Chapter Ten: Scheduling Checkups and A Plot to Overthrow History!
While his daughter was having her idea/epiphany James was making his way to the Infirmary. Once he got there he made his way to Madam Pomfrey's office where he knocked on the door. She looked up and said in a startled tone, "James, what are you doing in here? Are you injured?"
James shook his head and replied, "no, I'm not injured but for the sake of Moony's mental health could you make me an appointment for a full checkup?"
Madam Pomfrey blinked a bit that the odd question but pulled her schedule over to her, she then looked through it and said, "I can see you on the seventh, an hour before Miss Potter-Lupin's demonstration class. Is that alright with you?"
James sighed in relief and said, "that should be fine. Thank you, Poppy."
She frowned and asked curiously, "why did you say it was for Remus' mental health that you're getting this checkup?"
He waved his hand dismissively and said, "I haven't been feeling too good in the morning lately and he's just worried. It's probably a stomach bug even Moony agrees with me that it's nothing serious."
She raised an eyebrow and said, "then why is he making you get a checkup?"
James blinked a bit in puzzlement over her word choice before it dawned on him and he explained, "Moony as in Remus' wolf doesn't think it's serious while Remus thinks I should have a checkup."
"Ah, now that makes sense, well I've marked you down for a checkup for the seventh James. I'll see you then, until I have a chance to examine you take it easy even if it's just a stomach bug treat it as if you're pregnant." Madam Pomfrey said sternly.
James rolled his eyes at her choice of words but nodded and said, "I'll be careful. It's not like Moony or Kushina would allow me to do anything that might endanger my health, they just got me back they don't want to lose me."
Madam Pomfrey nodded at that before she shooed him out of the Infirmary and he walked back up the stairs to his and Remus' rooms.
While waiting for James to come back from talking with Poppy, Remus was reading a scroll that he had borrowed from Kushina last week.. He found it rather intriguing of course he wondered how she got it since it was from the elemental countries and she hadn't been there since her past life at least as far as he knew. He finally sighed before he stood up to go to the bathroom and take a shower. Five minutes after he had finished his shower and had put on a clean pair of boxers James came into the bedroom.
Remus took in his mates tired face and asked quietly, "so what did Poppy say?" As he asked that he crawled into the bed while watching his mate undress.
As James striped he shrugged and said, "she made me an appointment for a full checkup on the seventh. She told me that until she's sure what this it to treat it as if I'm pregnant." With that he walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth and left Remus blinking a bit in shock over the word choice . He watched from the bed as James brushed his teeth and when he exited the bathroom he extinguished the light with a quiet, "Nox."
James then crawled into the bed beside his mate and settled in under the covers before he turned onto his right side. He settled his left arm over Remus' abdomen and Remus wordlessly placed his right hand on top of James left. "I'll be fine Remus," James whispered, "I won't leave you again. You know that, so go to sleep already, I'll still be here in the morning." Although not fully reassured Remus obeyed his mate and tried to go too sleep, he knew that he always woke up before James anyway.
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Kushina awoke the next morning and stretched with a sleepy murmur before she rolled out of bed, narrowly avoiding hurting one of the chicks. She glared down at the owlet before scooping it up and placing it back with it's mother and siblings. She then made her way sleepily toward her bathroom to take a shower, she had a class at nine o'clock so it was a quick one. As she washed her hair, she debated over whether or not to have Rukia wake Ron up again.
After her shower she dried off before brushing her long red hair out, she stared into the mirror before she smiled sadly at it and summoned a clone. She then sat down on the chair in front of the mirror and stayed still as her clone brushed her hair again to make sure all the tangles were out of it before it began to put her hair up in a French braid and then into a bun. After her clone had finished its work it dispelled itself, she then took three oversized lacquered Senbon needles and placed them into her bun.
After she had gotten dressed for the day she double checked her bag to make sure she had the Monster Book of Monsters, which was secured with a leather belt. During the summer after third year Kushina had stitched a broken leather belt to the front and back covers of the book to make it easier to secure closed. She placed Quintessence: A Quest into the bag along with Guide to Advanced Transfiguration. She was thankful that on Wednesday her and Ron only had two classes, Hermione however had three classes to go to on Wednesday.
She then wrote out a note that she would have the house elves place on all of the four common room bulletin boards after dinner. She then checked her bag to make sure she had enough parchment, quills and ink for the day before she exited her room, she planned to take advantage of the forty-five minute long free period scheduled for after lunch. She wanted to test to see if the wolves would answer her call since the toads still did, if they answered her call it would make it easier to check up on Naruto beside the cheetah's and snakes.
