Author's Note: Okay this is really rare for me to update so soon and without updating my other stories, so don't expect this too often. I just got a huge inspiration rush and I needed to write it down……. That and Nau Nau demanded it of me. *sweat drops*… anyway I LOVE YOU GUYS FOR REVIEWING!!!
Alright , I just wanted to let you guys know that the first few chapters weren't as good as I would have liked them to be so I might rewrite them in the future and I'd like for you guys to give me some suggestions. If you have any questions about this or other chapters please ask me in a review or e-mail me at gemini1090 @hotmail.com ignore the space.
~* Last Time *~
Inuyasha snarled once again and pushed Kagome to his side, "Damn you idiots! I protect Kagome! She is mine and mine only to protect! So either accept it, or move on with your stupid lives!"
Kagome was startled to say the least at Inuyasha's proclamation, though her classmates and teacher seemed to be even more flabbergasted than she was. Once she got over the shock the raven-haired miko smiled at her hanyou in agreement.
It appeared as if they were going to argue more about Kagome's safety, even after Inuyasha's proclamation, but any argument that may have broken was quieted as a sudden popping sound filled the air. Then three people appeared, the two men were in ordinary clothing and the one older woman was in a dark green mid-evil European style dress; the two for mentioned had cloaks that covered their body from the chest down. The woman seemed to be as old as Kaede or older, while the two men seemed to be in their thirties.
The men spread out and pointed two stick-like wands at the students. The word 'obliviate' filled the air and strange lights flew from the wands and went towards the students and teacher. Inuyasha and Kagome were unable to witness any more because the older woman had made her way to them. The Inu hanyou pushed his charged behind him once again in a protective stance.
"Calm yourself young man." The woman spoke in an authoritative tone of speech.
Inuyasha did nothing to calm down. "Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded.
"My named is Minerva McGonagall. I am a professor and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts, which you will learn about at a more convenient time, but for now I need you two to come with me."
~* Continuation *~
Inuyasha looked disgruntled, who was this woman too come and make demands to them? Kagome stood behind him with a perplexed look on her face. For a moment she took her eyes off of the strange woman and turned her attention back to her classmates.
"Inuyasha!" the girl exclaimed as she watched the two men that had accompanied the women use some type of charm on her classmate; they became unusually still and dazed. Kagome switched her gaze back to the old woman, confused and upset she asked, "What are you doing to them?"
"Only what has too be done. Now we must hurry the spell will wear off in a few moments." McGonagall saw that Kagome was about to argue. "I assure that no harm will be done to them. All that we are doing is erasing their memory of this most unfortunate incident. Now come we must be off."
Inuyasha spoke this time. "Why should we go with you?"
"Stay then. But I warn you that even if they don't remember your fight, they will still react the same way as they did before. Muggles tend to hate what they do not understand." McGonagall held out her hand. In it there was a small piece of candy; a lemon drop as it appeared. "Come on now; put your hand on the candy and we will be on our way."
For a moment both Kagome and Inuyasha stared at her as if she had gone mad. Then with much hesitation, they extended their hand and placed them upon the candy.
Suddenly they both heard a 'popping' sound and a strong pull on their naval as they were pulled through to Hogwarts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Once they had stopped moving Inuyasha shook his head to regain some of his senses. He NEVER wanted to do that again. It left his senses distorted and he would be vulnerable once they had stopped. His ears swiveled around as his eyes searched their present location. To his left there was a wide, vast forest that was teeming with life and reeked of magic. The forest was impressive, though not as impressive as his forest back in Sengoku Jidia.
To his right there was an enormous castle that shone with a living aura that screamed to be noticed. The castle was old, much older than any of the other castles he had seen while traveling with his mother, and on his own travels. The castle had large green vines growing on one side of a wall, while the other side was barren except for the occasional dead vine limb.
'Odd' he thought to himself. The inu hanyou moved to investigate, but was stopped as the strange old woman spoke.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. I know that you both must have many questions and I assure that they will be answered in time, but for now you will need to follow me." Her authoritative tone left no room for argument. She spun on her heel sharply before walking towards the castle.
