DISCLAIMER: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Harry Potter. I'm brilliant, but I'm not that brilliant! ::bragbragbrag:: No, but I do own the Perching Persniffle.

Chapter 21: What's Normal, Again?

Albus Dumbledore watched as his school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, awoke. The students were scared, and looked over their backs and around corners. It pained the headmaster to see them so. This was not what was meant for them. His students were not meant to be paranoid and terrified. The two lords and their war had gone too far.

The students, as they woke up, flocked to the Great Hall, silent. They would have breakfast and then wait, silent and impatient, for the makeshift assembly that had been scheduled for later that day.

And then, suddenly, rising up above the stifling silence, peals of laughter made its way to the headmaster's ears. Dumbledore's watchful eye shifted to the source of the sound and smiled. Thianadel Sherwood laughed uncontrollably at some story or other told to her and the rest of the group by none other than Harry Potter, with comments by Ronald Weasley.

It was probably something having to do with the Weasley twins.

Whatever it was, it brought smiles and laughter, if not to the rest of the school, then to a small group. And it brought back a twinkle in Dumbledore's eye.

Today was the day that he would announce the peculiar arrangement that he had made for the security and survival of the school and its occupants. Today was the day that the families of the students would receive the letters reassuring them about the safety of their children. And today was the day that the five "transfer students" would begin to be feared and possibly shunned.

The headmaster's audience was extremely tense and restless. They were listening, but were unfocused. Eyes shifted from one side of the room to the other, always skipping over those odd transfers. Where had they learned to do that stuff? It wasn't taught at Hogwarts, that much was for certain. And if they were so advanced, why did they come in the first place?

Draco Malfoy looked like a wreck. He was trying to act like the cool and all-around great guy that he was, but the façade just kept on slipping. It didn't help at all that he was pale, even by his usual standards, and his perfectly platinum hair was not quite as perfect as it usually was. Every so often he ran a trembling hand through it in an impression of one of those suave American guys in the 1950's who had lost his plastic black comb and hair gel. It only served to make him seem more nerve wracked.

How could his father neglect to mention this to him? Didn't it mean something to him that Draco was his only son? It was enough to make the Slytherin wonder what he'd done wrong. He'd tried to get revenge on Potter in the past. He'd tried to get revenge on Potter's friends. Though he hadn't completely succeeded, wasn't it enough that Draco had tried?

No, it probably wasn't. His father demanded that Draco be perfect and nearly had a stroke when he'd learned that that Mudblood, that Granger had scored higher in all subjects than he. In the public eye, Draco Malfoy was the apple of- no, make that apple orchard of his parents' eyes. But he didn't live up to the standard of perfection that his father demanded. He wasn't even near that category. If it hadn't been for his mother, Draco wondered if maybe, Lucius would have sent him to live with a muggle family, like Potter.

So maybe Lucius had thought that Draco was a disgrace to the family, decided to just let things go as planned, not caring whether Draco lived or died. It was a depressing and hurtful thought, and Draco Malfoy drew in another shaky breath. Well, he'd just have to write to his mother about all of this when he had the time and energy and... emotional strength. For now he'd have to listen to that old dingbat, Dumbledore.

"The deception is up. Recently, a threat has become known. His name is Lord Tsurin, and he is in league with Lord Voldemort." Draco shuddered at Dumbledore's words. "And while Voldemort is a great threat, Tsurin commands an unknown number of supernatural beings such as the ones you saw during the last Quidditch match. They are highly dangerous and quite insusceptible to many spells, charms, curses, and hexes. There is very little that is able to defeat these beings, and very few people in this magical community that can also defeat them. In order to ensure the safety of all of you, I was thus forced to ask for help from outside sources. The help came in the form of Professor Genkai and her students."

That was about the point that Malfoy stopped listening and started thinking. Namely: I knew it! I knew they were freaks! I knew they were dangerous!

But they just saved us from a painful death.

SO?! That Hiei tried to kill me once, remember?

That side of the brain had a good point.

Prefect duties had been nearly tripled, and Hermione was so stressed she looked as though she was going to burst into tears. They had homework piled up so high it was beyond comprehension, not to mention the fact that finals season was fast approaching. Late April would turn into May and June in no time at all, and Hermione felt positively sure that this year's finals would be hell. She and Ron had to watch out for those bratty little first years, keep up with classes, and keep an eye out for those bloody demons, not to mention sleep. Hermione had forgotten to eat lunch three days in a row before her friends (namely Thia, who had actually noticed her absence- Ron and Harry were wrapped up in their own stresses) finally dragged her down to the Great Hall and stood over her to make sure that she ate.

