"Nice horses." Yusuke said, looking at the thestrals pulling the carriages that everyone was on.
"Oh, you can see them?" Harry said.
"Well, duh!" Kuwabara said. "Why?"
"Well, you can only see the thestrals if you've seen someone die. I know it's a bit personal, but who did you see die?" Harry said.
"We all saw the death of Yusuke's Sensei." Kurama said before anyone could say anything stupid.
A few minutes later, the castle came into view. Yusuke took one look at it and snorted.
"That's Hogwarts? How pathetic!" Yusuke said, dodging Kurama's elbow.
"You know, Yusuke, I wouldn't be talking." He said warningly. "You might find yourself dealing with a few plants."
Yusuke looked suspiciously at Kurama. "What did you do?" he said, edging away from him.
"Oh, nothing. Yet. And if I don't get annoyed until I can actually get a decent amount of sleep in this country, it will stay that way."
"What do you mean by that? You had plenty of time last night for sleeping." Yusuke said. "I certainly slept well."
"Yes, I noticed that. You should really do something about your snoring. At about three in the morning I finally got to sleep by sticking some seeds in my ears." Kurama said.
Well, you could have just waken me and told me." Yusuke said, looking a little offended.
"After all the alcohol you had last night? I'd rather not be on the receiving end of your spirit gun." Kurama said, yawning slightly.
"It wasn't that much!" Yusuke said. Kurama just ignored him. The rest of the ride past in silence. Finally, they got to the castle. Yusuke looked up at the entrance hall as they passed inside it.
"Hey, Kuwabara." He whispered. "Do you see that ghost floating on the ceiling?"
Kuwabara looked up. "Yeah. Maybe we should call Botan." Just then the ghost, who was holding some water balloons, threw them, one of them landing right in front of Kurama, drenching him. Kurama glared up at the ghost, and beckoned for him to come down. With a little hesitation, the ghost descended to their level.
"And who would you be? New students?" the ghosts said, a goofy smile on his face.
"Listen, I don't know who you are or why you're here, but we deal with ghosts at home. In fact, I know a certain Botan who would be more than happy to take you to the land of the dead." Kurama said, growling slightly in the back of his throat. The ghost, if possible, paled.
"You know Botan? Then that could only mean that you're the-"he said.
"Yes. And it would be appreciated if you kept that little bit of information to yourself." Kurama said as a woman approached him.
"Peeves! Don't make me get the Bloody Baron!" She said, waving her fist at him as he flew away. She turned to the Tantai. "Sorry about that, Peeves is always annoying us like that. By the way, I'm Professor McGonagall."
Kurama shook her hand politely. "So, you can see ghosts here?" he asked.
"Yes." The Professor said. "Why, not everyone can see them in Japan?"
"You could say that." Kurama said, glaring at Yusuke, who was trying to pick a fight with some students. "Could you excuse me for a second?"
Kurama turned to Yusuke. "Yusuke!" he shouted. "Don't try to pick fights with the other students!"
Yusuke scowled as he turned to Kurama. "You know, Kurama, you sound just like Keiko when you say that. If I didn't know better, I'd think that you two are related."
"You know perfectly well that we are not! Yusuke, you don't want to bother me when I've hardly had any sleep for the past few days!" Kurama said. "And tomorrow you have to tell Keiko why you forgot to tell her that you were leaving! I mean, it's not three years like the last time, but last time you actually told her that you were going!"
"Oh, and what about Shiori! Perfect little Shuichi doesn't want to break her fragile heart by telling her the truth?" Yusuke said. Kurama just sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Yusuke, if you're going to be like this for the whole year, you are going to find yourself dealing with a few plants. And yes, that is a threat. " Kurama said before turning back to the Professor. "Sorry about Yusuke, he's not usually this annoying, but I think he had a little too much to drink earlier today."
