Author's (First) Notes: THE AWAITED CHAPTER IS HERE! Not that you had to wait all that long. I worked all night on this just so that my loyal readers would not die of suspense. Well, today, as opposed to putting the replies last, I'm putting them first! Just a spur of the moment thing (I'm prone to doing that)...Wow, you people really like Hiei's bandana, don't you? Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve such good reviewers!
Responses:
Falcon-sama Thank you! O.o Have you been hanging out with Firenze or Trelawney? You hit one thing straight on the head in your predictions!
Melody89 Ooh! Antenna!
Mike the Great The Lord of the Rings! swoons Okay...I'll see what I can do about your need for a fight...and it's really me that has to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
YYH-Yu-Yu-Hakusho-Fan Thank you! And Into the West... I admit, I hum that at extremely random moments (ex: during a test) because I love it so much... I can't wait until Book Six comes out!!!
phinixofthezodiac Thanks!
Slave2anime Whatever you throw my way is fine! Constructive criticism, reviews, rants...I just like to hear what y'all think...and I like getting the mail. Yay! Thank you-thank you-thank you-thank you!
Shadowkitsune Thanx! A little more Hiei, coming up...would you like fries with that? Jp.
Rose THANKS SOOOO MUCH! I have the sneaking suspicion that the house elves do all of the cooking and therefore Dumbledore, not wanting to offend them, doesn't want to risk importing Krispy Kremes. :( Hmm...in a Trelawney-like voice Voldemort's motives will become clear within time... Hermione's look means 'I'll trust you...for now. Be frightened...' About the months thing: Oopsie! I knew there was a part I forgot to revise! Hey! My YYH DVD's! hugs them They're among my most prized possessions, along with my seven stuffed bunnies and my Harry Potter books... Pretty DVD's!
DISCLAIMER: YU YU HAKUSHO AND HARRY POTTER DO NOT BELONG TO ME! DO YOU HEAR ME?! Sob
Chapter 9: Tattoos and Veritaserum
When Kurama came back with the said help, he found that the intruder had been disarmed and bound by rings of glowing green energy.
"Finally." Thianadel stifled a yawn.
"Would you bring him closer, Miss Sherwood?" Professor Flitwick (a.n.: I'm assuming he's the Ravenclaw head of house... I don't think they say in the books) asked cautiously. He seemed a bit stunned at her display. Slowly the Charms teacher examined the unconscious man, possibly searching for weapons.
"Here's his wand. He dropped it when I bound him."
"Both of you run along and tell Professor Dumbledore. The entire school must be alerted, I imagine!" No sooner had Kurama and Thia reached the entrance of the Ravenclaw common room than they met Dumbledore, looking grave and followed by two other members of the staff.
"I assume that Gryffindor was not the only house with trespassers, then?"
"That's right, sir."
"Would both of you gather up the rest of your house-mates and lead them down to the Great Hall, then?"
"Yessir, but what about Hufflepuff?"
"They were the first to be evacuated, Miss Sherwood."
"Oh. All right."
"So, Yusuke, we heard that there was an intruder in the Gryffie house. Anything worth anything?" Thia rubbed her eyes tiredly. It had been... wow, two months since she'd last used her Spirit Energy, and it had taken a bit out of her to stretch her muscles.
"Hmh. A softie. What about Ravenclaw?"
"It took the space an eyeblink."
"Did you see if there was anything on the idiot's left arm?"
"Mr. Urameshi, Miss Sherwood, and Mr. Minamino, get back to your designated areas! This is sleep time, not social time," Snape snapped at the three of them.
"Yessir."
Thia pondered on Yusuke's last question, and tried to remember if she'd seen the stranger's arm at all. No...Wait, yes she had! It had been tattooed in two places, she recalled. One, on the forearm, was a skull with a serpent inside. The second was inked on the wrist, and from what Thia could dredge up from her memory, it had had some sort of knife or sword depicted on it.
But sleep was claiming her and she couldn't think any further.
"What do you think this means?" Hermione broke out suddenly at breakfast, unable to take the silence that was practically radiating from Ron and Harry. Apparently, she had forgotten about the fight she'd had with Ron. Neither of them was eating very much, and it was quite unnerving. But the strange circumstances didn't deter Yusuke and Kuwabara from shoveling food into their huge mouths.
"It means that the Death Eaters have somehow found their way into the school."
"But that's impossible! No one can Apparate onto Hogwarts grounds! It's-"
"Hey, Yusuke! Tell me, above the guy's wrist, what was the picture that was there?" Thia rushed out, eyes darting around to see if any of the teachers were going to send her to her own house's table.
