Take Nine: Press the Repeat (Ran right round, round, round…)

Tea, he said, with a Cheshire grin.

And so, Dumbledore led his not-so-merry employees to his office…

"What you've done was absolutely against protocol," chided Sprout.

"So we are not having a debate on this, Hatake!" continued McGonagall heatedly.

"I think we are having a debate Professor. Hmm…You're here. They're here. I'm here. We even have someone to mediate this disagreement." Kakashi crossed his arms, nodding towards the Headmaster in deference.

"Disagreement?" Snape sneered at him distastefully. "We're quite done with your political euphemisms, Hatake. The points will be reversed back from before your tampering with or without your agreement."

Taking time, he adjusted his disgustingly bright jaundiced scarf and said an almost surprised, "Oh?" The Professors could tell that their 'Mediator' was smiling around the sound.

"Mr. Hatake, unfortunately I have to agree with my colleagues on this," said Flitwick as he wrung his hands together for the umpteenth time. "Leaving the points as it is will not reflect well on the staff."

"Not at all," nodded Sprout. She repeated with a measure of warning, "Not at all."

McGonagall made a half-strangled noise and spun around to face Dumbledore with pleading eyes. "Think of the children, Albus!"

Their Headmaster brushed a hand through his long grey-white beard before saying apologetically, "…They do bring up valid points, Mr. Hatake. I'm afraid having such a heavy hand when deducting points might cause school spirit to plummet."

Snape gave the Headmaster a dry look of disbelief – that the old man could still worry over such trivial matters like school spirit. His teaching equals, however, seemed to latch onto the Headmaster's reasoning like a fish out of water.

"I absolutely concur, Headmaster," announced Flitwick, ever the yes man.

"Negative House points will definitely cause school spirit to drop dramatically even," agreed the Hufflepuff Head of House with sentiment. "This will not go well with the students. Not at all."

Even McGonagall nodded curtly. "Which is why this mishap needs to be rectified."

Just as Dumbledore was about to respond, the door to the office slammed open, revealing Madam Pomfrey panicking at the steps. All eyes turned to her, taking in her flyaway hair and red face. She heaved in great gulps of air as she choked out the hurried words.

"He-Head-master-" Pomfrey waved her hands frantically, trying to catch her breath.

Aflutter, Sprout guided their poor medic into the room. "Good grace, Poppy. Take deeper breaths!"

"No, no! No time." Eyes wide, Pomfrey took in a deep breath and finally exclaimed, "Headmaster! A riot! We have a student riot on our hands!"

Flitwick squeaked out in disbelief. "A riot?"

"Preposterous," growled McGonagall.

Pomfrey shook her head grimly. "I'm afraid it's true." She rounded on Kakashi. "You! You should be ashamed of yourself."

Kakashi looked ready with a comeback but Dumbledore held out a staying hand. "Please, Mr. Hatake. We will discuss this later. Stay in the office with Filius while we survey the damage."

There was a glint in those piercing blue eyes. No one argued his word.

The Headmaster solemnly rose from his seat. "Let's go Professors."

When the majority of the students woke up that Saturday morning, they all did a double take when they trekked into the Great Hall…

At the entrance of the Great Hall sat the four large hourglasses that depicted the current points delegated to each house. Currently, only the House of Ravenclaw had gems in their hourglass. The three other hourglasses were completely empty and underneath those structures were piles of lacklustre grey-coloured gems. Hemmed into the foot of these hourglasses were numerical values, indicating the current points for each house.

And given what they saw, understandably, the students in Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff – three-quarters of the entire school population – were decidedly outraged.

Negative House points? That was practically unheard of in the entire history of Hogwarts, or so many Ravenclaws and one Hermoine Granger asserted.

As more and more students filed into the Great Hall and spotted the negative House points, many initial thoughts were shared. One such thought in particular stood out and left many mouths as they asked their friends and housemates.

Who're the idiots that lost us that many points in one night?

And when their peers, the ones who knew about the actual situation, brought them up to speed about their school Mediator (Actually if you're talking about idiots, you helped us lose some points this morning), the previous thought was replaced with another one.

That bloody moronic squib! He can't do this!

Ginny Weasley crossed her arms, reasonably displeased about the current points predicament. The Gryffindors around her were likewise livid, albeit more vocal about their distraught. Pushing out of the crowd surrounding the hourglasses, she stalked closer to her age mates and listened in on the conversations around her…

"This is so stupid!"

"-underhanded-"

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm rooting for Snape-"

"-yeaa and hope he'd poison the idiot Mediator for us."

"He's probably itching to do it."

"Or transfiguration – maybe McGonagall will pull a Moody-"

"-unlikely-"

"-but that was our hard-earned House points!"

A whispery voice said thoughtfully, "It looks like the Ubmub Bumbu finally ate them…"

Ginny nodded along absently until the sentence registered. Raising an eyebrow at 'Ubmub Bumbu', she turned to address the serene Third Year a ways from her. "I'm almost afraid to ask what an Ubmub Bumbu is."

Loony Lovegood, as her peers dubbed her, explained patiently, "Ubmub Bumbu are magical creatures that love to eat sand from hourglasses. It was once said that they scared away Father Time with their appetite."

"…Right." The Weasley rolled her eyes and decided to run with it. "But that's impossible Luna. Everyone knows that the hourglasses held gems in them and not sand. Rubies for Gryffindor, emeralds for Slytherin, sapphires for Ravenclaw, and topaz for Hufflepuffs."

"Oh." Luna paused, playing with the Butterbeer cork necklace around her neck as she thought deeply. "They must have been the mutant species daddy mentioned..."

"Well it doesn't matter either way," grumbled Ginny. "You're in Ravenclaw."

Luna blinked her silvery eyes in a confused manner. "So? Ubmub Bumbu aren't colour racist."

"…What does that have to do with anything?" It was Ginny's turn to be confused.

"Maybe eating all those rubies, topazes and emeralds made them full. I'm sure they're saving those sapphires for later as a snack." The whimsical Ravenclaw smiled. "Then everyone would be without gems."

The eavesdropping Ravenclaws behind them groaned. One of them piped up. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Michael Corner then added, "Yea, I like the points where they're at thank you very much – o' course, no offence to you Gryffindors."

