I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. And just a reminder… this is rated T for language. If you don't like bad language, don't read all of the author's notes at the end…

Chapter 12

When Ichigo walked into the Fifth year dorm with Ron after getting a brief tour of the Gryffindor Tower, it was to find Harry on the defensive with another boy. Shit, Ichigo thought, his eyes going wide with alarm, what the hell did I miss?

"What's going on?" Ron, his eyes equally wide with shock, looked from Harry to the other boy, who was standing there with his fists raised.

"He's having a go at my mother!" Mystery boy shouted at the top of his lungs. Sheesh, Ichigo thought, wincing, there was no need to shout; none of the Fifth Years was deaf, according to the reports…

"What? Harry wouldn't do that, we met your mother, we liked her…"

"That's before she started believing every word the stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!" Harry shot back.

Ah, Ichigo thought, immediately understanding. Lupin had showed them a few copies of the wizard newspaper, so they'd know what to expect… and what Harry was likely to be going through. Pretty similar to what I went through because of my hair, and later my inner hollow, he thought. Toshiro had also felt an instant empathy with the boy wizard; he'd been ostracized as well where he'd grown up, because of the way he'd looked. Even Rukia understood – she too had gone through a similar experience when she'd entered the Thirteenth Squad, because she was a Kuchiki.

Neville was standing off near his own bed, in what appeared to be a state of shock. A third boy also stood not far away, looking torn about what he should be doing. Both were frozen and not moving, so that left any and all action up to Ron and Ichigo. Ichigo decided he should act dumbfounded and a bit irritated, and follow Ron's lead – for now.

"Oh," comprehension dawned on Ron's face. "Oh." He actually looked at Ichigo to see what the new boy's reaction was; from the way he was scowling at Seamus, he wasn't thinking too highly of him. In a way, that made him like the Japanese teen more than he was already starting to; it meant he was non-judgmental, and ready to take people on their own value…

"You know something, you're right; I don't want to share a dorm with him anymore because he's a mad man."

The tips of Ron's ears were flaming red, almost as bright as his hair. "That's out of order, Seamus."

Thank you for putting a name to him, Ron, Ichigo thought, watching the shouting match idly, unaware that his scowl was growing. That made the last boy Dean Thomas.

"Out of order? So you think he's telling the truth?"

Ron was truly angry now. "Yeah, I do!"

"Then you're barking, too!"

"Well, it's just your bad luck I happen to be a prefect!" Ron reminded them, his voice rising, "So unless you want detention, you better watch your mouth!"

Seamus made a noise of contempt and leaped into his bed, pulling on his bed hangings with so much anger that he ripped them from the frame, and down on top of himself. Ichigo raised a brow at him and snorted. That certainly wasn't very smart, he thought with a flash of contempt that he didn't bother to hide. Karma can be a bitch, he nodded with satisfaction as he watched the other boy try to find his way out from under them. No one actually moved to help him, although Dean looked a bit torn about what he should do.

"Anyone else's parents got a problem with Harry?" Ron rounded on Neville, who'd been standing there, dumbfounded, and Dean, who simply shrugged.

"My parents are Muggles, mate, remember?" he reminded them, "They know nothing about all of this. And I'm not stupid enough to tell them."

"You don't know my mother," Seamus snapped, his face splotchy red with anger as he finally reached the surface, "She's like the grand inquisitor! Worm anything out of anyone, she can. And yours don't get the Daily Prophet; know all about Dumbledore and the Wizengamot and all that…"

"My gran says that's all rubbish," Neville finally piped up, finding his bravery after having seen the expression on Ichigo's face. "She says it's the Prophet that's gone downhill, not Dumbledore." He held his head up. "She even went and cancelled our subscription. We believe Harry." He stared at Seamus, his bravery growing when he caught Ichigo's brief look of approval. "She has always said You-Know-Who would come back; and if Dumbledore and Harry say he's back, well then he's back."

Harry was looking at Neville with gratitude while Seamus used his wand to repair his bed hangings, and then close them properly; his little speech had Neville exhausted because he also vanished, as did Dean. Ichigo watched Harry as he slowly got ready, then as if he realized he was being watched, the younger teen looked over at the substitute soul reaper.