Speaking of Thia, she was getting more depressed as the days wore on. Padma and the other girls she'd befriended had been avoiding her. It was a completely adverse effect than what she had expected following Dumbledore's speech. Shouldn't they be curious or grateful or something? This was just the cold shoulder!

The rest of the Spirit World team had such qualms. Yusuke and Kuwabara rather liked the fact that no one dared to even look at them. (It felt a bit like Sarayashiki Junior High, to tell the truth.) Hiei, of course, was no longer being bumped into by those taller students in the halls. (Unfortunately, that also meant less intimidation practice.) And Kurama was particularly happy without his usual horde of loyal followers trailing him at a distance and trying to be nonchalant while saying things like, "Oh, Suichi, I think I'm failing Potions. Would it be too much to ask if you would tutor me?" And he would have to say politely, "I'm very sorry, but I already promised that I would help someone else," or something else like that. (At least he was telling the truth. Thia couldn't spell any of the magical ingredients if you gave her the world, so Kurama had to read over her essays before she handed them in.)

The novelty of it wore off quickly, though, and Yusuke and Kuwabara were itching for another fight. Genkai was back, yes, but she hadn't been practicing with them. In fact, they barely saw her, and the one time her apprentice cornered her about it, she grew annoyed and said, "I'm a teacher, you idiot. You aren't my main concern. I have finals to create."

"Pssh. So?"

"So? SO? THAT WAS A HINT, YUSUKE! FINALS, YOU DIMWIT! You will pass every one of these finals or if Kayko doesn't already have your head, I will!" the old master snarled. She was certainly irratable today.

"Jeez, if you want me to pass the stupid things so bad, why don't you just give me all of the answers? That'll make it easie-"

"YOU IDIOT, YOU'RE GOING TO PASS THESE ON YOUR OWN! DO YOU HEAR ME, YUSUKE?!"

"GODDAMMIT, OF COURSE I HEAR YOU! YOU'RE YELLING IN MY DAMN EAR!"

"DETENTION!"

And that was the end of that.

Kurama watched Thia from his vantage point of across the table as he and Thia did their homework or studied in the common room. He wasn't necessarily looking at her outright, but rather glanced at her every so often.

Her black hair was confined to its customary ponytail, though quite a few strands still rebelled and were freed from their bindings, and Kurama resisted the impulse to push them back. Her eyes were concentrated on nothing at all, though she had a book opened in her hands. She was thinking, a look of great focus on her face and she gnawed at her lip involuntarily. Thia was completely unaware of her surroundings, and what's more, was completely oblivious to Kurama's emerald gaze.

And he wanted it that way.

That wasn't to say that he didn't like looking into her earthy green eyes and talking to her, because that was far from the truth. He just liked to watch Thia when she was... there. When she was silent and motionless, when she was contemplating the latest problem, when she was like this, Kurama found that he wanted to be in her calming presence.

But Thia was entrancing no matter how silent or how loud she was, and his gaze was drawn to her.

He just didn't know why he was thinking about this. About her.

"That display that you created the other day was quite splendid," Luna Lovegood said rather abruptly. Both the fox and his friend were startled, not having remembered that she was there, and Kurama wrenched his gaze from Thia to look at 'Loony'.

"At first, I was outraged because those things looked remarkably like a Perching Persniffle, which are becoming increasingly hard to find, though later I realized that they were running around more than they were actually perching. But in any case, I don't see why anyone is ignoring you. Maybe they're just jealous because you can do things that they can't. I think that it's very cool."

"I'd never... quite thought of it that way, Luna. Thank you," Kurama said cautiously, trying not to ask what in the world a Perching Persniffle was. At least they had one person talking to them, no matter how mentally unstable she might be.

"It's too bad that they weren't persniffles, though. I'm quite sure my father would be glad to have an eye-witness account of this incident. He runs the Quibbler, you know."

"I love the Quibbler," Thia replied distractedly. "It's the best literary magazine around. Such colorful stories."

"Don't you wonder-"

"Yes. I do. I wonder," Ron answered, scratching out an entire paragraph of an essay.

"-how those demons got onto the Quidditch field in the first place?" Hermione continued as she quadruple-checked her homework.

"Um. No. The Pearl, I guess," Harry muttered. The entire thing gave him the biggest headache. He wished that everything was simple, like it was before Hogwarts. He'd wake up, help with breakfast, get picked on by the Dursleys, go to school, get picked on by Dudley, eat lunch, get picked on by Dudley, go home, get picked on by Dudley, finish homework, eat dinner, get picked on by Dudley, go to sleep, dream of getting picked on by Dudley, and so on and so forth. A horrible existence, to be sure, but it was predictable. But after that letter, everything was a curveball. Sometimes Harry wondered if he was happy about that or not.