"Yes, well, you are to be sorted into your houses right after the first years. Follow me." She said, walking towards a bunch of kids around eleven years old. Hiei glared at them, Kurama gave a slight bow, Yusuke seemed to be sizing them up, and Kuwabara was... thinking. McGonagall opened the doors to the Great Hall and walked in, the students following her, the tantai behind the students.
Kurama looked around. It wasn't much to him, but to humans it was probably a bit overwhelming. Millions of candles stood suspended in midair by magic, each one letting out a bit of light, filling the hall. Hiei was glaring at everyone in sight, Yusuke was seemingly trying to make as many enemies as possible with the first years, and Kuwabara was staring, almost stupidly, at the ceiling. Sirius Black was looking every which way, probably reminiscing on old times.
They stopped in front of a shabby old hat, which almost everyone in the hall was looking expectantly at. Suddenly, a seam opened, and, much to the tantei's surprise, and Kurama grabbing Yusuke before a Spirit Gun was fired, it burst into song.
Long ago in times of old,
The prophecies had foretold
Of wars for blood that were fought
Death's message many brought
Blood was spilled as hatred struck
But wars weren't won with only luck
Demons battled humans many,
But in the end, left weren't any.
Demons had disappeared, or so it seemed,
And peace returned, as most had dreamed.
But illusions lay hidden well
As only time could foretell
Demons waited for their chance
In which back to humans they would prance
So Reikai appointed a detective
From worthy humans thus elected
Also in our world were monsters
Risen up from evil
things
The serpent's mark has shown on one
Voldemort by
name
He must be stopped
His evil ways must be dropped
And they were, for a while
And upon this world the sun did smile
But soon the lord was reborn
And death caused many to mourn
So prince sent demons three
For lord went on a killing spree
Demons three and human one
Sought to stop what was done
But fate denies them kill and joy
For destined to kill is one other boy
But demons by boy's side still fought
For they knew pain that demons brought
Having faced them times before
Many fear names of the four
But now, in castle, refuge they seek
For, although the battle looks bleak
Stick together houses must
By bonds of peace and bonds of trust
For many know of hardships to come
And even though you may be glum
You still must try me on and see
Which house you belong in, so don't disagree!
With that, the Great Hall burst into applause, though whispers were heard from all corners of the room, including a certain part demon whispering to a certain Kitsune.
"Hey Kurama, how does the hat know so much, especially about us?" Yusuke asked in a voice just above a whisper. Kurama sighed.
"I don't know, but we should be wary of the hat." Kurama said, only then realizing how awkward this conversation was sounding. I mean, come on! A talking hat? How unoriginal! They could have at least thought of something a little more exciting. Oh well, maybe there was more to this hat- and this castle- then there seemed.
"When I call your name, you will come up and sit on the stool." McGonagall said, pulling out a long scroll. She called out "McBelle, Alison!" and a timid girl with shoulder length brown hair came up and sat on the stool.
The hat was slipped over her eyes, and a few seconds later, the hat cried out, "Ravenclaw!" a massive amount of cheers erupted from one of the four tables as the girl joined them.
A few more names were called, until "Kuwabara, Kazuma!"
Kuwabara walked up to the stool, but tripped, causing the stool to fall over. Blushing slightly, he stood up and went to sit down on the stool, forgetting that it was still on the ground. The result?
CRASH!!!
The noise echoed through the great hall. An uncomfortable silence lingered, until some of the Slytherins started chuckling. Yusuke joined in. A few minutes later, Yusuke was rolling on the floor laughing at his friend's misfortune, and most of the Slytherins were trying to regain their composition, although not very successfully. The other tables were just staring at Yusuke, who was laughing so hard that some of his aura was starting to slip away from him, causing him to appear to glow slightly. Hiei kicked Yusuke, shutting him up immediately. A few minutes later the Slytherins had calmed down, save for an occasional chuckle.
Kuwabara got up, righted the stool, and sat on it as McGonagall placed the hat over his head.
'Ah. What do we have here? The same human I was just singing about?'