Before he followed Inuyasha whispered to Kagome, "Stay behind me until we know what is going on." She nodded and fell into step behind him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kagome marveled at her surroundings. She had never been in a castle before and this was a huge treat for her. The sun was shinning brightly through the rows of pillars that separated them from the outside world. 'Wow, this is just like a picture you would fine in a book.' She thought as she walked with Inuyasha. The hanyou seemed to be more preoccupied by the woman that was leading them; a scowl was etched onto his face.
He was on the defensive. His stone splitting claws were drawn at his side ready for any and all attacks. The dog like ears that adorned the top of his end took in every sound, waiting for any clue of an ambush or attack. The only thing that didn't move on him was his eyes, as they were fastened to the aged McGonagall. Subtly, Kagome extended her aura to barely touch his. She had always known that her presence at times would calm the temperamental hanyou, but this was the first time she had ever tried this trick. It had the desired effect as he calmed down a bit.
There were many twisted and turns that they went through as McGonagall led them through the grand castle. To both Inuyasha and Kagome the castle seemed to have been whispering to them, telling them of past tales and adventures. Inuyasha had chosen to ignore the whispers, favoring to remain on the defensive. Kagome how ever listened to the stories, though she could only hear bits and peaces.
The castle spoke about two boys; one that had long left a man, and the other who was learning how deal with being a man. Both had grown up much too fast and led troubled lives, though the eldest one seemed to be the cause of the younger one's grief. It told her of how a great beast had invaded its walls and hunted down the castle's children, succeeding in killing only one. Yet, that one had been one too many. It also spoke of the glorious day when the younger man had destroyed the beast and saved its children.
But then it told Kagome of how the older one had been abandoned by the ones that were suppose to care for him. Hate and spite had begun to infest in his heart. It had caused his once good heart to fester and it became black. So to get back at the ones he had thought responsible for his pain, he had created the beast and had planned on using it to kill them. Fortunately things had not gone as planned.
Kagome strained her ears to listen as the voices began to trail off, but gave up as the woman stopped in front of a stone statue of a griffin. Inuyasha stood tensely as the woman paused before turning to face them.
"Through here you will meet the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore. He will explain the current situation to you and you may ask him your questions." Kagome nodded in understanding from behind her silver hanyou protector. Inuyasha just remained as he was.
With a small grin Professor McGonagall moved back towards the statue. "Cranberry Cream."
With a sudden lurch the statue moved, it slowly spun around clockwise as it rose. Inuyasha placed his arm in front of Kagome to prevent her from moving. Once the statue had stopped, he took in a deep breath of air. The sent of dust and old wood filled his lungs. With another whiff of air he could make out the sent of an old man, a very old man. The sent of fire and a bird were mixed in as well.
"Bujina, Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned. McGonagall
had walked off while the statue was rising.
(Is it safe Inuyasha?)
Inuyasha paused for a moment, he had learned not to take any chances of how strong his opponent may be long ago, but he decided that if these humans were going to try to harm them then they would have done something by now. "Hai, but stay behind me."
With an irritated, yet understanding, sigh Kagome nodded.
The inu hanyou walked up the spiral stairs with his charge behind him. When they reached the top they saw a large wooden door that had been swung open. Beyond the doorway the saw a large dome shaped room. Painted pictures of men and woman dressed in robes and unusual hats ornamented the walls. The young miko was astonished by the pictures. They were moving! They had been moving round in their own frames and some had even moved to other canvases in order to carry on their conversations. All of their speaking stopped as they spotted the inu hanyou and his miko, some had even bowed. It seemed as if this all belonged in a movie or a book.
Inuyasha was still on guard. He could still smell the old man, yet he could see no living creature other than a fire bird that rested upon its perch. "Come out old man." Inuyasha gruffly, some what rudely, spoke.
A man decked out in a dark purple robe and pointy hat walked out from the shadows above the stairs. "I did not realize that I would be entertaining a Halfling, no offence intended." The man was well into his late life, much older than Kaede by his scent. He wore his long age white hair and beard majestically. The sparkle in his blue eyes was kind, but Inuyasha could make out a world's load of secret hidden within them. He didn't trust him in the slightest.
"And what's it to you?" Inuyasha once again spoke out rudely. Kagome nudged him in his side; her actions got her a glare from the hanyou. The glare was met by one of her own.