"The Pearl hadn't been bought yet."

"Oh. Then. Er. Whatever. Just give it a rest, all right?"

Hermione looked horrified at the thought.

"But there could be a mole among us!"

"A mole like the birthmark or a mole like those ugly things underground?" Ron asked, utterly confused, not only by Hermione, but also by the complicated ways of nymphs and sprites and how to deal with them, upon which his essay was written.

His friend looked disgusted. "A mole as in a spy who infiltrated our side. Someone who could've let those demons in." The two boys looked at one another for a moment before turning back. Hermione had something on her mind and she'd never just let it go.

"So who d'you think it is, then?"

"Hiei," was her immediate response. Harry and Ron looked at her incredulously.

"But- I mean- You were the one who said, and I quote, 'If the others have faith in Hiei, then so do I!'"

"I'm entitled to change my mind, aren't I, Ron? I mean, come on. First he knows what the object is, then he skips out on research- What if he put us on the completely wrong track all together?"

"That doesn't seem likely, now does it?" Harry interjected.

"Well- well, I think it was Minamino!"

"Do you have any proof, Ron? Or are you just jealous of him again?" Hermione asked, her voice rising in volume. "And you were the one who called Hiei a little brute and said he would raise hell at Hogwarts!"

"Yeah, well I'm entitled to change my mind, all right!" Ron shouted back.

"THEN SEE?! If YOU'RE entitled, then I'M entitled!"

"NO YOU'RE NOT!" The back of Ron's neck and his ears were an interesting shade of sun-fried-skin red.

"Excuse me, but did you two get married without my knowledge?" Harry asked quietly. It was utterly hilarious to see the changes on their faces. Furious red to sheet white, then embarrassed pink. Harry tried to control the laughter bubbling up inside him.

"I mean, I'm just asking since you sound like an elderly couple squabbling over welfare checks."

Dead silence. Then, a soft, furious, irritated, I-will-kill-you-when-I-get-my-hands-on-you-and-I-don't-care-if-I'm-dooming-the-human-race-because-I-will-have-my-revenge whisper from Hermione: "Harryyyy..."

The green-eyed 16-year-old bolted out of there.

Responses:

Lobs-StAcEy-Ters—Thanks! I tried to make this a little longer, but I don't know if I made it all just gibberish. My wicked (if I may say so myself) idea is to- Bobby: Will you stop spilling secrets?! You're not allowed to tell them! The readers will juuuust have to see... Argh. Well, you heard the alter-ego. I'm not allowed to say.

Slave2anime, Shadow Fox777, Minakara, and TTrunks—Thank you!

Rose—More ice cream for you! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope that you liked Kurama's thoughts. I promise that there's gonna be some Thia-Kurama action in the next chapter!

Author's Note: I dunno why I decided to go into Malfoy's head. I realize that his thoughts are quite dark and may not be very in-character for him, but we all have our little dark insecurities, don't we? In all reality, I don't really like this chapter as much as I did, but what can you do? I've already written the next chapter. And before I forget, I must thank Rose for giving me that line about Ron and Hermione being like an old married couple, which in turn gave me the idea about the welfare check thing... I think I'm psycho.

Oh, and about the Perching (and sometimes Pinching) Persniffle: I'm selling them for $12 each, not including the cage, food, special water, vitamins, claw cleaner, shipping and handling, earplugs, and poison antidote. Just e-mail me and I'll send you one. I accept cash, credit, check, money order, payment on delivery... And I'm not responsible for any damage that the persniffle might cause to any person. They just happened to take on the personalities of myself and my dear Mr. Monkey. And that means that they're particularly vicious and are good for revenge.

Sorry for my delay in putting up this chapter! I just had the need to finish up the chapter after this before I went and put this one up. Plus, I wanted to get the newest YYH DVD (In the Blood) before I went and did something stupid like... Well, something stupid, anyway. Need I put down examples? But anyway, after watching the damn thing... Dear God, I think I've gone into shock. Doctor: Stand clear! ::Electrocutes r.i.p.:: I- It- ::faints:: Bobby: I'm in shock, too... ::sniffs:: Iwannacry. Yusuke and Puu and Kuwabara and Hiei and Kurama... ::sniffs:: Well, at least we saw Yoko, am I right, r.i.p? ::bolts up:: I heard the name Yoko!