A/N: THIS IS A DOUBLE UPDATE! PLEASE GO AND READ THE FIRST CHAPTER!

Also, someone clearly needs to explain pacing to me. Or just not let me edit things while I'm procrastinating because somehow we manage to get like half the year in this one chapter. And it's long.

(Somehow I don't think anyone's going to complain too much about that last bit.)

Still not happy with this, but I can come back and break it up once it's all posted.

(And I still have the mental image of Zangetsu in sword form being gnawed upon by the Resurrection Stone...Help.)

Disclaimer: Yeah, guess who still owns neither of these? The answer is me.


The first task went as smoothly as one might expect when sending teens against dangerous beings (that they, probably - it really depended upon which version of the rule book one was using - not allowed to kill).

Which was to say, not well (not that it would have been made better if they were allowed to kill the dragons, which the weren't).

Fleur sang the dragon to sleep, only to have her snore and nearly melt the golden egg - stripping it of most of the enchantments and leaving it (fortunately for Fleur) easily summoned. While the end result was desirable for Fleur, as it made retiring the egg that much easier, the game makers were less pleased.

Oh they had gotten a show when the dragon fell asleep, and there was some excitement when the egg was nearly melted...but not the kind for which they were hoping.

(Madame Maxime was incredibly pleased with her champion, who had demonstrated all the poise Beauxbattons' students are renowned for, even when her plan had gone awry.)

"Excellent use of personal ability mixed with the Morpheus Charm," Professor Desormeaux murmured to her neighbor, who, unfortunately, was utterly devoted to Transfiguration and didn't particularly care, though they would acknowledge that it was an impressive mix of magic, especially given the dragon that had been bearing down on Delacour. But then, that is what is expected of Beauxbatton students.

The crowds cheered, Fleur received her score, and the next dragon was brought in. The Ukrainian Ironbelly, not fond of humans most days, was an absolute terror to get into the stadium, flailing at those in the stands, causing shrieks and even more chaos than normal.

The cannon set it off even more, causing it to try dousing the blasted thing in dragon fire.

(It failed.)

Reina Suzuki, however, simply walked into the arena, and shouted "Hado 31: Shakkahou!"

A red light, of a deeper hue than the stunning spell, gathered in front of her outstretched hands, and blasted the dragon.

"Hado 31: Shakkahou!"

Again.

"Hado 31: Shakkahou!"

And again.

Uryuu Ishida, who, along with the other professors brought by the various contingents, inquired rather loudly, "Is she trying to prove a point for all those inept at Kido?"

Headmaster Kurosaki, twitched, before turning around to reply.

"No, I think she just has bet going on with Renji. Or maybe it's with Rukia. It was rather unclear by the end of all the yelling, but there's definitely a bet going on."

"So it has nothing to do with you?"

"No, Ishida, it has absolutely nothing to do with me."

"Hmm... You did say -"

"And Ms. Suzuki has done it! She has subdued her dragon with only the one spell! I'm not sure if that's impressive or worrying about how she's keeping her cards close to her chest! The other champions will want to watch out for her!"

The Japanese contingent was clearly amused by this remark, while everyone else in the teacher's section was suddenly burningly curious as to what the professor had been about to (potentially) quote back at his Headmaster.

Alas, their curiosity would have to wait.

Suzuki's score suffered due to her use of only a single spell, no matter how powerful it was, she had repeated it a number of times, but not too much. Some of the Headmasters were unwilling to anger a person who could knock out a dragon with a single, no matter how repeated, spell.

Somewhere in the stands, a Weasley could be heard shouting, "HAH! I WIN MALFOY NOW PAY UP, OR YOU'LL BE EATING YOUR OWN BOGEYS!"

The Chinese Fireball was slightly more cooperative than the now punch-drunk Ukrainian Ironbelly (and there, it seemed, was a reason the dragon wasn't called the Ironhead), but seemed equally determined to spew fire everywhere in protest to her relocation.

