so she took that as a sign they were either wary of her determination, or were with her one hundred percent. Either way, as long as they didn't complain, she was happy with them.

As for herself, she took to creeping through the stacks and whispering accio for various imaginary titles. Books at Hogwarts were often titled exactly what their subjects concerned, so it wasn't as fruitless as a person might expect. She was working on the things Draco had claimed. Though she dismissed half of his boasting, she had an idea he might be right about demons - some sort of magical creatures that stuck up purebloods called demons. She was sure they weren't anything like the religious demons muggles talked about.

She went through a number of titles with the word demon in them, history of demons, demon relations, demon lore, demon superstitions, uses for demon skin - then onto things that might concern these 'demons' without calling them that, dark magic ingredients, evil magical creatures. It wasn't until she tried pureblood pets that a book floated over to her hand.

It was a very tall book, with a fancy script for the title. A glance through the thick pages found it to be more of a picture gallery than an actual text. There was an entire section of snakes and lizards, amphibians and the like. Then there were felines, one so large she was sure it was actually a baby panther. The rats made her grimace - bad memories - and she barely thumbed through the section on birds.

She smiled when she found a bright picture of a fairly familiar phoenix, Dumbledore being listed as the owner. And there was a rather interesting parrot with bright blue and green feathers and an unusually intelligent face. If she didn't know better, she'd swear it was sticking its tongue out at the camera. The name of the owner wasn't familiar, so she thumbed past it.

She found herself left with the miscellaneous section, which appeared to be filled with everything from miniature horses to strange dragonish creatures. One of them was photographed sitting on a person's shoulder, though the owner's face was not in the shot. It reminded her of a goblin, like the ones at Gringotts. But it had small leathery wings, and it wasn't squat so much as tiny. It really looked more like a miniature person than a thick-limbed goblin.

One glance at the name of the creature and she was hurrying over to show her find to the boys. Harry and Ron were happy enough to stop thumbing through pages they just knew didn't have the information they were looking for. They crowded behind Hermione and got close enough so she wouldn't be heard by the few other students spotting the library.

"A demon imp," said Hermione. "The owner was Merideth Tasslewood. It says these imps were once used as servants and spies among old pureblood families because they were more intelligent than owls when it came to transporting confidential messages. Only, they were inclined toward malice, so they couldn't be held by a geis of servitude the way house elfs were. They were...outlawed."

She blinked wide eyes up at Harry, wondering if he were as confused as she was. The imp was so small and harmless looking, she couldn't imagine it being a threat to anyone.

"It says the species was...they killed them! It says the species was eliminated during the last Transit. Transit...I think they mean an event of some kind. But there wasn't any mention of a Transit in Hogwarts a History. That's one of the oldest books I've read..."

"Do you think it's something older than Hogwarts?" asked Ron.

"I suppose it could be," Hermione admitted. "I'll look for something on this Transit. If they actually outlawed and killed an entire species - the only species of 'demon' we've seen in a book - it would have to have been a very important event."

"Does that mean we have to keep scanning these?" Ron asked Harry, scowling at the book in front of him.

"Guess so..."

Hermione's eyes flew over the books, possible titles springing to mind, the great transit, transitions throughout the ages, demon transit, demon transitionals, a guide to demon transitions-

The last one brought a loud 'eh-hem' from the librarian as a thick book peaked out of the restricted section. Hermione had one glimpse of its red title before it obediently ducked itself back into place. She blushed at the suspicious look the librarian was giving her, and hurried over to sit between her confidantes.

"I found one," she said slowly. "It looks like there's another book for us to check out...after hours."

"And run into that three-eyed psycho again?" Ron demanded. "Absolutely not!"

"Then I'll go by myself."

"We're not following you again," Harry warned.

"And I didn't ask you to follow me this time any more than I asked you to follow me the last time," Hermione sniffed. "I'll go by myself."

"No, you bloody well won't," said Ron. "Did you see what he did to that monster? Tore it to pieces, he did! And he scared off Malfoy with nothing but words. Do you really think you're going to talk your way out of it if he catches you again?"

"You can't stop me," Hermione said calmly, her attitude completely rational.

"Actually," Harry spoke up, "we probably could. The question is, are you going to make us? Let it go for a day or two, Hermione. Lupin said we could talk to him in private as soon as he starts teaching. And you were going to see if Luna could tell you anything, right? See if we can figure it out ourselves first. If we can't, then we can consider a way to get your book for you."

"That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" Ron piped in. "Nice and cooperative like."

Hermione's face remained in a stubborn frown, but she didn't argue. She simply stood and picked up the books to return to the shelves. The boys exchanged a quick look and helped.

