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 Kurama x Hiei
AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! And finally! Harry!
Phoenix
Chapter 7: To Hogwarts We Go!
Harry looked around him at the train station that morning, waiting for the others to gather their belongings from the Ministry provided limos behind them. Over the years, he had gotten used to getting strange looks from the Muggles around him; after all, who traveled with trunks and owls nowadays? Still, this had to be the first year he did not look forward to returning to Hogwarts. Even though it was a little over two months ago, Cedric's death at Voldemort's hands weighed heavily on his mind. For the first month, he managed not to think, to dream, about what happened that fateful night at the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament; he was still in shock. But now, two months later, rarely a night went by without him dreaming of the shrill voice saying "Kill the spare" and the green light that came with a casting of Avada Kedavra. Invariably, the dreams would then turn to what little he remembered of his parents' deaths that night fifteen years ago, and he would suddenly wake up with tears streaming down his face, hands clenching the sheets so hard that he could have sworn his fingernails had cut through them.
"Oi, Harry! Harry!" Ron shouted, waving a hand in front of bottle green eyes. Harry shook himself out of his thoughts before focusing his eyes on his friend's face.
"What, Ron?" he replied a little groggily. The lack of undisturbed sleep from the past month had taken a toll on the teenaged wizard. The only real blessing, he supposed, was that ever since that dream early in the summer, he had had no more regarding Voldemort and his plans. Of course, just because he had not dreamed of Voldemort's recent activities did not mean that the Dark wizard was taking a break. If the activity reports Harry had eavesdropped on over the last few weeks of summer were right, Voldemort was definitely planning something. And that "something" was big.
"C'mon, we're going leave without you if you keep staring off into space like that," Ron said, giving his cart a push. Realizing that his trunk and Hedwig's cage had also been loaded onto a separate cart, Harry began to push it inside, and towards the familiar barrier in the King's Cross station to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
As expected, many people in the station stared at the strange group going towards the platforms: Tonks had colored her hair a brilliant blue that morning; Hedwig was in her cage, looking dignified as ever; Lupin was looking shabbier than usual, the full moon had passed a few nights ago; and Moody, well, regardless of how Moody was dressed, his fake leg and strange eye always caught stares from Muggles. As usual, they waited until enough people were looking away before they each went through the barrier: first Tonks and Moody, then Harry, Ron, Hermione, George, Fred, Ginny and then finally, Lupin and Mrs. Weasley. The few normal people who had seen the group disappear one by one rubbed their eyes before convincing themselves that they had stayed up too late the weekend prior, and what they really needed was a nice fresh cup of coffee. After all, people did not walk through walls, right? Right?
On the other side of the barrier, in what was seemingly another world, however, Harry was met with more stares. Here, he was a hero. A discredited hero, no thanks to the Ministry's tightly controlled media blitz to keep the general wizarding public unaware of Voldemort's resurrection two months ago, but a hero nonetheless. Glancing around the platform, Harry noticed a strange group of seven people loading their things into the Hogwarts express: Two girls with similar shades of pale blue hair, one teenage girl (or was it boy?) with long scarlet hair – so red that it made Ron's seem positively orange in comparison -, a short black haired boy with hair that stood up on end (Harry had to wonder what spell or gel the boy used to get his hair to do that), another boy about Harry's height with short black hair, a taller boy with red hair much closer to Ron's hair color, and a short – even shorter than the short black haired boy – old woman with faded pink hair. Running through his memories of the past four years, Harry decided that he had not seen this group before, and that even if he did not know them by name at Hogwarts, he could not have possibly missed their presence, especially not the scarlet haired boy. . . girl . . . person. Yes, person would work for the moment, until Harry had a chance to meet this individual and ascertain their gender for himself.
