Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho or Harry Potter nor do I make any money from this piece of fan fiction.

Reader Warnings: Shounen-ai, lime, language, pairings: all standard canon pairings, Koenma x Botan, and Hiei x Kurama

AN: Let's pick up the pace a little, shall we? And a little fluff for our favorite youkai couple! Just to keep things simple, I'm going to give them intelligent translators, so none of that computer-style translating going on. And thanks again to my beta, nairb85!

Phoenix

Chapter 4: Summer

The past month and a half flew by in a flurry of lessons on spells and history. While Yuusuke and Kuwabara fell asleep through the history lessons, they were most certainly awake for the practical spell lessons. Genkai had been, as expected, a grueling and harsh teacher, and who knew she had a supply of training wands sitting around? One of the first lessons they were taught was in how to control their ki. "Magic in the Western sense," she had said that first day she started their training, "is merely using a talisman to amplify a person's ki. The spell simply a command to the talisman to do what the person wished. As a result, very little ki is needed to get the desired result, and the first lesson they must learn is to control their ki. Send in too much ki at once, and you're liable to break the wand, especially one that is not yours."

That first day was a bit of a disaster, as Yuusuke destroyed two practice wands – small sticks of ki-sensitive wood that broke when two much was put into it - before Genkai sent him to the back of the temple to train on reducing the power of his Reigun to the point where it would not bend a simple blade of grass. The blade, of course, was supplied by Kurama, so as to allow it to sit perfectly straight in the wind and to allow exact measurement of how much the blade of grass moved. It took Yuusuke two weeks before he could master the feat.

Then there was the issue with the spells. The pronunciation of those names was almost impossible to the native Japanese speaker, and the wands would recognize the command half the time. This led to a great deal of frustration on Yuusuke and Kuwabara's part; Hiei and Kurama, on the other hand, as a result of their knowledge of a large variety of ancient languages, had relatively little trouble. After all, it did a professional thief no good to go breaking into a vault only to find that you had mangled the pronunciation of the password or phrase and set off every trap behind the door and destroyed the valuables inside.

Yukina and Botan were utterly worn out by Genkai's grueling schedule, but the girls were resilient and adapted fairly well. Perhaps it was due to her nature as a healer and a Koorime, but Yukina had managed to master a few advanced ice and healing spells too. Kuwabara had been very proud of her that day, and Hiei had even congratulated her, saying that now she would have other means of defending herself.

And so, by the time it was time to leave, six tired teenagers (or so four of them appeared, anyway) and one short old sensei prepared to leave. They all packed up, making sure they each had their letters, which turned out to be official letters from this Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Magic for school supplies, and were pleasantly surprised to meet Koenma in the courtyard.

"One last thing before you go," teenage Koenma said. He held out a box and removed the lid. "They're translators."

"Thank you, Koenma-sama!" Botan shouted, hugging her employer. Koenma looked mildly uncomfortable, a light blush dancing on his cheeks. Inside, there were two stud earrings, two bracelets, and two necklaces.

"There are six of them, in three different styles. They have to touch skin to work," Koenma explained. The two girls each grabbed a bracelet, taking turns putting them on each other. To their surprise, the bracelets shrank to accommodate their slender wrists. The four guys looked at each other, two silently wondering which of the remaining items would leave them with most of their masculinity intact.

Hiei and Kurama shrugged at each other before they both reached for an earring. Walking off to the far side of the room for a little privacy, Kurama further inspected it. Seeing that they were for pierced ears, Kurama pulled a thin pointed stem from his hair before pausing to whisper, "Which ear, Hiei?"

"Right." The answer came without hesitation.

"You sure? There are certain . . . connotations in the Ningenkai regarding a piercing in that ear[1]," Kurama replied. "They're not taken lightly either."

Hiei shrugged in response. "The only person who matters knows; who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"

Kurama gave a small smile as he replied, "I suppose that is true." He gently took Hiei's right earlobe and pierced it. A quick glance told him that Yuusuke and Kuwabara were still whining about the necklaces they were stuck with and had the others sufficiently distracted to avoid giving the two of them any attention. The kitsune bent over and gave the hiyoukai's gently bleeding ear a gentle suck to stop the bleeding before taking the earring in his hand and putting it on.