The man chuckled slightly, unfazed by the rude Halfling. He walked over to his desk and took a seat, with a wave of his hand a royal red chair popped up behind each of his two guests. "Please take a seat."
Kagome hesitated for a moment before she politely declined. Inuyasha just shook his head. The seats seemed to melt into the ground with another wave of Dumbledore's hand. (1)
"I am sure that you two are wondering what is going on."
A 'hell yeah' was heard from Inuyasha.
"I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, and I hope that I will be able to help you during the time that you will be staying with us."
"What do you mean 'staying with us' Dumbledore-san?" Kagome broke in.
"What I mean Miss….."
"Higurashi Kagome." She bowed. "This is Inuyasha." He 'feh-ed'.
"What I mean Ms. Higurashi is that we are in need of your help and it would seem that you are in need of ours."
Both Inuyasha and Kagome stared blankly at him. "What do you mean that we need your help? I don't remember asking for any." The hanyou alleged.
"Mr. Inuyasha-"
"Just Inuyasha."
His eyes sparkled even more. "Inuyasha then, it would seem as though the dark lord has targeted you and Kagome."
"Dark Lord?" Kagome tilted her head to the side.
"Yes, we do not speak his name. (2)" Dumbledore watched as Kagome looked perplexed while Inuyasha seemed exasperated.
"If you don't speak his name, what do you call him?" Kagome looked towards the headmaster.
"He-who-must-not-be-named or You-know-who."
"That's stupid." Inuyasha spoke. "If you're afraid to speak a name then what chance do you have of facing the actual threat?"
Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, I agree. Unfortunately most of the wizarding world does not. They are terrified by what he has done in the past and they fear what his name may provoke."
"Feh, if they are afraid of just this guy's name, then they should be more worried about how they will fight him face to face." Inuyasha said with feigned boredom.
Kagome nodded in agreement. "They won't get any where by being afraid." If she had learned anything in Sengoku Jidai it was that.
"Voldemort." Dumbledore's eyes sparkled with merriment.
"What?" Kagome asked.
"His name is Voldemort. He has caused great pain to both the wizarding world and the muggle world."
"Muggle?"
"Non-magic people, Ms. Higurashi."
"You may call me Kagome, Dumbledore-san."
"Kagome then. As I was saying Voldemort has caused much grief and turmoil. A war has been going on against him, but it is a secret to the muggles. For years we fought against him, but one night almost fifteen years ago he disappeared. Many of us myself not included though, thought he was gone, but it appears that I was right. He returned about two years ago and has been in hiding ever since. But now it seems as if he has made an alliance with a most disturbing creature. From what we know he calls himself Naraku-"
"That bastard!" Inuyasha growled. "I knew that I smelled his disgusting scent coming into this world. Shimatta." (Damn it)
"He must have been the one that sent those youkai after me." Kagome reasoned much quieter than the enraged hanyou.
"So I was right when I assumed you knew him." Dumbledore leaned forward his chair. "Why, if you don't mind me asking, would he be after you Kagome?"
Sparing a glance to Inuyasha for assurance, Kagome then stated, "He seeks a special jewel that was shattered about two years ago. It can grant him a wish and knowing him it would to be a full youkai. The shards though, also grant the user a drastic increase of power. We've been fighting Naraku to gain the shards so that we can purify the entire jewel and render it useless and thus safe. And as far as I know I am the only miko around, so that means that I am the only one that can see the shards."
"Interesting." Dumbledore muttered to himself. He was quiet for a few moments, almost ass if he was struggling to some to a decision. "What I am going to ask you could decide the outcome of this war. So I ask will you help us defeat Naraku and Voldemort."
Kagome nodded.
Inuyasha though spoke, "We will defeat Naraku, but Voldemort is your problem not ours."
"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out in warning.
"That is quiet alright Kagome. We are grateful for any help we can get." Dumbledore assured. "But if you are to help us you will need the knowledge of witchcraft."
"I thought that only certain people possess the ability to do magic." Kagome said, recalling how he had said that there were people who possessed no magic.
