Okay, since in the last chapter I said that chapter five would be the beginning of Hogwarts, I had to fit the entirety of the QWC into one chapter, told in the POV of four different people. Sooooooo hard to write. Over 6000 words. R&R. Anyway. Almost all of the dialogue in here is directly from the book (except for the things that are about Kenshin, obviously). And well, stuff? I'm already thinking about who Kenshin will go to the Yule Ball with. Any ideas? Oh, and oro makes and appearance. xD

I don't own RK or HP.

Chapter Four

When Kenshin awoke the morning the morning of the Quidditch World Cup, he was much less dismayed to see the sun still hadn't quite reached above the horizon than anyone else. The other boys in his room looked at him like he was insane, but he just ignored them. In all honesty, he was generally up at this time anyway and would just sit there waiting for the others to wake up, which sometimes took hours. All the boys dressed in sleepy silence before filing down the stairs to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was stirring something on the stove. Mr. Weasley was sitting at the table, looking at the tickets and wearing normal Muggle wear. He looked strange.

Kenshin was curious to see what this was in first place, since all he'd seen were there kids here flying in a little area of trees. The Weasleys even managed to force him in the air once and he hated it (of course, he didn't admit it was because he was terrified heights; the only other person in the world who'd known that was Tomoe). Even so, he couldn't help but wonder what this would look like professionally. And it would probably be interesting—not that it would be the only that was interesting.

This entire new world still felt strange and bizarre, even if he'd now been here for six weeks. His English was significantly better than when he arrived and he was now completely caught up with first through third year work. Mostly. The people in this house were no longer so overwhelming, even the new arrivals. In the course of two days, the Hermione girl taught him more English words than he learned all summer and Harry seemed nice enough. Still, he didn't talk much, but they talked to him anyway, which was nice. In its own way. At least he was used to it by now.

"What do you think?" Mr. Weasley asked. "We're supposed to go incognito—do I look like a Muggle, you two?" He looked towards Harry and Kenshin.

"Yes," Harry answered with a smile. "Very good." Kenshin just nodded.

"Where's Bill and Charlie and Per-Per-Percy?" said George with a yawn. Ah, the wonders of being abnormal; he was never tired in the mornings.

"Well, their Apparating, aren't they?" said Mrs. Weasley and she poured what he learned was called porridge into a few bowls, leaving out one for him. They'd realized by now that he didn't eat much, which was good, since he didn't want them to make extra food just so he could push himself and still not finish. His master had been right; British food was horrible.

"So their still in bed?" Fred said, eating his porridge. "Why can't we Apparate too?"

"Because you're not of age and you haven't passed your test. And where have those girls got to?" She left the kitchen and could be heard climbing up the stairs.

"How old do you need to learn how to Apparate?" Kenshin asked. By now he knew the term, mostly because of Percy, but he'd never actually bothered to ask.

"Seventeen," answered Ron as Harry said, "You have to pass a test to Apparate?"

"Oh yes," said Mr. Weasley, putting the tickets away in his pocket. "The Department of Magical Transportation had to a fine a couple of people the other day for Apparating without a license. It's not easy, Apparition, and when it's not done properly it can lead to nasty complications. The pair I'm talking about went and splinched themselves."

Everyone around the table except Harry and Kenshin winced. "Splinching" didn't sound nearly as painful as some of the other things that could happen to a person, such as bifurcation.

"Er—splinched?" said Harry.

"They left half of themselves behind," said Mr. Weasley. "So, of course, they were stuck. Couldn't move either way. Had to wait for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad to sort them out. Meant a fair old bit of paperwork, I can tell you, what with the Muggles who spotted the body parts they'd left behind. Are you sure you don't want any, Kenshin?" He held out some of the porridge. Kenshin shook his head. Mr. Weasley was the only one to keep asking, even if it his wife that was always complaining about how skinny he was. "Well, you're loss."

"Were they okay?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes. But they got a heavy fine and I don't think they'll be trying it again in a hurry. You don't mess around with Apparition. There are plenty of adult wizards who don't bother with it. Prefer brooms—slower, but safer."

"But Bill and Charlie and Percy can all do it?"

"Charlie had to take the test twice," said Fred, ginning. "He failed the first time, Apparated five miles south of where he meant to, right on top of some poor old dear doing her shopping, remember?"