"Zuvvan ifena loud."
"English, please? What, did you lose the charm? Those cost a lot of money, you know! If-"
"It was of a knife piercing a cloud with blood raining down," Harry interjected.
"Thanks, Harry. You're sure it was blood?"
"Positive."
"Could you draw it for me?" Thia held out a pen and parchment to him when he nodded. After he had finished, she studied it for a moment before nodding.
"Yep. That's the one. Okay, thanks for the help!"
"Wait, what do you need that for?"
"Just checking it against my memory. Now I have to-"
"Miss Sherwood, get back to your table!"
"-go."
"Puu! Puu!"
"Uh-oh. Is that what it sounds like, Urameshi?"
And then, the incredible flying Puu descended upon Yusuke's head.
"You tell me, Kuwabara." The said person reached over and snatched Puu off of Yusuke. It was then that they realized that the entire hall was staring at the little blue wonder.
"Er...Is that really an owl?" Harry wanted to know, staring at the thing in Kuwabara's arms.
"Nah, it looks more like a penguin. A blue one."
"Don't be stupid, Ron. Penguins don't fly." Still, Hermione gaped at it. "Maybe it's a new species. Like a cross between a penguin and...er...something that flies."
"Grrr...STOP STARING AT IT!"
"Kuwabara, untie the letters already."
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING, URAMESHI!? Okay, here's one for me. And one for me. And two for you. And- WHAT?! Six for Suichi?!"
"I'll take those, thank you." Ron, who had not forgotten yesterday night's fight, glared at Kurama's retreating back.
It was then that Hiei decided to walk into the Great Hall, one hand holding a man by the collar of his robes and the other on his hip.
"Where do I put this?"
The three prisoners were locked in the dungeons with Professor Snape. All were bound by chains and ropes and the two who were conscious gave the Potions master dirty looks. He only sneered back.
"Ah, Severus. You have the Veritaserum ready?" Dumbledore asked, sweeping into the room with Kurama on his left and Kuwabara on his right. The others, who hadn't drawn the right lots, were back in their classes (or at least they were supposed to be).
"Yes, headmaster." From the depths of his robe, Snape produced a bottle of clear liquid. He stood from his chair and, prying open the first intruder's mouth, poured three drops of its contents down his throat.
"Who is it that you work for?" Dumbledore asked in a soft voice.
"I work for Lord Tsurin."
A resounding thought went through the room. Lord Tsurin? Who is Tsurin?
"Who is Lord Tsurin and what is his business with Lord Voldemort?" Snape twitched.
"Don't tell 'im!" the second intruder hissed.
"Lord Tsurin is our master. We don't know much about where he comes from. We only follow orders. But we know that he's very powerful. Has friends in high places, he does. He's allied the Dark Lord 'cause he's got something our lord wants."
"G'dammit, hadda tell, didn't ya? He'll be mad, he will." Yusuke itched, positively itched, to hit this person. Instead, Snape pointed with his wand and muttered, 'Silencio.'
"What does Tsurin want?"
"How're we supposed to know? We're only henchmen, we are."
"What are the tattoos on your arm symbolic of?"
"The first one is the Dark Mark of the Death Eaters. It's useless, it is, for us demons. Don't pay any mind to it when it itches. But the second is the mark of my lord. Means that my lord'll rain death on the Earth, it does. Hurts something fierce when he needs us." Itches? ITCHES?! Snape thought, unintentionally rubbing his left forearm.
"How is it you are in human form?" Kurama asked curiously.
"Some kind of spe- Agh!" The three prisoners writhed in their chairs, trying desperately to reach their wrists. As the four interrogators soon saw, there was a sort of sickly yellowish smoke rising from the death clouds, and the skin surrounding it was starting to dissolve.
"Ooh, yeeee-eeew!" Kuwabara yelped, clasping his hands over his mouth and turning around. Kurama, Snape, and Dumbledore only looked on, grim and sickened at the lack of loyalty Lord Tsurin had towards his men.
Author's Notes: If I have any readers left after my abominable cliffhanger, then I must thank you! See! Watching all of my YYH DVD's again really does cure writer's block!!! Well, that combined with great reviews and re-reading the Harry Potter books (I'm almost finished re-reading number 5). I sincerely hope that you all didn't get too grossed out at the death scene of the three intruders...I tend to have an expansive imagination about torture and death scenes...Aaaaanyway, review, please!