As she exited her rooms she looked around the common room to find it completely vacant, she frowned slightly normally Hermione was in the common room reading when she came out of her rooms in the morning. She then turned back to Minato's portrait and asked, "has Hermione been out here this morning yet, Minato-Koi?"
The blond haired man looked up from his pile of paperwork and said, "yes. She said something about going to see Kenpachi and Yachiru before going to breakfast."
Kushina snorted before she muttered, "that does sound like her," she then took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. She slung her bag over the back of one of the wingback chairs near the fireplace before she walked up the stairs to the sixth year boys dorm. She entered the dorm with complete nonchalance, as she entered Dean eeped before he dived back behind his bed curtains.
Neville on the other hand completely ignored her prescence beside to say a quick, "hello Kushina," before he slipped his shirt on and buttoned it up before tying his tie. He was already dressed in his pants and shoes so he didn't feel a need to hide behind his curtains unlike Dean who had only been wearing his boxers. Seamus was in the bathroom and from what Kushina could hear was busy taking a shower and singing the Coast of the High Barbary to even know she was out in their room.
As Kushina stood over Ron's bed contemplating how best to wake him she hummed happily along to the song, she smiled a bit wickedly as she hummed to herself. As she stared down at her slumbering best friend she pondered just how to wake him, she'd already impersonated his mother and Professor McGonagall last year along with telling him that Rukia was dancing naked in the common room. And just yesterday she had Rukia wake him up…
'Why don't you tell him that the next Quidditch World Cup has been canceled?' Thanatos suggested deviously.
Kushina blinked a bit before she shrugged to herself and tried out his suggestion, she motioned for the other three boys to cover their ears. She then took a deep breath and yelled in a high panicked tone, "RON WAKE UP! THE NEXT QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP HAS BEEN CANCELED!"
Ron shot out of bed with a shrill scream before grabbing the person nearest to him, which happened to be Kushina, and begged, "please say it isn't so. Tell me they didn't cancel it!"
Her lips twitched with suppressed amusement before she said with a twinkle in her golden eyes, "I lied." She then beamed at her twitching friend and chirped happily, "but now that you're awake, let's go have breakfast!"
Ron glared at her while he growled before he said in a tight tone, "Kushina, you had better reach the Great Hall before I catch you!"
She gave him a rather toothy grin and said, "bye-bye, guys," with that she tore herself out of his grasp before she raced down the stairs. Karin raised her eyebrows in shock as her cousin raced down the stairs from the boys dorm before she grabbed her book bag from where she left it earlier. Kushina then grabbed Karin's bag from her hands then grasped her cousin around the waist and hefted the eleven year old into a fireman's carry. She then used shunpo to get them both down to the entrance hall, it was a good thing that the paintings had gotten used to Kushina racing through the halls using that particular method of travel.
Only two minutes after Kushina had woken Ron up she was setting Karin on the floor, reaching out to steady her younger cousin. Karin shook her head to get most of the vertigo she was experiencing out of her head before she asked, "what had you in such a hurry, Kushina?"
Kushina chuckled lightly before she sat down across from Hermione who had a ravenous Kenpachi on one side of her and a equally as ravenous Yachiru on the other. "I simply woke Ron up by a way he didn't seem to appreciate very much," Kushina finally replied after dishing herself a plate. Shortly after she explained that Ron came into the Hall grumbling about rude wake up calls and girlfriends who aren't sympathetic to their boyfriends plight, Rukia was following Ron clearly amused by his complaining.
Kushina shook her head before she thought to herself, 'sometimes Ron really reminds me of Kurama. Kurama always grumbled whenever I woke him up from a nap to ask him if I could borrow some of his chakra…' She shook her head again remembering a few times that the Kyuubi was grumbling the whole way through a battle and she was actually giggling at certain points of it. She was fairly sure that most of the enemy ninja thought she was completely insane by the end of the war.
Kushina easily ignored her best friends grumbling and asked Hermione, "so what's on the agenda for today?" She had been buttering a piece of toast while she asked Hermione the question then after she finished buttering it she shoved it into Ron's mouth completely without any warning whatsoever. The red haired teen glared at her from over the piece of toast but he stopped grumbling about rude wake up calls after he took a bite of it and removed the toast from his mouth.
