Here's the new instal of Aiji! Wow, one more chapter and I'll be hitting the double-digits. Hehe... I hope everyone likes this new chapter.

Um, I'm having the girls assert themselves more in this chapter than before. Let me know how you guys think about that. Personally, I like how my girls are developping into a team. And Kazutoshi is hilarious in his own way.

Yuusuke: That's nice. I'm glad Aiji's growing into herself and all. But when the Hell am I gonna finally screw fox-boy?!

Oi, Yuusuke, what are you doing with that reigun... no, no, don't do that!

Ahem, I'll get to the Kurama/Yuusuke development soon. Hopefully.

Oh, just read the damn thing! (wink)

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Three large muzzles with far too sharp teeth. Huge paws with black claws sticking out. Thick mud-colored fur bristled. And worst of all, no collar.

Sally-Anne loved dogs, her cherished Afador (1) back at her home was testament of that. However, even this dog-lover knew better than to approach an attack dog when it felt threatened, particularly if it was of the Cerberus breed.

Just as she was inching to the door, slowly so as to not startle the canine, she heard Aiji and Daphne squeal, "It's soooo cute!!"

Aiji was walking confidently towards the cerberus, Daphne only three steps behind her. Sally-Anne slapped Lythiel's mouth shut when the blonde was about to shout after them and gave Kazutoshi a glare. The best way to make the dog feel even more threatened was to scream. Nope, what they wanted was for the dog to relax.

"Aren't you good boy," Aiji cooed. 'Wait… cooed?' Sally-Anne, Lythiel, and Kazutoshi blinked, 'Aiji can coo?'

The cerberus snarled a bit when Aiji came within two feet from it. Surprising everyone, Aiji just looked at the middle head in the eye. 'Oh, Hell no,' Sally-Anne mentally groaned, 'You do not look a dog, or any animal for that matter, in the eyes. That's challenging them!'

"Sit, boy," Aiji enunciated clearly. The cerberus growled, but it wasn't as aggressive as it was a few seconds ago.

Lythiel and Kazutoshi were about to move until Sally-Anne shook her head. "She's establishing herself as the Alpha," Daphne murmured from a safe distance.

The three heads closed in on Aiji, but she stood her ground. She lifted her wrist to the closest muzzle, intending for the canine to sniff it. Perhaps it was the confidence in her, or maybe there wasn't an air of desperation or hurry like in that man with the purple-furred head, but the cerberus sniffed the proffered wrist with its left head.

Seeing the act of obedience, Aiji lifted her other hand, slow enough that the dog saw its ascension, and started to pet the left head with a seldom used gentleness.

At her friends' (and enabler) flummoxed expressions, Aiji laughed, "This ain't an attack dog. Trust me, after dealing with those in the Makai, I'd recognize one in a heartbeat."

"B-b-b-but Aiji!" Lythiel chocked out, "It's a bleedin' cerberus! They aren't depicted in muggle myths as the guardians of the Underworld for nothing!"

"And Dobermans were originally bred to be attack dogs," Sally-Anne said, catching on to what Aiji was saying, "However, that doesn't mean that they can't be domesticated. This is the equivalent of putting a domesticated Doberman in the position of a guard dog and using the breeds' reputation to scare away everyone else."

"Or in certain cases, cause the dog to fight back," Kazutoshi said, "I mean, think about it. Dogs don't understand human speech unless if they're trained, but they are empathetic enough to understand what humans are feeling. Therefore, if someone runs away from it, the dog, even if it is a domestic one, will become suspicious and attack. If the humans attack it, then of course it will fight back. Ingenious."

"Now who could've mistaken this ickle baby for a nasty attacker," Daphne crooned as she also lifted her wirst and caressed the back of the middle head's ears, "See? It's so tame!"

Now that the three heads weren't snarling and threatening to eat them for breakfast, Sally-Anne did have to admit that the cerberus was adorable. Her inner dog-lover squealed when she repeated the same process as her friends and the right head began to nuzzle her free hand.

Soon enough, the cerberus was nuzzling and licking the girls' faces. Kazutoshi could only shake his head and mentally remind himself to put this memory in a pensieve. He'd laugh for an hour then, when he wasn't so shocked. Lythiel was inching towards a wooden trapdoor near the cerberus' paw. Obviously, she was the only one that kept the main objective in the front of her mind.

"Oi, Ly!" Aiji called out, "C'mere a sec, and say hello to Pochi!"

Lythiel looked like she had been slapped with a bouquet of daisies, "Pochi?" she hated that her voice squeaked.

"It's the most common name for a dog in Japan," Kazutoshi snorted, laughter leaking out. He was straining with the effort not to roll around the room in laughter… really, who names a cerberus Pochi?

Lythiel was about to object but Daphne put her face next to the middle head's and pouted, "What, don't you want to pet Shayla? She'll get very sad if you reject her."

Shayla? Kazutoshi trembled from the suppressed laughter after he took a peek between the cerberus' hind legs. 'Poor thing, undermined and emasculated all in one go.'

Sally-Anne made kissing noises and had the right head licking her face, "Aw, you're sweet, aren't you Chablis?"

"Chablis?" Kazutoshi snickered, "Like the wine?"

"No, like the region in Burgundy, France, you ignoramus," Sally-Anne didn't take her eyes off of 'Chablis,' "Despite its associations, Chablis is a nice sounding name. Isn't it, sweetie?" she got dog-kissed in return.

Just like that, the tiny, itsy, bitsy insignificant straw broke the camel's back. Kazutoshi howled and clutched his stomach as tears fell down his cheeks. His knees buckled and he fell to the floor, his right hand started beating it.

Lythiel sighed, 'It's hard being the only sane one.' Nevertheless, she indulged, as usual, Daphne's request. Once she started scratching behind 'Shayla's' ears, she found herself agreeing with her friends. The cerberus was too cute for words, especially when its tongue lagged out and it looked at them with puppy eyes.

"Um, not to destroy this Hallmark moment," Kazutoshi managed to say with a quasi-straight face, "but what about whatever Pochi, Shayla and Chablis were guarding?"

The three heads seemed to almost regain their previous hostility… but the rubbing felt soooo good. Oh yes, that nice Alpha female knew just how to stroke the ears. The brown furred one was far too affectionate to be a threat. The little one was a bit stern but kind. And the bigger yellow furred one couldn't be a danger what with how attentive and loving she was.

Daphne began to hum a bit, it was off-key and the song was unrecognizable from the original, but it did its job. Not only did it calm the cerberus, but each of the heads started drooping, almost like they were going to fall asleep. "Alright, who knows how to sing or play an instrument?" Lythiel asked.

"Fast paced or slow?" Aiji asked.

"Slow just incase," Sally-Anne said, "We want them to sleep, not dance."

"Damn," Kazutoshi grinned as he opened the trapdoor, "Guess I can't do Orgasm."

Sally-Anne, Lythiel, and Daphne stilled. Aiji cocked her head, "Huh, never thought you'd be the type to listen to visual-kei."

"Eh, I get that a lot," he shrugged, "But what's not to like about X Japan."

"Always was partial to fast paced music myself," Aiji nodded, "But it's not like Pochi here can appreciate it now, we need the whole band for him to experience a proper metal song."

"There's always Rose of Pain, the capella version is pretty slow at times, at least compared to the other X Japan songs," Kazutoshi said while gently ruffling the fur on top of 'Pochi's' head.

"Nah, it's mostly instrumental, so it won't do," Aiji shook her head.

"Aiji, Kazutoshi," Sally-Anne smiled a little too sweetly, "Shut up and sing, or hum if you prefer!"

Aiji just started to hum the first thing that came to her mind… which happened to be Summertime from the anime "Dirty Pair." It was lower keyed, because she wasn't even attempting to sing out the high notes, and kept the upbeat rhythm. Despite the fact that Aiji was off-key on many occasions, the cerberus seemed to appreciate the effort. Daphne joined in, despite not knowing the song, by humming the beat, incorrectly at that.

'Maybe it would have been kinder for Chablis if I had sung the Marseillaise,' Sally-Anne sweatdropped.

Kazutoshi refrained from teasing the girls about their lack of musical talents. For some odd reason, the cerberus seemed to value the garbled sounds the girls were making. Yep, no matter its outward appearance, that was one sweet and tolerant dog.

The cerberus let out three simultaneous yawns. Softly nudging the girls away, it curled around itself and rested all three heads on top of his paws.

"Aw," Sally-Anne felt a string of homesickness. She wondered when she could go home and play with her little Sultan… well, he wasn't little anymore, but the Afador would always be little to her since she'd always remember how tiny he was when she first got him as a puppy.

Kazutoshi signaled the girls towards the trap door. Sally-Anne took out her wand and sent a small ball of light downwards. It seemed like a big fall until there was something dark green that recoiled from the light. "Anyone know any cushioning charms?" Sally-Anne asked.

Lythiel took Sally-Anne's wand arm and performed the movements until she was certain that Sally-Anne could repeat it without help. "Since we don't know what's down there," Lythiel said, "We'll have to cushion ourselves instead of the place where we will fall. The incantation is Chlustog and be sure to point where you want there to be cushions."

Kazutoshi whistled, "Impressive, not that many people bother with Welsh spells since we have more than enough Latin ones. If I recall, we didn't learn about cushioning spells until at least second year."

"There was no Latin version for cushioning a person's body," Lythiel shrugged, "The only Latin spells I could find were about cushioning the place where the body would fall, the place where someone would sit on… it didn't seem practical to leave it at that since one can never know when the body needs protection without knowing where one will land, so I just searched for a spell that would do it and I found that one."

He nodded in understanding, pointed his wand at Sally-Anne's lower body and "Chlustog."

She jumped and glared, "Chlustog!"