Looking around the platform some more, he also noticed a tall lanky man with short black hair, a loose fitting black shirt, and tight black pants, with another – again, Harry found himself unable to determine the gender of this individual as well; what was wrong with him today? – person with shoulder length wavy aqua hair in white Asian style robes. They were saying goodbye to a child, looking about ten to twelve years of age, with brown hair and wearing a light blue pullover with a pair of shorts. 'Maybe that person with the aqua hair is the kid's mother?'
A gentle tapping on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. "Harry," Ginny gently said, "The train's going to leave soon."
"Oh, right," he mumbled in response, dragging his things into the train. Once inside, Ron and Hermione put on their Prefect badges – a pang of disappointment shot through Harry as he wondered why Dumbledore had not seen him worthy of being a Prefect – and gave him apologetic faces.
"We . . . need to head over to the Prefect car for instructions," Hermione uncomfortably said, knowing that Harry was just as qualified as both of them to be a Prefect. "We'll come find you when we're done."
Harry watched his friends walk off as Ginny grabbed his arm. "C'mon, Harry, let's find a compartment before they're all taken."
As he wandered down the corridor, he noticed all the familiar faces from his past five years at Hogwarts. Some greeted him with a simple "Hi Potter!" some of the Gryffindors with a "Hi Harry!" but others simply looked at him and then turned away, as though they were unsure as to what to think or do regarding the British teen. Harry, on the other hand, while frustrated, found it difficult to find fault with them. After all, how could they, these normal wizarding children, know what it was like to be Harry Potter? To be some kid who always managed to escape the grasp of, arguably, the most powerful and evil Dark Wizard in history by the skin of his teeth?
The compartments in the car they had boarded were full, so Harry and Ginny continued onto the next car. There, Harry once more spotted the strange group he had seen earlier, except this time, the old woman with the faded pink hair was not with them. Spotting a pair of free seats next to the two girls with pale blue hair, and that the short boy with the vertical black hair was sitting on the windowsill, Harry's curiosity piqued again.
"Want to sit here with them?" he quietly asked the shorter girl.
"Sure, but, I wonder who they are? I've never seen them at Hogwarts before, and they certainly look too old to be first years," Ginny replied, glancing at the group. "Well, most of them, anyway."
"Transfer students then?" Harry suggested, even though he did not remember his Hogwarts letter mentioning them this year.
"Maybe," she said, walking forward and opening the door. She asked, "May we sit here with you? The other car was full."
"Oh!" the one with a red clip in her hair exclaimed. "Certainly."
The other one, with her hair in a ponytail, asked, "What are your names? I'm Botan Ueno, and this," she indicated to her friend? Sister? "Is Yukina Koorino." [1] Gesturing to a teenager with gelled hair, "That is Yuusuke Urameshi, and next to him is Kazuma Kuwabara." Turning to the long scarlet haired boy - this time, Harry was sure, given a lack of a certain piece of decidedly female anatomy - she continued, "This is Ku-Shuuichi Minamino, and sitting on the windowsill is Hiei Jaganshi."
"Is he alright sitting up on the windowsill like that?" Harry asked, genuinely concerned. The ledges were narrow, and Hiei was sitting with his right leg up on the sill with his right arm propped up. The boy's left leg dangled off the ledge, barely reaching the floor, and his left arm rested on the leg. In the crook of his right leg and hip, nestled a small white kitten. It was clear that he was delicately balanced on the windowsill and that the smallest jerk on the train could cause him, and the kitten in his lap, to tumble off. Harry got the distinct impression he was being analyzed by the short boy from the way the short . . . teen's brown eyes were boring into him.
"Hn."
"Don't mind Hiei," Shuuichi said smiling, in a voice that Harry could have sworn was vaguely feminine. 'Ok, so maybe he's a she after all?' "Hiei's like that."
"Yeah, he's got a real way with words," Yuusuke chimed in, big goofy grin on his face.
"You look a bit old to be first years," Ginny began. "Are you transfer students?"
"Yes, we are transferring into your Fifth Year classes," the one introduced as Yukina replied with a serene and gentle voice.
"Will you be sorted into Houses?" Ginny excitedly asked.
