Chapter 21

Despite all of his bellyaching, Draco Malfoy was perfectly fine. Madame Pomfrey mended his injury as fast as it was made but Draco insisted on an arm sling. During lunch his fellow Slytherins gathered around the boy to hear about the hippogriff attack that predictably became more and more fanatical with each retelling. As he sat there practically shouting how his father wasn't going to be too happy with it, Kurama found himself regretting the boy's speedy recovery. And by the looks of some of his other classmates he wasn't the only one. An hour hadn't passed and the yoko could already see that he was going to have to do something if Hagrid was going to keep either his job or his new pet hippogriff. If he used his popularity, charm, and all of his craftiness he had no doubt that should Lucius Malfoy go to court he'd turn the whole case against him. With plans already forming in his mind he headed off to his next class.

The atmosphere in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was one of apprehension. For the past two years they had a pair of incompetent nutcases as teachers and as a result about half the class was failing the subject. Unlike last year where the previous professor had plastered the room with his own image, the classroom was practically barren except for a few skeletons and diagrams of some obscure creatures. Everyone sat perfectly strait with their textbooks out and ready. Calmly their new teacher exited his office and observed his pupils. After roll call he gave them a warm smile that pulled at his scarred face.

"Today you won't be needing your books. Just grab your wands and follow me."

The class muttered curiously as Lupin lead them through the chilly empty halls of Hogwarts. They traversed the spiraling ever-changing staircases in relative silence before finally stopping in front of the Staffroom guarded by a pair of fierce-looking gargoyles. Inside the long paneled room were several mismatched dark wooden chairs that looked comfortable to sit in and a large wardrobe that dominated the far wall. And there sitting at a table with a pile of papers to grade was the ever stern Potions master Severus Snape dressed in his usual inky black robes. He gave them all a rather annoyed black glare before sweeping up his papers and leaving, throwing out a barbed comment on Neville's magical capabilities that had the round boy bowing his head in a mixture of embarrassment and shame.

"Actually, I was hoping that Neville would assist me with today's lesson. And I'm sure he'd do a splendid job." Professor Lupin replied in a conversational manner that had not only Snape raising his eyebrows but Neville's as well. Snape glided out the heavy oak door with an amused snort, leaving the class alone with their professor to find a quieter place to grade. The wardrobe shook, making the fine red hairs on the back of Shuichi's neck stand on end, as Lupin stepped up to it, turning to face his students.

"So, can anyone guess what's in here?" he asked.

"That's a boggart." Dean Thomas, a Gryffindor, answered.

"Correct! And what do boggarts do?"

"They assume the form of what a person fears most." Hermione answered.

"Yes! So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. Neville, care to join me?"

The look on Neville's round face clearly said that no, he didn't care to join him but weather it be a rare show of bravery or fear of failing the class no one really knew as the nervous blond grudgingly joined the professor. Lupin gave him a kind smile.

"Tell me Neville, what do you fear most?" Neville mumbled something. "I'm sorry?"

"Professor Snape." Neville said, turning red as a few students laughed. Lupin gave him a sympathetic look. He bent down and whispered something into Neville's ear. The boy gave him an unsure look. With a wave of Lupin's wand the wardrobe opened. Almost immediately Severus Snape stepped out pinning Neville with cold black eyes.

"R-riddikulus!"

A horrid green dress, gaudy red handbag, and a hat with a stuffed vulture sitting atop suddenly adorned the boggart Snape. Laughter erupted as Snape looked about dumbly bringing a relieved smile to Neville's face. Lupin directed the class to form a line and one-by-one coached them how to defeat their boggarts. Soon the waves of laughter were interspersed with mummies, snakes, and what else the students were afraid of. Shuichi was silent as he tried to figure out how to make his boggart funny but it was rather difficult when the mere thought of what he feared was enough to cause a cold unsettling weight to form in the pit of his stomach. When his turn came up he did the only thing he could think of.

There were a few girly shrieks as a woman with magically dyed brown hair and eyes appeared, bleeding on the floor. Sharp deadly shards of porcelain were scattered about her prone form and her sunny blue dress was torn where the shards had cut through the fabric. She looked up at him clutching her bleeding arms with pain filled eyes, a few brown strands falling out of the ponytail that was trying to bind it in place. He felt numb. Concentrating on the image in his head and not the one in front of him he uttered the spell. In place of the injured woman was a lovely bed of blooming flowers that had the class 'aw'ing. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding he happily went to the back of the class as everyone else had their turn with the frightful thing.

xXx

With the classes of the day over with Shuichi retired to the Library to do a little extracurricular homework. After having a little afternoon tea with a rather upset Hagrid he confirmed that Lucius Malfoy will follow through with the threats his son was practically shouting about. It took a while to calm the large man but after swearing to build the case for him the kindly giant of a man was smiling again. Conveniently the Library had an entire section dedicated to the magical equivalent of the penal code. He began the tedious task of looking up the relevant sections and writing them down for when he was ready to put the defense together. It was relatively quiet. Then again no student wanted to deal with homework after the first day of school. So he was a little surprised when Luna came skipping in over to him.