Kazutoshi, much to her chagrin, didn't so much as twitch, "Not the first time I had that cast on me, love."

"I take it that it was mandatory to learn that spell?" Lythiel tried to keep herself from reacting to Sally-Anne's cushioning charm. She still jumped a bit, despite the warning.

"I'm afraid that not all of us are superhuman like the Urameshi gang," Kazutoshi smirked, "Or is it stubborn to the point of stupidity?"

Aiji glared and stopped singing for a bit to send him the middle finger. She only twitched at Sally-Anne's spell and resumed singing when Daphne yelped at the spell.

"I'll go first, since I am the eldest and the one responsible," Kazutoshi met Aiji's glare with a stony glance of his own. Brave man. "Urameshi and Greengrass-kun should go last since their… concert is keeping the guard asleep."

/I hope you stub your toe/ Aiji sang.

Kazutoshi grinned then made himself as thin as possible and fell down the trapdoor. He fell, and fell, and fell, and fell, and he was getting a bit annoyed at the lack of landing until…

SQUASH

Luckily whatever he fell on was squishy and soft, so the impact to his back was non-existent thanks to experience. Feeling the texture, he could tell that it was a plant of some sort, 'Great, Herbology, one of my favorite subjects.'

"Put the cushioning charm on your backs as well!" he yelled to the top. He moved a bit and a few moments later heard a familiar squash nearby. He couldn't see in the darkness but he noticed the thick braid, Lythiel then.

A few minutes later, Sally-Anne, then Daphne, and then Aiji joined the circus without pause. By that time Kazutoshi and Lythiel were getting nervous from the plant's limbs starting to squeeze them. "Sal, light now!" Lythiel barked out, trying to keep her body as relaxed as possible.

"Lumos," the small light was enough to make some of the plant recoil.

"It's…" Daphne started.

"Devil's Snare!" Lythiel shouted.

"What?!" Aiji started to struggle.

"Aiji, don't!" Daphne yelled, "If you struggle it will kill you faster!"

"Oh that's reassuring!" Aiji grabbed the plant that tried to choke her and squeezed back.

"We need light!" Lythiel cried, "Lots of it! Devil's Snare thrives on dark and damp climates, if we fill this place with light…"

"Lumos Solem!" Sally-Anne didn't wait for Lythiel to finish. As soon as the artificial solar light hit the room, the plant withdrew from its prey, giving the girls and Kazutoshi a chance to run towards the ledge. Kazutoshi added his own reiki to the light, further blinding the room and weakening the plant. They rushed to the door and didn't look back as they entered the room.

Metal birds, lots of them. Aside from the broom in the middle of the room, that was all that filled the Spartan space. With a weary eye on their surroundings, they reached the door, the very locked door.

Sally-Anne took a second look at the birds and noticed that they weren't birds at all, they were winged keys. "They're keys," she pointed at them, "And we're supposed to get the one that matches the lock."

"Should be an old fashioned one, by the look of the lock," Kazutoshi inclined his head.

"Ai and I are pretty good flyers," Daphne said, "I'll take the broom first, then if I fail, Ai can—"

Aiji spun once and side-kicked the door open, its hinges falling off while the locked part stubbornly held on to the wall.

"…or we can do that," Daphne finished.

Aiji entered the next room, followed by a snickering Kazutoshi. The girls followed and Daphne put the door back in its place, "Think no one will notice?"

Snorts of amusement met Daphne's hopeful question.

Or maybe it was a reaction to the giant chess pieces on the equally mammoth-sized board.

Aiji continued walking to the center of the board game without preamble. Kazutoshi followed at a more wary pace. He grabbed Aiji and tugged her back off the board when the white chess pieces unsheathed their marble weapons.

"Okay so the overgrown puppy must be Hagrid's, since he's the one with the dangerous pet fixation," Kazutoshi grinned, "The Devil's Snare was Sprout's, the keys must have been Flitwick's, and this probably belongs to the old Battle Axe."

"Wouldn't that depict Snape better?" Sally-Anne snarked.

"Nah, he's more of Sergeant bitter about missing a promotion than a Battle Axe," Aiji smirked.

"So… who's good at chess?" Daphne tentatively asked.

"Isn't there any way we can change this into a go or shogi game?" Kazutoshi asked no one in particular.

"Alright," Lythiel said, "It only looks like we're screwed. Where there's a will there's a way, I'm sure we can find a way around this."

"It's okay, I've been itchin' for a fight," Aiji rubbed her hand to her fist.

Daphne twirled her wand, "I'm sure a few earth-based spells will do nicely."

Kazutoshi whacked the two girls on the back of their heads, dispelling the bloodlust they were emitting. "We don't want the profs to know something's wrong, kiddos. And a room full of destroyed giant chess pieces will be like wearing a white t-shirt with a bull's eye on it."

"Then why didn't you stop me from kicking the door down?" Aiji bit out.

"Because that's easily fixed and no one will notice it if they don't really pay attention," Kazutoshi waved it off.

"So… what do you propose?" Sally-Anne was a bit peeved.

"Simple, I've told you lot that I'm in the exorcising business, right? Well, what's truly fascinating about these pieces is that they are sentient. Even though McGonagall is not here, the white pieces are designed to move with the intent to beat the black pieces in the game. Meanwhile, the black pieces are designed to take orders from the outside player…"

"Kind of like a computer chess game," Sally-Anne concluded.

"Yes, so it's all a matter of shutting off the power controlling the white pieces. In other words, make them un-sentient," Kazutoshi finished with aplomb.

"And how are you going to do that? Somehow, I doubt that a Finite Incantatem will suffice," Sally-Anne drawled.

"You do realize that getting rid of Golems falls under my job description?" he boasted, "We take care of Golems by using the same procedure. And after all the Hell that Beniha chick had put me through in the Saitama incident, I'd hope that this should be cake."

"That was you," Aiji guffawed, "You're the one that—"

"Yes," he bit out, "I was the one that required a lot of clean up and memory whipping."

"They were that tough?" Aiji smirked.

"No, but it's rather hard to make three Golems un-sentient when five others are trying to kill you," Kazutoshi growled.

"Why didn't you just destroy the Golems?" Aiji was genuinely curious.

"So, you're saying that the boss wouldn't blink if say… the statue of Saigo Takamori was made into a Golem and you turned it into itty bitty pieces?" Kazutoshi deadpanned.

"He'd pitch a hissy fit," Aiji conceded.

Kazutoshi just grumbled while he came closer to the chess pieces. He took out many ofuda in each hand and closed his eyes, chanting.

"Get ready to run," Aiji said. She grabbed Sally-Anne's hand, who grabbed Daphne's who grabbed Lythiel's.

In what seemed like a half-hour, but really, was only three minutes, Kazutoshi jumped into the air and threw his ofuda at the white pieces, "Iyoku Shuushi!"

The ofuda reached every single chess piece's forehead. Just as the pieces were about to unsheathe their weapons at the presence of an intruder, they stilled, frozen like the statues they were.

He landed in the middle of the board and flicked his short black hair back, "Come on, they're gonna lose sentience for about ten minutes."

The girls ran after him to the door behind the white pieces.

They opened the door and were met with a… far too disturbingly familiar smell.

"What is it with Quirell and trolls!" Aiji groaned.

The troll came charging at them, club raised, when, "Incarcerous!" due to the aim, the ropes tied its left hand to the left leg, unbalancing the troll.

Aiji jumped up to the ceiling, used the wall to propel herself downwards like the last troll fight, and used the momentum to stomp on the troll's chest. The troll fell backwards and, like its predecessor, caused a mini-earthquake at the fall.

Sally-Anne, with the tip of her oak wand sparkling with menacing lights, pointed at the troll, "And stay down or I'll do worse than tie you up!"

'I'm this close to finding the hidden treasure and no one, especially not an idiotic troll, is going to stop me!' her eyes burned with a determined light. Her combat aura regained its spark.

With meek eyes, the troll wisely discarded its weapon and relaxed on the ground.

"Wow," Lythiel whistled, "Nice wand-work back there, Sal."

"Thanks," she smiled.

Aiji clapped her hand on the brunette's shoulder in congratulations and moved to the next door.

They all felt a burning sensation, as though fire was kissing their skin and time was moving faster. They stopped before a small room, if it could be called that, with a table that contained seven differently shaped bottles standing in line with a piece of parchment next to them.

Lythiel and Sally-Anne took up the parchment and began to read it until Sally-Anne huffed, "Potions! I think I'll sit this one out."

"But that's the thing Sal," Lythiel tried to placate her friend, "It's not a Potions test, it's a logic test. Even an idiot at Potions can figure this out if they figure out the puzzle."

"Ly, I've got a mental block when it comes to anything and everything scientific," Sally-Anne reiterated, "Ask Daff for help."

"Sal," Daphne started, "You're better at logic puzzles than I am…"

"And so is Ly," Sally-Anne nodded her head to the midget of the group.

Daphne was about to argue until Lythiel tugged her to her side. After reading the note, Daphne took two bottles, uncorked them, and brought them up to her nose for a sniff. Lythiel did the same for two others.

They did the same for the others, always placing the bottles back where they left them, and (in Lythiel's case) double checking the parchment.

"I know one thing for sure," Daphne said, "These three," she pointed at them, "are only mead. And this one," she pointed to another one, "is most definitely poison."

"Got it!" Lythiel crowed, "This tiny one will take us forward and this round one will take us back!"

The euphoria didn't last long before the words sank in.

"That's… quite the small dosage," Sally-Anne said.

"Obviously if there is a group of thieves, they'd be stuck down here or some would have to go back," Kazutoshi pinched his nose.

"I may know jack shit about Potions, but even I can tell that's not going to be enough for all of us," Aiji said, "Even if some of us choose to go back."

They were stuck. Well shit.

