Wicked Fiends

Chapter Four

"No... no... no... no... no... yes... there I am..." Yusuke muttered as he read over a list of the staff in the school and the classes that would be taught. "Combat Techniques, I can so handle that."

Across from him in the compartment of the train, which was nearly at the school, Kurama looked up from his book and Hiei pretended to not look interested when in fact he was curious as to what he would be teaching.

"Hiei, you're teaching some class called 'Defense Against the Dark Arts'. Should be easy for you since you're the closest thing to the dark arts-" Yusuke dodged a solid object that was thrown at him. "And Kurama, you're teaching a new subject with another teacher. It's called 'Mythology and Astrology-an Insight on Life'. Sounds boring. Wonder who this other teacher is... I can't make out the name, can you?"

Kurama accepted the paper from the raven-haired detective and shook his head.

"If your lunch wasn't on the paper, maybe I could but I can't so I will just have to wait and see," as he finished his sentence, the train came to a screeching halt in front of a castle looming in the dark. Pale yellow lights radiated out of every small window and a cool wind blew off the lake, chilling the students as they filed out of the train. "Here goes nothing, I guess."

And the three, dressed in robes and quickly joined by the Captain, who wasn't dressed in her robes, entered their carriage that carried them to the door of the school.

"Could this become any more stupid?" Misha demanded roughly. At that very moment, the four professors were sitting idly at the long head table that stretched out before the four house tables in the Grand Hall. The students had been sorted and the feast was well underway. The four sat as so: Misha, Kurama-to spare Yusuke and to save Misha from being attacked by Hiei-, Hiei, and then Yusuke. Beside Misha, one of the other professors was attempting to engage her in an intellectual conversation and was having no such luck seeing that she completely ignored him. On Yusuke's other side, Professor Binns was discussing ghosts and spectacles with the young detective, who complied easily.

"Smile and pretend like you're enjoying yourself," Kurama hissed. "Professor Dumbledore is starting to suspect something."

It was true. Occasionally, Professor Dumbledore would glance over his crescent lenses at the Captain with a look of sheer curiosity. Misha glared at him once and then turned to glare at Kurama only to find the fox youkai had returned his attention to Hiei, who was having a minor difficulty with his dinner and the fact that his food was ningen food.

"Ahem," a small cough and a sharp clap from Dumbledore was enough to silence the entire hall. "And now, as I am sure many of you have noticed them, I believe it is time to introduce to you our four new teachers from Japan for this year. In addition to these new teachers, there shall be two new classes added to your schedules."

A loud groan could be heard from much more than one of the students. The Captain and Hiei snorted at the same time only to quickly glare back at each other.

"First, to introduce to you your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Dumbledore motioned to Hiei, who remained sitting until Kurama stomped on his foot underneath the table. Fuming, the little youkai glared over the silenced students and watched them cringe under his infinite stare. "Please welcome Professor Hiei Jaganashi."

"He's more like the creator of the dark arts if you ask me," Yusuke mumbled through a mouthful of food so that no one could hear him. A scattered clap could be heard from the nervous students.

"And this year," the Headmaster continued. "Two new classes have been added as you know. They are: 'Combat Techniques' and 'Mythology and Astrology-an Insight on Life'. Professor Yusuke Urameshi will be teaching 'Combat Techniques' and Professor Youko Kurama shall be teaching 'Mythology and Astrology-an Insight on Life' along with the help of Professor Misha Inari. Please welcome them as well."

As the students clapped for the three, who were standing like Hiei, Kurama and Yusuke exchanged glances and then looked at Misha warily. She was standing with her hands inside the pockets of her leather jacket looking annoyed and ready to leave the moment she got the chance.

"You'll have your hands full," Yusuke whispered quietly once they had sat down again. "Just watch your back, okay. I still don't trust her and you have to be in a classroom with all day. Watch your back."

"Yes, but remember, Koenma will have a fit if she does anything so there shouldn't be anything to worry about," Kurama reassured.

"Yeah, but still-"

"I promise, Yusuke, that I'll be careful," the red haired fox youkai sighed and turned to Hiei, who had begun a verbal argument with the food on his plate. With another sigh, Kurama attempted to fix another situation.

"I wonder what they're doing here," Hermione Granger, a fifth year student whispered to her companions: the famed Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. "Professors all the way from Japan."

"Do all Japanese look like that?" Ron's nose crinkled as he thought it over. "I thought all Japanese people had black hair not red and white hair. And they don't look very Japanese to me."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

"Ron does have a point, Hermione," Harry interjected quickly. "It could be, Ron, that they weren't born to Japanese parents. Maybe they just live in Japan because they like it there or maybe they live there for another reason."

"I don't like them," she said indignantly.

"You don't even know them!" Ron exclaimed, looking taken back. "How can you not like someone you don't even know?"

"I don't know what it is about them but they're suspicious," Hermioine pressed. "They don't even look like wizards-" each one of them looked at the four professors. Professor Kurama may have not looked wizard enough with his long red hair but the bottle green robes seemed convincing enough, even if he was wearing a red rose pin. And Professor Jaganashi and Professor Urameshi also seemed convincing enough in their black robes- Professor Jaganashi's robes must have been tailored to accommodate his short height. But Professor Inari appeared as quite the opposite. She was wearing black jeans, boots, a white tank top, and a leather jacket, not the apparel of a wizard.

"Well, three out of four aren't bad odds, Hermione," Ron responded, his gaze lingering on Professor Inari for another moment before turning his attention back to his friends. "Maybe she just doesn't wear robes because wizards and witches in Japan don't."

"No," a boy named Seamus Finnigan joined their conversation. "I heard that she spent her life in Azkaban and is out on a leave of good behavior to hunt down You-Know-Who."

"I heard that she's really not a witch but a Muggle who's got the help of a wizard trying to expose the magic world to the Muggles," another boy by the name of Dean Thomas added.

"Whatever it may be, I know that I don't like nor do I trust them," Hermione answered, her nose up in the air and her voice smug. She leaned in closer so only Ron and Harry could hear. "I think it's time we did some research on our new professors."