"Did everyone in that mall have to get their memory, um, what's the word?" Kenshin paused. "Oh! Get their memory erased?" He might have gotten better, but he still wasn't the best.

"Yes, and the old woman broke her legs. All of that took about five hours to fix," said Mr. Weasley.

"Which made it all the funnier when we heard he failed," said Ron before yawning into his elbow.

"Well, he passed the second time," said Mrs. Weasley as she reentered the kitchen.

"Percy only passed two weeks ago," said George. "He's been Apparating downstairs every morning since, just to prove he can. Barely avoiding Kenshin and Ginny about yesterday. Oh! Speaking of that, watch this!"

For a moment, Kenshin didn't realize what George meant until the finger jammed him in the side.

"Oro!"

His face flooded with color and everyone laughed (except for him, who was too embarrassed).

"See? The kid squeaks!" Fred said, grinning ear to ear. Or, well, as far as it could go without tearing all the muscles in his face.

"Stop poking him," said Hermione as she and Ginny came shuffling down the stairs. "He doesn't like it." George just grinned. Kenshin scooted his chair a bit further away.

"Why do we have to be up so early?" Ginny said as she sat down, conveniently between Kenshin and her brother.

"We've got a bit of a walk," said Mr. Weasley.

"Walk?" said Harry. "What, are we walking to the Quidditch World Cup?"

"No, no, that's miles away," said Mr. Weasley. "We only need to walk a short way. It's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting Muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and on a huge occasion like the Quidditch World Cup—"

"George!" said Mrs. Weasley loudly, causing everyone to jump.

"What?" said George. Kenshin personally thought the innocent voice didn't suit him.

"What's that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!"

Mrs. Weasley pointed her want at George's pocket and said, "Accio!" That was probably one of the hardest spells to learn, but the difficultly level was probably made even worse by Fred, George, and Ron who seemed to enjoy throwing things to confuse him until Mrs. Weasley yelled at them to stop. And he still hadn't learned. Luckily, that didn't exactly matter since Fred later told him they wouldn't learn it until this year anyway. A lot of wasted hours.

Several small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pocket. No matter how many times he tried to catch them, he missed. Mrs. Weasley caught every last one of them. Living here made Kenshin realize that there could be someone even more fearsome than all the groups of people he had to fight during his days as Battousai put together.

"We told you to destroy them! We told you to get rid of the lot! Empty your pockets, go on, both of you!" It took ten minutes for her to extract all of them, leaving everyone else sitting rather awkwardly as they tried not to intervene.

The twins and Mrs. Weasley argued until it was finally time to leave and exiting on that note seemed a little ominous to Kenshin, but he decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing, just formed from the entire uncomfortable situation they were leaving behind and his nervousness about actually going somewhere other than the small village (which he'd seen once, when they'd picked up Hermione three days ago). And this Quidditch World Cup place would be packed with people. Sometimes he wondered if his dislike of crowds had turned into somewhat of a phobia.

The air was still somewhat cold and the moon was still out. If he weren't so used to the darkness, he probably would have stumbled all over the place. A little bit ahead of him, Mr. Weasley and Harry were talking about how half the wizarding world was getting to wherever they were heading. It was interesting, but he'd been explained most of it and what little new information he would have learned he barely understood. Hermione appeared next to him, easily the most awake all of the others.

"Good morning," she said, smiling. He gave a halfhearted smile back, but she seemed to understand it was his way of saying hello. "This is the first time we're actually talking alone, isn't it?" He nodded. "Well, since you're in my year—along with Ron and Harry, but you know that obviously—I thought we should learn a little bit about each other, is that okay?"

Once again, he nodded. "Okay. What do you want to ask?"

"Well, I've just been wondering why you haven't been able to go to a magical school until now, for instance. Instance in the way I'm using it right know is another word for example." Good, that little bit of information was helpful. Adding another word to his mental dictionary.

"There was a mistake. My name was…um, made different?"

"Do you mean changed?"

Kenshin nodded. "Yeah, so they couldn't find me."

"Oh, that's interesting. I'd ask you why, but that's probably a little personal." He nodded; at least someone knew privacy. Oh, but there was something he wanted to ask her. What was it…? "So what's Japan like? I heard it wasn't in such a good state. Bit strange, though, right? I mean, they were still able to continue business like it was nothing. It was just government issues right? Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine." He listened as her breath came out in little pants. Looking around, he realized he was the only one not out of breath. Mr. Weasley was still explaining the transportation to Harry. "Kyoto is in bad shape. I'm from Kyoto. It's ended now though. The Patriots won, so it's better now. Do you know what 'Battousai' means?"