"You must think we're all mad as hatters," Ron said quietly, joining the two of them as he was putting out the candles. Ichigo shrugged.

"It seems to me," Ichigo said slowly but loudly enough to be heard, "That anyone who hasn't learned not to believe everything they read in a newspaper – any newspaper – is the one who is 'mad as a hatter,' don't you think?" he was rewarded with the same grateful look that Harry had given Neville, even as Seamus muttered,

"I heard that."

"Eh, you were supposed to, baka," Ichigo retorted.

Harry and Ron glanced at each other, the same thought entering their minds.

"You have got to teach us some Japanese," Harry said, grinning.

"Yeah – you just insulted him, but I have no idea how because I don't know what it was you said!" Ron agreed with his friend, also grinning hugely.

Ichigo lay back in his bed, a faint smile on his face. "I'll think about it," he promised.

#

Ichigo watched with amusement as Seamus bolted from the dorm room before any of the rest of them had so much as put a toe in a sock. He shook his head. The idiot couldn't face any of them, could he? Had he lain awake all night, thinking?

"Konjou nashi," he muttered to himself. Maybe he would teach Harry and Ron some Japanese – slang anyway. It would give them a reason to hang out together… (AN1)

"Does he think he'll turn into a nutter if he stays in a room with me too long?" Harry said loudly as they watched the last bit of Seamus's robes whip out of sight.

"Try not to worry about it so much, Harry," Dean said following Seamus out and leaving Neville, Ron and Ichigo with Harry.

"Harry, look at it this way: are you right or not?" Ichigo asked him as he dressed. The other three turned surprised eyes in his direction.

"What?"

"I said, are you right about what happened, or not? Whatever it is that has Seamus's tail twisted in a knot, and his mom's head spinning in circles?"

"Of course I'm right!" Harry said indignantly. Ichigo held up a hand.

"Then just shrug it off. People are going to believe what they want to believe, whether it's truth or lie." He scratched the back of his head. "I grew up being mistaken for a hoodlum, a juvenile delinquent, a troublemaker… you name it, and they thought it."

"Why?" Harry's eyes grew wide. From the short time he'd known Ichigo he'd started to like the Japanese teen. Ichigo pulled on his hair.

"To put it simply, because of this: the color. No one wanted to believe it was natural. You tell me, what four-year-old bleaches his hair? What sane parent bleaches their child's hair?" Disregarding the fact that his father could technically be considered far from sane, his mother most certainly had been. And she had been alive when the whole "he bleaches his hair" fiasco started.

"Huh?" Ron stared at him, then at the others. What was he talking about?

"Japanese people are pretty – uh, what's the word?" Ichigo scrunched up his face, looking for the right word to use. Zangetsu helpfully supplied the one he needed. "Homogenous? Dark brown eyes, dark brown to black hair, tanned skin…like Tatsuki. If you step out of the norm, they don't know what to make of you if you aren't a foreigner," He sighed, "I've been getting into fights over it since I was four years old."

"Four? Really?" Ron paused buttoning his shirt. "Fighting? With your fists?"

"We are talking about Japan, remember? Every other person studies some form of martial art," Ichigo replied dryly, "Karate. And some kendo." He added that in case they ever saw him with Zangetsu. He smirked, remembering, "I can honestly say I haven't lost that kind of fight since I was twelve years old, except for one – and they were using rocks. The only person Tatsuki has lost a street fight to since then is me. And you do not ever want to get on Rukia's bad side…"

They were walking down the stairs now.

"How many people at once? And how big were they?" Neville was asking, his eyes were wide with excitement.

"I've been outmatched five to one, when they were four years older than I was," he thought wistfully of the time he rescued Chad from under the bridge, and they made their pact to fight for each other. Oh, Man, did he miss Chad right now…

Ron looked over at Harry, smirking.

"What?"

"Crabbe and Goyle…"

"Who?" Ichigo asked, even though he already knew the answer; he needed to play dumb. Rukia and Tatsuki were waiting down in the common room already.