Krum, it seemed, was rather nonplussed by all the fire, although his Conjunctivitis jinx caused at least half of the real dragon eggs to be crushed. ("That's going to lose him points for sure," Ludo Bagman cried, as the Durmstrang Champion winced at the destruction before grabbing the golden egg he had been directed to retrieve.

in the first row of the stands, the dragon handlers, glower at the blasé reaction from the announcer, grind their teeth as they observe the remains of the once beautiful eggs, the formerly glossy fire-opal like shells now dull shards in a nest barely held together by the last strings of magic used to transport it. The Chinese Fireballs' handler was torn between grief and apocalyptic rage at the administration for forcing them to use not only nesting mothers but also their actual eggs.)

Diggory, on the other hand, was nearly eaten because he was more interesting than his transfigured dog-rock, but then he decided to transform the dog into a sheep, and the dragon was much more interested in the snack potential of mutton than human, which saved him from anything worse than a bit of dragon fire.

(Her handler rolled her eyes and moaned, "I'm going to be smelling like burnt wool for weeks!" while Madame Pomfrey muttered to herself about dragons and Cedric Diggory swore off meat for a few weeks.)

Harry, on the other hand, had to outdo all of the others, and somehow encouraged his dragon to break the chains keeping it within the enclosure.

"How did that even happen?" Professor McGonagall exclaimed.

"Weren't those chains supposed to be Unbreakable?" One of the Durmstang professors asked.

"Oh, you have one of them, too!" Professor Inoue exclaimed, looking far too happy that a dragon had miraculously gotten loose. She beamed at Professor McGonagall. "One of those people where impossible things happen around? I knew there had to be at least one per country!"

This statement simultaneously confused and worried her fellow spectators.

Fortunately, Potter and the dragon both returned safe, relatively unharmed (Potter) and in a better mood (the Horntail), and the First Task was quickly wrapped up.

Even more fortunately, for the Chinese Fireball and her handler, Professor Inoue offered to help them with the eggs.

"No. No, we'll take - take care of them. There's a ceremony that the Chinese Fireball will do and then...then they'll say goodbye."

"Oh, but I can help, really! The little dragons will be fine!" and she started off towards the remains of the nest and the grieving dragon, who took one look at her and bared her teeth.

The strange Japanese professor just hummed in reply, which seemed to calm the Fireball a little, oddly enough.

"No, Ma'am, please -" the handler tried to interrupt, before the woman was injured.

There was a sigh that interrupted him instead. "Let her help. She can fix the eggs and the hatchlings will be fine - might be better, even than they were before. The mother knows something's up. Let her help, please."

By that point, it was really too late to say anything as a gold shield had popped up around the eggs - broken and whole - and the eggs began to...heal.

"What?" the handler, and his fellows, said in awe and confusion.

"Yeah, Orihime will do that. The eggs will be fine, and the embryonic dragons fully healthy when they hatch. Well, barring anything major happening before that, but after Orihime's finished healing them, they'll be just as healthy as they were before."

"Exactly as they were before," another Japanese Professor butted in to say. "If there were any major problems that had been affecting the eggs, they should be cured, but any minor genetic variations like wing membrane thickness, etc. is not something that will be affected, so if there are issues in those departments, you will not be trying to blame Inoue."

The handlers shook their heads.

"We just want the dragons to be healthy. If they can't fly, well, some of them are just as happy burrowing, especially the Fireballs. They like turning mountains into volcanoes, when they can't fly and bring rain."

"Good."

~IiI~

"I reckon if someone put your name in that cup, they're trying to kill you!"

"Yeah, well -" and it's clear that Harry's accepted the apology already, so Hermione swept both of them into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're making up, but the next time you two have a fight and make me your owl? I will use all the nasty jinxes I've been looking up recently to ensure both of you never do it again."

Her boys nodded vigorously, causing her hair to fluff up even more.