After almost six years of being friends the trio had struck up an odd system of communication between them that very few could decipher. If either Kushina or Hermione shoved a piece of toast into Ron's mouth during breakfast it meant, 'although cute, your grumbling is becoming annoying. Cease and desist immediately.' However if Ron or Kushina slapped their palms against the nearest solid surface seven times in quick succession it told Hermione, 'you're confusing us, speak English already!'
However if either Ron or Hermione thought that Kushina was becoming too moody or was brooding excessively then the pair would drag her to the kitchens and tell the house elves not to let her out until she's acting more like herself. If she started giggling in public while reading her orange books which had, during her fifth year, become a common sight and scaring the younger years. Ron or Hermione would slap the nearest solid surface twelve times to tell her, 'Kushina, you're scaring the younger years again, stop reading those in public!' Kushina would pout a bit for them doing that but she's stop until the younger years were no longer around.
Hermione looked up at Kushina before she reached into her book bag to grab the schedule from it, she unfolded it and said after taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, "first up is your dad for an hour and a half, Kushina. Then we have a forty five minute break, after that comes an hour and a half long block of charms with Professor Flitwick. Then we have lunch followed by a forty five minute free period with the Slytherins before heading to the last class of the day, a forty five minute long Care of Magical Creatures class. After that is dinner," she then folded the schedule back up and put it back into her bag.
Ron finished his eggs before he asked casually, "didn't Professor Potter mention something about testing the sixth years for having the potential to be an Animagus last year?"
Both Kushina and Hermione nodded before Kushina polished off her French Toast and said, "yeah, he's testing just the sixth years this year. Last year he tested both the Sixth and Seventh years since Professor McGonagall didn't bother testing anyone. Dad knew that with so many animagus on staff a few of the older years would be tempted to try to attempt the transformation."
"So what happens if someone has the potential to become an animagus?" Karin asked curiously while she finished her breakfast.
Kushina looked up at her baby cousin before she said, "they will have the option to take the training course offered or to decline to attempt it this year. However no matter which one they chose their form will be registered by a Ministry official, that way if you later become an animagus but chose not to register your form is still on file."
Hermione looked up at her and said, "that's a good idea. It'll certainly stop more people like Skeeter from doing what she did."
Kushina smirked at her and said gleefully, "that's the point!" She then drank the rest of her pumpkin juice and said, "most of the students probably won't have the ability to become an animagus anyway. Dad said that he'll ask anyone that's already an animagus to step forward and transform at the beginning of class."
With that said she stood up before she commented, "well, class should be starting in twenty minutes so we better get going." She then ruffled Karin's hair and said, "I'll see you at lunch later, sprout."
With that Kushina and the rest of the Sixth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws made their way to the fifth floor to wait outside of the Transfiguration classroom. James Potter came up behind them and opened the door, he gestured for them to go inside before allowing the witch accompanying him to enter before him.
After the students sat down they began to pull out their book for the class, James commented as he walked up to the front, "you can put away your books and wands. You'll not be needing them for today's lesson." Although a bit startled by the order the class quickly followed it and put way their books and wands. The other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws noticed that the trio and Neville Longbottom hadn't even taken out either item.
James paced in front of the board before he said, "today you will all be tested for the potential to become an Animagus. If you test positive for the ability then your forms and the markings of the form will be recorded by this lovely lady," he gestures to the woman with dark blond hair, "Nymphadora Tonks, she's an Auror. Since the registration of Animagus is handled by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement she was asked to stop by and record your forms."
He then stood behind his desk and commented, "I'm sure you all noticed last year that four animagus' accompanied myself, Professor Lupin, Professor Snape and Sirius Black on the full moons. All four are students currently in their sixth year and are in fact in this room," with that the room broke out in murmurs and most of the students watched the trio's reactions carefully or rather their lack of a reaction. James interrupted the muttering by clearing his throat before he said, "all four have been registered with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement already so there is no need for Auror Tonks to record them."
He then looked up from where he was jotting down a few things on a piece of parchment he said, "if those four that I just spoke of please come to the front of the class room and transform… We'll get on with the rest of the lesson." With that command Hermione, Ron, Kushina and Neville walked down to the blackboard, as soon as they reached near the desk they shifted smoothly to their animal forms.