"Whatever. None taken." Ginny tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "It's not your fault this happened."

"True. We should thank our Mediator for giving us a head start in points," said Anthony Goldstein, deadpanned.

"Get over it Goldstein. Hatake's lousy for pulling this over the entire school," retorted Seamus Finnigan from beside the group.

"And if you're not careful, with a wave of his squibby hands he can send the Ravenclaws spiralling into the negatives too," grumbled Dean Thomas.

Glancing at her fellow Gryffindors, Ginny frowned, "We didn't even do anything really wrong to rob us of those points."

Terry Boot grinned apologetically, "It might be because of McGonagall."

"You mean you think we lost points because of Professor McGonagall," repeated Ginny.

"That's crazy," snorted Seamus.

"Why? We all know how Hatake drives the Head of Houses up the walls," pointed out Anthony. "He could have taken points away to make a statement."

Dean asked sceptically, "Then what about the Ravenclaws?"

"Professor Flitwick and Mr. Hatake made a pact with a Hopeioppi," said Luna reverently.

Seeing the mystified looks, Terry clarified for her, "The Ravenclaws think they're friends."

"I'll sooner eat my left shoe than believe that someone as strange as Hatake can be friends with Professor Flitwick," said Ginny dryly. "I think he gave you House points to build resentment."

"Good girl." Seamus took a step back at the discouraging look from Ginny when those words left his mouth. He smiled weakly. "Look. The Slytherins are giving you Ravenclaws nasty looks. Bugger this! Hatake might be doing this to watch the hate brew."

It was true. With every brash remark and rude gesture, the Slytherins were growing more agitated with each passing second…

But not only that, the hate was also close to home too.

The Weasley twins glared at the hourglasses, hoping the structures would catch fire or the points would magically reappear.

So far, it wasn't happening.

"Seriously man, we need to do something," said Lee Jordan.

Fred nodded, "Yeah."

"I can't believe we let a squib one-up us," muttered George.

Angelina Johnson tried to rally her friends, "Cheer up guys. I'm sure Professor McGonagall will do something about this."

"It's the principle of the matter, Angelina," grumbled Fred.

"Principle of what matter?" she asked.

"What he's done – it's almost like a prank of epic proportions!" exaggerated George.

Frowning, Lee Jordan suggested, "So then why not just return the favour then?"

"We got to plan first," thought George. "It can't be on the fly."

"The only problem is we don't have anything solid yet," said Fred, picking at the breakfast on his plate.

"Why not just do what you usually do?" At the blank stares, Angelina sighed, "Like your signature pranks."

"But that's so boring!" cried out both Weasley twins.

"Not to mention predictable," added Lee Jordan.

Fred considered, "It has to be something new – something the students will talk about for years to come."

"We do have that prototype-" said George.

They started to twin-speak.

"-not ready-"

"-tweak that spell, I'm telling you-"

"-but that means-"

"-of course it means-"

"-then we should also add-"

"-yes, yes, definitely-"

"-just prototypes-"

"-I have it here."

Fred, sneaking glances down the Gryffindor table and seeing that the coast was clear, pulled out a small item from his robes.

George whispered gleefully, "You actually brought them with you?"

"I can't just let them sit in the room," said Fred indignantly.

"What is it?" asked Lee Jordan and Angelina.

Fred uncurled his fingers and revealed a nondescript wad of crumpled brown paper.

"That's it?" said Lee Jordan.

George looked offended. "You can't just say 'that's it'!"

"It just looks…normal," said Angelina as she tried to explain.

Fred started, "Well it's not. It's a new prototype of Weasleys' Wizard-"

"What are you four doing?"

Jolting in his seat, Fred accidentally dropped his prototype into a pie – a half-eaten goat pie to be exact.

"Oh no," uttered Fred and George as they stared at the pie, prototype fizzling immediately upon contact.

"Oh no?" Katie Bell, the one who interrupted the conversation, rolled her eyes. "You two are so weird sometimes."

"Uh…" Watching as the prototype fizzled out, Fred grabbed Katie and Angelina by their wrists and made them duck.

A loud BANG later, the pie sailed towards the Slytherin table…

"What…was that…?" asked Angelina, eyebrows raised.

George grinned sheepishly, "Our prototype firecracker."

The five Gryffindors stared at the table surface where the pie used to sit. It was charred black.

Fred laughed nervously, "As you can see, it still needs adjusting."

"This is stupid! So. So. Stupid," seethed Daphne Greengrass.

"We heard you once, we heard you a thousand times," drawled Blaise Zabini. "That squib needs to be taught a lesson."

"Humph." Pansy Parkinson crossed her arms. "His mother must've been a half-breed fish-brained mermaid."

"Even that's too good," complained Tracey Davis.

Draco Malfoy scowled at the hourglasses. "We need to reverse this."

"Have you got a plan, Malfoy?" asked Theodore Nott.

Malfoy was silent, having nothing to contribute yet. Instead, he questioned, disgusted, "How could you two still be hungry at a time like this?"

Crabbe and Goyle continued to shovel food into their mouth. Crabbe paused long enough to answer him, "'Cus it's breakfast, Malfoy."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. He was about to say more but paused, eyes zeroing on the approaching projectile.

He ducked.

The person beside him was not as lucky.

Pansy screeched bloody murder. "There's goat pie. In. My. HAIR."

Zabini chortled, "Stop bleating. You don't need to have a kid about it!"

There was a choked enraged yell and pie bits were smashed into Zabini's face. Zabini took revenge by splashing the Slytherin girls with pumpkin juice. Yelping, the girls, wet, took matters into their own hands, grabbing the omelettes and bacon pieces and throwing them at any one passing by. Creatively, they dunked bits of muffin into the juice so that they would stick to skin better.

Then Peeves the Hogwarts Poltergeist entered the scene and all hell broke loose.

Food fight!

It was chaos. Food whizzed in the air, splattering on surfaces that food never should be on. Students were ducking this way and that, some trying to escape the fray and others joining in on the 'fun'.

Emotions were boiling high, especially with the House points as they were. Some treated the food fight as a stress reliever. The Ravenclaws found themselves to be walking targets, being ganged up by the three other Houses…

"SILENCE."