Okay, now the ever missed and once misused Stone Silence's service is very much appreciated for this odd occasion.

"Aguamenti!" Sally-Anne's water spell only doused some tiny flames before the purple fire flared a bit more than before. "Didn't think so," she sighed.

"Worth a try," Lythiel said.

"Aqua Orbis!" Daphne tried to send the water ball to the center, to see if it could disperse and douse the flames, only for it vaporize within seconds.

"Hm," Sally-Anne licked her lips, "Terra Orbis!" The earth ball sailed at the center and lasted a few seconds longer than the water one before it was incinerated.

"Wait," Lythiel snapped her fingers, "Try sending a fireball, see what happens."

Daphne nodded, "Incendia Orbis!" the fireball followed the wake of her sisters. It lasted a bit longer before it was consumed by the purple flames.

"Well, we can't send anything wind-related since it'll just strengthen the fire," Sally-Anne dryly said.

Kazutoshi and Aiji finished having their quiet conversation, he went up to the rest of the girls while saying, "Let me try first and then you can have a go." Aiji only smirked, as if knowing that Kazutoshi would fail.

Kazutoshi pointed his own wand at the fire, warned the girls to step back, and "Unda Extraho!"

Jets of water came out of his wand before the front took a life of its own. It coiled and wriggled like a snake, but the face reminded the girls of a dragon. The water attacked the fire head on, clawing for every inch of the passage. Kazutoshi held his wand with both hands and focused on every inch of victory. The water dragon and the purple fire dueled, sometimes one gaining an inch over the other, but he could feel that fire wasn't budging after a certain point, almost as if it was glued to the floor.

/Shit,/ Kazutoshi was taking slow backward steps, "Get back and put up a shield, I think the fire's gonna bounce back!"

The girls rushed back to the blue fire opposite of the purple one. Daphne was looking at the fire in front of her like a deer caught in headlights, clutching the back of Lythiel's shirt. Lythiel was likewise clutching Daphne's hand, and turned to the only one that had any aptitude for non-offensive spells, "A water shield, make it a water shield!"

Sally-Anne snapped out of her fear. Her wand movements were exaggerated, almost as though she was doing it for the first time, but really, she was too scared of making a mistake, "Unda Contego!"

Water sprung from her wand and circled the girls in a protective orb. They all sighed in relief, glad to have something between them and the fire, until… "What about sempai!?" Aiji cried, now worried.

He was straining, no doubt the fire would overcome him soon and he'd receive the full blast.

"A water shield won't be enough at that close distance," Lythiel trembled, "It'd only douse him while the fire explodes back."

"What about an earth shield? Or better yet, a mud shield!" Sally-Anne grasped at straws, "Since it's made out of two elements, maybe it can protect him more."

"You can't bloody well cast it!" Lythiel roared, "If you do, the water shield will break off!"

"How do you make an earth shield?" Aiji asked, deathly serious.

"What?"

"Sal's holding up the water shield, right? Daff's next to useless with non-offensive spells and you don't have enough power. I'm the only choice left."

"She's got a point," Daphne finally got out of her petrified state, "There's enough space on the floor that can let Ai's spell travel to Shinmei. What's the worst that can happen at this point?"

Lythiel didn't hesitate. She grabbed Aiji's arm and guided it through the movements slowly, then fast. Daphne was too busy watching the water dragon being pushed back, the fire ready to spring back upon its attacker. Sally-Anne was clutching her wand with both hands in advance, preparing for the blast. Aiji placed herself behind the girls, that way if the blast pushed everyone back to the other fire, she'd take the brunt. Bending her knees with one foot a couple of centimeters in front of the other, she pointed her holly wand at the floor. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, reached inside her magical core, and "Limus Contego!"

The brown light traveled down the floor, seeking its mistress' intended target. Sweat fell down Aiji's brow as she controlled her magic to make it to Kazutoshi-senpai. She pushed down her first instinct to power up the spell. She could only do that once the spell protected him, not before, otherwise the spell would stop its course and protect thin air. Once she saw the brown light beneath his feet, she dropped the dam.

Wet earth sprung up to create a circled fortress around and above Kazutoshi. Thanks to Aiji's magic, the mud quickly dried to better protect and absorb a blast. As soon as his front was covered, Kazutoshi dropped his spell.

The fire bounced back as though it was a rock on a slingshot. Kazutoshi screamed as the fire blasted at his shield, forcing it to move back with Kazutoshi in tow. Daphne shrieked even before the blast hit their shield. The flames never came near them, but the force of the blast was strong enough that the leftover wind rocked them back with sparks hitting the shield.

Aiji grunted but kept her footing when Daphne, Lythiel, and Sally-Anne almost fell on her. Sally-Anne was dazed but held strong, her shield didn't falter, thank goodness. Aiji could hear the back of the water shield evaporating as it came into contact with the blue fire behind her. Gritting her teeth, Aiji grounded herself even more and waited out the storm.

The purple flames kept burning strong, and was it Aiji's imagination, or were the flames at the front closer than before?

They waited, and waited, until it became obvious that the flames weren't going to attack again. At the girls' nods, Sally-Anne tentatively dispelled her shield. Nothing happened. The girls let out a collective sigh of relief. "We are never, ever, doing that again!" Sally-Anne snarled.

Aiji cancelled her dried and blackened shield on Kazutoshi. He was cradling the back of his neck and had his chin resting on his chest. He was curled in a way that, if he did slam to the solid shield, he wouldn't damage himself. Aside from a few bruises, he was fine.

"The Hell was THAT!?" Aiji snarled.

He peeked from his arm and surveyed the situation. As soon as he finished sighing, he launched into a curse fest that would have made Yuusuke proud.

"You mind putting that in terms we can understand," venom was spewing from Sally-Anne's mouth. He'd better have a good explanation for that near blow up, or he was dead!

"That," he pointed to the flames, "was no spell."

HUH!?

"How many years have you studied magic again?" Daphne smiled sweetly. The kind that you smile at your husband when he's dieing from the poison you put in his food.

"Magic theory 101," he started, "What happens when no matter how many high level water spells don't saturate a huge fire, even though a powerful wizard is putting all of their power into it?"

"My, you're modest," Sally-Anne mocked.

"Not only that," he ignored the quip, "But the fire refuses, no, can't move back past a certain point? Almost—"

"As though it were glued on," Lythiel finished with a daze, "It's a ritual. A warding ritual to keep others out. Spells are as useless to this type of magic as locating spells are to the Fidelius."

"FUCK!" Sally-Anne swore. Snape had just gone and screwed them sideways.

"Um," Aiji and Daphne interrupted, "can you guys explain this so the general populace can understand?"

"The Fidelius is basically a warding ritual one places to a place one doesn't want to be found," Lythiel dumbed it down, "Someone can live inside the house for years without anyone noticing the house was ever there, provided the Secret Keeper doesn't blab where the place is located."

"Kinda like what happened to my folks," Aiji scowled, "So you're saying that spells don't work on these ritual things?"

"Rituals, Rune Work, Arithmatic Work and Warding are some of the most undermined but exceedingly important and powerful works of magic," Kazutoshi shook his head, "It figures the old bat would know how to conduct one."

"So the Potions," Daphne frowned.

"Spells and other wand-work may be useless to rituals," Lythiel said, "Doesn't mean there aren't other ways around them."

"And since almost all wizards are completely dependant on their wands, finding a solution without them would be discombobulating," Sally-Anne nodded.

"Dammit!" Aiji clenched her fist. Her reiki and youki surrounding her, feeling the call of her wrath.

Daphne sighed, "Even if we had any ingredients to duplicate the potion, we don't even know what it is. There's no way out beside the one that Snape presents us."

"Or maybe not Snape's," Kazutoshi said.

"What do you mean?" Lythiel asked, bewildered, "This whole test has Snape written all over it!"

"True, but who does Snape take orders from?" he retorted.

"In general, who knows?" Daphne said.

"In school."

"Dumbledore," the three witches chorused.

"Exactly," he nodded, "It makes sense in an 'I won't be able to look him in the eye' kind of way."

"Care to share with the rest of the class?" Sally-Anne drawled.

"Easy, the old codger's been saying like a broken record that Voldemort," he ignored the witches' (minus Aiji) flinches, "would return. And if he did, who would the British Wizarding World look to for a savior?"

An outraged silence met his question.

"What?" Daphne breathed, a vessel almost popping.

"Why else do you think there's only one tiny bottle that for two people to take a sip would be pushing it? Actually, if Dumbledore wanted to prevent thievery down here, there wouldn't even be a way out."

"If Snape had it his way, he'd keep the thief trapped in here forever," Sally-Anne assessed.

"And we can even say that the last obstacles were meant to wear the thieves down," Daphne pointed out.

"So why is there a way out?" Lythiel mused.

"He wants to train me," Aiji growled.

The rest snapped their heads in her direction.

"That's it, isn't it? The bottles to go back or forward were meant for me and whoever I brought along. You guys were supposed to take the one going back and I was supposed to go forward and stop Quirell from taking whatever is in there," Aiji narrowed her eyes, "That's why he's letting Quirell stay here even after the Quidditch attack and his weak excuse. I mean, Hiei-nii noticed immediately that there was something wrong with baldy the first time. Who wants to bet that the old relic already knew from the get go? So, why did he let a possessed psycho into school full of kids 24/7? Simple, he wants to start toughening 'Alyssa Potter' on his own turf so I'll be alive by the end of the 'test.' Whatever doesn't hurt the previously weak 'Alyssa' will only make her stronger."

Aiji's combat aura enveloped her, pushing against anything near her body.

"Only, he made a lot of mistakes. One of them being that I'm not the 'Alyssa' he was expecting and my whole background is different thanks to some weird series of events. And in this case, he wasn't expecting so many of us to come down here or so early. Hell, he probably never expected that I'd go down here to take the treasure for myself."