Ron was the largest of them at ten feet long although he was shorter in length than Kushina he outdid her by height he was about three feet high at the shoulder. While Kushina was the next largest at about eleven feet long and almost three feet high, Neville was the next smallest from Kushina at five feet long and three feet at the shoulder. Hermione was the smallest with a length of six feet and eight inches long with a height of two feet and seven inches, the two smaller ones vied for the rank of smallest. Neville was a golden colored wolf, or rather a light sandy brown color that was a pale cream along the throat stomach and the underside of his tail. His muzzle had splashes of the cream color and the tips of his ears, which were perked atop his head, had the same pale cream to them.
James gestured to the four animals and said, "this is an example, your animagus form doesn't have to exist as a living creature for you to gain it. However only animals that once existed can be an animagus form, no mythical creature has been used. Neville's animagus form I'm told is called a Dire Wolf, they're extinct at this time, Kushina's form is also extinct, it's known as a Giant Cheetah her coloring makes it a Kings Cheetah. Hermione's form is extremely endangered and if she transforms in the muggle world she would probably be tranquilized and relocated back to her species natural habitat. The same with Ron's animagus form, if Kushina or Neville's form were spotted and recognized for what they really are they would be considered a miracle and more than likely be tranquillized and taken to a zoo."
The class blinked in shock and James continued, "so if you don't recognize your species right off don't worry we'll find out what species you are." He motioned to his daughter and her friends to transform back into human form. He then stared at the students and said, "you'll be transformed into your animagus form however you'll not have any of the instincts of that form. This is the only time that you won't have to fight the instincts of your animagus form so don't go thinking that just because you haven't attacked any of the people around you that you won't have to control your form when you do make the final transformation."
Most of the class swallowed in fear over his serious tone and look, he rarely ever became that serious and when he did the class knew that whatever he said was the truth and nothing but the truth. Once everyone had nodded their understanding he said, "I'll call you up here one by one and cast the spell on you. I'll have a mirror placed in front of you so you can see what you look like, alright?"
Again the class nodded and waited for their names to be called, "Boot, Terry!" James called out, Terry walked up to the front of the classroom and nervously stood in front of the mirror, James had transfigured. James cast the revealing spell over him and he transformed slowly he grew in mass until he stood at thirteen feet high and James said, "you might want to drop down on all fours, Mr. Boot." Terry snorted lightly before he took the Professors advice and dropped down on all fours, he looked in the mirror to see a large bear staring back at him. It's muzzle was quite short compared to the size of its head, he looked to be about ten feet long and he was five feet and nine inches high at the shoulder.
Tonks took a picture of him from both sides as well as from the front and back, she then had him stand up on his hind legs to take a picture of his stomach. She then recorded his name and then she said, "huh, I know he's a bear but I can't figure out which one…"
"He's a Giant Short-Faced Bear, they're extinct but they were pretty common in North America until they died out. They were carnivores but not hunters they would scare predators off of a kill and take the kill for their own," Hermione explained matter-of-factly. Terry who had transformed back into human form gaped at her before he shook his head and walked back to his seat.
James then called down Mandy Brocklehurst, who didn't have the potential to be an animagus, then Michael Corner who had the animagus form of a cat, Tonks took pictures of him and then sent him back to his seat. The next person called up to the front was Seamus, who after the spell was placed on him transformed into a Giant Otter, instead of his coat being a dark brown it was a lighter sandy tone of brown.
The next person after him was Anthony Goldstein who was surprisingly and ironically a common raven. Again Tonks took pictures of him before she sent him back to his seat, the next person after him was Su Li who had the animagus form of a grey squirrel after Tonks had taken the necessary pictures she got sent back to her seat. After Su Li came Morag McDougal and Padma Patil neither of which had an animagus form.
Dean Thomas was next and he didn't expect to have an animagus form except he transformed into a large sea lion, the exact species Tonks couldn't figure out. Kushina stepped forward and looked him over before she grinned and said, "well Dean you better not go into your animagus from near Japan or you'll be knocked out and used to breed more of you." When both Tonks and Dean gave her an odd look she explained, "he's a Japanese Sea Lion, they've been extinct for years, the last one recorded was a captured juvenile in nineteen seventy four off the coast of Rebun Island."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at her and asked, "how do you know this?"
Kushina rolled her eyes and said, "Karin was on a ocean animal loving phase a few years ago. She ended up chatting peoples ears off about the extinct animals of Japans oceans, you pick these kind of things up when they're chattered to you by a family member. Hence why Ron knows so much about dragons and dragon laws, he listened to Charlie talk about them as a kid."