The powerful roar for peace was deafening. All the students shuddered and turned as one to face their – not angry, but even worse – disappointed Headmaster.

"Students, please drop the food back onto the tables."

Dumbledore, standing in front of the dais, watched as students discarded the food weapons in their hands. To his immediate left, McGonagall was about to reprimand a Gryffindor student but was stalled by the Headmaster's staying hand.

"And Mr. Weasley, if you would please put down the bacon and Mr. Weasley, I'm sure the bread rolls did you no great wrong to mutilate them."

Only the Headmaster managed to address the twins sternly without fear of retribution, much to the professors' admiration. The twins looked sincerely contrite. "Er. Right Headmaster," was their unison agreement.

And as everyone settled down into their seats, most faces red with mortification, Dumbledore addressed the crowd of preteens and young adolescents.

"I'm very disappointed." The Headmaster's aged, tired voice echoed in the confines of the Great Hall. "Very disappointed."

The majority of the students present hung their heads in shame.

"Prefects, please lead the students back to the dormitories. Breakfast will be served at the Common rooms…"

When the students were organized and settled, the meeting was resumed with the four Head of Houses, the Headmaster, and their foreign guest…

"Sherry Bats?"

Dumbledore took the time to shake the tin of candies towards Kakashi. The resident ninja tried to decline politely but the Headmaster was quite persistent. "Just one. I assure you nothing strange will happen."

Kakashi tugged at his sunflower-yellow scarf and cleared his throat.

Dumbledore amended, "Not again, at least. I do express regret for the charcoal-flavoured Every Flavour Bean."

"No need for the apologies, Headmaster." He smiled tightly, not that they could see it, and relented. "Aah. I'm not a big fan of sweets but…Just one then."

And so he took one, sniffing at the candy almost delicately. "What is this?"

"Sugar with a few dashes of sherry." Dumbledore smacked on another piece. "I'm quite fond of the lovely bat shapes."

With a sleight of hand, the candy was popped into his mouth but no obvious reaction was garnered. Observant, Dumbledore saw something though and chuckled civilly, "Yes, it is an acquired taste."

Kakashi steadily chewed on his piece of candy.

The assembled Head of Houses fidgeted behind the two. "Are we ready to discuss yet-" The stress on the 'discuss' was unmistakable. "-or are we going to talk about sweets for the rest of this meeting?"

Both Dumbledore and Kakashi turned to face the other occupants in the room.

"Patience, dear Minerva."

McGonagall scowled, "I think I speak for all of us when I say we are quite done with patience, Albus. We've been patient enough since his stay but this…this is too much!"

"If I may, Headmaster," said Kakashi and didn't wait for formalities and permission. "There's a terrible lack of discipline at this school."

"What do you mean by that now Mr. Hatake?" Sprout harrumphed. "Discipline has always been doled out with reasonable House point deductions and detentions."

"Aah. I didn't mean 'to discipline', Professor Sprout." The Mediator seemed almost bored. "I meant discipline as a code of conduct. The students are quite disrespectful."

No one in the room missed the hidden jab at the fact that disrespectfulness from the students could only be from a lack of control exerted by the Professors.

"I should say, that's a bold statement to make," stated Flitwick nervously.

"But true." Unrepentant, Kakashi smiled thinly.

McGonagall, knowing that this was Hatake they were speaking to, decided refuting his logic would lead to nowhere. Instead she asked sourly, "And what does that have to do with the events this morning?"

The look she received from him was as dry as the Mongolian Gobi desert. "In my village-" Ears perked up in interest as this was perhaps the first time he willingly referred to his place of origin. "-We respect the words of our elders and leaders to a tee."

Snape knew what he was hinting at. A sneer curled his lips. "Respect...Curious, why, Mr. Hatake, should the students respect you when you haven't given them reason to?"

Kakashi was unruffled and said matter-of-factly. "That shouldn't have mattered, not when their leader – your leader – placed me in command. They should have implicitly trusted the Headmaster's judgement."

Your Leader. If Snape tensed due to Kakashi's choice of words, they didn't notice.

The shinobi continued, "It's obvious the students and staff respect Headmaster Dumbledore too, at least, from what I witnessed during the sorting ceremony."

That may have been another backward reprimand at the Professors.

"So it's rather curious how everyone is so…" Kakashi trailed off, shrugging.

"No one can build confidence in someone else like that so unreservedly!" McGonagall claimed.

Sprout pondered, "Without a base, no healthy relationship can bloom. No trust at all there, Mr. Hatake."

Kakashi chose not to respond.

The other Professors, however, couldn't get around his flaw in logic. His views and words were so…(militaristic). Only Dumbledore remained impassive at Kakashi's declaration, calmly chewing on another Sherry Bat.

And so, the uncomfortable silence remained until the Headmaster swallowed the candy and said, "Interesting views, Mr. Hatake. I believe this is where our culture differs."

Kakashi intoned, "Aah. So it seems. Regardless, there is that issue with the students not following through with my instructions. That is a valid reason towards point deductions."

"Yes, I can cede to that." McGonagall looked pained after making that admittance. She regained fire though. "But the amount you deducted was absolutely ludicrous. Tell me the math."

He willingly obliged. "Five points off for every student who didn't show up." Kakashi appeared to think and gave them his classic grin, "The Ravenclaws gained extra points because…Well, I think you know why."

Easily piecing the hints, Snape muttered darkly, "The House with the most representation this morning."

Flitwick opened his mouth, ready to protest. "You…"

"Aah. Most of the students in your House are very good at following instructions," informed Kakashi, almost reassuring but failing spectacularly.

"You can't…" Flitwick hung his head in defeat. "…do that."

McGonagall glanced from Dumbledore and Kakashi to Flitwick who was rapidly rubbing his forehead. Her lips thinned. "So that was why the points from Ravenclaw exceeded my calculations."

Sprout added, "Certainly caused quite a stir amongst the students. Students fighting and squabbling because of the points – imagine that! Jealous of the other Houses' points! Well I'll never…"

Voice mild, Dumbledore summed her thoughts, "Three-quarters of the students were understandably unhappy."

"Which could have been prevented," stated McGonagall. "School riot…I fear the parents will have several things to say about that."

Gotcha. Kakashi smiled. "So you finally see the counter-productiveness of a points system."