"Yes," Shuuichi replied. "Can you tell us more about them?"
"Oh sure," Ginny said. "There are four in total, each named for the founders. Students are sorted into Houses based on the characteristics each founder prized. Gryffindor's Head of House is Professor McGonagall and Gryffindor prized bravery in his students. The House animal is a lion, and it's also Harry and my House. Hufflepuff's Head of House is Professor Sprout and Hufflepuff prized hardworking students. The House animal is a badger. Ravenclaw's Head of House is Professor Flitwick, and Ravenclaw prized intelligence in her students. Slytherin's Head of House is Professor Snape, and Slytherin prized cunning in his students. The sorting itself is performed by the Sorting Hat."
"The . . . Sorting Hat?" Yuusuke incredulously echoed.
"Yes, an old hat that looks into your mind and based on your past actions, will determine which House suits you best." Unnoticed by Harry and Ginny, Shuuichi and Hiei exchanged a look at that revelation.
Harry was about to tell them about the ghosts of each House when a knock came at the door. To his surprise, Cho was looking in through the window, with one of her girlfriends from Ravenclaw whose name Harry did not know. Standing, he opened the door. Nervously, he ran a hand through his hair, hoping that it was reasonably neat today. "Um, hi Cho."
She looked down at the ground. Was Harry seeing things, or did her eyes look a little puffy today? "Hi Harry. Um," she looked past his shoulder, and spotted the new transfer students. "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation with your friends."
"Oh, no, they're the new transfer students to Hogwarts," he explained. "Was there something you wanted to talk about?" As soon as that last question came out, he berated himself. 'Stupid Harry! Couldn't you have said something else? Of course she wanted to talk to you! Why else would she be here?'
"Um, it's nothing," she hastily replied, turning to go. "I'll see you at school." As he turned around, shutting the door behind him, he vaguely heard Yuusuke ask something.
"Oh, that's Cho Chang; she's the Seeker for Ravenclaw's Quidditch team."
"Quidditch? What's that?" Kuwabara asked, curious.
"It's complicated, but let's see, it's a wizard sport played with three different balls . . ."
After several hours of Quidditch discussion, and much interest from Botan, the door to the compartment suddenly opened. On the other side, stood none other than Malfoy, Slytherin prefect badge gleaming on his chest, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.
"I had heard," Malfoy drawled, "that we had some foreign transfer students on the train today." Harry was on his feet in an instant, hand on the wand in his pocket.
"What do you want, Malfoy?"
"Well, if it isn't Potter. As you can undoubtedly see," here, Malfoy paused and tapped an index finger on the prefect badge pinned to his robe, "I am a prefect. You," he emphasized the word in an effort to belittle the scarred teen, "are not. I don't like that tone of voice you used with me just now. Five points from Gryffindor." Glancing at the six transfer students and Ginny seated behind him, Malfoy continued. "I am Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin prefect. If you find yourself in need of friends or assistance, feel free to find me. I will be of more help than," here, Malfoy scoffed, gesturing towards Harry and Ginny, "these two here."
"Yes," Shuuichi replied, his voice suddenly silkier, lower, and more threatening. "I believe we've met before." Sidling past Harry, the scarlet haired boy walked up to Draco, and leaned in. "Unfortunately, I think I'll take my chances with," here, Shuuichi imitated Malfoy's scoff and gesture, "these two here, as you so succinctly put it earlier, than you."
Malfoy scowled as his own gestures were imitated back at him, and whirled to leave. "Just remember, who your friends are at Hogwarts matter." He slammed the door even as Shuuichi stood there. The scarlet haired teenager simply caught the door and gently clicked it shut.
Turning around with a bright smile, he asked, "Is he always like that?"
"Oh yes," Harry said, staring at the place where Malfoy once stood. "Always." The incident, though gave Harry something to think about. His first impression of Shuuichi Minamino had been that he was a rather soft spoken, refined, albeit a bit feminine teenage boy. But the way he had threatened Malfoy; there was something unnervingly cold about it, something completely out of character with the mental impression Harry had had of the teenager that made him wonder.