Amidst her ferocious growling, Aiji didn't notice the awed, fascinated, and borderline scared looks on her companions' faces.

"U-um," Sally-Anne started but Aiji didn't hear her.

"Heh, if he wants to use me, he'll have to do better than this," she smirked with fire in her eyes, "By the time I'm done with him, Voldy Moldy won't be the only one cryin' for mama!"

"Aiji!" Daphne cut in. The dangerous wild beasts, muggle or fantastical, serving as Aiji's background dissipated.

"What!" Aiji asked.

They all pointed behind her to the blue fire. It had retreated several inches, almost as though it was scared of Aiji. Not that anyone could blame 'em, really.

Aiji noticed her green combat aura was still permeating her skin. Deciding to experiment a bit, Aiji aimed her pointer finger at a small flame and shot a small reigun. There was no more sign of it.

"Well I'll be damned," Kazutoshi whistled.

"Of course! Spiritual energy is not the same as magic," Lythiel had a goofy smile on her face, "Since this energy can be harnessed by ever muggles who have zero percent chance of acquiring magic, no wizard, especially not the ones that created many rituals since the last invented ritual was 300 years ago, took into account if spiritual energy could weaken rituals."

"Well, I wouldn't know about specialized ones like the Fidelius," Kazutoshi said, "But maybe Guard Rituals like these can be taken down by reiki, maybe even youki as well."

"Let's give it a shot," Aiji grinned as she pointed her loaded finger towards the purple flames.

"Hold it!" Sally-Anne halted her, "Just in case, let's give it a test run, preferably when we're all behind a shield of some sort."

"You can do another shield as good as the last one?" Kazutoshi was genuinely curious.

"No," she blushed, "I ran out of fuel after the last one. I could maybe make another one with lower power."

"Same," he said, "Maybe if be combine our magic, we can make a strong enough shield."

"Strong enough?"

"Sounded more optimistic than decent enough."

"How about instead of using a 'shield,' you use a 'wall'?" Daphne suggested.

They looked at her with question marks above them.

"Well, the way I see it, the shields literally come in front of the caster and protect them, but they need to use their magic constantly to support it," Daphne shrugged.

"Meanwhile a 'wall' is something that stays in one place and doesn't need additional magical support," Sally-Anne finished the thought.

Lythiel laughed, "Never thought this spell, of all of them, would come in handy."

"Yes, well, you also never thought you'd be stuck in a small room underneath Hogwarts between two Fire Warding Rituals," Sally-Anne bit out.

"True," Lythiel came up to Kazutoshi and Sally-Anne and, once again, taught them the arm movement. Luckily, he already knew the incantation, he just never bothered to learn a supposedly useless spell.

"Now remember, Ai," Daphne said, "As soon as you finish shooting, you get behind the wall."

"Yes, 'ka-san," Aiji grinned cheekily.

"Brat," Daphne bonked her head with a smile.

"Limus Parietis," Kazutoshi and Sally-Anne incanted simultaneously. Wet earth came up from the floor until it reached five feet high and six feet wide. Thanks to an additional wind spell, the mud hardened.

Everyone besides Aiji ducked to behind the wall. Aiji pointed her finger at the flames and "Reigun!"

Maybe it was because that previous experiment was enough to convince her, maybe it was because she had confidence in her own energy to protect her if she was wrong, or maybe it was just plain old arrogance, but that didn't change the fact that Aiji didn't budge from her spot.

The green reiki blasted its way past the flames, creating a clear path. Aiji grabbed a stunned Daphne, hoisted her over her shoulder and sped through the path.

"AIJI YOU IDIOT!!" the rest bellowed.

Kazutoshi cursed as he hoisted the remaining two underneath his armpits and dashed after Aiji, taking advantage of the currently non-flammable path. They raced towards the exit even faster when the purple flames came back to life and were chasing Kazutoshi.

'When we get out of here, we are soooo letting Snape have it!' was the general consensus.

Aiji rushed out of the burning room with Kazutoshi following seconds later. In his wake, the purple flames were back to their former function.

Daphne waited for a second, then smacked the back of Aiji's head, "MORON!"

Aiji resisted the urge to rub her head. Really, Daphne could hit as hard as Keiko-nee sometimes.

"Look at the bright side," Kazutoshi drawled, "At least now no one will suspect anyone made it here."

"Where is here?" Lythiel asked.

The room was dome made of gold… or what convincingly passed off as gold, they weren't too sure. Aside from some circular steps and a huge full-length mirror at the center, it was as bare as a cupboard in a newly bought house.

"Maybe it's the paranoia talkin' but doesn't anyone get the feelin' that mirror's gonna steal our souls if we get near it?" Aiji started sweating.

There was no enemy more dangerous than the one that posed as the innocent and the mundane.

Kazutoshi shuffled, "Well, it doesn't have reiki or youki, so it's only magic-based."

"Is that supposed to reassure us?" Daphne gulped.

Indeed, after all of the obstacles they had to vanquish to make it here, a simple mirror seemed almost anti-climactic. And that's what made everyone suspicious.

"Um," Sally-Anne meekly said, "this might be a detective novels induced idea but… maybe the third floor was a beard? Maybe our theory about Dumbledore was wrong and he only made it sound like the treasure was here so that ambitious idiots like Quirell would get trapped here while the real treasure was safe elsewhere?"

Why, hello there Stone Silence! Another appearance in the same chapter, fancy that!

"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!" Aiji punched a pillar down.

"We went through Hell and back for nothing!" Daphne kicked the wall nearest her.

"Hehehe," Kazutoshi fell to his knees, "So that's how it goes, eh? Well, I'm sure Ibuki-chan from administration wouldn't mind changing Dumbledore's afterlife destination, preferably to THE DEEPEST BOWELS OF YOMI NO KUNI!!!"

Lythiel roared as she charged to the mirror, grabbing the frame and holding her free arm back for a punch to spite the old Headmaster… until she got a good look at the mirror.

Seeing Lythiel freeze in front of the mirror, everyone else came to the wrong conclusion.

"NOOOO, LY!" Daphne rushed to her, wand drawn.

Kazutoshi took out his ofuda and began chanting. Aiji had her reigun ready to fire and Sally-Anne had a levitation spell on the tip of her tongue.

"Huh?" Lythiel shook her head and saw the running idiots, "What are you all doing?" On second thought, maybe she really didn't want to know.

"LY!" Daphne glomped her, "Do you know where you are? What we're doing here? Do you know your name? More importantly, do you know my name? Are you from an alternate universe where we're not friends or we never met or you have a different past and you've been sent here to complete a mission from the gods!?"

"Daff, my love," Lythiel started patting Daphne's back like she would a terrified and dangerous animal, "You really need to cut back on the multiple dimensions novels."

"It is you!" Daphne bawled.

Kazutoshi, Aiji, and Sally-Anne stopped their attacks and sighed in exasperation. Really, this too innocent room was making everyone jittery.

"Lythiel, chérie," Sally-Anne smiled, "Mind letting us know why you stopped and SCARED US SHITLESS!"

Lythiel merely pointed at the mirror, "Take a look for yourselves."

After making sure, thoroughly, that Lythiel was indeed fine and magically unaffected, they all looked at the mirror.

"Huh? What's 'nii-chan doing here?" Aiji gaped.

"Where the fuck did all of that come from?!" Sally-Anne salivated.

"Haa~" Kazutoshi breathed.

"Oh, Lady Morrigan, I knew you haven't abandoned me," Daphne had stars in her eyes, "This is my future, isn't it?"

Lythiel was looking at the top of the mirror, "Just out of curiosity, what are you all seeing?"

They all gave her odd looks, however Kazutoshi seemed to have an idea of what she was on about, "I'll tell you all mine if you lot do the same."

Aiji went first, "I see myself finally beating 'nii-chan in a spar," she glanced at Kazutoshi a bit, giving off a warning glare, "'ka-san's sober and stayin' that way, I don't see her nowhere near a bottle," at his lack of reaction, she let up on the glare, "and 'nii-chan's finally shacked up with Kurama-nii, if that kiss is anything to go by."

Sally-Anne didn't make a comment, she just took up the rebound, "I'm surrounded by wealth and I'm living together with maman and dad. From the looks of the Perks Manor, we don't have to worry about the Elders or other family members since maman's there."

Daphne blushed, "Wow, you two are actually quite family oriented."

"Let me guess," Aiji drawled, "You see yourself beating up McLaggen and Smith?"

"More like they're begging for mercy, kissing my boots, and calling me Mistress," Daphne corrected, "And, what's even better, ickle Ri-Ri's finally stopped crushing on that third-rate imbecile!"

Before Kazutoshi could so much as raise and eyebrow, Sally-Anne filled in, "Ri-Ri is Daff's nickname for her little sister Asteria. The third-rate imbecile would be Lockhart."

"I kinda figured that last part," he said with a wan smile, "I see myself standing among the top Tantei and apparition hunters. Otou-sama has finally seen the light and allowed onee-sama to take over the family business. And I've also become Matsuyama Setsuko-sama's apprentice."

Lythiel nodded, almost as though she was confirming something, "When I looked in the mirror, I saw myself using magic like it was nothing, I took it for granted like everyone else… I also got a glimpse of myself using reiki and being as strong as Aiji."

Aiji was flattered as much as she felt awkward, "So… what? Does this mirror show us our futures?"

Lythiel shook her head with sad eyes, "No, not our futures. Our desires."

Sally-Anne and Kazutoshi walked to where Lythiel was standing. "Erised. 'Desire' spelt backwards," Sally-Anne whispered.

"Ah hum," Lythiel nodded, "If you read the inscriptions backwards, they say 'I show not your face but your heart's desire.' Pretty self-explanatory."

