Harry scowled as he stormed down the hallways, making his way up to Gryffindor Tower. After being called into the office by Dumbledore and facing down the other foreign envoys questioning his honesty, his mood was not the best.

Why don't they get it? He thought angrily, instinctively curling his fist. I didn't put my name in that stinking Goblet!

"Potter!"

His simmering pot of resentment was interrupted at the shout of his name from down the hallway. Harry turned unenthusiastically only to recoil in shock when he saw who it was that had called for him.

"What do you want?" he all but snarled at the Japanese envoy, Captain Kurosaki. As if his day weren't bad enough, now another foreigner was meddling in his affairs. "I suppose you want to interrogate me about that whole Goblet business? Well I got news for you, I didn't do it."

"Whoa, whoa," Kurosaki said, holding his hands up placatingly. "I didn't say anything yet."

"You're no different from the rest of them," Harry said, frustrated. "Nobody ever believes me." His patience had been stressed enough by the events in the past few days, starting with the distressing things he had heard in Kurosaki's chambers, and he just snapped. "Ever since I came to Hogwarts, ever since I was born, my existence has stood out. Just because my parents were killed by Voldemort… are people seriously dumb enough to think that I wanted that?" Harry's voice rose in volume until he was practically spitting into Kurosaki's face, fury making him forget any semblance of courtesy. The Japanese man's face was stone cold. "I don't know why this happened to me, I don't want this to have happened to me, yet no one cares to listen!" Hands reaching up to grip untidy black hair, Harry began pacing back and forth. "I thought things would change this year, now that Sirius was free, and I even thought I could go live with him!" He gave a bitter laugh. "How stupid is that? Instead, everything took a turn for the worse, and now I'm stuck in some stupid Tournament I would have been content with sitting out on!" His hands dropped to swing limply by his sides, and his voice lowered to a whisper. "All I wanted was one normal year… to be a regular kid… is that too much to ask?"

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and Harry looked up in surprise to see Captain Kurosaki with an uncharacteristically soft look on his face, his golden eyes warming to a soft amber hue. "I know how it feels," the envoy murmured softly, his eyes distant as he remembered things far in the past. "I was dragged into certain… things unwillingly as well. But as time progressed, I came to realize that these were things that I had to do. When I was only nine years old, my mother died. She was the kindest person I ever knew, and she was murdered right in front of my eyes. I had never felt more helpless and lost. It was then that I made myself a promise. My name means 'number one protector.' I swore to live up to the name that my mother gave me. I decided that no matter what I would do, my purpose in life would be to protect everyone I could. At first, I wanted to become a doctor, to save lives. But then, I was dragged into a giant mess." Ichigo had completely zoned out now as he reminisced of the past to a shocked Harry. "Some time ago, the Gotei 13 was involved in a war. There were three captains who turned traitor. Their leader, Sousuke Aizen, wanted to transcend godhood and was determined to destroy us. I wasn't even involved until then. And all of a sudden, due to certain circumstances, I was the only one who could defeat the traitor. At first, I didn't want to do it. But when that bastard threatened to harm my family, my friends, the people I loved, I steeled myself to the task. It was an impossibly difficult thing to do. We… we lost a lot of people. I lost a lot of subordinates- no, friends… But in the end, we prevailed. I killed Aizen." He snapped out of his reverie. "So, despite everything that happens, ask yourself, Potter. What is your goal? Mine was to protect, and so I fell to everything I had to do without hesitation. What's your motivation? When you find that motivation… never give up, no matter what happens."

Kurosaki dropped his hand from Harry's shoulder, turning on his heel and walking away. Harry could only stare at the retreating back of the black-clad Japanese envoy, trying to contemplate everything that he had just heard. He touched the spot on his shoulder where Kurosaki's comforting hand had rested. "Never give up…" he echoed softly. "Heh," he said, a small smile appearing on his face. "I guess he's right."

Ichigo smiled as he walked away, leaving Potter standing in the middle of a deserted hallway. The kid was under a lot of stress, something that Ichigo truly could empathize with. He could tell by the feel of Potter's reiatsu that he was beginning to feel better. Ichigo also knew that he himself was warming up. His interactions with his companions, who had left the previous day after the choosing of the champions, had left him less cold and more open. He had discovered that since the merging of his soul with his inner hollow that being with friends would cause the shinigami side, the nice side, to be dominant. It was a good thing, he mused, since protecting Potter would be a lot easier if the kid trusted him. "You're an interesting kid," he muttered to himself.