Yes, he would finally get his answer, though he already accepted that it was one he wouldn't like. Hermione's grave expression confirmed his suspicions before she could even say it.

"It means 'man-slayer'," she answered. "That's something you can't learn from a dictionary. I'm still not sure why he was never caught—then again, he's supposed to be the best in the world." It was strange, hearing this from someone with a British accent. Bizarre. And to think his 'fame' had spread all the way here. "And the fact that no one had ever gotten a picture disturbs me. Why did the hitokiri use swords and knifes?"

Kenshin to a moment to remember how to word this. After all, he knew the reason. "With today's, um, sorry, I don't remember the word. Tech…"

"Technology?"

"Yeah. With today's technology, it's easy to learn someone's everyday…actions?" Hermione nodded. If she stuck around him, he'd never get anything wrong. At least he didn't sound like as much of an idiot as he did those first few weeks, when he stumbled over the smallest words. And talking to her was easy, even if he was forced to use a lot of words. "So it's easier to use technology and use secret messages on paper to, um, what's the word?"

"Communicate?"

"I think so." They reached a hill. Everyone but him was getting more out of breath by the second. How was it possible? Then again, he was used to running around a city all night without stopping unless it was to kill a politician. "So you can't be found as easily if you don't use those. And the things that go inside of a—a—" He put out his hands, folding over the fingers, putting his pointer fingers together and placing his thumbs straight up.

"The bullets in a gun?" He nodded, more guessing she was right than actually knowing. It did sound familiar though.

"Yeah, that. The bullets can be followed back to the person who sold them. This can cause the person who uses the gun to be found. You can't follow a cut from a katana or knife back to the person who uses it."

"Hm. Interesting. You know a lot about this, don't you?"

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it!" Two tall figures were standing at the top of the hill.

"Amos!" said Mr. Weasley. Hermione turned to Kenshin, smiling.

"I guess we'll finish this up at the camp." He nodded as an 'okay', shutting up again. Talking was almost exhausting for him, even more so than walking five miles.

"This is Amos Diggory, everyone," said Mr. Weasley. "He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. And I think you know his son, Cedric?"

Kenshin looked up at a very tall boy who was probably around seventeen. Even so, he only went up to about Cedric's shoulder. Damn.

"Hi," said Cedric.

Every said hi back, except for Fred and George for some reason. They were generally the enthusiastic ones. Kenshin just waved.

"Long walk, Arthur?" Mr. Diggory said.

"Not too bad," said Mr. Weasley. "We live just on the other side of the village there. You?"

"Had to get up at two, didn't we, Ced? I'll tell you, I'll be glad when he's got his Apparition test. Still…not complaining…Quidditch World Cup, wouldn't miss it for a sackful of Galleons—and the tickets cost about that. Mind you, looks like I got off easy…" He looked around at all the kids crowding around Mr. Weasley. "Are these all yours, Arthur?"

"Oh, no, only the redheads—except for this one, of course." Mr. Weasley put his hand on the top of Kenshin's head. "This is Kenshin Himura, he'll be joining Hogwarts this year as a fourth year, long story; he's staying with us until then. This is Hermione, friend of Ron's—and Harry, another friend—"

"Merlin's beard." Mr. Diggory's eyes widened. Kenshin never understood why everything was 'Merlin' with wizards, since he never bothered to ask. "Harry? Harry Potter?"

"Er—yeah," said Harry, looking uncomfortable. Luckily for him, though, he didn't need to deal with Mr. Diggory running away screaming. And Kenshin was currently very happy that Harry was famous, because it allowed the attention he normally would have gotten to the 'joining as a fourth year' to be completely avoided.

"Ced's talked about you, of course," he said. "Told all of us about playing against you last year…I said to him, I said—Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will…You beat Harry Potter!" Wasn't that somewhat…rude? Apparently Harry couldn't think of anything to say, since he just stayed quiet. The Cedric kid looked embarrassed.