"Makes sense," Kazutoshi sighed with a despondent air, "I think your theory about this place being a beard is right, Perks-chan. I mean, Quirell or whatever operative of Voldemort's Dumbledore was suspecting would know about the treasure he's hiding. So, this place only shows the object and what they do with it, but not where to find it. Brilliant plan, actually."

"Technically, no," Daphne interjected, "I mean, it says this mirror shows our heart's desire, right? Maybe the operative would follow orders and would want to see the mission finished, but not necessarily have it as a deep desire to acquire this treasure."

"Desires aren't a fixed thing, Daff," Aiji said, "You can still keep your primary desires while having pressing priorities."

"Yeah, I'll bet that if we came here the week before OWLs, I'd see myself passing them and getting the exams over and done with," Kazutoshi grinned, "Of course, that doesn't mean that what I saw just now are discarded desires, it just means that I have other desires at the front of my mind that are not necessarily within my long-term plans."

"Never mind the technicalities, although I do have to admit they are fascinating," Lythiel interrupted, "But now that we know there isn't a treasure down here, what do we do? We'd better make up our minds fast because sooner or later our presences will be missed."

"What do you mean there is no treasure here?" Sally-Anne asked, a dark blue aura blasting from her body, "Sure, it's not what we expected but this mirror's bound to be worth thousands, wouldn't you say?"

"Actually, I'm pretty damn sure it's one of a kind," Lythiel interjected.

"EVEN BETTER!" Sally-Anne bellowed, "Call it a consolation prize, if you want. But I say we take it!"

"But Sal—"

"What? Imagine how much havoc Quirell could cause if he knew of his enemies' deepest desires! We'd be doing this school a favor by keeping him away from it!"

"But—"

"Don't tell me after the maze of doom back there, you lot want to come back empty-handed!"

"Sally, love—"

"I mean, come on! We can split the money between us now and let the mirror be properly maintained and admired at a museum. We'd be doing the people of Britain an effin' service!"

Aiji slapped her hand on Sally-Anne's mouth, "Sal, you're preaching to the choir."

Sally-Anne blinked, "Oh? Then what's the problem?"

"Did you eat a bowl of stupid? How the fuck are we supposed to steal that huge-ass mirror with no one noticing?!"

You're making quite the comeback Stone Silence!

"Shrinking charms?" Daphne asked. "We could hide it in one of our trunks till Christmas hols and one of us will take it home."

"Somehow, I'm getting the feeling that it's warded against those, knowing our rotten luck," Sally-Anne grouched.

"Well, the afterwards idea's not bad," Kazutoshi smiled, "Only question is, who'll take it?"

"Can't," Lythiel said, "Even if we ignore my lovely relationship with my parents, I'd rather stay here for the hols than spend time there."

Aiji frowned but figured this was not the place. Later though…

"I'm out too," Sally-Anne raised her hand with a scowl, "I'm only passing by the Perks Manor to meet up with dad and pack vacation clothes. We're visiting maman and she would most definitely raise an eyebrow at it. And I can't leave it at the Manor, someone else in the family would sell it and keep the money."

"Count me out," Daphne waved her arms in front of her and shook her head, "Mommy and mama would find it weird if I bring a mirror that huge home. I'm not that vain," repressed laughter and mocking 'no really!?' met her statement, "Shut up. And Ri-Ri is on the precocious stage, she'd figure out what's wrong with the mirror within days! Oh, my sweet, smart little one, I shouldn't criticize your virtues so! It's not our fault you're so very perfect and …"

The rest of the girls tuned Daphne out while Lythiel tugged at Kazutoshi's muscle shirt to get his attention, "Don't mind her. She always gets like this when talking about her sister."

"Ah," he judiciously said. What he really thought was 'There really is such a thing as a doting sibling.'

"How about you, Shinmei?" Sally-Anne interjected while giving Daphne a stern glance.

"My family may be muggle," he said, "But it wouldn't be among the most influential zaibatsu if it was filled with idiots." He paused, "On second thought, if Chinatsu-nee-sama and I could use it to see father's deepest desires and blackmail him…"

The girls then turned to Aiji.

She snorted, "No one in my family will give a damn if I steal that, but how the hell am I supposed to fit that into our apartment?"

"Reduccio," Sally-Anne casted. As she had expected, the spell had no effect.

"I don't suppose you know advanced miniaturizing spells?" Daphne asked Kazutoshi.

Kazutoshi tapped his lips, his eyes trailing the mirror up and down. He took out his wand and started tracing two kanji for "decrease" (herasu), one for "height" (tate), and the last one was "weight" (kagi) in the air.

The left over magic from the wand held together the strokes of the characters in front of the mirror. Kazutoshi nudged them in the middle with his wand and the characters flowed into the object and almost seemed to be absorbed by it. Just as he was beginning to grin in triumph, his magic was pushed away from the object in an almost repulsed rejection.

"…That wasn't supposed to do that, was it?" Aiji pointed at the mirror.

"Nope," he gritted his teeth.

Kazutoshi began working at an obsessive manner with other runes. Egyptian, Norse, Ancient Greek, Persian, Ancient Mandarin, Classical Arabic… Okay, now it was turning into a professional insult.

The girls watched in awe and no small amount of glee as the so-called unflappable Kazutoshi lost his cool and began cursing, red-faced, sending the rudest hand gestures he could think of towards the inanimate object.

Really, it did their egos a great service to watch someone older, more experienced, and with the reputation of forever being unruffled lose their temper.

Kazutoshi was panting, fists clenched, with his teeth bared. Just as he was going to start another series of runes… POP!

"Kazutoshi-dono! Kazutoshi-dono! Kazutoshi-dono! Dumby is coming down for check-down of treasure! You's needs to leave now!" Slinky slung his arms about with the excitability of an Energizer Bunny.

As Kazutoshi swore like a drunken sailor, the girls all gaped at the House-Elf.

"Slinky-kun," Aiji started with a too placid expression on her face, "I thought you couldn't get in to certain rooms like, say, the Room of Requirement."

"Ah, but Aiji-sama, the Come and Go Room is only magic," Slinky bobbed his head, "This room, is not and we's come often to clean up."

"Never mind that," Sally-Anne said, though she filled that information away for later, "Why did you come to warn Shinmei when you should, by all intents and purposes, be warning the Headmaster of intruders?"

Slinky seemed to shrink into himself until Kazutoshi took the time to nod his permission, "Kazutoshi-dono be Slinky's Master."

"Oh," said Lythiel, "Really? That's news."

They all turned to Kazutoshi who barked, "Never mind that! The Headmaster's coming here and if her finds us, we're gonna get shit-canned!"

"Dumbledore?" Daphne bit her lips to prevent herself from laughing.

"Yes, the Dumby is coming here!"

Aiji got a strange glint her eyes, "Say, Slinky, I thought it was impossible to Apparate inside Hogwarts. So how'd you get down here so fast?"

"Is House-Elf magic, Aiji-sama!" Slinky bobbed his head, "Very different from wizards' magic, it is."

"Then, if we wanted to, say, get out of here and appear near our dorms," Aiji smirked, "you could do that?"

Slinky nodded frantically, "Yes, if Master and his girlsies hold on to Slinky, Slinky be honored to!"

"Great!" Aiji grinned, teeth bared. The 'girlsies' bit made her twitch.

"Wait," Sally-Anne looked at Kazutoshi, "House-Elf magic doesn't follow the rules of wizards' magic, much like spiritual energy doesn't, right?"

"House-Elf magic is closer to wizarding magic, but certain rules don't apply to it," Kazutoshi was just too relieved to have a way out to care. "If you're going to ask why I didn't use my reiki, think of it this way. If I had used it to get rid of the wards that kept the size-reducing spells from working, there was a chance that the rest of the Mirror's enchantments would also fall and render it useless."

"That wasn't where I was going, but thanks for the clarification," said Sally-Anne. She then turned to Slinky with a too big grin, "Would you be a dearie and reduce this mirror to this size," she showed the two inches between her fingers, "without disrupting the magic and enchantments it already has on?"

Slinky heard the order in the polite request. However, as fond as he was of Miss Salina (his version of Sally-Anne), he served his master first and foremost. Kazutoshi-dono had freed him from the bad wizard and then had deemed to take his Oath of Servitude and treated him kindly. No, he would not disrespect his great Master by taking another's orders before his own.

Kazutoshi saw Slinky's dilemma, "Do it Slinky. Take any orders from them as you would any of mine."

Slinky snapped his fingers and the Mirror of Erised was nothing more than the size of a small charm. Sally-Anne grabbed it and held it close to her bosom, stroking it with euros in her eyes.

Aiji grabbed onto Slinky's right shoulder, followed by Kazutoshi who slid his hand on the left one. Daphne grabbed Slinky's upper-arm and Lythiel held on to his elbow. Sally-Anne took the remaining elbow into her hand. So, with a POP, the golden chamber was, once again, devoid of animate life and one magical object less.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Albus Dumbledore was, arguably, one of the busiest men in all of Britain, maybe even all of Europe. He had to deal with his duties as Headmaster of the best wizarding school in Britain, his duties as Chief Warlock for the Wizengamot, then there were his duties as the Supreme Mugwump for the ICW, then there's his unofficial and unpaid duties, such as, trying to find where Voldemort's apparition was hiding (currently in the back of Quirinus Quirell's head), trying to convince stubborn and self-serving idiots that the peace won't last, finding Tom's weaknesses, analyzing memories to determine what Tom did to himself, keeping himself and his people informed, etc….

But, his most important self-imposed task was training Alyssa Potter for her inevitable battle, and possible death, against Tom. It was a task he devoted himself with the dedication that could rival Bellatrix Lestrange's to Voldemort and Albus hated himself for it.