"Potter-kun, something wrong?" Shuuichi asked voice back normal with a look of perfect innocence as though the earlier conversation – if it could be called as much – with Malfoy had not happened.
"It's nothing," Harry replied. 'But what was that earlier? It was like he was someone else just now. Could he be a Dark Wizard?'
Ginny, realizing that Harry was spacing out again, asked, "So, where did we leave off?"
"Oh right," Botan chimed in, "You were explaining some of the special maneuvers in Quidditch!"
Half an hour later, the witch with the tea trolley came by. They each bought some sandwiches and pumpkin juice, and seeing the candies, Harry decided to buy a few.
"I'll have a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a half dozen Chocolate Frogs."
"Every flavor?" Kazuma asked.
"Yep," Ginny replied, "including ones like baked beans and spinach. I think my brother George said he'd had one booger flavored one . . . but I wonder about that sometimes."
Yuusuke and Kazuma looked at each other, and both quickly decided to buy a bag for themselves. Shuuichi bought a few Chocolate Frogs, as did the girls.
"Oh hey, there are cards in these?" Shuuichi asked, surprised. He – Harry had decided that the teenager was decidedly male after all after talking with him for the past few hours - held a card with a picture of Dumbledore on it. "Current headmaster of Hogwarts, renowned as the greatest sorcerer of the present age." Shuuichi nearly dropped the card when the picture waved at him.
Harry laughed, "Don't worry, you get used to the moving pictures after a while. Do they not move in Japan?"
"No," the scarlet haired boy replied. "We're much more discreet with magic over there. We generally live side by side with, what do you call them, Muggles?" Harry and Ginny nodded in response. "Muggles over there. So we use no magic in our daily life, even though we train our skills daily."
"Yuck!" Kazuma suddenly exclaimed as he spat something out the jelly bean he had just put into his mouth. "Ugh, that was just nasty!"
Ginny laughed. "I warned you!" she said between giggles.
"Hn. Stupid oaf."
"Oh yeah? I dare you to try one of these, Hiei!"
Scoffing, Hiei took a yellow bean out of the bag and popped it into his mouth. "Lemon."
Soon, laughter filled the carriage as they all took turns trying the jelly beans of literally every flavor. All too soon, though, night began to fall. "Harry, we should go change into our school robes," Ginny said, standing up.
"We'll see you at school," Harry said, following Ginny out the door. Absently following her, he thought back onto the six new transfer students. Yukina seemed to be a shy, innocent girl, rather different from the other members of the strange group. Botan was just simply energetic with her bubbly personality and animated gestures. Yuusuke was a bit of a punk, but Harry could tell he had a good heart underneath. Kazuma was a bit clumsy, but rather good natured. Shuuichi was quiet and reserved, but clearly had something of a bit of a split personality. Harry was still unsure what to make of that, and Hiei, well, the teenager was someone of surprisingly few words and emotions, preferring to simply look out the window as though he were ignoring everyone else in the car.
As he stepped out of the bathroom after changing, Ron and Hermione rushed up to him. "Sorry for leaving you so long, Harry!" Hermione said, breathless. "We were held up in instructional meetings for prefects."
"We have new transfer students from Japan," Harry said. 'Yes, so held up that Malfoy managed to pay us a visit a little before lunch.' As soon as that thought came to his mind, another struck it down. 'Stop it, Harry! Malfoy probably snuck out or something just to antagonize you as usual.' At that moment, Yuusuke and the others walked up, wearing their school uniforms and robes. One by one, Harry introduced them. "Yuusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Shuuichi Minamino, Hiei Jaganshi, Botan Ueno, and Yukina Koorino, meet Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They're the prefects for Gryffindor this year." Harry tried to keep his voice level at that; a small part of him still resented not being chosen by Dumbledore to be the Gryffindor prefect.