"Harry fell off his broom, Dad," he mumbled as Fred and George glowered. "I told you…it was an accident…"

"Yes, but you didn't fall off, did you? Almost modest, our Ced, always the gentleman…but the best man won, I'm sure Harry'd say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, you don't need a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

Kenshin looked around as Mr. Weasley broke the awkward silence to ask about some person named Lovegood. Hermione was trying to calm Ron down and Fred and George looked to angry to talk to and Ginny was on the other side of her dad, so he turned to Harry. This probably wouldn't help his embarrassment, but oh well.

"What happened?" Kenshin whispered, curiosity getting the better of him.

"There was a storm," Harry answered quietly. "And these creatures that I'll tell you about some other day. Anyway, I fell off. It's a long story."

"You need to touch the Portkey," Mr. Weasley was saying as he turned to Harry, Hermione, and Kenshin. "That's all. One figure will do."

With extreme difficulty, all ten of them were able to huddle in a circle, touching the shoe. Kenshin was shoved between Cedric and Fred, squished between the two as he wondered if this was what a fly felt like when it was stuck between a swatter and the wall. This was definitely uncomfortable enough.

"Three…" Mr. Weasley said, eye on his watch. "Two…one…"

The moment he said 'one', Kenshin felt like someone grabbed his stomach and yanked him forward. His feet were off the ground and they were speeding away to wherever they were headed and Fred and Cedric were both banging up against him and it vaguely hurt. Then sudden, it was done. His feet slammed to the ground and the Portkey fell. Kenshin landed on his back. Cedric, Mr. Diggory, and Mr. Weasley all stayed standing.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill," said a voice.

------

The Quidditch World Cup was possibly one of the most amazing things Hermione had ever seen and it hadn't even started yet and so far all they were doing was walking around looking at merchandise. Everything was for either Bulgaria or Ireland and all were equally amazing. This entire event was extraordinary and so filled with magic that it was simply spectacular. If

only sporting events in the Muggle world were this amazing.

But of course her wonder was nothing compared to the boy next to her. This was the most alive she'd seen him. Mind, she hadn't known him very long. It was just so strange for him to be starting his fourth year in. And he so quiet and shy, but for once he was actually opening his mouth to ask about things—and there were a lot of things to ask about.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the dancing shamrock in Ron's hand as it did something akin to the Irish Jig.

"This?" Ron said. "It's a clover for Ireland, the team we're hoping will win. They're amazing, you'll love this, I swear! Just ask Harry and Hermione." The two nodded. "And this—" He pointed to a miniature figurine of the Bulgarian seeker, who looked a little angrier than she thought a toy should. "—is Viktor Krum, the seeker of the other team. He's brilliant. If Bulgaria wins, he'll be the only real reason. You remember what a seeker is, right?"

"The one who gets the smallest ball?" Kenshin said, though it was more of a question than an answer. Ron grinned.

"Yeah, you've got it."

"Wow, look at these!" said Harry, hurrying over to a cart. Hermione followed to find what looked like extremely advanced binoculars.

"Omnioculars," said the salesman and then proceeded to explain exactly what they did. "Ten Galleons each!"

"Wish I hadn't bought this now," said Ron, motioning the dancing Shamrock.

"Four pairs," said Harry.

"No—don't bother," said Ron as he blushed.

"Really, don't for me," Kenshin said. "I won't use it. I can't read the plays."

Harry turned back. "Three pairs," he said, ignoring Ron's flustered sputters. The salesman looked saddened that he was getting ten Galleons less than he'd hoped. He handed them out and Harry paid. "You won't be getting anything for Christmas. For about ten years, mind."

"Fair enough," said Ron, grinning.

"Oooh, thanks, Harry," Hermione said. "And I'll get us some programs and we'll head back. Come on!" She led them over to a booth and grabbed four programs—she knew she'd have to help Kenshin with a few words, but oh well, and they left, catching up with the rest of the Weasleys.

"It's time!" said Mr. Weasley, looking excited enough to pop as a gong sounded somewhere behind him. Green and red lanterns blazed to life in the trees, lighting a path to the field. "Let's go!"

They quickly hurried off, going along with the current of people. Kenshin said something that she couldn't hear. "What?" she asked, moving in a little closer.

"I said it's brighter here than it is in Kyoto," he repeated, still looking around at all the people. His face looked a little pale and he kept stepping out of the way of people. "And even more crowded."

The exited the field and Harry turned to Hermione, smiling widely. She smiled back because this excitement was like some happy disease that no one wanted a cure for. She hooked her elbows around Ron's and Harry's as the all walked off. The stadium was easily one of the largest things she'd ever seen and she was in awe of it.