"Hello Shuichi. How was your day?" she asked in that dreamy far-off voice of hers.

"Well enough. It would've been better if Draco Malfoy wasn't being an ignoramus brat." Luna nodded.

"Yes. It's mean that he's sending his father after him."

"He's just trying to not look like the idiot that he really is. But what he's doing to Hagrid is just wrong."

"Are you helping him?"

"How can I not?"

"That's nice of you."

Luna actually helped him quite a bit. She pulled out a few books for him, pointing out what may be of some use. By the time they left for dinner Shuichi felt like he had enough to go head with the next part of his plan.

xXx

It was late. Shuichi had stayed up for a while to get a jump start on his homework while his housemates decided that they rather have a jump start on their beauty sleep. Tora had apparently forgiven his master for his earlier behavior had was curled up in Shuichi's lap while the disguised yoko flipped through his Ancient Runes textbook. He and Tora just about jumped when a sudden and powerful flare of yoki seemed to stream in through the slightly opened window. Grabbing the invisibility cloak he'd gotten his first year he hurried as quietly as he could to the forest with a curious Tora in tow. As he entered the forest he stopped dead in his tracks.

Five dementors where laying smoldering on the damp ground with a green and finely muscled figure standing over them. Purple eyes covered the naked torso. Clawed hands clenched and unclenched. The head looked up revealing a pair of familiar ruby eyes glaring out from under spiky black hair.

"Hiei? Are you okay?" Kurama asked. Hiei grunted before dropping onto his backside panting through his fangs. Slowly the on his body closed and his skin returned to its usual peachy coloring. The purple eye on his forehead remained open. "Hiei, what happened?"

"They've been lurking on the edges of the forest all day. I just assumed that they'd stay there but no sooner that I settled down for the night they ganged up on me. I couldn't help myself. My instincts took over and I…" He growled and punched the soft ground furiously. "I lost control. I never loose control!"

Cautiously Kurama put a hand on Hiei's shoulder. He was vary warm to the touch. Calmly the yoko told his friend about what happened on the train and about what he had learned of the dementors. By the time he finished the jaganshi was giving him an odd look.

"How did something that weak manage to knock your ass out but some pretty light sent that thing running away?" he asked. Kurama punched him in the arm. Hiei punched him back. Soon an all out sparring match broke out. Their laughter rang through the forest, brining a smile to the face of a certain old man with twinkling blue eyes watching them from the shadows.

xXx

Shuichi spent the better part of breakfast tracking down certain people to question. The Prefects were first on his list. Luckily they were happy to oblige him. Since they had to deal with the student body all day long they knew who tended to do what and when providing the redhead with an ample amount of information on Draco Malfoy. A few choice teachers were next. Seeing as how they had to go off to their classrooms soon he settled for setting appointments with them throughout the day. After questioning a few of his fellow classmates he headed off to class.

The dungeons tended to be dark, dank, and drafty even on the best of days. But with the showers that they've been experiencing the dungeons were down right miserable. Worse part was that Snape didn't allow for mittens or scarves since they could easily corrupt the potion they were brewing and the man wanted to live to see retirement. Shuichi wondered idly if there was a charm on the dungeon walls to prevent them from icing over while he stood out in the hall with everyone else awaiting the Potions master's arrival. Some grumbled as Malfoy complained that the cold was bothering his 'injured' arm. Snape finally arrived after some time. Draco complained about the cold to the irate Professor who threatened that it wouldn't be the only thing he'd be complaining about if he didn't shut up causing a few to actually like the dreary teacher a little.

Throughout the class Draco continued on with the act. Ron was forced to dice one of Draco's ingredients then forced to do it again when they weren't cut evenly. Snape seemed a little harsher with Neville causing the yoko to think that he'd heard about the boggart lesson yesterday. Hermione tried to help the poor boy but wound up getting a tongue lashing instead. Despite the fires boiling the cauldrons and inadvertently heating the room as well, it appeared to Shuichi that it was more miserable in the classroom than out in the cold hallway. When class was over everyone seemed to rush out as fast as they could to get away from Snape.

"Did I mention that I hate Potions?" Ron asked as he, Hermione, Neville, and Shuichi walked over to have Herbology with Professor Sprout.

"All the time." Hermione replied snappishly.

xXx

Omake

Shuichi was having a hard time trying to get serious comments from a group of girls sitting at the Hufflepuff table. They were either gossiping, giggling, or just staring at him. After about five minutes of this he gave up to find those who would be a little more helpful. Oddly enough another group of girls at the Gryffindor table did the same thing. He went over to Hermione.

"Why do these girls keep doing that?" he asked indicating the giggling bunch. Hermione sighed.

"They somehow think that by doing that you'd find one of them attractive." she replied. Shuichi stared at her.

"How could anyone find that attractive?" Hermione simply pointed over to the group he just left. An older boy, Cormac McLaggen he was told, was practically flexing his unnoticeable muscles for the bunch. They erupted into a plea of giggles that had Cormac smirking. Shuichi and Hermione shared a look.

Translations:

Yoko- fox demon

Jaganshi- one who wields the jagan.

Yoki- demon energy

AN: Review!