"A pair of Slytherins with a combined IQ that doesn't even reach double digits. They act as bodyguards for the new Slytherin prefect, Draco Malfoy." Harry glanced at Ichigo. "You'll find he's the teacher's pet, as far as Professor Snape is concerned."

Maybe, maybe not, Ichigo thought to himself. He suspected that Snape was eager to find out which of them was smarter: Ichigo, Uryu, or Hermione. Ichigo knew he did not have the high genius level IQ that Toshiro did; or the genius intellect of Uryu; but he was not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. The same ease with which his soul reaper abilities had settled on him, so did his magical. He seemed to have a knack for the harder stuff, while struggling with the easier. As Toshiro had said, he could run long before he learned how to even crawl. There were some things that came naturally, like potions and transfiguration; and things he had to think about and concentrate on, like Charms and Herbology. He had a hard time making his wand do a simple spell like Lumos; and forget flying on a broom - he'd do better using flash steps to get where he needed to go. In fact, Tatsuki had taken the broom away from him and told him to keep his feet on the ground before he killed himself.

Tatsuki and Rukia both looked irritated when they joined them.

"What's wrong?" he asked them.

"Nothing," they said in unison, and then grimaced.

"Where's Karin?"

"She went down already; she wanted to try to catch a few minutes with Yuzu and Toshiro before breakfast," Tatsuki said, looking away with a scowl on her face.

"That's not what's making you scowl, Tatsuki."

The girl harrumphed and muttered under her breath, something that sounded suspiciously like 'yariman.' He blinked at her; Tatsuki cursing someone? The last time he'd heard her call anyone that, it was Chizuru. He looked at Rukia, who was staring up at the ceiling and frowning. (AN2)

"Why did that boy rush out of here looking all hot and bothered?" she asked, instead of answering the question. The four boys stared at her. Ichigo sighed inwardly; just as he had redirected the conversation away from Seamus, Tatsuki had brought it up again.

"What? What did I say?"

"Nothing," Ichigo muttered. Hermione rushed up to them at that moment, and immediately noticed the tension.

"What's the matter?" she asked, "You all look like you're going to hit someone."

"Seamus thinks that Harry is lying about You Know Who," Ron said when Harry did not respond.

Hermione turned back from tearing down a large notice from the board that said something about Galleons…

"Yes, Lavender thinks so too," she said, frowning. She tossed the notice, muttering about having a talk with someone.

"Been having a nice little chat with her about how I'm such an attention seeking prat, huh?" Harry said angrily, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Actually, no," Hermione replied with a frown, "I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut. And you don't need to snap at us Harry; in case you've forgotten, we're on your side."

Harry flushed, embarrassed by the scolding. "Sorry, Hermione," he said softly.

"That's all right," She shrugged it off. "Remember what Dumbledore said last year?"

Everyone looked at her blankly, especially the three Japanese, who hadn't been there. Hermione shook her head with exasperation. "He said, "His gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight him only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust…"

"How do you remember stuff like that?" Ron gaped at her like a stranded goldfish.

"I listen, Ron," she sniffed at him with disdain, "And I pay attention. The point is this is the sort of thing that Professor Dumbledore was warning us about. He's only been back two months, and we're already fighting among ourselves. Standing together and uniting is the only way we're going to win."

Sounds familiar, Ichigo thought, thinking of the period of time before Aizen had defected. He had been nothing more than a Ryoka then, but he'd heard plenty about what was going on inside the Seireitei while he and the others were trying to rescue Rukia from execution. Aizen had played the same card, and he'd played it very, very well.

"What? You don't really expect us to get matey with the Slytherins, do you?" Ron asked incredulously, "Fat chance of that happening."

They were at the foot of the large marble staircase. A group of Ravenclaws was crossing the hall, among them Uryu and Toshiro. The others, when they caught sight of Harry, hurriedly formed a huddle as though they were afraid of what he would do. Uryu and Toshiro, upon seeing their actions, gave them disdainful looks.

"Oh yeah, we really ought to be making friends with them," Harry said with a great deal of sarcasm when he saw their reaction to his presence.