"Good boys."

Friends are more important than taming a mane, anyways.

~IiI~

Everyone objects to the shrieking eggs. The Hufflepuffs decide to repurpose the Mandrake earmuffs for use in the Common Room, after Diggory spends two hours listening to it each day.

The Japanese apparently have a better solution, as occasionally a massive black box appears on the lawn, and Suzuki is seen emerging from it, before it disappears.

("Kurosaki, that Kido is meant for torture, not sound-proofing."

"Shut up, Ishida. It works for being a sound-proof room, and you don't want to have to listening to high pitched screaming either. Besides, it was Chad's idea."

"Sado?"

The large man shrugs. "It was annoying everyone else, and we know that Kurohitsugi works.")

~IiI~

"Durmstrang was established in the late 1500s in a response to the various conflicts in surrounding countries. There are a great many rituals that can empower a warrior using the weaknesses of their enemies, or the un-avenged blood of their comrades and allies. At Durmstrang, those rituals were taught and perfected, leading to the success of the kings and empires graduates supported. While some worried that this would generate more conflict, this never came to pass. In modern times, the magical world is relatively stable, lacking the massive wars fought in ages past, as there is no longer the space nor the legal ability, what with the Statue of Secrecy. As a result, Durmstrang's curriculum has shifted towards greater emphasis on dueling and other such arts.

"Today, many of our students enter various Auror forces, acting to guard the citizens of the world."

~IiI~

Harry sighed after the announcement in Transfiguration, before turning to his friend.

"Hermione, would you go to the Yule Ball with me as a friend?"

Hermione blushed. "Actually, Harry, I've already been asked by someone, and I said yes. But there are plenty of girls who would be willing to go to the ball with you, I think I've seen them lining up to ask."

Harry shuddered at the reminder and sighed. "But will they understand that we're going as friends? I don't want to try and date someone right now…"

"Oh? I thought you liked Cho?" Hermione raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Or did you want to go with a boy?"

Harry ducked his head, narrowly avoiding the table they're working at, looking as if he's trying to decided whether or not to give in and bang hi head agains the wood or not.

"Well, I do, but…I don't know. She seems to be hanging around Diggory lately and I don't want to mess that up for him, since he did manage to head off the Hufflepuffs' anger and prevent them from, you know, murdering me, or ostracizing me again."

"I see…Well, maybe try one of the foreign schools? We are supposed to be creating bonds with them."

"I guess? They're pretty scary, though."

"Well, the Japanese school is quite extreme….What was their champion trying to prove with that last task?"

"That she's not to be messed with?"

Both shudder as they recall the infernally red light that slammed into the dragon again, and again, and again which allowed the girl to subdue a dragon, a feat that was previously thought impossible to do alone. Hermione used it as an example, and a lesson, of the number of different magic branches that exist in other parts of the world, but it was still quite frightening...because imagining Voldemort with that kind of firepower?

The Wizarding World of Britain would fall in 12 hours.

(Harry breaks out the chocolate frogs - heavy thoughts need chocolate, and Hermione takes one without protest.

Ron finds them a few minutes later and snags some snacks for himself. They all need a bit of cheering up at the moment.)

~IiI~

Somehow, Harry ends up attending the Ball with a serious looking girl from Durmstrang, whom he bonds with over Quidditch (though she was a beater) and Defense (although it's just called Offense at Durmstrang, a change that had been instated after Karkaroff took office as Headmaster).

So, at least they have something to talk about at the dinner table, when they aren't speaking to their plates.

And while Harry has, under Hermione and McGonagall's firm teachings, learned how to waltz, that is the extent of his dancing ability.

"Oh, that is fine. I like dancing, but I do not like this music, so it is no hardship," she replies, after he'd explained his lack of knowledge.

"Oh thank Merlin. I was worried you'd be mad."