'Who are you?'
'Why, I am the sorting hat. Now, let's get down to sorting you.'
Kuwabara was just about to ask what the hat meant by sorting, when the hat continued talking.
'Hm... let's see... not many brains... you tend to jump into situations without thinking... definitely a Gryffindor trait... but wait, what's this? An unwavering loyalty towards your friends? And an honor code? Well, then I suppose that the house for you is HUFFLEPUFF!!!'
Kuwabara got up and took the hat off. He began walking towards the table where people were cheering. About halfway there, he realized that the hat had technically insulted him.
"Hey!" he yelled at the hat, turning around and tripping over his own feet. The Slytherin table laughed, for the second time that day. Yusuke would have, if Kurama had not been staring at him with a glare that promised death by plants.
When Kuwabara finally reached the Hufflepuff table, the laughter had receded. McGonagall opened her mouth.
"Minamino, Shuichi!" she called out, and Kurama stepped forward. He sat down on the stool, and the hat was slipped over his head. There was silence for a few seconds, as the hat muffled the sounds of girls whispering and swooning over him, until finally...
'What's this? A demon? And friends with that human I just sorted. Ah, your real name is Yoko Kurama?'
Kurama mentally scowled at the hat for stating the obvious, before mentally replying. 'Can you get to the point? No matter where I go, the girls will still chase me. Hufflepuff is hardly the place for me, I would do well in Slytherin or Gryphindor.'
'Let me do the sorting, I am the sorting hat.'
'Very well.'
'Let's see... plenty of courage, sly, cunning, a dark past... you used to be a ruthless killer and thief...And you've lost someone...' the hat said, trying to dig deeper.
'That is private' Kurama said, feeling sad just thinking about Kuronue, making sure his mental block on that part of his mind stayed up. He also made sure that his mental block on the part of his mind that contained his memories of Shiori stayed up. No old rag was going to see his weaknesses that easily.
'Very well. What's this? A hunger for information? Yes, you'd do best in RAVENCLAW!!!'
Kurama scowled as the hat was slipped off of his head and began walking towards the Ravenclaw table, where many of the girls were swooning. He gave Black a glance, and Black understood immediately, following Kurama. Kurama sat down as far away from the girls as possible, giving them a tired glare that could have rivaled Hiei's. He glanced up at the sorting hat, just as "Urameshi, Yusuke!" was called.
Yusuke stepped forward and sat on the stool. The hat was slipped over his head.
'Ah, another demon? No, a part demon.'
'Ah, a hat. No, an annoying rag that doesn't know the difference between sorting and intruding.' Yusuke said, mimicking the sorting hat.
'Well, let's get down to sorting you, shall we?'
'Whatever. I don't even want to be here. I'm supposed to be retired. Retired! But does the damn toddler listen? No! And now some damn hat's going to see all of my memories, just because of the damn toddler!' Yusuke shouted mentally.
'Temper, temper. Now, let's see... headstrong, lots of raw power, you tend to rush into things without thinking... you're either very brave or very stupid, with all the near-death things you've done. Plenty of courage, too... Yes, you'd do well in GRYPHINDOR!!!'
Yusuke pulled the hat off as fast as he could, throwing it to McGonagall, and then sauntered over to the Gryphindor table.
"Yuki, Hiei!" McGonagall called.
"Yuki?" Kuwabara said slowly, before saying it again, still extremely confused. "Yuki?"
Meanwhile, Yusuke was having the time of his life. "Yuki!" he managed to shout out between laughs. He was rolling around on the floor, laughing his head off.
Kurama himself was smirking. "Odd, wouldn't you say, Hiei, that your name just happens to mean ice in Japanese." He said, enjoying every minute of the 'torture'.
Hiei looked ready to kill someone. "You told the brat to use that didn't you?" he said to Kurama, his voice full of malice.
"Well, we all need something to laugh at." Kurama said, still smirking. Kuwabara, on the other hand, was looking completely confused, as were all the students and quite a few of the teachers. Yusuke was still laughing his head off.