"But you both possess magic, granted that it is not as trained in the certain aspects that are needed for this war. I am surprised that you two didn't receive your letters to go to a Wizarding school. Japan usually starts its schooling at fifteen."
Kagome blushed as she realized that the reason she had not gotten her letter was more than likely because she had not been in this time period on her birthday. Instead she was meeting, awakening, and binding her hanyou protector.
"To make up for the time it would take for you to learn what is needed I am going to cast a spell." At this Inuyasha growled, "Don't worry you'll only get a slight headache, other than that all that I am doing is transferring some information from me to you."
"Won't you forget it then?" Kagome asked concerned.
Smiling Dumbledore said, "No, it is just like copying the information and transferring it to your mind. I will be giving you enough information for you two to start your sixth year." Professor Dumbledore held up his wand and muttered; "Transferous Texus" and a pale blue light shot out of it and hit both Inuyasha and Kagome.
Within an instant they knew the basics of magic that the students learned in first year to the information that the OWLS covered in their fifth year. As Dumbledore had said, they both got a headache; although it was far from small, it soon dissipated.
Once the transferring spell had been completed Dumbledore addressed another matter, "Inuyasha, I am afraid that we will have to change your appearance while you attend school."
Inuyasha shook his head to clear the daze that was left. "What? Why?"
"While our students may be a bit more tolerant that the outside world, I fear that your appearance would bring more trouble than needed. I will have Professor Snape brew a polyjuice potion for you."
"Feh I don't need a stupid potion to change my appearance Nihon-go (old man)." Inuyasha said. He was unable to withhold a grimace as he remembered what the potion tasted like from his borrowed memories.
"What do you mean Inuyasha?" Kagome asked beating Dumbledore.
With a frustrated sigh, Inuyasha stood back and closed his eyes. Soon his dog like ears began to move down the sides of his head and form into more human like ears. His claws shorted to a normal human's length, though they were still sharp and hard. Even his fangs shortened so that they would barely brush against his lips. He opened his eyes to see an amazed Kagome and Dumbledore.
"Inuyasha how were you able to do that?" Dumbledore questioned. The boy could have been like Tonks and be able to change his appearance, a metamorphmagus as it was called, but that would require actual training by a wizard or witch that was familiar with it.
Inuyasha shrugged, "I've always been able to do it." He said no more on the subject.
Dumbledore nodded. "I will let you two go then. Serverus will take to the Leaky Cauldron were you can stay until Hagrid comes back. Hagrid will take you to get your school supplies and robes. I will send all the information you'll need by owl in a few days."
Kagome and Inuyasha nodded then left the room to wait for Serverus Snape.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A hunched over figure stumbled across the alley. He had been walking for two days with nothing to eat or drink except the rain that fell around him. Most of his shallower cuts were almost healed, but the deeper ones were an angry red. His skin was pale and his black hair was limp on his head, while bloodied hands clutched the brick wall that supported him. The cloak he wore was heavy with rain and was cold from the frigid air that was unusual for this time of year.
Unable to support himself any longer, he fell to the ground behind a cluster of wet cardboard boxes. His chest was exposed as his cloak fanned around his pathetic body. The rain outlined his prone figure as he gazed up to the clouded heavens. A large break in his shirt exposed a fair of his skin which was fitted against bone; much of that skin was either black and blue or the yellow green of a fading bruise.
He was so tired.
All he wanted was too sleep.
He gazed up to the heavens; a small patch of sky had cleared to reveal a small cluster of stars.
"I'm sorry." He cried.
"I can't go on. I'm sorry Sirius. I'm sorry that I am such a failure." He whispered into the night, "Maybe I can catch a glimpse of you in heaven." His pale, once vibrant, green eyes closed as his head rolled to the side.
Above him, a star faded from the heavens.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
1. The seats seemed to melt into the ground with another wave of his hand: Dumbledore was using a bit of wandless magic. I'll explain more of this later on in the story.
2. Yes, we do not speak his name: Dumbledore was testing them to see what their reaction would be to being afraid to Voldemort's name. He also thought that they may have heard of him or Naraku as they seemed to be after Kagome.
Author's Note: I love that ending. I hope it wasn't too bad of a cliffy! Remember that if you review I'll update faster.
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