"What do you mean?" asked Sprout.

He said the keywords, "School riot."

"That happened only after you unbalanced the system!" snapped the Gryffindor Head of House.

"True, but you can't deny that the animosity and competitive edge has been brewing since Hogwarts was founded – or at least the clues in 'Hogwarts, A History' lead me to believe." Kakashi leaned into his seat, pleased. "And curious, you wish for inter-House unity? I don't think that will happen anytime soon – not with this points system in the way."

Flitwick's voice was tired when he reluctantly asked, "What do you suggest then, Mr. Hatake?"

"Abolishment of the points," said Kakashi simply.

The Professors stared at him. Silent.

From the Headmaster, conversely, Kakashi heard the muttered "definitely untraditional and unorthodox". Dumbledore laughed quietly, a Glowing Rabbit Tail candy in his mouth. His abated chuckles shook the other teachers from their stupor.

"That's-That's-!" said Sprout, wide-eyed.

"Impossible. The House points are to ensure good behaviour and studiousness in school," McGonagall clucked, disapproving of the notion.

Flitwick shook his head in agreement. "I'm afraid removing such a tradition would not reflect well on anyone involved."

Snape remained quiet, connecting the various dots and cluing in. It appeared Hatake purposefully unbalanced the House points to an unheard of degree so as to rouse the student's anger and anxiety. And relying on the predictability of the students – behavioural patterns he must have noticed in class – he depended on a massive unrest to occur. So in all truths, the 'waking up early' stunt he pulled was a roundabout ploy to pressure the Headmaster into removing the points system. Clever.

Kakashi took their disagreement and, in Snape's case, calm, in easy stride. He asserted again, "House points are counterproductive. You want school unity yet you pit them against one another for points."

"Again, this is used to reward students when they show acceptable behaviour or growth and learning. If not points, then what else?" McGonagall frowned severely. "And no corporal punishments. I'm sure you know that the Middle Ages are long past."

"Well if you're so adamant in keeping the points system…" At that statement, Kakashi received a collective glare from the Professors. He rubbed the back of his head and suggested, "How about an overall points tally by combining the points from the four Houses? Reach four thousand points by the end of the year and a prize will be rewarded."

"What kind of prize?" asked Sprout curiously.

"…I'll think of something." Kakashi smiled.

"But four thousand points is quite the difficult feat," said Dumbledore. "I would be impressed if the students manage to achieve such a milestone."

"Indeed." McGonagall added, "It's near impossible, in fact. Each House reach a yearly average of four hundred points, if not less."

His smile darkened to a smirk. "Exactly."

Sprout, hands on hips, stood up to her full height to address their wayward Mediator. "You're not suggesting giving them an impossible task on purpose, Mr. Hatake; that is no motivation for the students. They'll be disheartened!"

"Correction, Professor Sprout, it will make them strive to beat the impossible." Kakashi then added, "I'm sure the Ravenclaws will strive anyway…" And then in even softer contemplative undertones, he muttered, "Maybe even Hufflepuffs, the agreeable fellows, and Slytherins, those ambitious little snakes…"

Kakashi purposefully let those statements hang in the air. Starkly feeling the omission, the Gryffindor Head of House fumed, looking ready to hiss like a slighted cat, until-

"-And I believe the Gryffindors will strive too," said Dumbledore, eyes peering up at Kakashi in semi-challenge.

The shinobi backed down. "Of course," Kakashi agreeably nodded along.

Seeming satisfied, Dumbledore sat back. "Very well. I will consider this interesting proposition, Mr. Hatake."

They all spoke at once.

"But-"

"Headmaster…"

"We will discuss this later, Albus."

"Hmn."

"Aah."

Dumbledore said decisively, "Then may I say – this meeting is adjour-"

Sprout interrupted him. "No, wait. I have something I would like to add."

"You have another suggestion, my dear?" asked the Headmaster.

Kakashi could smell a plot afoot. "Ah but the peace keeper, she won't be very mean about this-"

"Yes I do." Sprout rubbed at the bridge of her nose, smudging the dirt there. "I don't mean to go against you, Mr. Hatake, but I think we should curb the amount of points you're allowed to deduct. What if this happens again?"

Kakashi started, speaking lowly, "You have my word-"

With a smile that students understood meant 'impending doom', McGonagall interrupted him. "A good suggestion, Pomona. I don't want something like this to disrupt and distress the students – especially the younger years – again." She recommended, "We should curb his point deductions to one hundred points daily."

"Two hundred points," he said flatly. "At least."

"This was never up for debate, Hatake," said Snape, lip curling unpleasantly.

Kakashi matched stares with Snape and stressed, "Two hundred points minimum."

"Gentlemen-" Seeing McGonagall ready to protest, Dumbledore added, "-and my gentle ladies, I would rather not limit any of my fellows in such a way."

Sprout fluttered her hands. "But Headmaster-!"

"Aaa." The resident ninja interrupted, voice velvety, "I don't mind, Professor Dumbledore. This may be an advantage yet."

The other Professors thought collectively. How can losing power still be an advantage?

Dumbledore stroked his beard. "Is that so?"

McGonagall grumbled, "One hundred points, Mr. Hatake."

"A minimum of two hundred points."

"That is one hundred points off the mark," said Snape curtly.

Flitwick piped up with a marked hesitance, "Why not a compromise at one hundred fifty points? That is…Well…"

"-That is a welcome suggestion," said Dumbledore. "As long as we have Mr. Hatake's agreement."

Kakashi crossed his legs at his ankles, poise revealing ease. In his eyes, it was a simple matter. "Okay."

"Okay-?" repeated McGonagall, unbelieving. "You can't just-"

Dumbledore smiled, blue eyes twinkling. "Then that's settled."

Face red, McGonagall looked like she swallowed a hairball. "You can't just do that!"

"Do what?" Kakashi asked innocently.

She straightened her back, slanting her eyes to stare down at him. "-Take control of the situation like-"

Flitwick broke into the squabble, much to McGonagall's chagrin. "And while we're still here-" The Charms Professor tilted his head at Kakashi in a rather apologetic manner. "-I propose reverting the points back to where they were at last night."

Before their Mediator could say another word, Snape said, "– As you've already made your unnecessary point, Hatake."