She laughs, "No, no. It is fine. And made better by intelligent conversation. So, let us grab some more punch, and tell me more about what you've seen your Patronus do."

"Er, actually, butterbeer or a capped drink is better – I know the school pranksters are here, and while they'll probably tone down some of the pranking so our head of house doesn't skin them alive and ship them back to their mum to be made into wall hangings, it's better not to risk it...But, anyways, yeah, so the last time I encountered a dementor..."

(Ron glares at Krum the entire night, but slips in to dance with Hermione on a few occasions, after being nudged by his date to "just ask her already, you idiot! She doesn't have to only dance with her date.")

~IiI~

Nobody notices that the majority of the students from Shinou Academy are quietly nursing their own drinks in the corners and avoiding the dance floor entirely.

While some elements of the samurai remain prominent in the academy's teachings, such as poetry, western dances are not high on the school's priority list.

Professor Inoue ignores this completely and spends the night whirling her fellow professors around the dance floor - including those from Japan, much to the irritation of Kurosaki and Ishida. Sado, on the other hand, seems happy to lead, or be lead, when she swirls around the room to his corner.

~IiI~

"So we go in and destroy the ring. Orihime has already taken care of the crown, apparently Potter got the book, Ishida is plotting for the cup, I can get the snake before we off the big guy, and Chad, you want the locket?"

"Sure."

"Great. Then all we need is Potter, right?"

"Right."

Ishida sighs. "We'll deal with him later. Right now, we need the other bits destroyed."

"Yeah, yeah. Priorities straightened. Let's go kill shit."

Inoue laughs. "It really is shit we're killing. I don't think I'd even know where to start putting him back together, even if I wanted to."

"Please, please don't want to Orihime. You don't need to become our version of Urahara - you're too amazing for that."

"Mm, alright. Not yet, then."

The other three shiver, and wait for the day the world is run by insane donut making Hime-bots. That's when they're retiring to Heuco Mundo.

~IiI~

"Hogwarts was founded by the four most prominent wizards and witches of the time that resided in the British Isles. According to history, each Founder valued certain traits in their students above all others, choosing to take those who expressed those desired qualities under their wings for training. To the day, Hogwarts has maintained that tradition through use of the Sorting Hat, imbued with magic from all four founders.

"But in its original form, Hogwarts was meant to be a sanctuary and a fortress – hence the castle structure and other fortifications, as during this time it was not only common to be forced to fight Muggles, but also other wizards and witches who wished to expand their domains. While Hogwarts, as a school, was neutral, there were few battles that it needed to participate in – but those battles still existed..."

~IiI~

"KREACHER IS DESTROYING THE LOCKET, KREACHER IS, NOT THE MONSTER MAN!"

"...I can destroy it, and then you can keep the remains and give them to your old master."

"MASTER REGULUS IS DEAD, DEAD, MY POOR MASTER REGULUS..."

"You could put it in his room? Or at his grave?" Sado wants to say he could just get someone to tell this Regulus Black, but that would probably be giving the game away too soon.

The house elf eyed him warily.

"Yous can destroy the locket?"

"Yes."

"And yous will be giving it back to Kreacher for his Master Regulus?"

"Yes.

"Yous destroy it now?"

"Yes."

Kreacher looked the man up and down, and sniffed.

"Fine. For Master Regulus."

"Thank you."

(The next time Sirius Black returns to 12 Grimmauld Place, he will ask Kreacher why there is a massive hole in the basement, with some melted golden thing glinting in the bottom of the near abyss, lined with candles and offerings like those to a grave.

Kreacher will weep about his brother, and Sirius will never ask again.)

~IiI~

"Champions! At the signal, you will dive in to reach your hostages! Please line up at your appropriate spot on the dock."

Accordingly, each champion lines up, shivering in the February morning air... except for the student from Shinou Academy, who was dressed in her normal dark robes and pants combination, with no bathing suit in sight.