#

Ichigo frowned as he felt the reiatsu of a younger student approach the Potions classroom. Peering through the inky smoke rising from the many cauldrons, he watched as the heavy door creaked open, revealing a short third-year, panting breathlessly. After exchanging a few word with Snape, Potter gathered up his materials and followed the third-year out, much to Snape's displeasure. Ichigo stood as well and walked towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Snape sourly, rather annoyed by Potter's departure, apparently. "I was under the impression that you were observing the class? For what reason are you leaving early?"

"I'm following Potter," Ichigo replied simply. "I am required, by order of my superiors, to be present at all events related to the Tri-wizard Tournament." It wasn't exactly true, as Yamamoto hadn't specifically ordered him to do so, but nobody would find out anyways. "Forgive me for leaving the class, but I really have to go now." He bowed slightly to Snape and left the classroom, shutting the door behind him.

Following Potter's reiatsu, Ichigo climbed a set of stairs and entered a larger room. In addition to the judges and Headmasters from each school, there was also a rather old man, a woman dressed in lurid green robes that hurt Ichigo's eyes and sucking on the tip of a quill, and a photographer. He groaned inwardly. He hated reporters, and he got a feeling that this woman staring at the champions, Potter in particular, would be no better. If anything, she would be worse than any of the reporters he had ever met in his life.

Ichigo carefully observed the Wand Weighing ceremony, reaching out with his senses to feel the reiatsu reaction for each spell that the old man, Ollivander, performed with each of the champions' wands. He quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, magic wasn't simply focusing reiatsu through a medium. Although many of the curses were similar to kidou spells due to their intent to cause harm, many charms and other spells seemed to be performed differently. He made a mental note to research further into this matter.

He winced as the green-clad reporter's high voice pierced his eardrums. Apparently, they wanted photos for the newspaper. Ichigo frowned. It was clear from her behavior that she didn't really care about the other three champions, just Potter. From what he heard, the reporter's name was Rita Skeeter. His frown deepened. According to what he had heard from Arthur Weasley after the World Cup fiasco, Skeeter was the type of reporter to blow things completely out of proportion just to gain popularity. Having read the article she wrote about the World Cup incident, Ichigo was inclined to agree

He cursed under his breath as the Skeeter woman dragged Potter out of the room, no doubt to some secluded spot so she could get an interview from him, and probably to twist the kid's words completely, probably with the intent to slander the kid as much as she could. He stood up and followed the feel of the pair's reiatsu.

#

Harry frowned at the acid-green Quick-Quotes Quill that was scribbling across the piece of parchment. "Oy," he said loudly. "My eyes aren't glistening with the ghosts of my past!" Before the annoying reporter could say anything else, the door to the cramped broom closet opened, revealing the tall figure of Captain Kurosaki. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

Kurosaki frowned at the reporter, who was looking at him with interest. "I hardly think that a broom closet is an optimal place for an interview," he said, an eyebrow raised. "Also, I'm fairly certain Potter never gave you implicit permission to interview him. By law, unless he gives you permission, none of what you have written there," he gestured at the parchment on which the Quick-Quotes Quill was still furiously scribbling, "is allowed to be published."

Skeeter smiled widely. "Whatever you say," she said, her sugar-sweet voice causing Harry to wince. "And you must be the Japanese envoy that everyone's been talking about! I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mister…?"

"Kurosaki," the Japanese envoy answered stiffly. "Ichigo Kurosaki." He inclined his head stiffly, and Harry could tell that the envoy liked the woman before him even less than he did. "I believe that, since the Wand Weighing ceremony is finished, Potter should be returning to class."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Skeeter replied airily. "I'm sure his teachers could spare some time for a front page interview in the Daily Prophet, don't you?"

Kurosaki frowned, and Harry resisted the urge to shudder at the annoyed expression that flashed across his face. "Anyways," Skeeter continued. "how about an interview from you? I'm sure the Prophet's readers would be absolutely ecstatic to read about you, especially after that stunt you pulled at the World Cup." The Quill was still skating across the parchment despite the Japanese envoy not saying anything. "Or your confrontation with the Minister of Magic and his personal Auror squad," here the Quill's scribbling became more and more furious. Suddenly Harry felt a sense of foreboding, as if something very bad was about to happen… "or perhaps how you invited a young student, a girl no less, into your personal chambers a few days ago?" A malicious smile had etched itself across the reporter's face, and the bright green quill's scribbling ground to a sudden halt.

Harry took a shaky step back at the look that crossed Kurosaki's face. He shivered at the glowing golden eyes and the expression of absolute fury, memories that he would rather not remember resurfacing at the face of unadulterated rage. "How," Kurosaki hissed, his voice low and threatening, "did you hear about that?"