The last person to be tested was Lisa Turpin of Ravenclaw, she didn't have the ability nor was she unhappy that she didn't. In fact, she said, "if I did have the ability it would be a shock, my family isn't known for being animagus." She then nonchalantly walked back to her seat, James stared after her for a few minute before he turned back to his notes and marked down that she wasn't an animagus.
He then cleared his throat and said, "Sirius Black has volunteered to teach the Animagus classes. He's going to put up the times of his classes on all of the common room bulletin boards at the end of this week so for all of you interested take note of the times of his classes." At that moment the bell rung and James smiled wryly before he said, "class dismissed!"
As they exited the room Kushina clapped Dean on the shoulder and said, "don't worry Dean. I'll get you a couple of books on your animagus form and you can study them, alright?"
Dean nodded and said as they walked down the stairs, "thanks Kushina. Do you have any in the school at the moment?"
Kushina paused while walking down the steps before she nodded and said, "yeah I think I have one in my trunk. Want to go get it so you can study it?" He nodded so the two went back upstairs and waved goodbye at Ron and Hermione who were chatting to Neville and a few others. The Ravenclaws who had an animagus form headed to the library to study up on their animal forms, same Seamus he headed to the section that housed animal text books to look up Giant Otters.
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Four hours and twenty minutes after Transfiguration class let out the Gryffindors and Slytherins headed outside for their combined Care of Magical Creatures class. Of the old class only Ron, Hermione, Neville, Kushina, Daphne, Blaise and Theo were still in it. Draco had refused to go near the class after passing the OWL for it, same with Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson.
Hagrid grinned at them all and said in his booming voice, "I've got a real treat for you!" The class blinked a bit before they shrugged at each other and followed him when he motioned for them to join him in the paddock behind his hut.
Kushina gasped before she cried out happily, "Fawkes!" The red Phoenix crooned and flew over to land on her shoulder, Kushina reached up to pet the swan sized bird she said, "we're studying Phoenixes aren't we, Hagrid?"
Hagrid nodded and said, "aye. The Headmaster said that Fawkes was really fond of you, Kushina. Though he wouldn't say as to why his Phoenix was fond of you…" Hagrid shook his head and said, "Fawkes here is a Fire or Red Phoenix, he's typical of what people think of when they think phoenix. However there are five other breeds of phoenixes. Who here can tell me of them?"
Hermione raised her hand and said, "there are the Shadow or Black Phoenix. Then there is the Storm or Thunder, next is the Artic or Snow, followed by Water or Ocean Phoenixes the last is the most rare of them all the Earth or Nature Phoenix." She recited all of this in an awed tone of voice.
Hagrid nodded and said, "correct Hermione. Can anyone here tell me about those species?"
Neville raised his hand, after Hagrid nodded and gestured for him to speak, said, "no Nature Phoenix has ever been bonded to a human. They prefer the company of centaurs to humans and as such are rarely ever seen." He took a deep breath before continuing, "the areas that a Nature Phoenix live are lush areas and always have vibrant vegetation. The colors of a Nature Phoenix are dark brown, light green and dark green, their rebirth cycle has never been witnessed."
Again Hagrid nodded before he pointed at Ron who had his hand raised, Ron said, "Artic or Snow Phoenixes are very rarely seen but more common than their Nature cousins. Their rebirth cycle has been witnessed by wizards, they die in flames of the same coloring as their plumage which is pale blue, deep navy blue and white. They can disappear in a burst of snow and can survive temperatures that a human would die at, their loyalty is hard to earn but once given it will rarely break. You'd have to do something very drastic like kill a unicorn and drink it's blood to break the bond." The Slytherins gaped at that information before Hagrid called on Theodore Nott who had his hand raised.
"Shadow or Black Phoenixes are one of the more rarely seen of the phoenix breeds, it was said that Arthur Pendragon had a Shadow Phoenix bonded to him. Their loyalty never wavers no matter how bad their bonded turns their trust and affection are so difficult to earn that the few who do earn it will have it until the day they die. They have the ability to disappear and reappear anywhere there are shadows. Myth says that the Phoenix bonded to Arthur roosts near his grave and scares away all those who would disturb it's friends eternal sleep." Theo barely breathed during his explanation and most of those in the class raised an eyebrow at the information that he gave them.
