Flawed

by Kurome Shiretsu

Targeted by the followers of a dark wizard, Yuusuke is sent to the last place expected: into the heart of wizard society. When his Toushin powers cannot defend him, when his demon blood is an instant mark for death, how will Yuusuke survive? HP crossover

3. Never Trust a Toddler

Title: Flawed

Rating: PG-13, which would make it T by the site's new rating system.

Summary: Harry Potter/YYH crossover. When he is targeted by a group of magic-wielding strangers as a prize for their 'lord', Yuusuke discovers a gaping weakness in his demonic defenses. Luckily, Koenma has a plan to keep the Toushin safe, even if it involves sending Yuusuke undercover into a school full of wizards...

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Yu Yu Hakusho.

Pairings: none

Warnings: Some violence, slight gore, and some smatterings of foul language.

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)) Chapter Three: Never Trust a Toddler ((

Yuusuke tugged uncomfortably on the small pendant now hanging around his neck, a silver chain with a charm shaped into the kanji for phoenix, and reflected that this was one of those days when he should have just stayed in bed.

"Stop fidgeting," snapped Genkai impatiently. "You're drawing attention."

"And you're not, of course," he griped, sending a pointed look at her red and white clothing and thunderous expression, but he forced his hands down to his sides and resisted the temptation to pull at the strange, loose clothing that he had been ordered into. His only consolation was that he looked nothing like the seven humans had; if anyone had tried to get him to wear one of those black circus tents, there would have been violence imminent.

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Yuusuke's senses had just brushed against a familiar youki signature nearby when Hiei spoke up from his perch in one of the temple trees.

"The Fox is here,"

Genkai grunted. Yuusuke frowned. A mere moment later, the alarm for the layer of wards that Yuusuke himself had set up around the temple went off, causing his core to tingle with a sensation not unlike that of 'pins and needles.'

There were four layers of defense around the temple. Genkai's wards, which alerted her to any visitor's presence and prevented any demons from entering but those she permitted. Next were Hiei's wards (set up, Yuusuke suspected, more for the benefit of Yukina than out of any loyalty he might have to Yuusuke or Genkai) which burned any demons that had not been keyed to enter the temple grounds. Then came Kurama's 'attack plants' which would capture and hold any demons not keyed to the wards. Last came Yuusuke's wards, youki-based, which would physically repel any visitors, human or demon, who wished harm to any of the temple's common inhabitants.

Thinking about the wards reminded Yuusuke of one of his reasons for concern prior to his encounter with the wizards: the multiple activations of the outermost temple wards by persons unknown.

Before he could dwell further on the extra mystery, the distinctive red of Kurama's hair appeared in the corner of his vision, and he turned just as the reborn youko, wearing the black uniform of a local college student, crested the temple stairs with some sort of pack slung over his shoulder. His hair had grown at least a foot in the past years, and today he had it pulled back in a low tail. His eyes fell upon Yuusuke and Genkai, and he crossed the temple courtyard at a quick walk.

"Genkai, Yuusuke," he greeted as he came nearer. He smiled slightly at the former and smirked teasingly at the latter. "I've been told that you've had an interesting day."

"Interesting like a root canal," grumbled the Toushin ruefully. "I would say 'It can only get better,' but I have a bad habit of proving myself wrong."

"At least Kuwabara doesn't know."

"Not yet," snorted Yuusuke.

"Not yet," agreed Kurama readily. The fox-demon turned toward Genkai. "Botan didn't specify how many you wanted, so I packed three sets. I brought what I could find that might fit, but there's no guarantee. I'm not used to sizing someone from memory, after all."

"You're both close enough in size."

Yuusuke's frown went from irritated to puzzled, and his eyes automatically zeroed in on the small backpack borne by the youko. "Do I dare ask?" he inquired wearily.

Kurama chuckled. "Well, you didn't think that you'd be venturing into wizarding society in blue jeans and a T-shirt, did you?"

Alarm bells rang dissonantly in the back of Yuusuke's mind. "Into wizarding society?" he asked warily. "I'm sorry. I must have misheard you. Isn't that where I need to keep away from?"

The youko blinked, raised an eyebrow, and glanced at Genkai.

"He just woke up," she explained. "We haven't gotten that far yet."

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The portal from Reikai had set Yuusuke down a mere three meters from his mentor who stood waiting for him in a dingy alley, a towering skyscraper on one side and a brick wall that rose nearly two stories overhead on the other. The wall had born a mural of a building reminiscent of a fuedal era palace, and Yuusuke had not had time to take in more than the unnatural brightness of the colors before Genkai had grabbed him and tugged him through the wall.

