Risa wandered back to the Gryffindor Common Room before anyone else that evening. When she got in she was instantly swamped by Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor prefect.
"Arisa can I talk to you?" she asked.
"I'm not joining spew," Risa said firmly remembering the rampage Hermione had gone on last year about house-elf liberation. Risa's philosophy was different than Hermione's: the house elves liked being enslaved, let them be enslaved, it's less work for me anyway.
"It's not about S.P.E.W," Hermione corrected her sempai, "it's about Umbridge and doing something about the fact that we have O. this year and she's not teaching us anything."
"What do you have in mind?" Risa asked. She had a feeling where this was going.
"I'm having a meeting in Hogsmead village this weekend," Hermione said. "If you and your friends want to stop by the Hogshead Inn, I think you'll like what we have to say."
"Saturday then," Risa said shaking Hermione's hand. "I'll meet you guys there."
On Saturday the Great Hall was buzzing with talk of the first Hogsmead trip of the season. Risa had explained her plans to the soul reapers about meeting Hermione.
"Can we trust her?" Was Shuhei's first question and many felt the same way.
"Yeah we…" Risa began but was cut off when the doors of the hall suddenly burst open. A tall, slim figure with fluid movements walked through them. Her blonde hair framed her pale face and made her dark blue eyes stand-out. Her eyes were oval shaped and framed out by black eyeliner and mascara. She was beautiful, enough to make every boy she past stop and stare as she past them not giving them a second look.
She walked right up to the corner of the Slytherin table where Risa and the other Soul Reapers were sitting. Shuhei's eyes widened.
"Amy?" chorused several voices.
"Hey guys," the blonde girl said sitting next to Shuhei at the table. "What's up?"
"What are you doing here?" Shuhei asked.
"Members needed," Amy said sitting down at the table. "I got an internship at the hospital wing to expand my career in the field of medicine. Unohana-taichou filled put my recommendation."
"What's the real reason?" Marcus asked. Amy narrowed her eyes at him.
"I'd take a lighter tone if I were you, Marcus," she said coolly. "I don't care if we're related. We're still soldiers in the G-13"
Amy and Marcus locked themselves into a stare down. Risa looked at the members of her team and they quickly got up and left.
The village was dusted with a light coat of snow making all the houses look like iced gingerbread houses. The wind was biting and cold. Risa and Jen along with Jake and Jack walked ahead of the group; all four of them bundled tightly in winter cloaks.
One nasty gust of wind swept a mound of snow into the teenagers' raw pink faces. Jen shot Risa a sideways glance as they past The Three Broomsticks, a warm and inviting looking pub. Risa shook her head as they bypassed it and walked to ward the end of the road.
At the end was another pub. Unlike the Three Broomsticks it wasn't warm and inviting. In fact it was dingy and rather uninviting.
"You're kidding me right?" Jen asked walking inside. There were already a bunch of people inside the dingy pub. Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to be exact. Jen caught one sight of them all and promptly walked out the door, straight into Renji. The lieutenant grabbed the San Seki by the arm and dragged her back in. With a sour expression Jen sat at a table with Renji and Shuhei.
Hermione, the fifth year whose idea it was to organize this many people stood up by the bar, flanked by Ron and Harry her friends.
"Um hi guys," she said nervously catching Risa's eye. The seventh year darted to the fifth's aid.
"You all know the situation with this years DADA teacher right?" Risa asked the group of people. There were murmurs of agreement. "Well this is an important year for most you, OWLs and NEWTs are this year and we need to make sure we're ready. More importantly there's something else…" Risa shot a side glance at Harry. The bespectacled boy nodded at Risa so she continued. "Most of you have heard rumors about Voldemort…you-know-who being back and then the slander of the Ministry attempting to debunk them. The Ministry of Magic is wrong; they're the government of rich power-hungry morons using the press for their own free will. They will only tell you what you want to hear. In all honestly I don't want to believe that Voldemort, yes I will say his name. VOLDEMORT is back. But he is. And the school system isn't helping by hiring a teacher that is downright unwilling to teach us defense…"
"She thinks we're gonna start a bleeding army against the Ministry," Ron interrupted.
"Well that makes sense," said a blond girl in the crowd. "After all Fudge has his own army."
"Rubbish," snapped Hermione. The girl looked at her coolly.
"Fudge has his own army of fire spirits," the girl said sharply.
"Ok, Luna," Hermione said motioning toward Risa. "That's enough."
Rolling her eyes Risa continued.
"I will admit that I come from the Gotei-13," Risa continued "the same organization that Professors Kuchiki, Zaraki and Ukitake are from. I can tell you that they know what they are talking about, but as a member, none of us can tell you how bakudo will hold up against a Death Eater.
"That's why we have decided to unite against the system, to form our own. Let us tackle the challenges most adults are too scared to face. We will stand in front of danger, are swords drawn and our hearts ablaze. Let us wave our banner proud and high because we know that today might be our last but as soldiers we will die in the line of duty with honor!
"Together we shall form a unit so strong that the government cannot tear apart. It is harder to break a quiver full than a single arrow. We will train long into the hours of the night until we can overthrow the dictatorship that calls itself our government! Who's with me?!"
"I AM!" Jake, Jack, and Izuru chorused.
"D-6," Jen and Renji yelled thrusting their fists in the air.
"D-9, what up!" Marcus, Ichigo and Shuhei yelled.
"Here, here," Momo, Rukia and Rangiku yelled. Toshiro stood up on his table and thrust his fist in the air.
"I AM!" a large group of Hufflepuffs yelled.
"Kill the Beast!" Fred and George Weasely yelled. More and more battle calls rang around the dingy pub.
"If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they'll get!" Risa called out. She jumped on the bar. "G-13, D-9 what up!"
Fired up the large group dispensed in pairs of twos and threes; Risa jumped off the bar and looked at Hermione. The fifth year prefect looked at her sempai.
"You're crazy," she said. "You're the only person who can make a DADA study group into a battle cry pep talk."
"I was on Wood's team," Risa sighed. "I've been in the military for too long, I'm the captain of a SWAT unit…they all kinda mesh together ya know?"
"Risa," Jake said coming over with the soul reaper team. "That was freaking awesome."
"Would you believe me if I told you I bullshitted the entire thing?" Risa said with a laugh.