"Seats a hundred thousand," Mr. Weasley said. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anyway near all year, they'd suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away…bless them." He led them off the nearest entrance.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch when she checked the tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high up as you can go."

Inside the stadium was just as amazing as the outside; even the seats were made impressive by rich purple carpeting. They followed the rest of the crowd as it gradually thinned. They finally reached the top and saw they had what were easily had the best seats in the house. They could see everything—the two goal posts at equal distances, all of the hundred thousand witches and wizards down below, the gold glow that illuminated everything, and the gigantic blackboard that flashed different advertisements.

Suddenly, she heard Harry's voice behind her say, "Dobby?" She turned around immediately because though she'd heard a lot about him, she'd never actually met him.

"Is that a person?" Kenshin whispered from next to her as the little creature who evidently was not Dobby spoke the squeakiest voice Hermione had ever heard.

"Yes, but she isn't human," Hermione whispered back. "She a house-elf, a sort of servant to wizards. It's truly unfair, because they receive no pay whatsoever."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" said the elf. "My name is Winky, sir—and you, sir—You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" said Winky.

"How is he? How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir." Winky shook her head sadly. "Ah, sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir. Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"How many times do house-elves say 'sir'?" Kenshin asked from next to her, but she couldn't tell if was a serious question or not. Ron laughed quietly.

Winky's voice went even squeakier. "He is wanting paying for his work, sir?"

"Look, she did it again!" Ron said, laughing quietly, so Hermione missed the next thing Harry said. It shouldn't be bad to be paid for your work. These house-elves had such a warped view of labor. One day she'd figure out what to do about it. And then Winky went on then prove the house-elf warped view of labor by saying they don't want them. Sad things.

"Well, it's what their taught to do," Hermione said. "It's slavery!"

Winky stopped talking. Harry turned around. "So that's a house-elf?" Ron said. "Weird things, aren't they?"

"Dobby's even weirder," said Harry. Hermione frowned, thinking that if it was odd to want pay, then all house-elves deserved to be a little stranger.

"Wild!" Ron said suddenly. Looking over, she saw that he was testing out his Omnioculars. "I can make that old bloke down there pick his nose again…and again…"

Hermione ignored him and flipped through her program. "'A display from the team mascots will precede the match'," she read aloud.

"What does precede mean? And mascots?" Kenshin asked. It seemed he spoke them most when he didn't understand something. She wished he would talk more so that it didn't seem like he isolated himself so much. Hopefully he'd end up in Gryffindor so the three of them could help him out.

"Precede means to come before something else," she answered. "And mascots are just the things that represents the teams."

"Oh, that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native lands, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

Hermione continued to point out and explain certain words to her newest friend, sometimes with the help of a few of the others (which she personally thought must have made it even more confusing) as the box slowly flooded with people. When the Malfoys came, though, even she turned around to look. Instant tension fell over the room.

"Those are the Malfoys," Harry said to Kenshin under his breath. "Stay away from them at all costs. Draco's in Hogwarts, in Slytherin. You better hope you don't get into that house."

"There's a hat that puts you where you go, though, right?" he said. "What if it puts me there?"

"The moment you get there, beg not to be put in. I'll explain how it works later."

"Okay…" Hermione looked over, curious.

Mr. Malfoy said, "Good lord, Arthur. What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched them much."

Fudge, who appeared not to have heard, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How—how nice," said Mr. Weasley with a fake smile.

Mr. Malfoy turned his eyes to Hermione and she looked back at him, gaze unwavering. Then he turned his eyes to Kenshin, eyes on the odd X-shaped scar on his cheek that he simply refused to talk about. For a moment, Hermione expected him to shrink back from the stare (he seemed the type for the some reason), but he just looked back, eyes blank. Eyes…for a second there, they looked yellow. She did a double take, only to see that they were still that odd bluish-purple.

"I see that you the new boy I've heard about," he said, voice quiet but still loud that they could hear it. "I hope to hear that you make the…right choices in school, boy." His eyes went back to the scar. Then he just walked away.

"Why did he keep looking at your face?" Fred asked. The others leaned over to look.

"I don't know." Kenshin shrugged. "He was talking to me."

Hermione had the distinct feeling that he was avoiding the question.