"I have my sources," Skeeter said sweetly, winking. "Anyways, I got quite the nice bit of information from that lovely… interview. I'm sure the next addition of the Prophet will sell quite well, especially considering the front page headline. Look out for it," she said with another evil smile. "You'll know it when you see it."

"Watch yourself, woman," Kurosaki said, his voice and expression ice-cold. "You don't know what you're meddling with."

"Ah, but I'm a reporter," said Skeeter slyly. "It's my job to meddle in things that I don't know, am I right?"

"Whether you take my advice or not is up to you," Kurosaki responded. "But I would appreciate it also if you didn't twist other peoples' words to say a completely different thing than they originally meant." The air suddenly grew heavy, and Harry gasped for breath as sweat trickled down his face. The Quick-Quotes Quill burst into flame, inciting a small and angry squeal from Skeeter as its charred remnants floated to the ground and broke into ash. The pressure let up, and Skeeter hurriedly made her escape, pushing past Kurosaki's imposing form.

"I hate reporters," grumbled Kurosaki. Reaching down with a large and calloused hand, he helped Harry up from the bucket inside the broom closet that he was still sitting in. "Are you alright, Potter?"

"Y-yeah," Harry said shakily. "What was that? The heaviness in the air, I mean? And how did the quill just suddenly catch fire like that?'

Kurosaki threw him a small smirk. "Just a little something I picked up from my time in the Gotei 13," he said conspiratorially. The frown returned quickly. "That Skeeter woman is going to cause a lot of trouble," he said.

Harry couldn't help but agree. "How did she know?" he asked. "About Luna, that is. She couldn't have been there, and I swear none of us told!"

The frown deepened. "I don't know," Kurosaki admitted, "but I have to extra careful now. I am privy to a lot of top-secret government information. If that Skeeter woman pokes her nose too far, I can guarantee that the results won't be… pretty."

#

Suspicious Activity at Hogwarts! The Actions of the Hero of the Quidditch World Cup Revealed!

Many of our readers may remember the incident that occurred at the Quidditch World Cup, during which a mysterious stranger single-handedly faced down and detained over a dozen suspected Death Eaters. After disappearing without a trace, this mysterious man was hailed a hero by many for his heroic actions. But finally he has resurfaced, revealing his identity as Captain Ichigo Kurosaki, special envoy of the magical government of Japan. But is he truly the hero that everyone believes him to be?

It seems that ever since Kurosaki's arrival at the famed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, supposedly to observe the Tri-wizard Tournament on the behalf of the magical government of Japan, his actions have aroused much suspicion among the student population at Hogwarts.

"He's a freaky git," says an unnamed member of Gryffindor House. "He dresses all in black all the time and threatens students with weapons! I think he might even be a Death Eater."

"I've never seen him use magic before," said another student, who wished to remain anonymous. "And he carries muggle weapons too. I don't think he's even a wizard."

These observations bring to light many questions about Kurosaki. Is he really who he claims he is? All attempts to contact magical Japan has returned fruitless, as they continue their policy of complete isolation, so there is no way to prove Kurosaki's affiliation with Japan.

Additionally, this reporter observed, a few days ago Kurosaki was seen inviting a young third-year Ravenclaw into his personal chambers. What went on inside is unknown, but this reporter can testify that after a few hours, the student was seen leaving Kurosaki's chambers with a shocked, even traumatized, look upon her face. The student, who is none other than Luna Lovegood, daughter of the editor of the Quibbler monthly, has refused to be interviewed.

All these things beg this question: who is Ichigo Kurosaki? Is he really who he claims he is, an ambassador of the magical government of Japan? Or is he something much more sinister than that: a child predator? If this is the case, then this reporter shudders at the thought of what he could do in a school full of children. Or, could he perhaps be, as some students suspect, a Death Eater with a malicious agenda? All these questions remain to be answered, but when they are, what will Albus Dumbledore do to protect his school from this suspicious character?

Special Correspondent, Rita Skeeter

#

Well, looks like things are beginning to heat up, huh? To recap: Luna has recovered the memories of Izuru Kira, of whom she is the reincarnation, Harry has been chosen as the unprecedented fourth Tri-wizard Champion, perhaps he and our favorite orange-haired strawberry have more in common than he first believed, and Rita Skeeter is meddling in things she shouldn't be.

Additionally, here are the results of last chapter's survey. Out of 29 total reviewers, 21 of them read my author's note, for those of you who were interested in the results of that little experiment.

Thanks for reading, drop a review if you liked it, and as always, constructive criticism is not only welcome, but also appreciated. Until next chapter!

~fokker333