Professor Sprout nodded in concurrence and Professor McGonagall reluctantly followed along, still hung over the fact that he gained a fifty point limit. Kakashi neither agreed nor disagreed Flitwick's suggestion.

"Then that's settled as well," said Dumbledore again after a lapse of silence. "And if there isn't anything else we need to address, I hereby adjourn this meeting. It's time for mid-morning tea."

And as Kakashi left, his expression was indecipherable. "A gain, a loss and a loss. I can accept that."

Kakashi just didn't like their smug looks.

For the rest of the day and Sunday, Kakashi avoided the public eye even after when the points were reversed. Instead, he focused on research. When Monday rolled around the corner, he took a giant leap of faith and-

It was very smoky in the Divination tower that Monday morning. He nearly choked on the vaporized perfume several times. Seating himself at the back corner closer to the windows, the students gave him a wide, wide berth.

Kakashi muttered, "No need to treat me like an infection."

The students seated nearby shifted uncomfortably.

"I won't deduct points."

Hearing those words, they sat ramrod straight. They obviously didn't believe him.

And of course several anxious seconds later, whisking into the room like a phantom, Professor Trelawny entered her domain. The fabric of her robe whispered softly in the quiet room as she raised her hands up in a parody of an embrace.

"Good morning class."

The students murmured obediently, "Good morn-"

"-You!" Trelawny's magical grace vanished when she spotted him. Her face purpled considerably and she huffed. It was clear he wouldn't be getting sympathy from her any time soon.

Her next words confirmed his prediction.

"Class, today we will be studying star charts. As you can see here, Jupiter is eclipsing Saturn. And Mars! Mars is very red. I foresee Mr. Hatake in throes of great horrible agony."

Eyes wide as saucers, the impressionable Third years glanced from Trelawny to Hatake, nervous.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, scorn gracing his features.

"Been there. Done that."

…And since the Professors were still touchy about the event on Saturday, he holed himself up again. After all, missions didn't complete themselves.

Guruko was a ginger blur as he raced into the room, panting, and yipped loudly.

"HEY! Hey boss-man!"

Chewing on his lower lip, Kakashi continued to write.

"Boss-man!"

He finished the half-written words and reread what he wrote.

"Boss-man! Oi – OI!" Guruko leapt up and stood on his hind paws, front paws resting on his thighs.

Kakashi shifted minutely. "What is it Guruko?" There was a hint of annoyance as he poised his quill over the parchment and turned to face the hyperactive dog.

"Well you see I was patrolling-"

"Which you should still be doing," he pointed out. "Why did you leave your post?"

Guruko twitched his whiskers. "That's the thing! I was running around the school grounds!"

"And…"

"The giant humongous man had these crates! So cool! When he opened them I saw these things that can shoot fire outta their butts!"

'Fire out of their butts. Okay.' He nodded along – for the sake of diffusing the situation. His attention was torn in two as he half-listened and half-considered the message he was writing.

Guruko's enthusiasm didn't wilt in the face of his half-hearted attempts in conversation. "They had this cool looking stingies and – and, and – they're so tiny! I can eat them in one bite!"

Here, he paused, right eyebrow raised sardonically. "For your sake, I hope you didn't."

"Course not boss-man! They're sooo cool! I can't just eat them!" The summon sounded scandalized.

"…"

"Yip!"

Kakashi stared at him blankly.

"Boss-man?"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you even a bit curious?"

"Not really."

Excited, he danced from paw to paw. "Aww…Come on boss-man! Let's go for a walk! I can show you the cool things even! Let's go!" Guruko gathered the hem of Kakashi's shirt and tugged, much like a child.

"No Guruko. I'm finishing my report." With a free hand, he tapped at the cold nose pressed into his side.

Guruko sneezed but persisted. "But a walk! I love walks! You love walks! Let's go on a walk together and see the cool things!" He took in deep heaving breaths and wailed a loud, "Pleeeaaassseee!"

He sounded like a dying wildebeest.

One wary glance down at his begging puppy and Kakashi knew he wouldn't be getting anymore writing done with Guruko so worked up. A heavy sigh later, he conceded. "Fine. Let's go for a walk then."

"Yay!"

Guruko then chased his tail three times before dashing out the door. His master followed at a much more sedate pace, evergreen scarf adjusted absently.

"Groundskeeper Hagrid," hailed Kakashi from afar. Nosing at his knee, Guruko tried to push his summon master, impatient.

Hagrid waved. "Jus' Hagrid s'fine Mister Hatake."

"Mr. Hagrid then." Kakashi glanced at his surroundings scrupulously, trying to spot the crate Guruko was yammering about. Guruko in turn yipped a greeting at the Groundskeeper while circling Kakashi's legs.

"And yer firecracker dog's back." Hagrid rumbled. "Hullo."

("Hey giant man! Heey!") cheered the dog, jumping up and catching Hagrid's sleeve.

"Guruko," came the curt command.

The ninken whined, ("Aww…") Another pointed silence and Guruko reluctantly let go of Hagrid.

Once released, the half-giant bent down to pet the pup on his head. He then straightened and scratched his chin, relieving an improbable itch under his lower lip. He was pensive. "I dun suppose yeh'd tell me what I can do fer yeh?"

"Well…"

"-And if it's got somethin' ter do with those ruddy pranks yeh pull on the students then yeh got 'nother one comin'."

"Pranks…?" Looking 'perplexed', Kakashi explained, "I'm actually here to ask about the creatures in the forest."

"Oh. Why didn't yeh say so?" Hagrid grinned widely. "What're yeh lookin' fer?"

"Something that can shoot fire out of their rear ends." Kakashi coughed into a hand to release the embarrassing tension. "Does the description ring any bells?"

The giant thought hard. "I dun suppose yeh'd be referrin' ter ma babies."

"Babies?" repeated Kakashi weakly.

Hagrid saw the look he was getting and clarified proudly, "The Blast-Ended Skrewts."

"Blast-Ended Skrewts…" sounded Kakashi, as if testing the word.

"Come on, I'll show yeh." Hagrid lumbered towards the back of his hut. "I'm usin' 'em in my lessons."

Kakashi nodded and followed him, hands in pockets. Sulking, Guruko trailed along, tail wagging once he spotted the crates.

