Author's Note
Hey, sorry I missed updating last month, it was busy. My car got hit with me in it at the beginning of June, but I got away with just some bruises, lucky me. Then I had finals and then I was puppy-sitting for my mom's friend. So... busy. But I've finished the chapter now and with a bit of luck I might get another out before the end of this month. No promises.
Anywho, enjoy the chapter!
Harry was up early Saturday morning and spent this slip of time to compose a letter to Sirius that would hopefully not give anything away to an outside reader. He had just finished writing it down when Orihime shuffled out of the girls' dorms.
"Ohayou, Harry-kun (Good morning, Harry)" she says.
"Morning, Orihime." Harry replies.
"How's your hand?" she asks, coming over to look at said hand.
"It's fine, no need to worry about it." Harry says.
"Are you sure? I could heal it if you'd like, no scars." Orihime offers.
"Nah, it's fine, really." Harry says. He appreciates the offer, but it sounds too much like going to Madam Pomfrey, and that would be a sign that Umbridge had got to him.
"If you say so." Orihime says, not exactly happy that Harry has to live with the pain in his hand, but respectful of his wishes. "Ah, but if you change your mind, all you have to do is ask."
"Thanks. Well, I gotta go. See you later." Harry says, flashing his letter to Sirius at her as he exits the common room.
Harry's trip to the Owlery was rather uneventful, probably because Nearly Headless Nick had warned him off of his original route along which Peeves had planned a prank involving a bust of Paracelsus and someone's head. At the Owlery itself, Harry ran into Cho Chang shortly after he'd sent Hedwig off with his letter. Harry thought he might get a real moment with her, at least until Filch showed up believing that Harry was ordering Dungbombs. After they got Filch to leave, Harry and Cho left the Owlery together.
Once they separated, Harry basks in quiet elation. Nothing had gone horribly wrong in that conversation, unlike his previous attempts, and she didn't hate him for coming back when Cedric didn't. It even looked like he might have a chance.
Harry's happiness was considerably lowered during breakfast by the news that the search for Sirius had gotten tipped back into London. Harry knew it was Lucius Malfoy who tipped them off and it just increased his dislike for the snobby family. Although, his curiosity was aroused by the article on Sturgis Podmore's arrest since he was in the Order.
The Japanese showed up to breakfast just as Hermione started to outline a day of homework to Harry and Ron.
After breakfast, Harry and Ron walked down to the Quidditch pitch, Uryu and Ichigo following out of curiosity. Harry and Ron spent the walk making excuses to lessen the foreboding guilt from procrastinating on their homework, Uryu and Ichigo saying nothing as Uryu had already done his homework and Ichigo was unruffled by cramming due to his days spent balancing homework and Rukia's shinigami duties.
After watching Harry try to get the Quaffle past Ron for ten minutes, Ichigo called out, "Mind if I take a few shots?"
Ron blinked in surprise and answered, "Sure, but, uh, do you have a broom, mate?"
"What, they don't have spares lying around?" Ichigo asks. He hadn't really meant to get on a broom, but it was a bit boring to just watch Harry take shots over and over again. Besides, he thought they might keep extra brooms with the balls in the shed.
"No, they don't." Harry says, wondering if Ichigo has even flown on a broom before, in fact, "Have you ever even played Quidditch, Ichigo?"
"Well, no," Ichigo says, "but all you're doing right now is trying to throw the ball past Ron and through one of the hoops. That's not too hard and, honestly, goal keeping is easier if you're used to a bigger variety of shots, which one person can't really provide."
Harry and Ron had to concede that Ichigo's logic was very sound. True, it was just a prelude to their real practice session that afternoon, but introducing a little variety now might help them later.
"Well, I guess you could use my broom and we could take turns making shots." Harry suggests. It wasn't exactly his first option to let someone else use his broom, but Harry wanted a good practice for Ron. It wasn't going to hurt Harry anyway when he didn't even play the Chaser position.
"No, that won't be necessary." Uryu says, looking around and finding no one in view of the Quidditch pitch. "Well, as long as you two can keep a secret." He says, raising an eyebrow at them in question.
Both Ron and Harry's curiosity are piqued and the two fly in close to where Uryu and Ichigo are leaning against the stand rails. What kind of secret would make a broom unnecessary for Quidditch practice?
"Sure, we won't tell anyone about whatever-it-is." Harry says, Ron nodding in agreement.
"Good." And with that, Uryu climbs up onto the rail and steps off.
Ron and Harry shout in surprise and move forwards to catch Uryu before the bespectacled boy falls to his death, only to watch wide-eyed as he gently lands on a glowing blue platform.
"You coming, Kurosaki?" Uryu asks.
"Yeah, yeah." Ichigo replies, jumping the rail to land easily on the platform himself.
"What… what is that?" Ron asks, amazed by the platform from nowhere.
"It's called hirenkyaku. It's a technique specialized for increased mobility by concentrating energy into a platform that can be ridden. And no, I can't teach it to you." Uryu finishes, seeing Ron open his mouth.