Blaise raised his hand and when Hagrid gestured for him to speak said, "the Storm or Thunder phoenix. They're most well known for the eyes on the ends of their tail feathers that match the look of the male peacocks. Their coloration is deep gray, bright yellow and dark purple, they have the ability to summon lightning and thunderstorms as well as the ability to teleport in a flash of lightning. They are only slightly less reclusive than their Artic or Shadow cousins, only two known bondings have happened between a human and a Storm Phoenix. One was by an ancient wizard who went by the name of Ba'al and the second was a Greek wizard by the name of Zeus."
Hermione raised her eyebrow at him before she said quietly, "I didn't know that."
Kushina laughed and said, "congratulation Blaise. You knew something that Hermione was completely unaware of." She then raised her own hand and Hagrid motioned for her to proceed. The other students thought she would lecture on the Fire or Red Phoenix however she said, "the Water or Ocean Phoenix is extremely elusive and has in only one instance has one bonded to a human. A pirate by the last name of Sparrow had gained the trust and affection of a Ocean Phoenix, legend has that the pirate later became a privateer for England. Ocean Phoenixes can make an air bubble around themselves when they dive underwater. They often bond themselves to merpeople, at least after the fall of Atlantis, it was said they mostly stay around the area above where Atlantis now rests." She shrugged at the gaping stares of her fellow students and petted Fawkes feathers along his back.
Hermione raised her hand and asked, "Kushina, how do you know about the Ocean Phoenix bonding to a pirate anyway?"
Kushina laughed and said, "because in historical texts and pictures the bird seen with him has the exact same plumage coloration as an Ocean phoenix. That and the Headmaster portraits from his time remember when he came to visit Hogwarts after years away, he brought the bird with him. When asked about where he found it he'd only say that he was in the middle of the ocean when it came swimming along beside him. The Ocean Phoenix has pale cream, sea blue and a deep midnight blue feathers, legend has that Pirate turned privateer for his lover. When asked about what his lover looked like he merely said that his lover had pale cream colored skin, hair the color of chocolate and eyes the color of the sea."
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After dinner several students noticed a new paper on the bulletin board of their common room and one of each house read it aloud. Draco read the one in Slytherin off to those that were listening,
"To all members of the houses of Hogwarts,
If you are interested in getting rid of Professor Binns please meet in the Room of Requirement after dinner on Wednesday September the fourth to discuss this urgent matter. Although the solution will require that we make sacrifices the potential to get rid of a mediocre teacher is the best thing we can do for the future students of Hogwarts!
Sincerely,
Kushina Ruri Potter-Lupin
Head of House Noir
Scion of House Potter and Lupin
Head of House Gryffindor
Head of House Slytherin"
The few students who weren't against the Dark Lord weren't in the common room and thus didn't hear Kushina's titles, not that the Dark Lord or his followers would believe that she was Slytherin's heir anyway.
Meanwhile in Hufflepuff's common room, Susan Bones just got finished reading the same missive and snickered before she said, "I wonder how the Slytherins are taking that." As she spoke she'd pointed at the last title on the list below Kushina's name.
The same scene repeated in Ravenclaw save it was Luna who read it aloud and she murmured, "aneki does have quite the sense of humor, doesn't she?" With that said she walked up the stairs to the fifth year girls dorm and went to bed.
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During the next Transfiguration class James had them read about human transfigurations and the consequences of miscasting the spells. After forty-five minutes of the class reading their books he dismissed them with, "I want an essay of mistakes that you can make and solutions regarding human transfiguration. I want it handed in by next Tuesday." The class murmured their acknowledgement before they left the classroom, students who were still taking Ancient Runes had a forty-five minute break but those who weren't had an hour and a half long break.
Kushina waved goodbye at Hermione who was heading to the library for some last minute studying for her class and Ron who was wandering off to practice a couple of moves on the Pitch. She headed up the stairs to the seventh floor and the Room of Requirement. She paced in front of the Troll tapestry and thought as she paced, 'I need a clearing in the woods. I need a clearing in the woods, I need a clearing in the woods.' When she finally stopped there was a door in front of her and she opened it to find a large clearing in the middle of a large forest, she hummed, it resembled the forests surrounding Konoha.
She cut a small slice in the palm of her hand before she lifted up her shirt and held her hand against her side. As she held it against her side she sent a pulse of Chakra through her palm, with a puff of smoke a large wolf appeared in front of her. It blinked a bit before it looked around and saw her standing behind it. It yelped and cried out, "Lady Kushina! It has been a long time since I've been summoned by you."
She chuckled at the pitch black wolf with large golden eyes, she ruffled the fur on his neck before she said, "it's good to see you too, Tyr. Can you call the others? I want to talk to you all about something." He blinked a bit but nodded before he called the rest of the pack through the bond they shared.