Suddenly, Kurama stopped smirking, his look turning completely serious. Hiei's aura was becoming visible, a faint purple glow surrounding him, and the temperature in the room suddenly rose about ten degrees, and if you looked carefully, you could see a white bandage slowly slipping to the ground below Hiei's feet. This was not good.
"Well, that's enough humor for one day." Kurama said, walking over to Yusuke, picking a rose seed out of his hair very discreetly, giving it a burst of spirit energy, and poking Yusuke with the reiki-enhanced thorn. Yusuke immediately stopped laughing.
"K'rama, why'd you do that?" he said, rubbing his arm.
Kurama just motioned over to Hiei. Yusuke immediately got back into his chair and sat down like nothing had happened. Kurama slipped back into his seat, slipping the rose seed back into his hair silently.
Hiei, still seething, walked up to the stool, grabbed the hat, and stuffed it on his head, all faster then the human eye could see. There was silence in Hiei's head for a few seconds as quite a few students gaped at the display, before...
'You have to let me into your mind.'
'Why should I let a filthy rag read my mind?'
'Because I need to sort-' the hat said as Hiei flashed an image of a certain hat burning in his head. 'Uh... let's just go with SLYTHERIN!!!'
Hiei stood up, shoved the hat into McGonagall's grasp, and zipped over to the Slytherin table, sitting down between the blond boy from the train's bodyguards, both of them glaring at him.
"Well, now that the sorting's over, I have a few words before the feast starts! Yuki! Youkai! Kuso! Shimatta!" Dumbledore said before sitting down. Food appeared at all the tables.
Yusuke immediately grabbed about four plates and tipped half of their contents onto his plate, before, completely ignoring his utensils, he started reenacting a 6.0 hurricane, more commonly known as polite eating in the Makai. The others at his table just stared at him. After a few minutes, he looked up from his food.
"Hey, is the old man crazy or something? I mean, who says words like that before a feast?" he said after he swallowed half a leg of duck, bone and all.
"What do you mean by that, mate?" Ron said, mouth open.
"Well," Yusuke said, starting on another duck leg, "Who says 'Yuki! Youkai! Kuso! Shimatta!' before a feast?"
"Why? What does it mean?" Hermione asked.
"Well, they mean ice, demon, shit, and damn it." Yusuke explained calmly, shoveling some mashed potatoes into his mouth.
"Well, there is a fine line between insanity and brilliance." Hermione replied wisely, before she realized what Yusuke had said. "Urameshi! You shouldn't be using words like that in school!"
Yusuke just shrugged, unfazed by the comment. "So? I get that from Keiko all the time. Nobody's ever even tried to stop me. And nobody ever will." He said, cockiness creeping into his voice. Hermione looked at him strangely.
"So, why did all your friends end up in different houses?" Harry said, changing the subject rather quickly.
"Well, Kuwabara is really loyal, Kur- Shuichi is really smart and always likes to learn, and Hiei- well, let's just say that he's anti-social, to say the least. When we first met, he tried to kill me. Almost got away with it, too." Yusuke said.
Meanwhile, Kurama was fending off girls with a fork. Well, almost.
"So, Shuichi, I hear that there's going to be a dance this year." A Chinese girl, who Kurama was unlucky enough to sit next to, said, batting her eyes at him.
"Miss, I am aware of that. This is the fifth time you've asked me." Kurama said, trying to maintain his cool. It was the fifth time that the girl had asked him, not counting the countless others that had already come up to him. You could almost see his left eye twitching.
'My, my, Kurama. You've been here for less then two hours, and you've already caught the eye of every female in the room.'
"Well Hiei, at least I'm not mistaken for a serial killer every time I go out in public!" Kurama shouted at the Slytherin table.
'Well, at least I'm not mistaken for a girl half the time.'