Harry frowns slightly at Uryu's explanation. He had said it used energy, not magic. It certainly looked like magic, but that wording made it sound as if it wasn't magic. And that only raised the question of what kind of energy is was.
"I suppose we'll need a broom-like shape to make this more realistic." Uryu mutters, gesturing with a hand to create a thin protrusion to stand in for a broom handle off the edge of his platform. Seeing this, Ichigo gets the idea and takes a seat. "So shall we get started?" Uryu says, drawing Harry and Ron's attention back to the reason why Uryu had used hirenkyaku, to practice Quidditch.
By the time they stopped for lunch Harry was feeling pretty good about Ron's skill as Keeper. Ron had blocked the majority of their attempts to score, improving the longer they practiced. Harry also found himself quite impressed with Ichigo's skill. The foreign teen had shown himself to be a decent shot with a strong arm. It made him wonder if there was some Japanese sport similar to Quidditch since Ichigo had said that he'd never played before and yet had done so well, even if he wasn't flying a real broom. And that had been another surprise, how well the two had made the glowing platform substitute for a broom. At first Ichigo had wobbled on the turns, making Harry worry that he might fall off, but after a few banks and a couple of shots, Harry couldn't have really told anyone which one had been steering, even though it had to be Uryu since it was his platform.
After lunch, during which Hermione made it quite clear that she thought Harry, Ron, and Ichigo were irresponsible for ditching their homework, they filed off to the room on the seventh floor in which Urahara and Shinji would be teaching their problem solving and innovative thinking class. They weren't the only ones, it seemed that nearly every student in the fourth year and up had decided to attend the class, making the classroom rather crowded. The room buzzed with conversation and speculation.
"Ara, ara." Urahara says, gaining everyone's attention as he and Shinji enter the classroom. "If I'd known we'd have so many students I would have asked for a bigger classroom."
"I doubt we'll need it." Shinji shoots back, as laid back as ever. "I bet that some are gonna end up comin' only to this one."
"Hmm. You may be right, but that is besides the point. Welcome to class, mina-san (everyone)!" Urahara says, throwing up a handful of confetti. The students just stare in confusion.
"So cold." Urahara pouts. "Well, fun aside, this class is to help you students think on your feet and plan to achieve goals. Our agenda will be weekly challenges where you will strive to achieve a certain goal while under certain restrictions in the use of magic, if you're allowed to use magic at all for the challenge."
This caused an immediate uproar from the students, particularly those in Slytherin to whom the concept of 'no magic' was absolute blasphemy.
"SHUT UPI!" Shinji yells, gaining the attention of the students once more. "Yer perfectly welcome ta leave this class at any time. We won't be gradin' ya, just givin' out House Points for success, so if ya don't like it just leave."
A low mutter goes around and a few students get up and leave.
"I know you must be wondering why we'd teach a class that tends to discourage magic at a school of magic." Urahara says. "The answer is simple: you're too reliant on the use of magic." An angry and shocked grumble goes around the room. "I will concede that magic can make simple tasks easier and faster, but what would you do without magic? You may not always be in a position that allows you to make everything better with a flick of your wand. This class, while tricky, will help you to be better prepared when faced with such situations."
The class agenda surprised Harry. Unlike Umbridge's ban on magic in class, this one was designed specifically to make them think and act more like muggles, rather than stunt any real learning. Harry knew that many wizards, especially those raised in magical households, didn't know the first thing about doing things the muggle way, so it was a surprise to have a class that would do that.
"Yer first challenge will be ta get mine or Urahara's hat." Shinji announces, pulling off his newsboy cap and lazily spinning it on a finger.
"That'll be easy." Malfoy whispers to Crabbe and Goyle.
"I see we have a group of volunteers to demonstrate the difficulty of this task." Urahara calls out, having heard the comment. "Come on up and I'll let you have a chance at getting my hat."
Malfoy walks up to the front of the room, Crabbe and Goyle following behind him, all confident that they'll get the hat in no time.
"The rules are simple." Urahara says standing across from them. "You may not cast spells on my person or my hat. To complete the challenge you must each get a hat, though you may work as a team to get one. Knocking a hat off and onto the ground counts for your acquisition of a hat. Finally, you may get a bit rough, but broken bones and other serious injuries are not allowed. So try your best! Ganbatte! (Go for it!/ You can do it!)"
With a nod from Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle charge forward. The two gorillas grab for Urahara but he easily moves out of the way, swaying away from their hands. As Harry watches he can't help but think that Urahara's movements make Crabbe and Goyle look clumsy. Malfoy joins in, trying only for the hat as Crabbe and Goyle continue their attempts to immobilize Urahara. It doesn't take long for snickers to sound as Urahara continues to make the Slytherin boys look so inept.
Then a shoe goes flying through the air with perfect accuracy to knock Urahara's hat off and onto the ground.
Everyone, Urahara included, stares at the displaced hat.