With soft puffs of smoke nine more wolves joined the pair in the clearing, some were grey others were a dark brown, there was a single pure white wolf off to the side of her. She smiled down at it and said, "hello Gunner." The white wolf bumped it head against her leg before walking over to Tyr and rubbing up against him in greeting.
The pack surrounded her and one of the grey wolves asked, "Lady Kushina, why has it been so long since you called us?" He cocked his head to the side curiously before he queried, "and why are your eyes gold instead of grey?"
She sighed and said quietly, "that's what I need to talk to you about." She gestured for them to settle in before she said, "eleven years ago, I was pregnant with a son. As I'm sure you all remember," she raised an eyebrow at them enquiringly. They all nodded so she continued, "the night that I gave birth, Kurama had sworn not to try to get out of his seal. However somehow the seal broke, I survived his release, however he headed straight for Konoha, he was attacking it in a blind rage as if something outside of himself was controlling him…" She shook her head at the memory of Kurama attacking her home.
"The man who broke the seal called himself Tobi, I don't know his real name but… If I ever see that bastard again I'm going to tear him to shreds!" She growled fiercely, the wolves winced they knew just how vicious their only female summoner could be. She huffed slightly before she continued, "Minato didn't want to put the Kyuubi back into me since the seal he was going to perform would take his life as payment. I kept insisting on it but… Tobi must have realized our plan and commanded the Kyuubi to attack our son, who Minato was planning to use as the next vessel to hold Kurama. Both of us threw ourselves in front of him, I sustained mortal injuries, I then used my Chakra ropes to hold Kurama down while Minato sealed him within our son."
The wolves were a bit puzzled, how could she speak of having life threatening injuries yet still be in front of them. Kushina closed her eyes before she continued, "Minato's last wish was that our son be treated as a hero. I can only hope that his wish was followed. After the two of us died we appeared before the Shinigami King, he did something to throw our souls far into the past and we reappeared in front of his younger self. Minato's memories were suppressed and he was sent on to Soul Society while I was kept by the King's side as part of his guard." She quirked her lips in bemusement before she commented ironically, "five years before my son was born I was reborn as Kushina Ruri Potter-Lupin. Shortly after my son was born I remembered my life as Kushina Uzumaki." She huffed a laugh before she said, "how's that for irony?"
The wolves around her blinked in shock but they could smell no deceit upon her, she was telling the truth as far as she knew it. She continued to speak by saying, "I've been checking up on Naruto since last year. I've put a seal for the cheetah's on him while Manda allowed him to sign the serpent contract. I had promised Minato before our son was born that Naruto would be able to sign the Toad summoning contract or I would have let him sign the cheetah contract as well…" She pouted slightly at that but the wolves chuffed out a laugh at her face.
One of the brown wolves cocked his head curiously before he asked, "out of curiosity… What made you decide to summon us?"
She laughed and said, "I summoned the Toads just two days ago and I figured that if I could summon them, then I should be able to summon you. This was merely the first chance I had gotten to summon you guys."
"Oh…" the small wolf muttered before he plopped back down on the ground to stare at her.
She sighed and said sternly, "I want you all to promise me that if someone finds your scroll and summons you that you won't say a word about me and Minato's reincarnation. If I'm lucky, I'll be revealing it myself in a year or so, anyway."
Reluctantly the ten wolves promised her that they wouldn't tell, "even if Sakumo himself summons us we won't tell." Loki joked, Kushina gave the largish grey wolf a baleful look at that remark. She snorted before she dismissed them and headed down to Lunch then she would come back up to the Room of Requirement for a promised spar with Kenpachi.
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After dinner Kushina headed up to the Room of Requirement to wait for the people from all four houses to show up. She waited until everyone was there to change the room to a military briefing room she gestured for everyone to take a seat. After everyone was seated she cleared her throat and said, while mimicking a young boy she had heard speaking in Konoha once, "we are gathered here for a most invigorating endeavor! We have come together to hopefully to rid the school of the most boring teacher to have ever bored students in the history of Hogwarts!"
She stared down at the disbelieving faces in the room and said, "I know this for a fact because I asked the portraits, until Binns began teaching most people found History of Magic to be interesting." Most of the students shook their heads in disbelief but knew that Kushina wouldn't say it unless she could back it up.
She then took a deep breath before she let it out slowly and asked, "how many of you have spoken with Belinda about the way Hogwarts and the magical world was in the past?"