Now the pair was walking across an open courtyard toward said palace, and Yuusuke's instincts were ricocheting around his skull in a panic as his eyes took in the multitudes of oddly-clad men and women around him, almost every one bearing one of those damned sticks in hand. He wished that Kurama, Hiei, or Kuwabara had been cleared to accompany him on the mission... hell, even the Grandma was only along to see him off safely... but the rest of his Tantei team had other missions that Koenma needed completed to help clean up the current mess.

"Koenma is insane," he hissed vehemently, his eyes forever scanning their strange surroundings for any sign of a threat. "Abso-freaking-lutely insane. This is suicide."

"Death hasn't been a problem for you before."

"That doesn't mean I like dying!"

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He took a few dubious steps across the room, frowning as the strange clothing shifted oddly with his movements, the lengths of fabric hanging from his waist in front and in back swaying and twining around his legs.

"A little long," came Kurama's verdict from where the youko stood across the room. "And tight in the shoulders, too, but then, you've always been broader than me."

"Is this really necessary?" asked Yuusuke. If he had known that he would spend his afternoon trying on sets of Kurama's old tournament robes to find something to wear to blend in with wizards --some of whom were out to capture him for reasons unknown,-- he would have stayed in bed.

"For what Botan was hinting Koenma has planned? Yes. Robes like these are not common," explained Kurama, "but they really do strongly resemble some of the clothes worn by Japanese wizards. They're certainly more common than muggle clothes... ah, that's non-wizard clothes."

Yuusuke sent a dubious frown toward his friend. "Do I want to know how you know this?"

Kurama smiled, his fangs oddly noticeable. "Youko had a few encounters, and I've been exploring before. It's good practice for me. The Japanese wizards really are quite clever with some of the methods they use to stay secret."

"I'll bet, since Kuwabara and I are both spiritually aware and haven't had a clue." Yuusuke tugged at the loose, white silk sleeves, admitting to himself that, while unfamiliar, the clothes at least were not hot or restricting.

"It could be worse," said Kurama factually, kneeling on the floor to neatly fold the other two sets of robes that had already been tried and deemed usable. "A lot of the wizards I saw wore robes similar to formal kimono. At least in these you'll be able to move if or rather, knowing you, when you get into a fight."

Yuusuke sent an amused look at the grinning youko. "Thanks for your vote of confidence."

"You're welcome. Oh, I almost forgot." Kurama reached into the back one more time, digging deep in the bottom. "You always lose these." The youko smirked playfully and held up a circle of black elastic. "And you always whine about it."

Yuusuke caught the hair tie with ease and no small amount of relief. "Kurama, you are a saint."

The other young man let out a snort of amused laughter. "Hardly."

There was a flare of reiki outside the temple, and the muffled yet easily distinguishable voice of Botan drifted into the temple. Yuusuke quickly pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. Kurama finished packing the robes back into the pack along with Yuusuke's original clothing.

"That would be your ride to Reikai. You've got the robes, then," said the youko unnecessarily. "I stopped by your apartment before I came here, and I took the liberty of grabbing a few gems out of your hoard for you to sell for money. They're in the bag."

Yuusuke's eyes widened. "How did you know---" He broke off and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "The great thief, Youko Kurama. Duh. Of course you could find my money stash. Did my wards just ignore you or what?"

Kurama chuckled. "A youko never tells."

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Teacher and apprentice ascended the long stairs leading to the main doors of the towering building, and Yuusuke noted with relief that the looks directed their way were short and disinterested. The doors loomed ahead, nearly twenty feet tall and made of a dark wood that seemed very ancient, with huge oriental lion statues seated haughtily on either side. Yuusuke could not see any means for opening the doors unless he was meant to simply push them open, and he reached out---

"Who are you, and what is your business here?"

He whirled to confront the owner of the booming, bass voice, and looked up... and up... and up into the cold stone eyes of one of the statues which had turned its head to watch him with an expression of cool, if intimidating, disinterest.

"We're here on business," stated Genkai briskly, not sparing the lion statue more than a passing glance. "Genkai and a student, unregistered."

The statue seemed to ponder this. "You are welcome, Genkai and Student Unregistered."

Genkai snorted. Yuusuke did not think that it would be worth the effort to correct a towering stone golem about his correct name and let it slide. The doors swung ponderously open a mere moment later, and Yuusuke and Genkai continued onward, Genkai still amused.

"Unimaginative hunks of granite," she said. "They're magical constructs. If you couldn't tell, they tend to be very literal."

Yuusuke glanced back over his shoulder as the doors swung closed, checking to make certain that neither of the statues was about to try for a surprise attack. "I hadn't noticed."

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"Yuusuke!" Botan's expression brightened when she caught sight of him exiting the shrine, and she swooped lower on her oar to hover above and in front of him. "Oh, you're looking much better. Koenma-sama's in a real tizzy about this whole mess, but he said that he's been making arrangements for you. Everyone's up in arms to help!"