"So do I get bonus points for succeeding on my first try?" Ichigo asks, causing the students to look back at him, finding that his left shoe is indeed missing. He had taken it off while everyone was preoccupied with watching the Slytherins fail to get the hat and waited for the right moment to throw and hopefully get a lucky shot.
Shinji bursts into laughter as do many other students and Urahara chuckles himself.
"Sure, why the hell not?" Shinji says. "Take twenty points."
"All right, let's settle down." Urahara says. "You boys can return to your seats, Kurosaki-san come get your shoe." The boys follow Urahara's instructions, Malfoy and his cronies wearing sour faces. "As you can see from that quick demonstration, conventional methods aren't likely to give you success in this class. Don't be afraid to try something odd or new, it usually takes a few failed attempts to get a single success. Now are there any questions about this challenge?"
A student from Ravenclaw raises his hand.
"Yes?"
"So only two students can complete this challenge since there's only two hats?" the student asks.
"No, no, we'll be deploying a dozen doppelgangers of myself and Hirako-san to wander the halls with hats for you to acquire." Urahara explains. "We'll replace any taken hats at the end of each day. I'd also like you to note that getting a hat from the real us will earn you bonus points as the doppelgangers will not be as hard to beat."
"Any more questions?" Shinji asks, waiting for someone to ask. "No? Then happy hunting, we'll see ya next week. Class dismissed."
The students left the classroom abuzz with thoughts on whether they would participate in the class and if they were, how they would get a hat. The whole concept left them confused yet intrigued, but there was no doubt that the challenges were indeed just that, challenging.
"I can't believe you threw your shoe at a teacher." Hermione scolds Ichigo. "What if you'd hit him?"
"You do know he wouldn't have died, right? Besides, he's done enough in the past to deserve it." Ichigo calmly replies, not in the least concerned about it.
"He's a teacher. You could have gotten detention!" Hermione persists, too used to being the rule minding voice of reason for Harry and Ron.
"I think you may have missed it, Hermione-san, but they did give permission for students to be a bit rough with their attempts." Uryu calmly points out. "It is also worth mentioning that Urahara-san is quite capable of giving and taking hits."
Hermione still frowns because a teacher is still a teacher to her, even if they are supposed combat experts.
"Well, we've got Quidditch practice. See you later." Harry says, leaving for the Quidditch pitch with Ron once more.
When they came back from practice, their moods were noticeably low. The ribbing that the Slytherin team had given them had been bad. Ron felt it even more than Harry because his nerves had taken their toll on him and left him looking incapable in the eyes of their rivals. After Ron had slumped off, Harry having finished trying to stand up for Ron's poor practice to Hermione, he told her about Uryu's hirenkyaku from earlier in the day, giving her another piece of information to look up. In return she told him that in the few quick browsing sessions in the library she'd gotten done that she had still found no mention of zanpakuto and resolved to add hirenkyaku to the search.
The following Sunday for Harry and Ron was spent in a mad rush to complete the assigned homework. Ichigo also spent a good portion of the day working on it as well, having fallen behind due to the detentions, but was closer to being done than the other two since he had done some of it the previous evening. It was a welcome surprise to Ron and Harry when Ichigo and Orihime started helping them after dinner. They weren't nearly as knowledgeable as Hermione, but they still helped. It was when Hermione came down at about half-past eleven that the letter arrived.
Percy had written Ron a letter encouraging him to fall in line with the Ministry, sever ties with Harry, become Umbridge's snitch, and to disregard the rest of the Weasley family. He also hinted at more changes that were to come at Hogwarts. Needless to say, the letter only increased Ron's current dislike for his older brother, calling him the world's biggest git.
After reading the letter herself, Hermione took pity on Harry and Ron and offered to correct their homework, earning much thanks. She offered to do Ichigo's as well, but he turned her down, having already finished. He had really only stuck around so long to help the other two and, seeing that they were now in good hands, he decided to call it a night. Orihime offered to continue giving help, but Hermione waved her off, wanting to make it up to her friends now that they'd learned their lesson on procrastinating.
And so it was only Harry, Ron, and Hermione that were there when Sirius contacted them through the fireplace to discuss Harry's letter. Sirius reassured Harry that while Umbridge was a nasty piece of work, she wasn't a Death Eater, though she did have it out for anyone that wasn't human. He also informed the trio of Fudge's paranoia that Dumbledore wanted his position and its continual worsening. Sirius also tried to convince them to meet up with him on their next Hogsmeade weekend, but Harry and Hermione were quick to shoot the idea down out of concern that he'd get caught by Malfoy. It left Sirius displeased and he left on a sour note.
Author's Note
I hope Urahara's class wasn't too disappointing, but to be honest, I write this as I go and sometimes things are set up that I have little to no actual plan for. This was one of those and I kinda ended up stealing Ichigo's training for Soul Society. So I hope you guys weren't totally let down as I think you might be. More/better ideas are welcome.
And now I'm off to play J-Stars Victory VS+ and learn to kick butt as Ichigo!
Please comment/review to tell me how I did.