Most of the room put up their hands in response to her question, she nodded in satisfaction before she turned to the older students. She stared at them as she asked, "if she had been the one to teach History of Magic would you have paid more attention in class?" To no surprise to her the answer was a unanimous affirmative from the older years and even some of the younger years.
She grinned toothily at them before she said with a faint purr to her voice, "I have a plan to take care of Binns once and for all."
Hermione was standing off to the side and asked, "and just what does this plan consist of? If it's pranking him, good luck, he doesn't notice anything, take our second year for example."
Kushina laughed and said, "it was our second year that gave me an idea. Hermione, he called you Miss Grant after you had told him your name was Miss Granger. He's not paying attention to what student he's talking to anymore, a teacher should be able to recognize his student so he can take or award points. Binns has never paid any attention to such matter in all of the history of him teaching, I checked the point logs, he has never awarded nor taken any points."
"So what's the plan?" Ron spoke up from beside Hermione but in front of his sister.
Kushina smirked and said, "we make it to where even the board of Governors have to sack him. It'll require some sacrifice on our part," she gestured to those no longer taking History of Magic, "but I think it'll be well worth the effort."
Neville frown before he asked, "what kind of a sacrifice?"
Kushina's gold eyes gleamed as she said, "we switch out who's attending his class that day, we use dictation quills to mark down his lectures. We ask questions during class, making sure that the quill records him asking for your name then interrupt again later and see if he gets your name right. After two months of that we'll take copies of our evidence to the Headmaster along with a petition formed by the students and signed by everyone involved as well as those not involved. With both the evidence and the petition in hand he should change teachers, we can have who we want as a teacher in the petition, I suggest Belinda since she lived through most of it anyway." As she spoke she gestured passionately about her and when she ended she gave them all a hopeful glance.
As one the students stood up and cheered, she grinned playfully at them before she commented, "if the Headmaster doesn't acquiesce to our demand then we'll take it to the board of Governors."
She then looked around at the group before she asked, "does this sound agreeable to all of you?" She received affirmatives from all the student and she grinned before she said, "then everyone except those interested in playing a practical joke on the teachers may leave. All those interested please stay," at that announcement everyone stayed in their seats including Hermione who normally didn't approve of pranking.
Kushina grinned at the way everyone seemed interested and said, "I had the idea of pranking without using any spells. I'm sure you all know the Tarantallegra curse…" she paused until everyone had nodded or given some form of acknowledgement to her statement, a few older years had to explain the curse to the second and first years. She then smirked and said, "well we won't be under a spell or potion but we will be dancing, if you can't dance that's fine. Most of the dances and songs I've chosen are rather simple to do, so you shouldn't have too much trouble learning them. Yes, Hermione?"
Hermione lowered her hand and asked with a raised eyebrow, "what are the dances that you've chosen?"
Kushina laughed and said, "I should've known you'd be the one to ask that! One is a line dance called the Conga, the second is the Macarena, one is a one hit wonder from the eighties in America, the song is called Walk Like an Egyptian. The last is from The Village People and is called the Y.M.C.A."
She looked around the room to see the muggleborn and muggle-raised staring at her in bemusement she smiled smugly back before she said, "I need five volunteers for the Y.M.C.A. Dance, we need an Indian, in other words only those with a slightly dark complexion, a Fireman, a Cowboy, a Construction Worker and a Policeman, to those of you who are wizard raised, a Policeman is similar to an Auror."
Blaise sighed briefly before he put his hand up and said, "I'll play the Indian," Kushina looked the Italian boy over studying his skin color before she nodded in satisfaction.
Hannah Abbott shoved Neville lightly and he sighed before he said, "I'll play the Fireman." Kushina snickered lightly over the way Neville's girlfriend can manipulate him with just a look.
Shortly after Neville was volunteered by his girlfriend Theodore stepped forward and said, "I'll play the Cowboy." Shortly after that Dean got shoved forward by Seamus who volunteered him to play the Construction worker, however no one stepped forward to play the policeman.
Kushina thought for several minutes before she grinned deviously and said, "I've got the perfect person to play the cop, I just need to convince him about it."
Hermione laughed lightly before she asked, "so when are we playing this prank?"
Kushina smiled at her friend before she said cheerfully, "after we have gathered the evidence on Binns but before we get him sacked. That'll give everyone two months to practice the dances." She then clapped her hands together and said, "meeting adjourned!"