"N-nice to meet you," Hermione said, eyes glued to Shuuichi with a mild blush on her face.
"Oi, Hermione, you alright?" Ron asked. He had noticed her flush, and was concerned for his friend.
Embarrassed at being caught, Hermione quickly turned to face Ron. "I'm fine, Ron."
The train stopped, and they all got off. "Oh, you guys will probably be taking the boats across the lake," Hermione said. "Don't worry about your things; they'll be delivered to your rooms during the feast."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the four students left, the Reikai Tantei all looked at each other. "Well, I guess we better get onto a boat then," Kurama said, leading the way towards the docks.
"First Years over here," an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair said, pipe dangling from her mouth. "Three to a boat. That's it, no pushing. Everyone get in a boat and get in and we'll be on our way."
"Yukina-san!" Kuwabara shrieked, taking her hands in his, "Would you like to share a boat with me?" His face blushed as he asked the little Koorime.
"I would be delighted," Yukina replied. As she stepped to get in, Kuwabara held her hands to help her in.
"If she goes in that boat, I'm coming too," Hiei quietly said, walking over and sitting. Kuwabara scowled; he was hoping that any of the others would be joining him so he could get something resembling quality time with her without Hiei hovering over them.
Kurama simply chuckled in response, knowing exactly why Hiei wanted to stay near the girl. "Yuusuke, I believe you and Botan will be sharing a boat with me then." The kitsune gracefully stepped into a boat, followed by the Spirit Detective and his assistant.
The ride across the lake was uneventful; with his extraordinary youkai vision, Kurama could see that the lake was rather large and deep, and based on the reflections he was seeing, there were probably some sort of magical creatures living in the lake. Several times, he thought he saw tentacles rise out of the water far in the distance, but the lanterns shed relatively little light, and did not allow him to see clearly enough to tell if they were tentacles or merely trees off in the distance.
Once they reached the dock on the other side, they were lead into through the large oak front doors. Inside, a middle aged woman, with black hair pulled into a tight bun, square glasses and dressed in black robes, and a witch's hat greeted them. "The first years and transfer students, Professor McGonagall," the elderly witch that led them said.
"Thank you, Professor Grubbly-Plank. I will take them from here." Turning to the students in front of her, she began. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Her eyes surveyed the group, undoubtedly spotting a few smudges and rumpled clothing.
"I will return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly." [2]
Once she had exited, the students began to examine themselves, making sure their robes were straightened and faces were clean of any smudges. A few moments later, Professor McGonagall returned. "Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony's about to start. You six, the transfer students, wait in the back. You will be Sorted after the first years."
The students nervously filed into the Great Hall, past a large table decorated in green and silver. Yuusuke and the others hung back, and surveyed the scene as they awaited their turn. Professor McGonagall had taken her spot in front of the high table, next to a stool with a ratty old hat on it. Everyone in the hall had fallen silent as a rip opened up in hat and, to the Reikai Tantei's surprise, began to sing.
"In times of old when I was new
And Hogwarts barely started
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted:
United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning,
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
The four good friends decided
And never did they dream that they
Might some day be divided,
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there and so can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name,"
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
And treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light,
For each of the four founders had
A House in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning, just like him,
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,
And taught them all she knew,
Thus, the Houses and their founders
Retained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears.
The Houses that, like pillars four,
Had once held up our school,
Now turned upon each other and,
Divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end,
What with dueling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend
And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.
And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for,
But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,
Though I must fulfill my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within.
I have told you, I have warned you....
Let the Sorting now begin." [3]
A stunned silence and some muttering accompanied the light applause that followed the song, 'A song warning about internal strife? Looks like things are rather grim, despite what their Ministry would have them believe,' Kurama thought surveying the room. He made a mental note to ask about his future House mates about it. A voice spoke out to the hall and shook Kurama out of his ponderings.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." A brief pause followed as the professor unrolled the scroll. "Abercrombie, Euan!"