Kurama sighed in exasperation before reaching for his fork again, some of the people at his table giving him strange looks.
"Is you're friend ok?" one of the boys whispered to Kuwabara at the Hufflepuff table.
"He's fine." Kuwabara said, looking up from his food for a split second before going back to eating.
Just then, to the surprise of the first years, a bunch of ghosts flew through the wall. Kurama gave a shiver, looked up for a second, and then went back to eating.
Yusuke looked up at the ghosts. "So, all of you guys can see ghosts here?" he stated.
"Er, yes." Harry said.
"Why can't it just be like that in Japan? It would have been much easier at one time." He said before returning to his...er...eating...
Hiei just glared at the ghosts, causing one or two to break down crying. Of course, none of the students realized that it was Hiei doing this, luckily.
Kurama just glanced calmly up at the ghosts, sighed, then went back to eating, at least until one of the ghosts came up to him.
"Is it true, what Peves was saying, about you being the-"the ghost questioned.
Kurama sighed, cutting the ghost off. "Yes, it is true. I would prefer if you and the other ghosts kept that to yourselves, though."
Meanwhile, Yusuke, along with the others, were also getting... aqquainted... with the ghosts.
"Listen up here, ghost boy!" Yusuke shouted, having grabbed the ghost who introduced himself as Sir Nickolas by the arm. That was not going to float well.
"I don't care how much you know about us, if you so much as utter anything about me to anyone in this school or beyond, you are going to wish you never decided to stay a ghost!"
Kurama chuckled a little at Yusuke's anger. "Well, apparently Yusuke is feeling a little jealous towards the ghosts." The other members of the table looked confused.
"What are you talking about?" one boy asked. Kurama's chuckle immediately receded.
"Oh, nothing." Kurama said, quite quickly, before going back to eating.
-------------------------
Hiei sat at the fireplace, ignoring the other Slytherins. Malfoy was giving him dirty looks. He reached out across the castle with his jagan, searching for any abnormalities. There was Yusuke, and Kuwabara. Kurama wasn't in his common room, but Hiei could tell he was walking swiftly towards the Slytherin common room. He had left Black behind. Hiei extended the senses of his Jagan through the whole castle. There was that old fool sitting in his office, and the other teachers were in their offices, most likely getting ready for the next day. Except for Snape.
Hiei followed Snape as he made his way through the twisting dungeon corridors. Suddenly, Hiei hit a wall. Another energy was blocking him from the lowest part of the dungeons. Before he had a chance to try to break through, the door to the Slytherin common room opened, and a figure wearing a cloak to cover himself walked briskly into the room.
He looked around for a few seconds, before making his way towards Hiei. Hiei glanced up.
"What brings you here?" he questioned, nodding towards the figure.
"Hiei, we have a problem." The figure hissed, revealing himself to those who didn't know who he was as the new Ravenclaw, Shuichi.
Hiei just sat calmly in his chair, raising one eyebrow. Kurama gave a sigh of exasperation and pulled the cloak off for one second, revealing a white cloak, clawed hands, golden eyes flecked with green, and red and silver striped hair, before pulling the cloak quickly back over himself.
"Is that good enough for you?"
Hiei gave a small nod towards the door to the common room, then blurred out of sight. Kurama ran after him, carefully keeping the cloak pulled over his whole figure, as the Slytherin house just stared at his retreating back.
--------------------- ----------------------
There!!! I finally get to update!!! I had to add the part of Hiei's jagan being blocked, it adds suspense. Not as much humor as I would have liked in this chapter, but whatever... If you don't get the ending, the magical energies surrounding the castle are giving Kurama a lot of extra energy, causing him to transform into his Yoko form. So he has to go and 'burn off the energy'... Thus the next chapter is called, 'Yoko's Midnight Romp' (yup, I'm naming them...)
Over 50 reviews!!!! You guys are too kind!!!
Sorry I didn't answer the reviews, but thanks everyone for reviewing...
Who loves me for updating? -