"What did you want to see Loony about, anyway?" asked Ron.

"Must you call her that?" Hermione demanded. "You could at least be nice when I'm trying to get help from her."

"Miss Lovegood," Ron said sarcastically. "What do you want to see her about?"

"You'd just make fun of it if I told you," said Hermione.

Ron sighed, his shoulders slumping. Sometimes he really hated that part of him that scurried around trying to placate the girl. What happened to those days when he and Harry had simply made fun of her and insulted her so she'd go away and leave them out of her 'study' plans? She'd gone and grown on him when he wasn't looking.

"I won't make fun," he promised.

"It's probably nothing," Hermione started, "but I was thinking about the way that stranger looked with his forehead glowing like that. It reminded me of this-"

She set the stack of books down and pulled out a parchment so she could sketch on it. A few strokes and she'd drawn something that did resemble the stranger - spade-shaped face, large cat-like eyes, and a third eye in the middle of his forehead. The only difference was that she hadn't drawn any hair.

Ron raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Am I missing something?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "It's funny looking, but I don't think that's the point."

"It's an alien. Did you see that alien, Hermione?"

Hermione jumped around, her eyes gleaming as bright as her wide smile. "Luna! Just the person I was hoping to see here! It does look rather like the aliens muggles report, doesn't it?"

"Of course," Luna said, her face set in a dreamy, distant sort of smile. "Most people see the same face when they see an alien. Father says it's because there is actually only one, he just gets around very quickly so the sightings turn up in the oddest places. But he hasn't been seen in almost a year. The last time his sketch found its way into a paper, it was in a muggle tabloid. And he has hair, Hermione. I'm not sure why people keep drawing him without it. Like this-"

Ron's lips twitched when the girl made an amusing depiction of the stranger's flame-styled hair. She even went so far as to leave the blank spots for that white starburst over his forehead. He sent Luna a suspicious smirk.

"You've seen him in Defense," he accused. "You're just having fun with Hermione because she's being unreasonably gullible today."

"Of course I've seen him in Defense," Luna smiled, "Kurama introduced us. His name is Hiei, and he has a very nice voice for an alien. And, yes, I was having fun with Hermione. It's so nice to see that she isn't the skeptic I thought she was."

The blonde girl gave Hermione a sleepy wink, patting a hand on her shoulder. Then she turned and drifted across the library to a table of Ravenclaws. Hermione could almost feel the drop of sweat break out on her temple.

"An alien named Hiei," Ron drawled. "And your newest crush introduced her to him."

His face twitched for a long minute before he broke into laughter. The librarian sent them a venomous glare, and he muffled his laughs in his hand. Hermione flushed bright red and clenched her hand so she wouldn't give in and brain him upside the head.

"Oh, do be quiet," Hermione growled, swiping up the books. "I knew I shouldn't have asked her. Just because Kurama's Japanese, that doesn't mean the other stranger would be named after a Japanese mountain. You'd think she'd make up a better story than that, with all the practice she's had. I don't know what I was thinking. Aliens! Honestly..."

Harry and Ron were in bright moods when they followed the fuming girl out of the library. Hermione was embarrassed at herself now. That meant she wasn't in any mental condition to go gallivanting off after a restricted book. Instead, she'd spend the next day or two being quiet and hoping they'd forget all about the incident. For all her bluffing, Hermione was very self conscious about her intelligence. Right now, she felt like an idiot.

Since they'd gotten out of Care of Magical Creatures early, the break was much longer than it should have been. But they still had History of Magic to attend before dinner. That managed to dampen the boys' spirits quite a bit. Staying awake during one of Professor Binns' classes was always a chore. Only those who took constant notes - namely Hermione - managed to pay any attention to the droning ghost who was their professor.

They took their seats and resigned themselves to a very long boring monotone for the next hour. But the moment their professor floated in through the front wall, Hermione's hand shot into the air.

Professor Binns noticed it only because he remembered Hermione as the only student to ever ask a question in his class since...well, as long as he could remember. He blinked at her. "Yes, Miss Gerber?"

Hermione's eyebrow twitched, but she knew better than to correct him. He'd just forget again.

"I was wondering," said Hermione, "if you know when the last Transit took place."

The professor tilted his head, his faint ghostly expression an echo of confusion. "Transit? Transition into what exactly?"

"I was reading a book on wizard pets," Hermione explained, "and I was wondering when the demon imps were eliminated. The book said it was during the last Transit."

"Ah," Binns nodded, his essence lighting up fractionally. "The Transitoriums. Yes, I know when the last one of those took place. But that's really far too advanced for this class. You'll have to wait until you leave school and apply as an auror if you want to study ancient history, Miss Gerber. My lectures don't go that far back. I'm not quite that old."