He knew what he was doing. He knew that he was training an innocent little girl who had the bad luck to be born on the last day of July to become a martyr. He knew that he was leaving her in the care of people that would treat her the same way certain pureblood families treated the family squibs. He knew that he would be placing her in danger in a place that was supposed to be safe. He knew that he was going to destroy the girl's life. He knew that she wasn't going to get a chance to live, not with his manipulations in place. He knew, he couldn't claim in any way that he was unaware of the damage he caused and would cause her, and that was why he was having problems looking himself in the mirror.

'The Greater Good,' Gellert's infamous slogan, a saying that had once been Albus' dogma before his eyes had been forcefully opened. Albus had once believed in it with great fervor, prayed to the words, until he saw the results. When he had incarcerated Gellert inside Nurmengard, Albus had promised himself that he wouldn't make the same mistakes as Gellert. But had he, really? Albus had told himself that so long as he held no real position of power, he wasn't becoming what he most feared. But power needn't any titles. Everyone deferred to Albus, not only for his defeat of the Darkest Wizard in the early 20th century, but also for his genius. The Minister might have been the one that made the pretty speeches and had every eye on him, but it was Albus who made the judgment calls and the real decisions. But normal people, those that didn't posses his genius, didn't know how to govern themselves. After all, the public had voted for a Neanderthal like Cornelius Fudge to lead them. It didn't help that the system and ministry itself was as corrupt as it came.

But, he had forced himself to look in the mirror when he took certain steps after he heard that gods-be-damned prophecy. He had always wondered how Gellert could have been so cutthroat, almost heartless in his actions, that the 'ends always justified the means' for him even when it meant obliterating an entire village. When Albus heard the prophecy, understood it and how to achieve the most fortuitous results from it, he understood at least a part of his love's mentality.

When one knows the positive outcome of an event, one does whatever it takes to achieve it. So much so, that even if it goes against our morals, we will still go through with it.

As Gellert was pre-cognizant, he could 'see' his little 'utopia' where muggles were under his control, too scared to even so much as look at a wizarding child wrong. It had made Gellert all the more eager and willing to do anything to make it come true.

Albus felt then that those with pre-cognizant abilities (controllable but sometimes inaccurate and changeable seeing into the future) were Machiavellian by overuse of their gifts. They saw things that could happen and did things to gain the more favorable future. For all that Albus knew, Gellert had merely befriended Albus not because he found the redhead interesting or wanted his company, but because he 'saw' that Albus would be an invaluable partner in crime. He never knew the answer and he didn't want to know now.

Sociopath. A person who was very much aware of the difference between good and evil but did evil things anyway. That was how Albus had felt when he had placed baby Alyssa at the Dursleys' doorstep. If the Christian God his mother once believed in existed, Albus knew, at that precise moment, that he had a place reserved for him in Hell.

Albus sighed. It wasn't often that he had the time to dwell. Perhaps that was the reason he hadn't convinced himself out of his cruel schemes.

Not that some of them would come to effect. The Dursleys' abandonment of their niece had nipped some of his plans at the bud. Remus had nearly torn him to shreds after he had finished with the disgusting pig. Albus hadn't blamed him, he knew that he'd deserved it, so he waited for the pain. Minerva had stunned the raging Remus and turned on Albus with a snarl telling him that they could blame each other later, now they had to find the girl and bring her to Hogwarts. "If she's still alive," those words had hit home for Albus just how low he had fallen and how lower he would fall. Ten years, and not once had he checked on the girl, even a bit.

Imagine his shock when, not only was Alyssa still alive, but also had a family of her own in Japan. When Hagrid had reported that he found her, Albus had wept. Some part of Albus had been hoping that Alyssa, if she was still alive, would never be found. That she'd be able to enjoy a somewhat normal life, without a whole country's future on her shoulders.

Hagrid had to stay in Japan throughout the meeting and shopping for supplies. The Urameshi family, Hagrid had said, was not very well off. It had been much more convenient for the family to shop in Japan than to make a trip to England. After all, ever since Voldemort's rise, Japan and many other countries had disabled international magical travel to and from Europe as a safety measure. If Death Eaters wanted to get in to these countries, they had to go the long way.

Albus had laughed at the pensieve memories Hagrid had given him. Apparently, young Alyssa had thought that Hagrid was stalking her and her family, so when Hagrid had tried to get Alyssa alone, she had given him a black-eye. Albus had also learned that young Yuusuke was strong enough to throw Hagrid over his shoulder and that Madam Atsuko had a mean left hook. At least that meant that Albus didn't have to worry about Alyssa's fighting abilities, it might even be an advantage since wizards underestimated how a well placed hit could damage someone.

Finally, when Hagrid had used a translation charm, and even gave his excuses and reasons that it was valid to the understanding Albus, the family had been suspicious but accepting of the explanation of magic.

Albus had honestly thought that Alyssa would end up in Gryffindor. After all, she was bold and confident enough to confront a potentially dangerous stranger like she did. She was even blunt to the point of being rude and didn't hide her opinions. She also didn't seem all that ambitious even now. Not to mention that she and her family had been cordial enough to offer Hagrid a place to stay at their home (though it wasn't much) and had treated him to ramen as an apology for his injuries. Albus had also thought that Hufflepuff would have been an apt choice, as she was very loyal to her family. Loyal enough that she had Hagrid sneak her to Gringotts in the middle of the night to deposit some of the money in her trust fund to her family's muggle account. Although, he did suppose that should have been a sign of her Slytherin tendencies. But at the time, Albus had been thinking about how her brother and mother had told her to save all of her money for her college tuition.

Albus had to admit, he had been worried when she was sorted to Slytherin. Even though she had lived with a muggle family (and loved them very much), she was young enough that other people's opinions (particularly her peers) could have an impact on her. It had been quite the spectacle when she told the arrogant Malfoy where he could take his offer. He had been a bit nervous about Perks and Moon, more so the latter than anything. But young Lythiel had proven to be nothing like her parents, and young Sally-Anne was, while self-serving, a good friend. Young Daphne was, like her mother Antianara, vicious but sweet to her loved ones.

Albus shook his head when Fawkes' soft trilling took him out of his introspection. He smiled at the phoenix and said, "Perhaps an inspection of the stone is needed, yes, that is exactly what I'll do."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aiji and the rest were beginning to reconsider their theory about the mirror being a beard come Monday morning. Dumbledore hadn't made a speech or anything similar, hell, he hadn't even made any allusions to the third floor corridor at all. However, there was this tenseness to him that wasn't there before, something that seemed to scream "Oh, shit!" Although, really, they only caught on to that because they were looking for it and expecting for Dumbledore to have some sort of reaction. To everyone else, Dumbledore was the same as ever.

He kept flickering his eyes at Quirell, who was trying to make himself seem even more pathetic than usual. Interestingly enough, McGonagall and Snape, his right and left hand respectively, didn't know what he was anxious about if their puzzled, irritated, and edgy glances were any indication.

"So," Aiji drawled, "When exactly do winter hols start?"

"Around the beginning of December," Kazutoshi answered with a far too bright smile. Melinda, Ezven, and Nasrin eyed him with suspicion, every singe time he smiled like that something happened. Kazutoshi's mock-hurt look didn't faze them in the least bit. Too bad that the same couldn't be said about his fangirls and fanboys.

"Hope you all enjoy them," Lythiel smiled, resigned.

"And who said you're staying here alone," Daphne gave her a stern glare.

"Daff," Lythiel patted her shoulder, "I appreciate it, but it'd be awkward going to visit your gran with your folks, especially since she doesn't approve of me or my family, not that I can blame her on the last bit."

Daphne was about to say something biting so Lythiel continued, "Besides, think of it this way, at least I'll have the library to myself for almost a whole month."

"Maybe," Sally-Anne frowned, "But are you sure you don't want one of us to stay behind?"

"Sal, you've been sleeping with your dad's photo under your pillow for a week now," Lythiel deadpanned, "I'd say you're homesick enough as is."

When Daphne opened her mouth, "And don't even bother offering, Daff. I know you're dieing to see Asteria again, heck you've gotten her at least two different "coming back" presents already. Not to mention that you've been wearing aunty Zoë's perfume and you're always fingering the bracelet aunty Antianara gave you for your last birthday."

Daphne snapped her mouth shut then. It was true that she was getting homesick as well, but still…

Aiji sighed, this was going to be very awkward, "About that, Ly—"

"Don't you start, Ai," Lythiel continued spreading raspberry jam on her Bath buns, "It's kinda hard to deny you're missing your brother when you've been sleeping in his old clothes for a month now."

Aiji blushed, "I wasn't gonna to offer that. I wanna go back home as much as the next kid," she shoveled more scrambled eggs and kippers into her mouth to avoid the awkward silence.

"Oh," Lythiel whispered, she bit off a Bath bun with a generous amount of jam, "What were you going to say?"

"I was gonna say that I've talked with nii-chan, baa-san, and 'ka-san and they've been wanting to meet my new friends. I figured since Sal and Daff are gonna spend the hols with their folks, why don't you come with me?" Aiji averted her eyes to the ground and her cheeks reddened, this was embarrassing.

At Lythiel's silence, Aiji continued, "We'll mostly be at our apartment and it's kinda small so we'll have to share the room with nii-chan and you might have to sleep on the floor with a futon, or maybe you can take my bed and I'll take the floor. Although we might visit baa-chan and her temple's pretty big and—"

Lythiel reached in front of her and squeezed Aiji's hand, stopping the other girl's babble. Lythiel's smile was bright and happy, her cerulean eyes shining with warmth, "Thank you, Aiji. This means a lot to me. But, what about transportation? Or, hell, you haven't seen your family in months, won't it be awkward if you come back with me?"