Stopping at one of the containers, Kakashi asked, "They're in here?"

"Yep. My Blast-Ended Skrewts. Yeh might want ter give 'em some liver. I haven't fed 'em yet today." Hagrid removed the cover of one of the crates, revealing the creatures trapped inside.

Kakashi peered into the box and quickly assessing the organisms, privately amended Guruko's observations.

First off it wasn't fire.

Secondly, the creatures were quite slimy and ugly, not 'cool'.

…And the smell. The putrid smell…

Tail in danger of wagging off, Guruko stood on his hind legs, neck craned into the crate. He made soft 'ooo'-ing noises, much to his developing disgust.

That smell.

"Guruko."

Dog ears perked up, he swivelled his head around. ("Yes boss-man?")

Hagrid, who had looked ready to pull Guruko away, stalled and stared at the dog.

("Down.") Kakashi commanded.

The canine whined. ("But I wanna see!") The responding fierce eyes sufficiently intimidated the dog into dropping back onto all four paws.

Hagrid opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the proper words, but instead ended up blurting out, "He really can talk!"

"Yes, he can," said Kakashi. He added in a bored tone, "Terribly chatty too."

There was an odd shine in his eyes. "I hear yeh've got a dog pack and they…?"

"Talk? Yes." Smiling lightly, he said, "And what about your dog, Mr. Hagrid?"

Hagrid coloured and muttered affectionately, "Uh…The mutt's not a talker but he's an ol' softie."

"What's his name?"

"Fang."

As if he knew he was being spoken about, the black boarhound scrambled out of the hut where he had been sleeping; he circled Hagrid playfully, eyes never leaving the two strangers.

Guruko sat up and barked amiably at the newcomer. ("Hi! Hi there! Who are you?")

Fang whined, a low growl collecting at the back of his throat. Hagrid tugged at Fang's collar. "Dun need to be rude, boy."

Kakashi frowned, ("I don't think he understands our language-")

("Waaah? Okay, okay!") Guruko yelped. ("But I dunno his name! How can I be his friend?")

Friend? Oh bother. ("His name is Fang.")

("Oh! Hi Fang!") The peppy puppy shook out his ginger coat and circled Kakashi's legs. ("My name's Guruko! This is boss-man 'cus he's like my boss only not really!")

("Didn't I tell you already that he doesn't understand? And I can introduce myself, thank you very much,") muttered Kakashi, a tad exasperated.

("Huh? I know-!") Guruko approached the other dog proudly and started to converse animatedly with Fang in Canine.

Fang seemed to understand now. Barking loudly several times, the dog sniffed at Guruko, tail thumping. Fang even gazed at Kakashi briefly with a hint of greater intelligence.

Hagrid watched the on-goings in awe. "Mr. Hatake. Do yeh know what they're talkin' about?"

"Not really. I don't speak Dog." Kakashi shrugged. ("Guruko, report.")

("Report! Right! Fang says hi, boss-man! And nice to meet you!") Guruko yipped in a higher pitch, a level reached only when excited.

("I see…It's nice to meet him too,") he said mildly.

("Unnn! Now he's tellin' me 'bout mud wrestling and the best mud holes in the forest!") Guruko jumped up into the air cheerily. ("Let's go mud wrestling, boss-man! It sounds fun!")

("…No.") Ignoring the disappointed whine, Kakashi re-answered Hagrid's previous question with utmost seriousness.

"They're talking about mud holes."

The blue sky was bluer today, reminiscent of the long sticky summer days. The temperature, however, reflected autumn and the cold stirrings of winter. It was, he thought, nice, especially when cocooned in warmth with a sunbeam stretched across his back.

It was the middle of the week and for once, Kakashi decided to laze in bed past seven (A habit he picked up when working to the point of exhaustion). Actually, it was almost noon and he still had his head buried beneath a pillow…

…That was, until a curious coo drew him from his daydreams. Awaji.

He pressed his face closer into the mattress when he heard the distinct flapping of wings. Feathers fluttered and he felt a stray fluff tickle his nose. Squinting an eye open from underneath the pillow, he spotted the talons dancing from one end of the bed to the other. There was a note attached to his bird's leg.

Kakashi suppressed the groan.

Stilling, Awaji – or what he could see of her – hopped closer to where he was hiding from the world. His messenger bird bobbed up and down, readjusting her dark-coloured wings fitfully.

He freed an arm from the covers in response.

Awaji seemed to croon at that action and carefully hopped from foot to foot. The bird then edged closer until her belly was inches away from his forehead. Fluffing her feathers out almost indignantly, she began to preen his hair – or at least, what hair he had sticking out from under his cover.

Motionless, he garbled, "Awaji…That's enough…"

The bird managed a squawk when Kakashi's freed hand groped at the empty air above her head before landing on her back. Liberating himself from his bird's clutches, he sat up, kneeling on the bed and looking sleep-deprived with his hair mussed. Kakashi directed a half-lidded stare at the hawk when he set her down on his warm pillow.

"Message?"

Awaji held still obediently, holding out a leg to allow the fumbling fingers to untie the message around the appendage.

Unfurling the small piece of paper, Kakashi took several moments to read the notice; the contents didn't seem to interest him much as he tossed it carelessly onto his desk. Plopping back onto his bed, prone, he curled up in the blankets and ignored the prickling along the nape of his neck.

The contents of the short message were laid bare for all eyes capable of understanding the code.

"Kakashi

I expect the mission report no later than next week."

Late Thursday night, there was a scheduled Astronomy class.

It was very quiet at the Astronomy Tower as the mix of fifth years was quite focused on completing their star charts. Tonight, they were tracking the position of Saturn. Professor Sinistra was speaking in low tones, guiding her students patiently. Allowing the lull to establish wholly, Kakashi waited for the right time before…

BAM.

Gasps and short yelps echoed into the night. Most students jumped from the noise while a group of them procured the wands from their holsters.

"Interesting reaction times…" thought their hidden shinobi.

Professor Sinistra, wand pointed towards the area where the noise originated from, called out, "Who's here disrupting my class?"

There was a moment of silence before a familiar voice called out, "Sorry Professor. My book slipped."