----

"Why were you able to avoid the veela?" Harry asked, still feeling slightly embarrassed about the whole incident with he and Ron. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ginny and Hermione roll their eyes. Girls.

Kenshin shrugged as Mr. Weasley said, "That's because he listened to me when I told him to shut his ears."

"Hey, Dad, you didn't say that the first time!" said Ron, ears going pink

"Yes, he did, Ronald," Percy said, looking impatient. They bickered all the way down the steps and by the time they reached the campsite again, all the Weasley brothers had joined in.

"So what did you think of the game?" Harry asked the newest and unrelated redhead. He looked up and blinked. It took a moment before he answered.

"It was fun," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Harry almost asked if he'd ever seen Quidditch in Japan before he remembered that this was his first year as a wizard. At least Harry found out when he was eleven, and did all his years. Kenshin was starting in his fourth. And he barely spoke English. He was very, very glad he was never in the position before.

They all went to bed the moment they reached the tents and climbed into their bunks. Harry shut his eyes immediately and went off daydreaming. There he was, playing Quidditch, with the professional robes, his names written on the back. Ludo Bagman was announcing his name. Right before it became actual dreaming, his eyes fluttered for just a moment and saw that the new kid was sleeping upright against the wall. Then his eyes dropped again and he was asleep.

It felt like only a minute later that Mr. Weasley was shouting.

"Get up! Ron—Harry—come on now, get up, this is urgent!"

Harry sat up quickly. "S'matter?" he said, still half dreaming. Vaguely, he was aware that something was wrong because the screaming around the campsite went from excited to scared. He went over to reach for his clothes, but Mr. Weasley said, "No time, Harry—just grab a jacket and get outside—quickly!"

The sight outside of the tent terrified him—people were running, shouting and a group of wizards were huddled closely together, dressed in cloaks and above them, in midair, were four struggling figures. With a jolt of horror, he realized two things at once: first, that two of the figures were children and second, that the man was Mr. Roberts, campsite supervisor.

"That's sick," said Ron. "That is really sick."

Hermione and Ginny came towards them, along with Mr. Weasley right behind them. Bill, Charlie, and Percy exited the boys tent, fully dressed and their wands held out. Next to him, it looked like Kenshin went to reach for something on his left side and stopped, as if he suddenly changed his mind. He looked crestfallen.

"What's wrong?" he shouted over the noise.

"Nothing," the other boy answered. "Just if I were still in Japan…"

It was left at an odd statement just as Mr. Weasley said, "We're going to help the Ministry! You lot—get into the words, and stick together. I'll come and fetch you when we've sorted this out!"

The adults ran off and after a moment of standing there, everyone else left for the woods. The feeling of passing through was completely different; it had gone from infectious excitement to infectious fear. They were all being pushed back and forth by the herd of people running by. Ron suddenly gave out a cry of pain.

"What happened?" came Hermione's voice. Harry walked into her, which caused Kenshin to bump into him. Something in Japanese was mumbled and it was probably some swear word. "Ron, where are you? Oh, this is stupid—lumos!"

Hermione directed the thin beam across the path, where Ron was lying on the ground. He gingerly tried to get up.

"Tripped over a tree root," he said angrily.

"With feet that size, hard not to," said an all too familiar voice behind them. The four turned around sharply. Draco Malfoy was standing there, alone, against a tree, like nothing was wrong.

"Fuck off." Ron glared at him and Harry found himself wonder why Malfoy didn't have holes in his face yet.

"Language, Weasley," said Malfoy. "Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like them spotted, would you?" He nodded to Hermione and Kenshin. Something sounding somewhat like a bomb sounded from the campsite.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione said. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Kenshin's flash almost yellowish. But then it went away and he realized that it must have been just the fire reflecting. The other boy winced and his hand went to his head. Malfoy looked amused.

"Granger, they're after Muggles," said Malfoy. "Do you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around…they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh. And new kid, great why to start the year, right?" He grinned.

"Hermione's a witch and he's a wizard. Leave them alone," Harry answered, annoyed. That sick bastard.

"Have it your own way, Potter." Malfoy continued to smile. "If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

"Watch your mouth!" Ron yelled.

"Never mind, Ron," said Hermione as she grabbed Ron's arm, keeping him away from Malfoy before he could start a fight. There was another bang from the campsite, louder than before. People screamed.