Hiei took the small stem from Kurama's hands before gently pulling the kitsune down to return the favor. "Which side, Kurama?"

The kitsune gave a bright smile in return. "Right, of course."

Hiei gives a small smile as he pierces Kurama's ear. Gently sucking on it to stop the bleeding, the fire youkai put the earring on Kurama before brushing the youko's lips with a quick kiss.

"C'mon, let's go," Genkai says. "The Ministry of Magic official has just arrived with our Portkey."

A clean cut man with a briefcase in one hand walked up to them, bowing low before Koenma and giving another bow – albeit less low[2] – to Genkai. "This briefcase will be your ticket to Diagon Alley in London, England," he began. "Inside are also various pieces of information regarding this mission, including the information for your joint bank account. Consider the money advance payment for your services. We would also like to remind you that we officially have no knowledge how youkai managed to slip through our network and that we only sent seven humans to Hogwarts."

There was no mistaking the meaning behind that last statement. It was clear that should anyone broadcast the truth about Hiei, Yukina, and Kurama, they were up a creek without a paddle. At least, as far as governmental assistance is concerned.

"There is also your official Japanese Ministry of Magic papers inside. Do not lose them; they are your form of identification in the wizarding world over there. The papers also state that the eyes of Jaganshi Hiei, Koorino Yukina, and Ueno Botan are brown."

"Yes, yes," Genkai mutters as she walks up to the three. "Red eyes, or any shade close to it, are considered demonic in England. They've got their underwear in such a knot over there that your eyes alone are going to cause trouble to the mission. Learn the incantation well!" She muttered something low to the three and their eyes changed from red – pink in Botan's case – to a far "safer" brown. Kurama could only sigh in disappointment. He'd miss those ruby orbs staring back at him for the rest of the mission. 'Damn these humans and their prejudices,' the kitsune thought.

"Good luck on your mission. We expect to hear back from you."

"Grab on tight to the briefcase and your belongings," Genkai instructed, "wouldn't want to lose one of you before the mission even started."

They all huddled around the briefcase, each holding on to a section. A few moments passed, and they all suddenly had a sensation of being pulled by their navels. It had been close to nine in the evening when they left Genkai's temple, but it was clear that it was early afternoon, maybe just after lunch in this strange place. Genkai sighed as she handed the briefcase off to Yuusuke as they all hauled their bags. She stopped at a place called The Leaky Cauldron and walked in.

"Hello there, good sirs and ladies, what can I do for you today?" the barkeep cheerfully greeted as the seven weary travelers walked into the tavern.

"Four rooms," Genkai immediately replied. "For two nights."

"Ah," the barkeep responded, as though he knew exactly what to expect. "Your rooms have already been prepared. Rooms 101-104, just go upstairs and to the left." He slid seven keys onto the counter, 1 pair each for rooms 101 to 103 and a single key for room 104. Genkai took the key for 104, the girls took a key each for room 103, Hiei and Kurama shrugged as they each took a key for 102, leaving Kuwabara and Yuusuke to share room 101. "Breakfast starts promptly at 8am, ends at 10am. Bathrooms are communal, separate ones for men and women on opposite ends of the hall[3]."

They wearily trudged up the stairs, keen on dropping off their luggage. They all met downstairs fifteen minutes later. "Now what?" Yuusuke asked, yawning.

"Now we go shopping. First stop, Ollivander's."

To be continued . . .

Notes for this chapter:

1) Piercing the right ear: Based on a little research I did on wikipedia, men who pierce only the right ear are supposedly "advertising" that they are homosexual. Kurama would know this as a result of "growing up" in the Ningenkai, but I see Hiei as one to not care that he was broadcasting this. Whether I opt to make this a huge deal is up in the air.

2) Difference in bows: How low a person bows in Japanese culture is a sign of respect. Therefore, it makes sense that the Ministry official, having contact with the Reikai and would therefore know Koenma's position, to bow lower to Koenma than Genkai. Despite his toddler and somewhat immature ways, he is a deity after all.

3) Internal description of the layout of The Leaky Cauldron: I'm not sure if JKR ever described the "inn" portion of The Leaky Cauldron, so I am making this up. If, however, she does, please let me know (preferably nicely!) in a review, and I will correct this.

That's all for notes this chapter, leave me a review!