"Some people have to be hit over the head with the truth before they'll believe it," Rukia shrugged it off, "That's their problem."

"What is whose problem?" Uryu asked them when the group of Gryffindors joined them.

"I'll tell you later," Ichigo said, shaking his head, "The stupidity and gullibility of some people, that's all."

Toshiro harrumphed and shrugged. "Oh, we got an earful this morning about how we're supposed to warn you three or something. I told them you were a much better judge of character than any of them ever were, and we would form our own opinions thank you very much." He shook his head, and addressed Ichigo and Uryu next. "We're supposed to get schedules after breakfast. We need to make sure we have enough free time to work on those journals."

Ichigo nodded. "We can compare them right before first class. I'm sure we'll come up with something."

When the others gave Ichigo a curious look, he explained, "Toshiro is what is known as a prodigy. Professor Dumbledore seriously wanted to put him in our year, but the Board of Governors wouldn't let him because of some stupid age restriction or something like that. He's probably smarter than all of us put together, and a hell of a lot more mature than most people, as we can obviously see."

"Kurosaki…" Toshiro gaped at Ichigo with surprise at the complement, then shook his head and entered the Great Hall, thinking that he would have to maybe revise his opinion of Ichigo. Uryu just smiled faintly and followed him. He had told Toshiro that the only reason Ichigo refused to call him 'Captain' was because he made such a big deal over it, and Ichigo was teasing him; when he asked Uryu why he did the same thing to Byakuya Kuchiki, Uryu had explained that the noble had yet to earn Ichigo's complete respect, and Ichigo was still a little miffed at him. Earn Ichigo's respect, and he would address you politely – as he did with Captains Ukitake, Kyoraku, Unohana and Komamura. In company other than just themselves, he added the polite –san to Urahara and Yoruichi's names, as well, and if he wanted to make a point, he used –sensei instead. If Toshiro listened carefully, he said, he would hear Ichigo use it with Matsumoto, also, as well as Hisagi. It had given Toshiro something to think about. In fact, it had given him quite a lot to think about, especially when Uryu told him that he wouldn't address someone he considered a friend by his last name – unless he was seriously, furiously angry with him.

"Is he really a prodigy?" Ron asked, watching the white haired Captain amble over to the Ravenclaw table. Rukia nodded while she waved over at Momo, who waved back. Rukia was happy to see Momo was no longer wearing her hair in that silly bun – and had let it grow out. She looks so pretty now, she thought, and from the looks she was getting from some of the guys at her table, they thought so, as well. Kira had better get off his ass and ask her out, or someone else is going to sweep her up, she mused.

"Oh, most definitely; Makes the rest of us look like village idiots, sometimes," she said cheerfully, hooking her arm through Ichigo's.

Ichigo and the others followed Harry along the Gryffindor table, listening as they discussed the absent Hagrid, the regular Care of Magical Creatures instructor. They were interrupted by a tall, dark skinned girl with a long braid who had marched determinedly up to Harry.

"Hi, guess what? I've been made Quidditch Captain."

"Nice," Harry congratulated her, "That's great news, Angelina."

"Yeah, well, we need a new keeper, since Oliver graduated. Tryouts are Friday at five, and I want the whole team there. We can see how the new person fits in."

"Okay, yeah, great," Harry said as she left.

"Oh, I forgot Wood left," Hermione said vaguely sitting down and taking a plate of toast. "Will that make much of a difference to the team?" It was pretty obvious that she didn't care much about Quidditch.

"I guess so; he was a good Keeper…" Harry sighed as he reached for some cereal.

"New blood will be good though, won't it?" Ron said, not really expecting an answer. He turned to the others. "Do you play Quidditch?"

Ichigo almost choked on his food.

"We try not to let Ichigo get too close to a broom for his own safety," Tatsuki said dryly as Rukia pounded on his back. "Rukia and I might be interested though." Lupin had brought them to a Quidditch game at the Japanese stadium; it had been fast paced, and it looked like fun. It was no wonder that Potter was so passionate about it. On brooms, she and Rukia, and Toshiro, were the best. But first years were not allowed brooms, although Harry had been made Seeker in his first year.

