The teachers, even the patient McGoonagall, were livid as they all waited in the staff room, waiting for Dumbledore. Even Naoko and Kurama were impatient. Hiei was outside, going over the grounds again to see what had allowed the thing to pass through what was supposed to be one of the safest places in the world.
Naoko was standing at the windowsill, her head thrown back to expose her neck, her eyes closed. One of her Shikigamis was on her way to transmit the message to Mukuro, who would reply by the same way. She was unconcerned that anyone would try to assassinate her. Her rage was her shield.
Kurama was seated in one of the plush chairs, his eyes not seeing what was going on around him. His rage burned cold. No one, not even the Makai Lords during the time of Elaine, had dared to release that creature.* If what Shuura was saying was true… Kurama wondered if he should give the man to one of his fire plants, or should he give make the woman suffer like how Mukuro's father did (refer to manga 18).
Professor Severus Snape was watching their reactions silently, but he was especially angry. Something had attacked his students, his best and brightest. The Slytherine students were his pride and joy, and his face was stormy as they waited for the headmaster.
For once, Professor Minerva McGoonagall was in agreement with Snape. She was more shocked though, that something forbidden had managed to slip past the magical defence lines of Hogwarts. Such a thing was unheard of, even during the time of the founders. She knew that the magic could not have weakened; every year before the students came back all the Hogwarts teachers would reinforce the magic.
At least five of them were needed to maintain the magic; with an excess of twenty, it was more than enough to ensure the defence magic would last for twenty years without their help, but it never hurt to check.
"Forgive me for being late," Professor Dumbledore entered the staff room silently, "But the children needed reassurances, and Poppy (he referred to Madame Pomfrey) wanted to know what happened. As it stands," he said in that deep, raspy voice that comforted many, "The people who know more about this are here. Professor Kurama, Professor Kensaku?"
Kurama stood up and cleared his throat. His eyes had a barely contained rage in them, but he was known for thinking at least three times deeper than anyone else, and his analytical mind was already ranging ahead for possibilities. Right now though, he would keep his eyes on those who were in the room, seeing if anyone knew the names he was about to mention.
"The creature that attacked your students and enslaved their minds is called a Pencuci Minda. Directly translated it means 'Brainwasher.' Twenty generations ago the last of them was captured and sent to Tartarus. Unlike the Titans, their seals were special in that one female demon and one male mortal, deeply in love with each other, should sacrifice themselves on the seals with the idea of releasing the said monsters. It's not enough that they should only think of destroying the world. They would have to think, with their dying breaths, of enslaving people with the monsters," Kurama explained.
"The seals were still in place last checked years ago. About 15 years ago, actually," Naoko continued.
"That's too long!" McGoonagall said.
"On the contrary, it's quite appropriate. It takes the monsters at least 20 years to awaken after the seals are broken. 15 years is a nice overlap," she said.
"But it still leaves the question of how our students got attacked," Dumbledore pointed out gently.
Naoko and Kurama looked at each other. Neither was relishing what they were about to reveal. It was painful. Kurama nodded at Naoko, who took a deep breath and sighed.
"The students who were attacked were the entire sixth years, am I right? No one else was affected?" Naoko asked. Receiving a nod, she continued, her voice soft.
"There is only one place when all of them would have been together as first years, with the barest of defences to protect them against the monster. The lake," she said, looking at Hagrid.
"But… but!" Hagrid was saying, when Kurama raised his hand.
"We're not accusing you, Hagrid-san. We just wanted to point out that the lake crossing is the most vulnerable point in the school's defences. It's the water. Somehow, we're still not sure how, your students were attacked. The attacks were so subtle, no one would have noticed it. All it was waiting for them was the trigger, probably when they reached this age," Kurama said.
"The other children are not safe then?" McGoonagall asked.
"They are. They were only targeting this batch of students, Professor. If the others had been around, we would have known. But there is one other thing…" Naoko looked to Kurama.
"Someone has gained control of the monster. That was the reason why you heard Voldemort's," Naoko and Kurama observed that most of them flinched at the name, "Voice. They've managed to gain control of the monster. That is far more dangerous. If he has gained control of one monster, there's no telling what he might do with the rest. Very few have survived the monster, much less remember how they survived," Kurama said.