"Don't worry about it, I've got it covered, even the passport," Aiji waved it off, "It's not like it's a big deal. 'Sides, nii-chan's just happy I finally have friends my age, same as everyone else. And I talked to them, and they're okay with everything since you already know most of my family situation," her eyes flickered to Kazutoshi for a split second. Lythiel tilted her head in understanding. So, Aiji's family knew that the girls knew.

"At least let me pay for the airplane tickets," Lythiel smiled.

"Already paid for 'em," Aiji grinned.

"Fine," Lythiel laughed, "That just means I'll owe you the equivalent of that."

"Consider it an early Christmas present," Aiji shrugged.

"I don't celebrate Christmas, remember?" Lythiel snickered.

"Yule present then," Aiji said.

Daphne took the opportunity to grasp Aiji's other hand and squeezed affectionately, "Then that just means we'll have to get you a nice Yule present."

"Speaking of parents," Sally-Anne said when she finished chewing her buttered roll, "My dad wants to meet with you all since you're my friends, especially you Ai. I mean, he does somewhat know about Daff and Ly, but not you."

"Oh! Ri-Ri also wants me to introduce you two," Daphne gushed, "You've been her idol for how long now?"

"Wow, I've got my own fan-club and I didn't even notice," Aiji said with good humor, "So what am I? A fierce Amazon sent to save the day or maybe a female Knight in shining armor?"

"Actually, as we were growing up, Ri-Ri's fantasies about you resembled the magical girl genre," Daphne grinned. Shizuru had snuck in a Cutie Honey with the rest of Aiji's manga, Daphne was, of course, hooked by the first page.

"So long as I'm more of a Cutie Honey or a Devil Hunter Yoko than a Creamy Mami, I've got not complaints," Aiji said.

Daphne didn't catch on to the other two references, but she was quick to tease, "Let's see… someone would be in danger, check; you'd try to thwart their plans, check; when things got tough you'd transform and become stronger, check; you'd save the day and leave a grateful audience, check. Yep, you were most definitely some version of Cutie Honey, minus the whole android bit."

"What are you all talking about?" Pansy wrinkled her nose while Stacie face-palmed and Millicent glared at the quartet in warning. Draco shot Pansy an irritated glare, annoyed that she had let them know that they were being eavesdropped.

"You make a lousy spy, Parkinson," Sally-Anne munched on her sausages, "the point of snooping is to not let the target know you are doing so."

Pansy clenched her teeth, "And I'll bet your discussion revolves around something immensely childish and muggle."

"Wow, you know what "revolves" and "immensely" mean?" Daphne sighed in mock-pride, "Amazing! Can you wipe your own arse as well?"

"Funny," Millicent growled, "I'd say that describes you more accurately, Princess," she spat the title with a derision usually used by the Gryffindors.

"Actually," Sally-Anne didn't take her focus from devouring her miniature mountain of toasts with a liberal amount of blueberry jam, "That would be a more apt description of Parkinson than of Daphne. The Princess archetype has always been closely associated with the Damsel in Distress archetype because they both need a Knight or a Prince to save them. Although, granted, the Princess archetype can grow into the Queen one, but that's really rare for many personalities. Also, even though some Princess archetypes look out for the welfare of others, that is also rare and most definitely against Parkinson's personality. Therefore, since Parkinson always needs saving or someone to defend her, i.e. Bulstrode, she fits the Princess dash Damsel in Distress title."

Everyone around her was looking at her as though she had grown an extra head. "What?" Stacie almost chocked on her carrots and fried tomatoes.

"Oh, come on!" Sally-Anne rolled her eyes as she washed down her food with milk, "Don't tell me you don't read enough to notice the typical story archetypes?"

"So," Morag suddenly butted from her conversation with Blaise and Theodore, "If Parkinson is our Princess in Distress, what is Greengrass?"

"The Queen," Daphne sniffed imperiously over her glass of orange juice.

Sally-Anne chewed on her crumpet, "It's an archetype of power and authority, unlike the Princess one. Although in fairytales, Queens are usually portrayed as arrogant and will do almost anything to keep their authority. But then again, they are usually written by patriarchal chauvinists that want women to be submissive brooders, so really, any form of female empowerment is discouraged by them… But regardless of misconceptions and half-truths, the Queen is all about personal authority, control, and leadership skills. (2)"

"Leadership skills, Greengrass?" Draco chortled, "Everyone knows Urameshi's the leader of you four."

"Not really, no," Aiji shrugged while adding some jacket potatoes to her plate, "If you want a leader, look at my nii-chan."

"Besides," Lythiel sipped her coffee, "Even if Daff isn't a typical leader, she still has a great deal of personal control and authority over her own life, which is more than people can say about Parkinson."

Sally-Anne nodded although she personally thought that Lythiel had more Queen characteristics but let it slide. It wasn't as though anyone knew that those archetypes were psychological Jungian references and that every person represented more than one archetype. If it gave them more power among their House, all the better.

"So Queenie," Pansy's teeth were clenched so tight that it was a wonder they weren't breaking, "What are you going to do now with your court."

"No darling, no matter how much you flatter me I won't let you have the Eastern Palace," Daphne's smile was too sparkly to be sincere, "You'll just have to contend with what you have, sweetie. Wouldn't want to end up a spoilt brat as an adult, would you?"

Millicent was about to stand up at Pansy's hiss but, "Keep in mind, sugar, that my Amazon is ten times stronger than your Knight," Daphne inclined her head towards Millicent.

Aiji almost snorted out her coffee, "Oh come on, Daff, it's not her fault she doesn't get it even after a fact has been demonstrated over and over."

"Mental deficits are nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart," Daphne patted Pansy's hand, which the latter snatched back.

Millicent let out a pained yelp when Aiji, who couldn't reach the ground with her short legs, kicked her shins.

Stacie decided that now was as good a time as any to cut in, "Come on Pansy, Millicent, we'll be late for class if we dawdle. And really, if we stay here any longer, we might give into temptation and stuff our faces like certain piglets are doing right now." Parkinson was soooo owing her for this.

Pansy nodded with all the dignity she could muster and left with Millicent trailing behind her.

Lythiel glanced at the retreating trio's backs, "D'you think we should tell them that if a diet is not done properly, they are essentially starving themselves?"

A couple of eavesdropping Ravenclaw and Slytherin girls blanched and started to add more filling foods to their plates.

"Nah," Aiji shrugged, "She'll probably think we're lying or keep at it just to spite us."

Lythiel clinked her coffee mug with Aiji's in agreement.

Daphne shook her head and tucked in to her trifle with angelica, chocolate flakes, and glace cherries on top. She earned every single one of these calories yesterday, no way was she going to feel guilty about eating so much.

Nasrin turned accusing eyes on Kazutoshi, "You planned this, didn't you?"

"Whatever do you mean, my wild rose?" his smile was dripping with charm as he held her hand.

Nasrin was about to fall for the same trick almost 86 percent of the girls on campus did until Ezven interrupted, "Yesterday, you were around the four for an innumerable amount of time and you gave Perks something. What was it?"

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" Kazutoshi kept his smile. It unnerved Ezven.

Nasrin took the reprieve to mentally bludgeon herself out of it, 'This bloke should be used as a national weapon.'

"What do you gain from this?" Melinda asked while looking anywhere but at Kazutoshi. She was not going to fall for that trick.

A finger under her chin proved her wrong, "How rude! Is that what you think of me, my sweet serpent?"

Damn the bastard for making her want to shag him stupid!

An aggravated Ezven slapped the back of Kazutoshi's head, "Will you stop flirting, already?"

"There's nothing wrong with appreciating another's beauty, Ezven," Kazutoshi purred just because he knew it would piss Ezven off even more so. And of course, who could forget the mixed reactions of arousal and fury that came from Melinda and Nasrin.

Something caught his eye and he stood up, "Terribly sorry to eat and run, lovelies, but I've got to go find the path of life," he left the Great Hall.

Nasrin snorted and returned to her sugared porridge, "Coincidentally, he always has to find some abstract or utterly impossible task to do every time a certain pair of twins get into some mischief."

"Oh, happy were the days we could give those two a detention and point deduction without Shinmei covering for them," Ezven scowled.

"He needs to find a new set of entertainment," Melinda grunted.

Aiji, Lythiel, Daphne, and Sally-Anne snickered at the prefects' not-so-subtle conversation and left the Hall as well. As much as Snape was tolerant of Aiji for her status as a snake, he still would fry their arses if they were late.

On their way to the stairs, a figure collided with Lythiel just as they were about to turn. Lythiel fell back-first with the older girl on top of her.

"Uff!" Lythiel breathed over the somewhat heavy figure.

"Ly!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" the older girl stammered while getting up using her hands on the floor. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I'm terribly clumsy on a good day and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and—"

"It's fine," Lythiel waved her hand, "I wasn't paying attention either," she got up with Daphne and Aiji's help. For some odd reason, she was very sluggish today. Probably because she exhausted so much magic yesterday plus all of the physical stunts. Yeah, that was it.

Daphne frowned, "You sure you're alright, Ly? You've been acting a bit weary since you woke up. It even took you longer to wake up than usual." Even with training cancelled was left unspoken.

"I'm fine," Lythiel shook her head slowly, "Just tired."

Aiji glanced at the older girl, "How 'bout you? Anything broken or should we continue interrogating Ly?"

"No, everything is fine," she laughed it off as her hair turned orange.

The girls stared at her in shock, "How?" Sally-Anne started.

"Oh, right!" she grinned, "You're all firsties so you wouldn't be used to it since we're from different Houses," she gestured to her yellow and black tie, "I'm a Metamorphmagus."

"Huh?" Aiji asked.