"Scare easily, don't they? I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to—trying to rescue the Muggles?"

"Where are your parents? Out there wearing masks, are they?"

"Well…if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Oh, come on," said Hermione with a filthy look at Malfoy. "Let's go find the others—Kenshin, are you okay?"

Malfoy said something else, probably some insult, but they ignored him and walked away.

"Hm?" The boy looked at her. "Oh, just had a sudden, um…?"

"Headache?" Kenshin nodded.

"I beat you anything his dad is one of that masked lot!" said Ron, still seething.

"Well, with any luck the Ministry will catch him," said Hermione. "Oh, I can't believe this. Where have the others got to?"

Fred, George, and Ginny had disappeared, making the situation seem even worse. The path was overcrowded with nervous people. A group of teenagers were arguing a little down the path. When they spotted the group of four, one girl turned around and said, "Où est Madame Maxine? Nous l'avons perdue—?"

"Er—what?" said Ron, looking baffled.

"Oh…" The girl turned back to her friends. "'Ogwarts."

"Beauxbatons," said Hermione.

"Sorry?" said Harry.

"They must go to Beauxbatons. You know…Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. I read about it in An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe."

"Oh…yeah…right."

"Fred and George can't have gone this far," said Ron, pulling out his wand and lighting it. Kenshin took his out and did the same. The lights illuminated their faces, outlining them in shadows so every feature became a sharp angle. Harry dug in the pockets of his jacket for his own want, only to find it was missing.

"Ah, no, I don't believe it…I've lost my wand!"

"You're kidding!"

His friends raised their wands and spread out the narrow beams of light to search the ground. He didn't see it.

"Maybe it's back in the tent," said Ron.

"May it fell out of your pocket when we were running?" Hermione said.

"One of them is probably right," said Kenshin. "What else could have happened to it?"

"Yeah. Maybe…" He felt strange, because he normally kept his wand on his at all times.

There was a rustling sound a bit behind them. Suddenly Winky came running out of the bushes nearby, but she seemed as if she was having difficulty, since she was running as if something was gripping her from behind. Harry saw Kenshin do a double-take, almost like saw that someone else was there, then made a confused face and relaxed. Strange kid.

"There is bad wizards about!" she squeaked. "People high—high in the air! Winky is getting out of the way!" And she disappeared.

"What's up with her?" said Ron, watching her leave. "Why can't she run properly?"

"Bet she didn't ask permission to hide," Harry answered. Somehow, that small statement sparked a Hermione rant.

"Hey, I've been wondering since we saw that other boy," Kenshin said from behind him, causing Harry to jump. He hadn't even heard him. "What does 'Mudblood' mean? Ron seemed mad."

Mad. What an understatement. Then again, his English was pretty limited. "It's a bit of a bias term—offensive to a group of people," he added, realizing that a word like 'bias' wasn't something he would know. "It's meant for people with Muggle parents. Wizards are divided into purebloods, which means from an entirely magical family, halfbloods, meaning one Muggle parent and one wizard parent, and Muggle borns. Some purebloods, mostly those in Slytherin, think that being a Muggle born is a bad thing. Just hope the Hat doesn't put you in that house."

Saying that, it dawned on him that there was probably some truth to what Malfoy said—Hermione and Kenshin probably were in more danger than they were.

"What if it does?" Kenshin asked. Harry sighed.

He said, "Listen, I've never told this to anyone before, not even Ron or Hermione and I don't feel like anyone else knowing. Can you just not mention it?" Kenshin nodded. "Okay. Well, when I was a first year, the Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin but I kept on saying that I didn't want it, so it put me in Gryffindor. It turned out to be a good choice, too, since I'm much more a Gryffindor than I am a Slytherin. Maybe if you just beg to be in our house, it'll let you. I suppose how many traits you show and how badly you want it."

In response, the only thing he got was a nod. Harry personally believed that there was no way he would get into Slytherin, or even Hufflepuff—not evil enough and not…wallflower enough. If he had to guess, it would probably be Gryffindor anyway, Ravenclaw at most.

A little while later, further down the path, they passed a group of boys and three veela. The boys were bragging, saying the most ridiculous things. One Harry even recognized—the conductor of the Knight Bus, something he wished to next ride again. Then Ron yelled something about inventing a broomstick that would reach Jupiter, but Harry wasn't really listening. They walked away until they stopped in a little clearing next to the path to stop.