The judges, unsure of what to make of this, simply shrug – it's no skin off their nose if the girl doesn't have a plan. She put her name in the Goblet, she knew what she was getting into.

With a canon shot, four champions dive into the depths of the Black Lake.

Reina Suzuki, on the other hand, cups her hands in front of her and closed her eyes in concentration. When she opens them, a black swallowtail butterfly, like the ones seen upon her and her fellow students' entrance, appears and flutters away.

Seeing as the audience can see only her actions and not the actions of those under the water, Reina is forced to endure a number of stares that slowly gave way to giggles, whispers and sneers.

Still she waited, though her grip on her sword tightens as the minutes passed.

Approximately 15 minutes later, a set of sliding, paper doors, very similar to the one through which the Shinou students arrived at the beginning of the tournament, appeared, opened, and allowed another person to step out.

Any tension that had been created with the arrival of the doors is promptly negated once the audience can see the height of the new arrival. He appears, if one took away the hair, to be the size of a first year.

Or shorter.

A short conversation between contestant and the short boy occurred, unheard by the judges or the audience, before the newcomer walks across the water.

That feat should not have been possible.

"How is he doing that!" Karkaroff yells, with Flitwick closely echoing the sentiment.

Kurosaki is unconcerned, and merely smirks.

Then, he makes a cage-like gesture with his sword, before chanting a phrase that summons an ice dragon, something that should take far more time to create! And then he proceeds to direct said dragon into the lake.

Whispers rippled through the crowd and the judges alike.

"Kurosaki! WHAT IS GOING ON!"

Kurosaki shrugged. "My school's champion is completing the task, what else? And don't worry, the dragon won't harm the other contestants, as long as they don't attack him."

Again, this does not provide much reassurance to the judges.

But there does not appear to be any spreading of ice from the dragon's entrance, further evidence to Shinou's headmaster's claim, and the mutters die down slightly.

At least until, a short time later, the dragon rose from the depths, bringing with it a hostage that is quickly handed off to Reina, who at some point has joined the ridiculous first year in standing on the water. With a nod, the boy summoned another set of doors and disappeared through them, while Reina returns with her hostage to the dock.

~IiI~

The judges, however, are thrown into disarray.

"This is interference!"

"Outside assistance is not to be given!"

"This is an outrage! You have trampled on the traditions of this tournament!"

The Headmaster of Shinou remains calm, though a scowl has appeared on his face, until finally the torrent of insults and exclamations slows.

"To my understanding, one is prohibited from giving assistance if one is a professor of the student in question. That was Toshirou Hitsugaya, a member of our military – a captain, one of 13 formally sworn to protect Seireitai and the other outlying districts. He is not a professor. He is not a teacher. His only affiliation with this academy is his status as an alumnus.

"In addition, is this tournament not about testing the resourcefulness of our students? Suzuki did exactly that – she understood the hint given in the egg and took advantage of her knowledge of our system. Penalize her for it – but if you do, understand that I will request a rescoring of the first task, given the highly specific strategies many other contestants used against their dragons."

"You have no proof!"

"Oh? Or do I?" And at that the Headmaster smiled. Madame Maxime and Headmaster Karkaroff flinched minutely, while Dumbledore remained utterly unconcerned.

~IiI~

Points are allotted with Reina barely coming in first (for she was in the right, through legal loopholes), Harry second (for his heroic tendencies), Viktor third, Cedric fourth, and Fleur fifth.

Hermione, in this case, is a sanity saver for those in the audience, who, apart from hearing shouting, were unable to hear the Japanese Headmaster's response. Once she's dried off, the task is finished, and Hermione had the chance to deal with the bombardment of the question: how did Suzuki do that?

"I looked in the library, and it does say that if, for some reason, a champion is unable to complete a task, they may use, to some degree, a substitute. A champion for a champion of you will. And she did take her hostage back to the dock and present herself to the judges."