With that, the professor seemed to forget the question altogether, his voice softening into that dull monotone he was so well known for. Hermione humphed quietly, her arms folded over her chest. It had been worth a shot.

Now she was even more curious than ever. And the history was only available to potential aurors? What part of wizarding history would be restricted to aurors?

She made up her mind to mention it to Lupin the first chance she got - namely the first time she could get him alone without Snape listening in. Hopefully Lupin would be teaching his own class by the end of the week.

The rest of the class passed in something of a blur. Hermione was too deep in the mystery to bother with notes - and she'd already done the reading, so Professor Binns wasn't really telling her anything she didn't already know.

She took notes of the unknowns instead - Kurama having an animal form that was a miniature of some youko creature, his being named after one of the creatures, demon pets, Malfoy claiming dark spells had originated from demon body parts, two people who didn't show on the map, Shuuichi Minamino - who no one at the school had seen so far, the stranger's third glowing eye that he must have kept hidden under that headband of his, the fact that he'd shown up out of nowhere on the yard and disappeared just as quickly - when apparating was clearly impossible at Hogwarts, that strange black flame that he must have set - but without a wand because she'd been watching his hands and he hadn't been holding anything, Luna's ridiculous claim that he was an alien named after Mt Hiei...

None of it added up. She couldn't rationalize any of it. To her, that meant she simply wasn't thinking hard enough. The truth was something real and tangible, and any rational person could figure out the truth if she just thought it out hard enough.

'But it doesn't make any rational sense at all...!'

By the time dinner rolled around, the entire Gryffindor table was awash with the recent rumors circulating the school. Hermione didn't pay much attention until she caught someone repeating Malfoy's claim that dark wizards were persecuted because other wizards lacked the ingredients to do the spells. She sniffed in disgust at the first year boy who was spouting the nonsense, but didn't bother to correct him. Half the table was quick to tell him not to believe anything the Slytherins said, especially if it made them look good.

"You hear that, Hermione?"

Ron elbowed her in the side, frowning a bit when she glared at him. "What's with you? Don't you want to hear about that youko?"

"Youko?" Hermione straightened, her eyes wide. "What?"

"Tell her, Collin," Ron urged the younger boy seated across from them.

"I didn't actually see it myself," the boy said quickly, his eyes glowing when he saw Harry - his idol - watching him. "Rumor has it that redhaired guy in Defense class turned into someone else. Right in front of the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs! He was really tall and had cat ears and a bushy tail - but his face and body were just like a man's! Isn't it crazy?"

"That's not what happened," Seamus snorted. "I heard from Cho that the redhead and that Slytherin guy both jumped out the window during class. Then some albino guy jumped in and made the room glow red. They just moved so fast it looked like the redhead turned into the other one."

Collin frowned stubbornly and shook his head. "Neville told me the redhead was a cat animagus - and a silver one, too! So it makes more sense if he turned into a silver human cat-guy."

"You little ditz," Seamus grinned, patting the boy on the shoulder. "It was a fox, not a cat. And yeah, he did turn into a fox - or rather, he changed from a fox into his normal self. That still doesn't mean he could just change into a fox-person. Cho said the redhead wasn't even holding a wand when he moved to the window. There's no way he could cast a spell on himself so quick no one in the room would see him do it. And even if he could, why would he want to give himself a fox tail?"

"Who cares about some tailed person?" Lavender blurted, her expression tragic, yet somehow put out that no one was listening. "Did you see what that awful Goyle did to Parvati and me? We could have been killed! It's just like Professor Trelawney predicted...! The trauma done to us will scar us for life and we'll never-"

Hermione blocked the girl out completely, that sane part of her mind simply closing the door on any and all talk of the school's biggest fake. Trelawney predicted a monster would jump out and eat their class project, while a House war broke out within a few feet of the thing? Right.

She turned to focus on Seamus again, but the boy was now listening to Parvati and Lavender with an amused look on his face. That only left Collin...

Hermione sighed and leaned closer to the table so she could smile at the sweet, if somewhat ditzy, boy. "What else did you hear about this stranger?"

"Well," Collin started happily, "Ernie said the fourth years were all wild about how he said something to Professor Snape that no one understood. He had his own language! Then he climbed on Professor Lupin's chair and tried to bite him so the Hufflepuffs jumped up and hexed him with every-"

"What are you babbling on about?" Seamus interrupted, laughing at Collin's excited expression. "That didn't happen."

"Yes it did," Collin argued. "Ernie told me so!"