"God help the other teams," Ichigo muttered.

"What was that?" Rukia asked sharply.

"Nothing," Ichigo shook his head, reaching for some orange juice.

Hundreds of owls were suddenly soaring into the hall through the windows; packages and letters from family and relatives and splattering them with water from the rain that was coming down outside. They were surprised by two very large owls that landed on the table in front of them, both carrying large packages.

"We haven't even been here a whole day, yet," Tatsuki commented, recognizing the pair who were both jockeying for Ichigo's attention. These were the two owls that resided permanently at Urahara's and comprised their "Owl Post."

"What kind of owls are those?" Ron gaped at the size of them. They had to be the largest owls he'd ever seen! They were unusual, and he didn't think he'd ever seen either species at the school before. Ichigo grinned. They had gotten the largest, strongest owls they could, because of the long journey from Japan to Hogwarts.

"I doubt you would have, they're not British owls," he said. "This one," he scratched the bigger buffish-brown owl on the back of the head, "Is a Blakiston's Fish Owl. They're Japanese. The other is a Eurasian Eagle Owl." He took the package from the Eagle Owl and opened it, then started sorting the mail into piles. (AN3/4)

The others, having seen the two large owls land in front of Ichigo, clustered around the Gryffindor table.

"Mail from home? Already?" Yuzu said, as Ichigo handed her three letters: one from their father, the others from Ururu and Jinta. Rukia had started stuffing the owls with pieces of sausage, which they took gratefully. They'd had a long journey, after all, and were hungry. Yuzu took the opportunity to put her arms around her brother and whisper something to him, which made him smile. He reached back and mussed her hair a bit.

"Why don't you go ahead and do it for all of us?" he said in approval, which earned him a grateful look and enthusiastic nod before she rushed off. He watched her go, feeling a faint sense of pride in his little sister.

"You know, Harry, I think they're bigger than Hedwig," Ron was saying, still in awe over the owls.

"I think the Malfoys have an eagle owl," Hermione said thoughtfully as she studied the pair, "But it's not nearly that big." She glanced over at the Slytherin table, to see the pale haired prefect glaring at the owl.

"They're pretty widespread," Ichigo said, trying not to sound too overly proud. "And female owls can be up to one third bigger than a male. These are both females." He frowned slightly at a package from Urahara. There were four of them, one for each of the soul reapers. He glanced over at Rukia, then at Toshiro and Momo. They were also looking at theirs, slightly confused. I wonder what they are, he mused, taking out a small pill case that was enameled with a picture of a – he groaned inwardly – strawberry. Rukia's had a rabbit, Momo's a peach, and Toshiro's a dragon. Urahara's note was brief and to the point, and written in Japanese so no one else could read it. The other three leaned over his shoulder to read it with him.

||Ichigo,|| he wrote, ||I took the liberty of creating new mod souls for the four of you. I didn't think you wanted to let Kon loose in Hogwarts|| (how right he was, they all thought with a shudder) ||and Chappy might cause too much of a distraction. So each of these mod souls has been designed to act as much like you as I could make them. Each is an individual, and is one of a kind. Hopefully they'll be of more use than the ones you have been using. Urahara. PS – I've also enclosed some of Yoruichi's favorite kitty treats.||

Good thinking, Ichigo thought, shoving the pill case and the treats in his bag, as the others were doing. Then he looked at the letters. Pop, Chad, Keigo, huh, and Renji, he noticed. He hadn't expected that. He handed Rukia hers, a nice thick stack, probably one from his father, Byakuya, Renji, Ukitake-san… Hmmm. And it looked like Tatsuki had gotten one from Midori. They had been sorted before being sent, probably by Ururu or Tessai, who were the neatness freaks at the shop. Neither Urahara nor Jinta would think to do so.

"Nothing from Orihime?" Tatsuki asked, sounding disappointed.

The Fish Owl, a large female, clacked her beak at him, and he looked at the package. Oh, no… With growing dread, he opened the package, and moaned.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked him, looking over into the box. "They look like brownies…"

"Yeah, they do – but I doubt they taste anything like brownies," Ichigo sighed.