She should've known. "Mr. Hatake?" Sinistra then asked a touch rudely, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm reading," he answered, as if it was perfectly logical to be reading in the absolute dark. He was clearly pulling their collective leg.

"Reading!" Sinistra waved her wand. "Lumos!" A gentle light bathed the area – there was the fallen book – and she moved the wand – up, up, up – until she illuminated their Mediator.

The students murmured, curious. Kakashi was currently seated at the edge of the roof and a few students already felt sick from imagined vertigo when they spotted his dangerous position on the spire.

"Isn't he afraid of falling?" asked a stout female Hufflepuff.

"Don't know…"

Sinistra ignored the chit-chat around her and said, "How are you still reading up there?"

Kakashi bestowed them his trademark smile. "Practice." It definitely wasn't a lie, especially since he moonlighted as an assassin before this Hogwarts mission. As an assassin, he had a lot of blueprints and plans to look at during planning and unfortunately for his team, planning happened at night.

"Practice." Sinistra repeated.

"Yes and by eating healthy and eating lots of vegetables – which are good for you, children."

(If Pakkun was here, he would have called him a 'hypocrite' since he knew that Kakashi tended to skip meals when researching.)

The 'children' grumbled in annoyance.

"We're sixteen!" retorted a Hufflepuff boy hotly. "If you want, go bother the first years."

Another boy, most likely a muggle, labelled him derisively. "Health nut."

Those two boys were silenced by the intense glares of their House mates. One thin and gangly girl hissed, "Keep quiet! We don't want to lose House points again."

The two boys gulped audibly.

Sinistra tapped her shoes. "Well?"

Kakashi flipped a page of the book, 'Magical Studies', in his hand and said offhandedly, "Yes, nuts are healthy too but only in moderation."

"…"

Feeling the silence and revelling in it, Kakashi then added, "Leafy greens, children. Leafy greens and lots of colours. If you follow this diet, you'll actually notice that you-" He singled out one of the students. "-You're off in your calculations by half a degree."

"How can you tell from up there?" cried out another student to his right.

"I just can."

Actually, he can't but he had heard how Professor Sinistra reminded that particular student to adjust his calculations by half a degree. So when the sceptical student checked his calculations, he affirmed Kakashi's declaration.

"How did he know?" whispered one blond.

The red-head beside her whispered back, eyes widened in dramatics, "Maybe he has eagle eyes."

It was Friday – Friday night, to be precise. The whole of Hogwarts was fraught with nervous energy (because tomorrow would mean Saturday and Saturday might mean early morning wakeup call – stupid Mediator).

…Later, they would realize that they had a right to be so worried.

"You know the drill kids," he read out loud to his ninken audience.

Kakashi crumpled the copy of his note into his pocket and waited, regally perched on the Quidditch Field bleachers.

His chosen ninken scattered to the winds, heading towards the targets of the night.

("…Arf.")

"Amelia…Amelia…Did you hear that?" whispered the Gryffindor seventh year.

"…I did, Claret," responded Amelia, sitting up in her bed. She waved her wand and performed Lumos.

The dim light illuminated enough space so that she could spot a beige tail. She allowed the light to trail up the furry body until it shone into the face of a snarling, white muzzled dog.

Urushi's 'smile' widened, baring gleaming white teeth. ("Good morning.")

"It talked," breathed Claret in wonderment. "I've never seen a talking dog before."

"Yes but you're missing the point!" The prefect cursed, "That's Hatake's dog!"

'Hatake's dog' perked up when he heard his master's name. Grumbling lowly, the canine enunciated in poor English, "Yu naw…yu naw de-de-dreel kiddo."

After a moment of staring, Amelia pulled a face. "Um…What?"

Claret asked suspiciously, "We're gnawing on the drill kit?"

The English words echoed blandly in the dank room.

"You know the drill."

Bisuke sat at the foot of the male Slytherin prefect's bed, waiting for a reaction. In hindsight, it was a rather fruitless wait. And why is that? He received no response because the children were still soundly asleep – an activity he would love to indulge in as well.

After an all-suffering sigh, he tried again, "Kiddos. Drill. Know. The." Scratching an ear with his hind leg, he added pensively, "You?"

It was a shame that those were the only words he knew in English that were applicable to the situation.

In contrast, Pakkun was always the best in terms of learning the human tongues. ("Yo.")

He was also always quite good with diversion tactics and bringing attention to himself when he wanted it. Tapping a paw at the Hufflepuff prefect's face, he tried again, ("Yo.")

Cedric startled awake. "What?"

"You know the drill kids," uttered the dog, monotone.

"I know the what?" Cedric shifted higher so that he was now sitting up. "Wait a minute, you're talking in English!"

Pakkun repeated again, brown eyes staring at him meaningfully, "You know the drill kids." He then retreated in a puff of smoke.

Pushing the hair back from his forehead, Cedric muttered, "…I must be dreaming."

Bull lumbered up the steps and sat near the male Ravenclaw prefect's bed. Drooling lightly, he spat out a note, the message hard to read because of the excess saliva.

Sitting with him was Akino and he nosed at the covers before pulling them off the boy.

It took awhile but soon, the student leader was shaking and groping absently for his missing blankets. "Wah…?" The prefect sat up straight when he felt the cold draft of midnight air. He then spotted the dogs. "Non, non – not again."

Akino interrupted his denial-filled rambling with Kakashi's message.

"You know the drill kids."

If the trick worked once, good job, hope they get the message.

…But if the trick works twice, either you were very sneaky or the opponent didn't learn their lesson yet.

Harry Potter stood beside his Gryffindor roommates on the Quidditch pitch, rubbing away the grit in his eyes. It really was too early to be awake, especially for panicked prefects to run into his room explaining in half-sentences how 'Hatake's dog' convinced them that they had a 'drill' – and not the 'gnawing on drill kits' variety.

When the prefects left and none of that information sank in (in fact, he couldn't make heads or tails of their words), Harry was glad someone else had been listening. Neville mentioned in a timid voice that it was Saturday. To that bit of information, Seamus Finnigan flipped the bird and buried himself into his covers.

It took combining efforts with Neville to encourage Dean Thomas to wake up and smell the coffee. And when that was accomplished, they wasted minutes persuading Seamus of the same. As for Ron, they knew that no amount of convincing will do so they bodily dragged him out of bed.