Kurama watched with interest as the nervous boy placed the hat on his head, and after a few moments, called out "GRYFFINDOR!" at the top of its . . . lungs? Well, it would have been lungs if it had any.
"Amanuma, Tsukihito!" A short brown haired boy walked up to the stool and sat down, like the one before him. The Japanese name caught Kurama's attention as he pondered the possibilities. Perhaps he was the son of a British mother and a Japanese father? It would certainly explain the name and the brown hair. But there was something strange about the boy; something in his aura suggested that he was more than just a regular eleven year old half-Japanese boy starting his first year at Hogwarts. Maybe it was the way the boy walked up to the stool? Or was it the strange pulse in his aura, setting him apart from all the other wizarding children's that was setting off his mental alarms? In either case, Kurama quickly made a mental note to watch the boy in the future. "Slytherin!" the hat shouted.
After watching the hat repeat this process a few more times, he lost interest and began to survey the Hall. On the wall behind the High Table, hung the coat of arms for each of the four Houses: Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor. In front of each of those coats of arms, were the corresponding tables, decked out in that House's colors. At the High Table sat the various staff members. A particularly old wizard with half-moon glasses and a long white beard with a wizard's hat sat in the middle; Kurama instantly recognized him as Dumbledore from his Chocolate Frog card. An empty spot next to Dumbledore indicated where Professor McGonagall would be seated, and at the far end of the table, sat a familiar face: Genkai.
Turning his gaze upward, he noticed that the Great Hall was lit by a large number of candles, all floating high above the students and staff. The ceiling, Kurama saw with delight, had been enchanted to reflect the weather of the current evening's sky: a crisp, clear Fall evening, with stars brightly shining. The kitsune noted with amusement that he could even pick out a few constellations. A drifting motion in the Great Hall caught his attention, and he realized that there were four hazy forms floating in the Hall. Upon closer examination, he realized that they were four ghosts, three men and one woman. The one hovering closest to them wore the clothes of British nobility, and had what appeared to be blood staining the front of his robes. Near the Ravenclaw table hovered a tall woman, elegant in dress. Next to the Hufflepuff table, hovered a fat man, dressed in the robes of a Friar. At the far side of the room, hovered a ghost wearing a doublet, a dashing plumed hat, and a tunic with a ruff. Kurama thought this last ghost looked particularly pompous and silly. Before he had a chance to make more observations, though, a commanding voice called his attention back to the High Table.
"As you all know, we have some new Fifth Year transfer students this year from Japan," Professor McGonagall began. "Without further ado, we will now sort them into Houses as well." Taking a short breath, she called out, "Jaganshi, Hiei!"
Hiei calmly walked up to the stool and picked up the hat. Kurama hid a smile as the short hiyoukai had some trouble shoving the hat on his head over his spiky vertical hair. Silence filled the hall as the hat, or so Kurama thought, appeared to be deep in thought. The mouth that had been shouting House names all evening long was now contorted into an expression of contemplation, as though the hat was unsure of where to place the hiyoukai. Eventually, after a long period of silence, the mouth opened once and shouted, "Slytherin!" The table decked out in green and silver applauded as Hiei removed the hat and replaced it on the stool. The Jaganshi calmly strolled over to the far end of the Slytherin table, and sat down at an empty spot. Seeing that Hiei had been Sorted into the same House as Amanuma, Kurama decided to see about letting Hiei know to keep an eye on the boy.
"Koorino, Yukina!"
The Koorime meekly walked up to the stool and placed the hat on her head. Kurama noticed quite a few blushing boys as they watched the hat sort the short ice maiden, and no one was blushing as red or as brightly as Kuwabara. Glancing over to the Slytherin table, the kitsune had to suppress a laugh as he caught the Overprotective Secret Twin Brother Death Glare of Doom Hiei was attempting to send the entire Great Hall. The Death Glare, of course, was missed by the entirety of the room, as they were too focused on the cute image of the innocent ice maiden with the hat on her head. A few moments passed, and the hat shouted, "Hufflepuff!" The boys at that table cheered as the girls warmly welcomed the girl to their table.