"Oh no, Orihime's been experimenting in the kitchen again?" Rukia said, paling as she stared at the box.

Toshiro looked down at the box. "Maybe we should give them to Professor Snape. He might be able to classify those as a new type of poison or something."

"I love Orihime like a sister, but…" Ichigo shuddered, "I swear she's trying to kill me with her cooking sometimes."

"They look fine to me," Ron said, looking at the brownies. Toshiro picked one up and handed it to him.

"Don't come crying to us if you end up in the hospital wing from food poisoning," he said coolly.

Hermione and Harry both stared at him as he took a bite. He certainly had put himself into a corner on that one, they thought. Ron's eyes widened.

"That's… certainly different," he said, reaching for a cup of anything to wash it down. "What the devil did she put in it?"

"All we know for certain other than chocolate? Red bean paste, or maybe wasabi. She puts it in everything," Uryu said, looking through his mail before turning to leave. "We've only found two other people who share her bizarre taste in food."

"Matsumoto," Toshiro muttered under his breath, staring angrily at the small stack of paperwork she had sent to him.

"Tessai-san," Ichigo said at the same time.

Harry broke off a bit of the brownie and touched his tongue to it.

"Harry…." Hermione said with alarm.

"It's… definitely different," he said, putting it down. Toshiro picked up the box. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to do what I suggested – see if Professor Snape can do something with them."

They watched as the boy genius marched over to the Potions master and said something to him, which had his eyebrows arching up in – well, they couldn't call it amusement, but it wasn't his normal expression, either. He looked at the box with something between scorn and bemusement, and surprised everyone when he took it.

Harry only noticed at that point that Hermione was looking through the Daily Prophet. "What are you still getting that for?" he asked, irritably.

"It's good to know what the enemy is thinking and saying," she replied, folding it up. "There's nothing in there about you or Dumbledore today."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tatsuki grinned at her. Hermione smiled back. Tatsuki and Rukia had backed her up the night before when she had told Lavender off. Having the other two girls there, Tatsuki actually flexing her fingers and cracking her knuckles like she couldn't wait to use them, had quickly caused Lavender to back off, and Parvati to stay completely silent and out of it.

Professor McGonagall stopped and handed them their schedules, told the newcomers to see her if they had any questions, then moved on. Ron groaned when he saw it.

"History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and double Defense Against the Dark Arts… that means Binns, Snape, Trelawney, and that Umbridge woman all in one day!" he propped his head on his hand and looked woefully at the others. "Where are Fred and George with their Skiving Snackboxes when you need them?"

"What's this we're hearing?" a pair of identical twins, hair the same color as Ron's, squeezed onto the bench next to Harry. "A Hogwarts prefect looking to ditch class? For shame!"

"Yeah, well, look at today's lessons!" Ron shoved his schedule at George. "That's the worst Monday in the history of Mondays!"

"Fair point," Fred said, looking over his twin's shoulder and agreeing. "That is a fairly horrid schedule. I don't remember ever seeing worse."

Harry looked over at Ichigo's schedule, wondering if it was the same as his and Ron's schedule. History of Magic, check; double Potions, check; Independent Study; double Defense against the Dark Arts, check… "What's Independent Study?"

"What?" Ichigo looked at him from where he'd been studying his schedule. "Oh, uh… well you sort of have to be recommended for it… by the professor…"

"You have an Independent Study session?" Hermione said, her head swiveling around to look at him, her eyes wide, and a faint hint of jealousy in her voice. "Almost no one ever gets those! You have to be really, really good in a subject for a professor to even suggest it! And then the Head Master and the Deputy Head Master have to approve it as well."

"Which Professor…" Harry started to ask, only to find Snape standing over them. The Gryffindor table suddenly went quiet as they realized the Head of Slytherin House was paying them an unexpected visit.

"You've seen your schedule, then?" he said, looking down his long nose at Ichigo.

"Yes, professor," Ichigo nodded, "Right after lunch."

"For today only we'll be meeting in the Charms classroom. I have spoken with Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick; they will be joining us. Don't forget the journals."