"This is bloody stupid."

Glancing at his grousing friend, Harry said, "Yeah. I think you mentioned that already."

Ron slumped his shoulders. "Seriously. The sun is barely up."

"Yeah."

"So why're we here?"

"It's 'cus if we're not here, he might just deduct points," explained Seamus grouchily.

Dean added, "And we know for a fact that he hasn't deducted a single point all week so he's probably itching to do it."

Neville patted Ron's shoulder reassuringly. "At least it's Saturday."

"A Saturday that I could be sleeping in!" Ron bemoaned.

"Then sleep." At the looks he received, Dean pointed at their peers. "The girls are asleep on their feet."

And so they were except for Hermione, who was missing.

"No wonder it's been so quiet," mused Seamus.

Hair messier than usual, Harry yawned into a fist and waited, watching as the students of different Houses trickle onto the field. He had missed last Saturday's debacle so wasn't exactly sure what to expect. All he had heard from most of his House mates was that Mr. Hatake was vindictive and should be tossed out of Hogwarts. And that, sadly, didn't tell him much so he turned to another source of information. One of the Ravenclaws – a boy called Terry Boot –mentioned that the Mediator had deducted points based on the number of students who didn't show up from each House. Slytherins had the least showing while Gryffindors and Hufflepuff were almost on par in numbers. Ravenclaws, on the other hand, had the most in numbers.

He knew that not all the Gryffindors were present today. In fact, feeling a flash of annoyance at the realization, most of their upper years didn't show up. So, counting the heads milling around, he noticed that the Ravenclaws – yet again – had the heaviest showing. The Hufflepuffs actually fared better this time with greater numbers and was second to Ravenclaw. As for the Slytherins…

When Harry spotted Draco Malfoy's sneering face, he was unpleasantly shocked. The number of Slytherins that showed up beat the number of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, which meant that Gryffindors had the least representation.

Taunting, Malfoy said loudly, much to the Slytherins' delights, "Those Gryffindor wimps probably needed their beauty sleep!"

Growling, he was about to snipe back with a remark but was beaten to the punch by a teasing voice.

"Aaah. Mr. Malfoy the ferret. Brain running from your mouth again?" The students not from Slytherin chuckled at Malfoy's expense. The Mediator, who was sitting in the stands, smirked; Harry was surprised that he didn't notice him until now. Mr. Hatake continued, "It's sad to think that you're the only student whose name I know."

Malfoy's face was flushed red from either embarrassment or anger – not that Harry was all too bothered to figure out. All he knew was that Malfoy looked ready to yell at the man.

Not that Mr. Hatake gave him a chance.

"Now! Good morning everyone."

Around Harry, his peers gave a half-hearted 'good morning'. Ron grumbled a long rant about how 'good afternoons would have been more appreciated'.

The Mediator crossed his arms. "I see not everyone is here again."

"Talk about déjà-vu," whispered a familiar voice behind him.

Harry frowned, "Hermione? Where were you?"

"Common room," she said as if it was the most evident answer ever. "I was working on S.P.E.W."

"Oh not that-" Harry was glad that Ron was cut off by Neville.

Neville asked politely, "What do you mean déjà-vu?"

Seamus answered for her, "Hatake said the same two opening sentences last Saturday."

"That might mean he's getting ready to deduct points then?" mused Harry out loud.

"Probably," said Dean in agreement.

Mr. Hatake interrupted their conversation. "It appears that the Gryffindors aren't taking my instructions to heart."

Harry could feel the tension building around him when they were signalled out. "What do you reckon he'll do?"

Hermione answered him. "I don't know…He's quite unpredictable."

"Nah. He's probably gonna take off five points for every one person missing – like last time," reasoned Ron.

Mr. Hatake gave the end of his cinnamon red scarf a tug and said firmly, "So I have decided to take one-hundred fifty points from Gryffindors."

…One-hundred fifty points.

Wait.

One-hundred fifty points?

"That's not fair!" he shouted along with his Gryffindor peers.

"And that is all," waved the Mediator. "Everyone may go. Have a nice breakfast."

"He…He…"

Harry stared at their Asian foreigner, flabbergasted.

By the early eighth hour of the day, the massive point deductions on Gryffindor were half-way reversed. Instead, the deductions were balanced out to all four Houses, much to the students' initial puzzlement. For the most obvious reasons, the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and especially the Slytherins, were displeased by the development. After all, the Mediator stated that only the Gryffindors were going to take the brunt of the outcome…

…So what happened?

The Gryffindors and the rest of Hogwarts had McGonagall to thank for.

Rumours were already circulating that she very nearly pulled a Moody on Hatake, if not for the quick intervention from Flitwick and Sprout.

Monday morning brought along dread. Snape had a bad feeling – a feeling that got his old scars to twinge. It was justified when he answered the knock on his classroom door and opened it, only to come face to face with Hatake, lounging at the entranceway.

Hatake smiled, "Can I come in?"

Snape's hands twitched and twisted at the fabric of his robe. "Hatake."

"Professor Snape." Mild in outward appearance, Hatake pointed out obnoxiously. "Careful. You wouldn't want to wrinkle your clothes."

Swallowing his temper until it abated to a cool fire, Snape asked, "What are you doing here?"

The Mediator grinned. Snape hated that patronising expression.

"You're a smart man, Professor, or at least you have to be in order to teach here at Hogwarts." Eyes curving, he said smoothly, "I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"Rhetorical questions weren't meant to be answered." Purposefully direct, as that really was the best way to untangle oneself from a situation with Hatake, Snape responded stiffly, "Yes I do know. If you will excuse me, I am busy – too busy to cater to your whims."

He then slams the door at his face.

Stalking towards his desk, he was halted by the patient knocking against his classroom door. He decided not to answer it as he knew it was only Hatake…

…But by the seventieth knock, Snape was at the end of his wits and finally yanked the door open ready to reprimand the 'adult'…Except, the Potions master never got that chance.

Kakashi sauntered into the classroom as if he owned the place and said, "You're excused."

Snape took in several deep breathes, counting to ten backwards. He had a feeling that he'll be repeating that breathing exercise more than once before the clock hits noon.

TBC

~Phoenyxx