"He's just having fun with you," said Seamus. He shook his head at Hermione. "He did say something strange to Snape, but Cho said the Ravenclaws were sure it was Japanese or Chinese. They couldn't remember what he'd said, though, so Cho couldn't translate it. But after that, he just sat down beside Lupin and that was it. They had class. The little stranger must have gone back there after he finished that monster off. They said he slipped in just as they were going out."

"And the person with the fox tail?" Hermione prodded.

"He was still there when they left," Seamus shrugged. "The redhead didn't come back."

Ron tilted his head to the side, giving Hermione a speculative look. "Think the fox guy's the one in the book? Or the third one?"

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, her voice quiet now that Seamus had gone back to listening to Parvati and Lavender milk the sympathy of their Housemates. "If it's Shuuichi, then that really makes no sense that a magical creature - a youko with humanoid form - would show on the map when the dark stranger doesn't show up, and Kurama doesn't either."

"But Kurama's the youko, right?" asked Harry. "Maybe he did change into that other form. And he just goes by the wrong name. The map shows a real name, not an alias. So maybe Kurama's his alias."

"It's impossible," said Hermione. "Kurama can't be a day over twenty, and that youko in the book was at least five hundred years old. And it didn't say anything about youko's having two human forms."

"So what does that leave?" asked Ron.

Hermione dropped her chin into her hands, her expression hopeless. "I don't know, Ron. I honestly don't know. It doesn't make sense. It can't be true if it doesn't make sense..."

- - -
TBC
--notes--
About 'alien Hiei', if you've seen the end of YYH you know where that comes from - the pictures of Hiei in the tabloids Kurama and Kuwabara are reading. If you have no idea what I'm referring to, it has to do with Hiei's ability to wipe a human's memory clean away (with his jagan), leaving only vague dreams that are a lot like 'alien abduction' stories - so the people who saw him thought he was an alien. He was wiping the memories of humans who wandered into the Makai by accident, and sending them back as part of his duty to Mukuro.
A note on the size of Kurama's fox form - when Harry and company refer to it as 'small compared to a dog,' they're comparing it to Sirius - who was actually a very large dog modeled after a grim (ignore the short, small-boned dog used in the movie, the books make it clear that Padfoot was a much larger breed). So yes, Kurama is actually rather large for a fox (if you ask him) but compared to Padfoot (Harry and Ron's perspective), Kurama-fox is a short and slender canine.
About Hiei’s dreams – look away if you’re spoiler-wary – in the Makai arc Hiei makes a frustrated comment about having had ‘that dream again’. His recurring dream is nothing more or less than a highlight of every bad thing that’s happened to him since the day he was born (yes, he understood everything that was said or happening around him even as a newborn, that’s his ‘perfect memory’ – a term coined by the prolific YYH fanfiction writer, Morgan D, that refers to the canon fact that Hiei never forgets anything - Ever). So, if you know Hiei’s history, you know what he’s dreaming about – imagine your life flashing past your eyes, only all you see are the bad things (or all you have are bad things).
About Kyuubi – in Naruto he was so big pine trees barely reached over his paws. That was his full size. The picture Hermione found was taken long before that final showdown (hence, no monster frog in the shot). Most of the people in the final showdown against Kyuubi died, so there aren’t any pictures of that battle. And keep in mind the book is based mostly on rumors – the unclear count of Kyuubi’s tails (hence his estimated age), calling Kurama a white youko instead of a silver one, etc.

Next up, Hiei and Kurama torture Snape, and Harry has a bad dream. o.O

Reader Response:
Mizuki Ishida - I don't think you capitalized human world in your review, I've just seen it done a lot since the dub came out, so it's a pet peeve. I refused to watch the dub, I love the Japanese voice actors too much. Anyway, I agree with you completely - Arthur wouldn't know any more Japanese words than he picked up from Albus. I'd make him trip over the pronunciation if he had to say any complicated Japanese out loud in my fic. ;p And I definitely consider house elves powerful 'magical' creatures (very powerful but restrained with the geis of servitude) and since I consider goblins demons, I consider most magical creatures as having some demon (youki) in them. I expect to get into that later in the fic, once I get Youko and Snape to spend a little time together...heheh... ;p [I love your detailed reviews - this AND Gmen - thank you! You make me see the stories from a different perspective and it gives me all sorts of ideas to use. :) ]

To ineXpressible, a kekkai is a sort of magical forcefield that keeps out anything or anyone who has a certain level of spiritual energy. Students are invited to Hogwarts if they have a certain level of magical potential, spiritual energy, if you will. That's why some muggle kids get invited, and others don't. Usually a kekkai is to keep out demons, who also have spiritual energy (it's called youki, while human spirit energy is called reiki). The kekkai Kurama and Hiei are using ward against anyone with a certain level of spirit energy, whether it's demon or human.