"I won't, Professor," Ichigo nodded. Snape nodded and strode off, his robes billowing behind him like a set of black bat's wings. The others were all gaping at him.

"You have Independent Study – with Snape?" Harry said slowly. Ichigo nodded, acting as if he was puzzled over their surprise. "Snape… actually recommended… someone other than a Slytherin…"

"Blimey…" Ron and his brothers were all staring at Ichigo with jaws slightly agape. He was almost tempted to check if he had sprouted another head.

"Why – is there a problem?" he asked, "Uryu and Toshiro should have it as well."

"Why did he tell you to bring your mother's journals?" Ron asked, recovering his wits.

"Part of what we're going to be doing is recreating her spells and potions; the two potions I've already translated, Professor Snape said they're N.E.W.T. level; but I didn't have any problem recreating them back home…" Ichigo shrugged. "What we're finding, though, is some of the ingredients – Herbology wise, anyway – have rather ambiguous names. That's why we need Professor Sprout. And of course, she had other charms and things, so those are for Professor Flitwick to look over… that's why Professor Snape is having them join us. So it's almost like its one big party."

"Whoa," Fred said, slowly. "Looks like Malfoy could have some serious competition this year as Snape's favorite student. He's never recommended a Slytherin for Independent Study. In fact, I think it's been about ten years or so, since the last student was recommended. I can't remember who it was, though…"

"I highly doubt that," Ichigo shrugged again, trying to brush aside their interest. "He's just interested in my mother's work, that's all. He said he remembered her from school, and she was always tops in potions."

"Well, still, you'll be doing N.E.W.T. level work, and you haven't even taken O.W.L.s yet," Fred said, eyeing Ichigo carefully. "This is Fifth year, has anyone told you what that means?"

Rukia nodded. "Exams. Dumbledore was supposed to look into whether we actually need to take them or not, since we don't have them – or need them – in Japan."

"You mean – you may not have to take the O.W.L.s? That's so not fair!" Ron exclaimed.

"We have our own exams, back home, that we'll need to take," Tatsuki corrected his assumption. "He didn't think we should have to take two sets of exams. Especially since, from what Professor McGonagall learned when she was there, ours are rated differently. Apparently our Fifth year exams are more in line with your N.E.W.T.s. The exams we'll be taking in our Seventh year – you don't have an equivalent for."

"Blimey," Ron said shaking his head. "Are you going to be able to learn enough here, to test there?"

"She seemed to think so," Rukia shrugged. "So your nightmare year might not be one for us: Yet, anyway."

Ichigo nodded, then listened with half an ear as they argued about O.W.L.s, Skiving Snackboxes, and how Fred and George were going to open their joke shop… and why was Harry looking nervous when the subject of funding for the shop came up? Finally the twins drifted away, and the group left breakfast to head off for their first class, led there by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The three had gone into a discussion about what they would do after Hogwarts. Ron and Harry both said they thought being an Auror and hunting down dark wizards would be cool; Hermione wanted to do something worthwhile, and something about S.P.E.W.… which had Harry and Ron looking at everything but each other. Ichigo made a note to ask them later what S.P.E.W. was. (AN5)

"We should warn you," Harry said as they go to the classroom. "Professor Binns is a ghost… a really boring one."

"A ghost, huh?" Rukia said, glancing over at Ichigo. He looked back at her. Yeah, he agreed silently; it was going to feel really odd not performing konso on a spirit. But for some reason, wizarding ghosts never turned into hollows. So they didn't need to bother. They had just sort of gaped at Captain Yamamoto when he had told them that, but even he didn't know the reason why they didn't. They just – didn't. It had felt really weird the night before also, watching the ghosts zip around the hall, no chains, no holes… he had had to resist the temptation to pull out his badge and chase the lot of them…

It only took Ichigo five minutes to decide that this was the class he was going to sleep through or perform konso on the professor to put himself out of his misery; he noticed Rukia's quill was on auto-pilot, and she had her chin propped up on her hand, while her eyelids were slowly drifting downward. Tatsuki was nowhere near as tactful. She just plain up and put her head down on the desk. Ten minutes into the class, Harry and Ron had started playing Hangman. He was going to have to learn that spell, he thought jealously, as he struggled to remain at least partially alert. Hermione was shooting everyone except Ichigo dirty looks, although she was watching Rukia's quill with interest.