"Huh," was the collective response. No one was going to start quibbling about practicality when there were lives on the line.

~IiI~

"Shinou Academy was established less than 3000 years ago, after the Soutaichou, or captain-commander, created the military group known as the Gotei 13. Each division, numbered 1 - 13, is headed by a captain, followed by a vice-captain, and a variety of seated and unseated officers beneath them. There is an additional squad that acts beyond the realm of the Gotei 13, and instead is set up as advisors of sorts. Each division has its own specialty, determined by the Captain.

"While most people in the west constantly hear of 'Mahoutokoro,' they don't realize this is actually a series of places. Within this loose grouping, Shinou is the military academy. The goal is to train all the students to be capable combatants.

"Since its founding, there have been few instances of people managing to successfully infiltrate the Gotei 13. The most historically entertaining invading party was comprised of 4 people and a cat."

The headmaster places his head in his hands and shakes his head. The severe looking, glasses wearing teacher, Ishida, looks completely unrepentant as the orange haired headmaster mutters things under his breath.

Why Ichigo had decided to let the Quincy teach Shinigami history, he'll never know. In the future, he'll let Chad teach it instead, and ignore the number of entertainment possibilities in the explanation. It's not worth the headache. His Hollow, catching that thought, pouts. Shinigami are boring as hell (as the phrase goes, since when he was there with the King, it certainly wasn't boring) for all the battles and wars they have.

Of course, some one has to question this defeat and the obvious weakness it shows.

"But Professor, doesn't that make the Gotei weak then? If so few people could defeat it?"

"Well," somebody should really stop Ishida – oh, wait, that'd have to be Ichigo, since Chad and Orihime are off pursuing their own interests, "it would, if one doesn't consider that there was another plot by a traitor occurring simultaneously and that a small strike force works much better for stealth attacks, especially with righteous fury on their side."

Someone – okay, he – should really shut Ishida up.

"Righteous…fury?"

Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose from where they had slipped, before responding. "For many years the Gotei 13 had operated on a very traditional set of rules. Unfortunately, one officer was accused of breaking such a law and the punishment was execution. The leader of the four didn't agree and so, with the other three and a cat, broke into the area predominantly occupied by the Gotei 13, called the Seireitai, and proceeded to rescue their friend. While in the process of rescuing their friend, the four collectively managed to stand against a number of the captains and vice-captains. While they received some assistance from some unexpected allies, it was still a major shock the traditional system, as by all rights none of those who invaded should have been able to given the protections in place and the length of time each had been training."

The bushy haired one continues her questions. "But, doesn't that still demonstrate a massive weakness on the part of the Gotei 13?"

Many of the other students, especially those in blues and greens and browns, seem to agree with the girl.

Ishida, of course, smirks. "It would, if one doesn't consider the number times the invaders nearly or technically died, only to become equally as strong as the captains, and that these same people eventually became an auxiliary portion of the Gotei 13."

For that, Ichigo is going to make Ishida wear a shirt that exclaims "we're here to save your souls" in pink and silver puffy paint. On a white t-shirt. With Kon writing the message. Or at least having far too much say in the outfit.

Revenge will be sweet.

(In all seriousness, he doesn't need these kids knowing exactly what he got up to when he was 15, because Ishida certainly isn't going to be taking credit for the insane stunts he'd pulled (which were admittedly slightly less insane than those that Ichigo himself had performed, but the point stands). The Academy kids are bad enough.)


And I'll see you all tomorrow with the next update (because I actually should be productive tonight, beyond posting this).

Reviews make my day! And don't forget to come and poke me on my tumblr: .com I'm not super active right now, but you'll find the (almost up-to-date) master post of my fics with links.

Edit 3/16/17: Apparently my ability to translate what I'm reading at the time to writing is absolutely horrible. Thanks to the guest who pointed out that it's actually Hado: 31, not Bakudo: 33 (don't know why I thought otherwise)!

~Fins