"It means I can naturally change my physical attributes without a wand," she said, "Consider me as a sort of shape-shifter. Except that it doesn't come with animal transformations with the package. That I have to learn along with everyone else," she grinned, "I'm Nymphadora Tonks, call me Nymphadora and you're dead."

"What were your parents on when they named you?" Aiji smirked in good humor.

"Don't know, but I want some," Tonks smiled.

"Considering what your name means, Ai," Lythiel said, "I don't think you have any place to point fingers."

"I keep on telling you," Aiji said, "She thought I was a boy and didn't think to check."

"Oh?" Tonks said, "Now I have to know, if only so I can gain a partner in misery."

"My name is spelt with "ai" the kanji for "indigo" and "ji" the kanji for "gentleman" or "samurai."" Aiji gave rueful smile. Only her 'ka-san.

Tonks looked at her from head to foot, "Goodness, attitude-wise it fits, but, wow."

"It helps when I feel like crossdressing if nothing else," Aiji commented with a wry smile.

"To continue with the introductions," Daphne smiled, "I'm Daphne Greengrass, this little cutie is Lythiel Moon, our resident tomboy is Aiji Urameshi, and the paranoid shadow behind us is Sally-Anne Perks."

Sally-Anne flicked some hair behind her right ear, stroking reassuringly a barrette holding her hair back. A barrette that had the Mirror of Erised, front to her hair, as the centerpiece.

"Just because I grew up with horror stories of the other Houses ganging up on Slytherins doesn't mean you can make fun," Sally-Anne said in a deceptively flippant voice.

Tonks caught on with a wince, "Unfortunately, those are true. Although, the ganging up is usually more verbal than anything else, unless, of course, if you're a real tosser like Preston."

"Preston?" Aiji scratched her head, "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Sally-Anne sighed in exasperation, "Blond hair, more or less medium height, far too cocky for his own good… you know, that bloke you sent to the hospital wing two weeks ago."

"Oh, him! The one with the decent knee kick, I remember," Aiji nodded to herself.

To her credit, Tonks only gazed at Aiji incredulously three seconds less than others usually do, "Since it's my fault for crashing into you, why don't I get rid of some bruises you must've gotten. I'm pretty good with healing spells."

"That's not really necessary," Lythiel insisted. However, Daphne had other plans.

"Sure!"

Tonks took out her wand and muttered some words, instantly, Lythiel's back stopped bothering her. That was good, her head was starting to annoy her with all the pounding it was doing.

Aiji turned to Tonks, "Say, Nymph-sempai, you wouldn't know that diagnosing spell Pomfrey-baba uses?"

"No, that's a spell only those specifically studying to be Healers know," Tonks frowned, "Nymph-sempai?"

"You said we couldn't call you Nymphadora," Aiji grinned, "How about something to check for fevers?"

"What?" Lythiel asked while Tonks did the thermometer spell. It read 99.8 F, not on the alarming levels but…

"Does your throat feel scratchy and dry?" Aiji sniffed Lythiel, "You smell a bit feverish. Maybe you should call in sick in case it gets worse."

"Do your limbs feel heavy?" Sally-Anne asked, "I noticed you felt better when you were sitting down. Even then, you only ate two Bath buns instead of the usual ten."

"You also drank your coffee with sugar and cream," Aiji frowned, "You always drink it straight."

"Mates," Lythiel started before Daphne's hand felt her forehead.

"Yep, you are most definitely sick," Daphne nodded, "Let's get you to Pomfrey's."

"But I'm fine!" Lythiel yelled with a somewhat hoarse voice.

"Ly," Daphne looked her in the eyes, "You sweated like a pig yesterday from all of the exercise you did, then you used up a great deal of your magic, and let's not forget that yesterday was colder in the Dungeons than usual."

"Actually," Sally-Anne said, "I don't recall you using the warming charm when we got back to the dorms."

At Lythiel's blush, Aiji snorted, "Wet with sweat plus freezing environment equals cold."

Tonks reminded the girls of her presence, "Even if you aren't sick yet, you should still go to Pomfrey's. The best cure is prevention, after all."

"But, I can't afford to miss classes!" 'Especially not one I'm good at!'

"Don't worry," Tonks smiled gently, "Pomfrey's used to Slytherin firsties getting sick at this time. Living in the Dungeons, especially during cold seasons, doesn't do much for people's constitutions. There's even some older Slytherins that still get sick nowadays just because of a forgotten warming charm."

Aiji had enough, she crouched down in front of Lythiel before the blonde could protest. Daphne and Sally-Anne had taken the hint and grabbed Lythiel bellow her armpits to hoist her on Aiji's back. Once she was secured, Aiji began to leave for the hospital wing with Daphne, Sally-Anne, and Tonks in tow.

"You don't have to accompany us if you don't want to," Lythiel said, uncomfortable with all the attention.

"I can't in good conscience let a sick firstie go waltzing around without making sure she's under Madame Pomfrey's care," Tonks smiled.

"Especially when said firstie's a freaking workaholic," Aiji sniped.

"Still, Ly's got a point," Sally-Anne turned to Tonks with a concerned frown, "Won't you be late for classes if you escort us?"

"Don't worry about it kiddo, it's for a good cause," Tonks patted her on the back, "Besides, Pomfrey will give me a note and it's not like I'll miss anything important with Quirell teaching."

"Who needs that class?" Daphne sniffed, "That man couldn't teach his way out of a paper bag."

"You're telling me. I want to be an Auror and to get accepted into the program you need to have a lot of high-scoring NEWTs, especially in Defense," Tonks all but growled.

"How do you get by?" Daphne asked, genuinely interested.

"Study groups, that's the only way to go, especially since no Defense prof lasts the year. Unfortunately, we ended up with a bad one in my last year here," Tonks sighed despondently.

"Ouch," Sally-Anne said, "Maybe we should start our own?"

"You should. You might not feel it now, but come OWLs, and you'll be wishing you had taken extra lessons just to keep up with what should have been the regular curriculum."

They chatted along the way to the Hospital Wing, with Tonks tripping from everything material to thin air. Lythiel had fought a valiant battle against sleep, but it had won and she was sleeping on Aiji's back.

Tonks was a really likeable person, they all found. She was funny, kind, lively, smart, and boisterous. She regaled them with tales of her own at Hogsmeade, the mischief she got up to as a firstie and secondie, and the pranks she pulled on certain individuals who shall remain unnamed with her shape-shifting abilities.

Aiji was in the middle of telling Tonks of one of her crossdressing pranks when Madame Pomfrey stuck her head out at the sound of voices at this time. When her eyes spied the sleeping Lythiel, she was immediately on the alert, "What happened here?"

"Ly hasn't been feeling good since this morning, Madam Pomfrey," Daphne said, "She forgot to put on the warming charm yesterday and—"

"Say no more, Miss Greengrass," Pomfrey waved the girls in, "Honestly, I don't even want to know what Slytherin was thinking when he located his dorms in the Dungeons. Or better yet, why hasn't someone relocated the dorms by now?"

"Think that they'll do it now if we go on a hunger strike?" Aiji drawled.

"You shouldn't have to risk your health any more than you already are, Miss Urameshi," Pomfrey's lips thinned, "What are you here for Miss Tonks?"

"Just doing my good deed for the day, Madame," Tonks smiled.

"Trust me, with Ly, it's all about safety in numbers," Aiji said, "She'd have insisted until she was blue in the face that she was fine even with an 110 degree fever."

"Very well, then," Pomfrey helped Aiji put Lythiel on a stretcher. As soon as Lythiel was tucked in and comfortable, Pomfrey started to put monitoring charms.

When Pomfrey was done with some of the external healing, such was putting a cool towel over Lythiel's head, she turned to the girls with late slips on her hands.

"Just so you know," Sally-Anne said as she took her slip, "Ly will insist that a Pepper-Up would be enough to heal her just so she could get back into class."

"Warning received," Pomfrey said, "Don't worry, she won't leave here for the rest of the day if I have anything to say about it."

Daphne was patting Lythiel's hand and mumbling something about visiting her and sending positive energy waves. Aiji sweatdropped and tugged Daphne away while Tonks tried not to laugh.

Magic mirrors that showed one's desires or not, things didn't change much. Business was as usual.

~!#$%^&*()~!#$%^&*()_~!#$%^&*()_~!#$%^*&_)+!#$%^*&)(_+~!#$%^&*()~!#$%&^)(_~!#$%^*&)(_~!#$%^(*_)~!#$%&^(*_)~!#$%)

(1) an Afador is a mixed dog breed. It's a mix of an Afghan Hound and a Labrador.

(2) All of this was found at and paraphrased from meta-religion (put dot com) and after that /Psychiatry/Analytical_psychology/a_gallery_of_ archetypes

Yeah, I know. For those of you that are Japanese savvy, you were all expecting Aiji to mean (Love "ai" Male Child "ji"). That is one, and it seems to be the most popular, way of reading the name Aiji. Now, while I think a name like that would be a strong nod to cannon Harry, I don't think that Atsuko would have been idealistic enough to name a kid that, especially if we take into account how low she was at that point in her life. Plus, the "Yuu" in Yuusuke means "eerie." "Indigo" is a color usually associated with sadness. Considering the circumstances that Aiji was adopted, I thought it more fitting. The "gentleman/samurai" bit was for the gender confusion. Although, granted I could have had fun with the "Love Child" misnomer but... this is the result.

For those of you that want to ask about that chapter with the Unbreakable Vow and Aiji claimed her name meant "son," that was her getting lost in translation and her translation spell went awry... at least, that's my excuse (sweatdrop). Well, considering that her name is masculine, she was trying to say that her mother thought she had gained another son... hence the miscomunication. Hehe.

This might be the last chapter of Aiji I'll post before I graduate from college this year. I'm not too sure, I'll see what I can do. Check my bio for more info.