When class was over, she threatened to withhold her notes from them. "How would you like it then?"

"We'd fail. You want us to do that, Hermione?" Ron said.

"Well, you didn't even try to take any notes," she snapped at him, "Not one."

"We try…" he argued, "It's just that you are so much cleverer, and we don't have your memory or your concentration."

"Oh, rubbish," she rolled her eyes, and then looked over at Rukia. "What did you do to your quill, anyway?"

"Oh, that," Rukia smiled at her interest. "It's one of the spells Kurosaki-san made up. Actually, she did it when she was here, it only works when one person talks, and it even turns parchment pages for you when you get to the end of the page. Really useful for taking notes."

"Teach us? Pleeeeaase?" Ron begged.

"Well," she hesitated, looking over at Ichigo. He shrugged.

"I'm already going to teach them some Japanese, so I don't see why not." Ron and Harry brightened up when they heard this; Ichigo had not told them he had decided to teach them some Japanese, after they had asked him the night before.

"Oh, don't," Hermione groaned, shaking her head with exaggerated dismay, "They'll just have an even bigger excuse for not paying attention in class."

"But then we wouldn't have to borrow yours!"

They continued to argue, first over that, and then over Cho Chang, who had tried to come over and speak with Harry (poor boy, Ichigo thought, watching him blush) alone as they made their way over to the dungeon where Snape's classroom was. Ron certainly has a way of putting his foot in it, he mused, sharing an amused look with Rukia. He felt her hand slide into his, and squeeze it slightly.

At that moment, even the rain couldn't dampen his mood.

Author's Notes

1) Politely, it means a person is lacking in the bravery department. However, since this is Ichigo saying it, he'd use the cruder version, which means a person lacks balls.

2) Whore.

3) Blakiston's Fish Owl (Ketupa blakistoni blakistoni/Bubo b. blakistoni): Japan's largest owl (and sometimes the world's); a massive owl at 60-75cm (24-30 in). A recent field study of the species showed males weighing from 3 to 3.75 kg (6.6-8.3 lbs), with the female, at up to 4.5 kg (10 lbs), being about 25% larger. Superficially, this owl looks like the Eurasian eagle owl, but is paler, and has broad, ragged ear tufts. The upper-parts are buff-brown and heavily streaked. The underparts are pale buff-brown. The throat is white. The iris is yellow (whereas Eurasian eagle owl has an orange iris).

4) Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo): A very large and powerful bird, smaller than the Golden Eagle but larger than the Snowy Owl. It is sometimes titled the world's largest owl, but so is the Blakiston's Fish Owl, which is slightly bigger on average. The Eagle Owl has a wingspan of up to 138–200 cm (55–79 in) and measures 58–73 cm (23–29 in) long. Females weigh 1.75-4.2 kg (3.9-9.4 lbs) and males weigh 1.5-3.2 kg (3.3-7 lbs). The upper-parts are brown-black and tawny-buff, showing as dense freckling on the forehead and crown, stripes on the nape, sides and back of the neck, and dark splotches on the pale ground color of the back, mantle and scapulars. A narrow buff band, freckled with brown buff, runs up from the base of the bill, above the inner part of the eye and along the inner edge of the black-brown, "ear-tufts". The rump and upper tail-coverts are delicately patterned with dark markings and wavy barring. The facial disc is tawny-buff, speckled with black-brown, so densely on the outer edge of the disc as to form a "frame" around the face. Chin and throat are white continuing down the center of the upper breast. The whole of the underparts except for chin, throat and center of upper breast is covered with fine dark wavy barring, on a tawny-buff ground color. Legs and feet are likewise marked on a buff ground color but more faintly. The tail is tawny-buff, mottled dark grey-brown with about six black-brown bars. Bill and claws are black, the iris is orange (yellow in some subspecies).

5) Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare; Hermione started this 'organization' in The Goblet of Fire.