"Kuwabara, Kazuma!"
The carrot-topped human eagerly strode over to the stool and managed to balance the hat over his pompadour. Less than a minute later, the hat called out, "Gryffindor!" The red and gold table cheered loudly as they welcomed the next of the transfer students, and many scooted aside at the middle of the table to make room for the tall human teenager.
"Minamino, Shuuichi!"
All eyes turned to Kurama, as he heard a rush of muttering fill the room. Many questions of "Is that a guy or a girl?" filled the Great Hall. Kurama could not help but twitch an eyebrow as he walked up to the stool. 'What is it with these British teenagers and their inability to distinguish gender?!' Nonetheless, the kitsune managed to keep his face relatively impassive as he sat down and gracefully placed the hat on his head.
"Well, well," the hat said, "interesting mind we have here."
"Ah," Kurama mentally replied, "so you can talk. I was wondering how you sort these children."
"Now let's see, what have we got here?" the Sorting hat mused. "Intelligence, oh yes, no doubt you're a regular Chessmaster type. Bravery, hard work, and a good bit of cunning in there too, I see. You really could do well in any of the Houses, but I get the feeling your pride would suffer if I were to put you into Hufflepuff. You are brave, yes, but hardly reckless. Some would say you look far too long before leaping. Slytherin would be good for you, great way to gain power."
Kurama mentally snorted. "I'm hardly what you'd consider power-hungry."
"Very true, that. And well, from the looks of things, when the chips are down, you rely more on your intellect. In that case, let it be," here, the Sorting hat stopped its mental conversation to shout, "Ravenclaw!"
Taking off the hat, Kurama noted that his tie had turned blue and bronze, and the badge on his chest, which earlier showed the Hogwarts crest, changed to reflect his status as a Ravenclaw student. Cheers erupted from the girls at the blue and bronze decorated table as the youko walked over, and many at the front of the table moved aside to make room for him to sit. Once seated, Kurama mentally sighed. 'I only hope they won't start up yet another Minamino Shuuichi fan club. The one at Meiou Shinritsu Gakuen was bad enough; I don't even want to know what a bunch of witches can do!'
Professor McGonagall waited for the cheers to die down before calling the next name.
"Ueno, Botan!"
Botan merrily bounced over to the stool and plopped the hat on her head. As the hat conversed with her, Botan would emphatically nod, as though agreeing with what it said. "Hufflepuff!" the hat shouted, and again, the Hufflepuff table cheered as they made room for Botan next to Yukina.
"Urameshi, Yuusuke!"
Yuusuke confidently strode over to the stool and the hat, cocky grin on his face as the hat conversed with the de facto leader of the Reikai Tantei. The grin only grew as the hat, Kurama guessed, went over some of the Japanese teen's adventures as a Spirit Detective. After a few more moments of discussion, the mouth opened for the final time that evening to shout, "Gryffindor!" The red and gold decorated table cheered as Yuusuke confidently walked over to sit opposite of Kuwabara at the table.
As Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and the stool to move it aside, Dumbledore stood up from his seat at the High Table to stand at the podium in front of it. Clearing his voice, he spoke, "To our newcomers," here, Dumbledore spread his arms wide with a beaming smile on his face, "welcome! To our old hands – welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!" [4]
With those words, a mix of British and Japanese food magically appeared at the tables. Helping himself to some shepherd's pie, Kurama looked up as a voice asked, "Hey, Minamino, what's it like in Japan?"
To be continued . . .
1) Ueno means upper field and Koorino means field of ice. Koorino for Yukina is self-explanatory; Ueno is in reference to the Reikai being above the Ningenkai. Or at least, that's how it appears, based on Botan flying upward to get Yuusuke to meet Koenma the first time.
2) Taken shamelessly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 7.
3) Song taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm no poet!
4) Also taken directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.