"Hey, Botan." Yuusuke grinned at his longtime friend, wondering deep in his mind whether he should be more worried about Koenma's 'arrangements' or who Botan meant when she said 'everyone.' Oh, well. The best way to learn is to ask questions. "Do I dare ask what you mean by 'everyone'?"

"Why, everyone, silly!" she chortled, waving one hand (hidden from sight by the pink sleeve of her kimono) at him teasingly. "Koenma-sama and the ogres have been going through piles of paperwork to find clues about the wizards and to set up your cover story. Kurama's been getting clothes for you --which you know already, I can see." She looked pointedly at his new attire. "Hiei's been here reinforcing the wards to keep away all the seeking spells you have after you. Shizuru and Kuwabara are in wizarding Tokyo to get the latest news on Voldemort's movements... I bet you didn't know Shizuru was a witch, did you? Well, neither did Kuwabara, the poor dear... Genkai has written letters to some of her old wizard friends to ask for information and get you a job, and I've been running errands and delivering those letters back and forth... all the way to England!"

It took several moments for Yuusuke's mind to take all of the information in, and then there were even more questions to take the place of what few had been answered. "Seeking spells? Genkai's wizard friends? Job?"

Kurama let out a soft cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Genkai looked annoyed at needing to supply another explanation. "Seeking spells," she explained, "are spells that wizards use to find something. Have you forgotten all those times that the temple wards have been activated recently? Now that we know about the wizards after you, we think that those were seeking spells keyed to your youki, drawn here by your wards."

Yuusuke pushed his bangs back out of his eyes, still confused. "But how are you friends with wizards? When did that happen?"

"I haven't been confined to Japan for the whole of my life, Dimwit," stated the martial artist acerbically. "I travelled through Britain just after the second World War, after the defeat of another dark wizard who was trying for world domination. Demons had been drawn to Europe due to the war's aftermath. It was a good training opportunity.

"If you want specifics," she added, "my friend's name is Aberforth --I did him a favor once, helping him subdue an angry bicorn,-- and he's the brother of the wizard you're going to stay with."

"But---"

"Now, now, Yuusuke," Botan interrupted. "We are on a schedule here, and Koenma still needs to talk to you. He'll answer any questions, but we have to hurry or you'll miss your appointment, and Kurama and Genkai still have other things they need to do."

Before Yuusuke could protest, Hiei had appeared at his elbow, looking thoroughly annoyed, and Botan's oar, complete with Botan, was directly overhead.

"Everyone ready?" asked the ferrygirl. "Okay... ready, set, go!"

Ningenkai disappeared in a flash of brilliant reiki, and Yuusuke's questions were left unanswered.

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Yuusuke had never seen so many strange things in his life, and considering his line of work, that was saying quite a bit. The hallways within the huge palace were crowded with innumerable witches and wizards, no two clad alike, and small multicolored oriental dragons, about the size of grass snakes, darted overhead, bearing message scrolls to unknown destinations.

"Stop staring," Genkai ordered. "They're illusions. And stop tugging on that pendant! If you break that chain..." She let the warning hang.

Yuusuke jerked his hand away from the necklace once more, not having realized that he had been fidgeting with it again. "Sorry."

In the privacy of his own mind, he acknowledged that he had every right to be nervous. First, strange wizards had attacked him in the hopes of capturing him for a power-mad, mutated, not-quite-human warlord, then he was informed of his utter vulnerability to magic in general, and then Koenma had come up with this as a plan to keep Yuusuke safe.

Safe. In the midst of an entire society that would not hesitate to lock him up and/or kill him should they ever discover his demonic origins.

For all that Koenma inhabited such an immature body, Yuusuke was beginning to suspect that his employer was senile.

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Botan had dropped the two demons just before the main doors of the Reikai Main Office.

"Sorry, boyos, but I can't go in with you. Koenma needs me to fetch something from Makai for the mission, and I've got to get my rear in gear to get back on time! Don't get lost!"

With that, the Grim Reaper turned her oar in a tight one-eighty and soared away, disappearing into a portal that opened before her several moments later.

"I have never seen so many portals used by Reikai in my life," muttered Yuusuke. "Koenma really must be in a 'tizzy'."

The Toushin turned back toward the doorway only to find that Hiei had walked on ahead. Yuusuke growled in irritation and jogged to catch up, realizing that this was most likely the only time anywhere in this entire messed-up day that he would get to question the Jaganshi.

Conversations with Hiei were always one of two things: interesting or painful; interesting because the Jaganshi had a truly unique, if grim, outlook on life and a wicked, if easy-to-miss, sense of humor.

... painful because trying to start one of the aforementioned conversations was like pulling the teeth of a particularly ill-tempered alligator: impossible without the proper skills and so very masochistic.

Unfortunately for Yuusuke, he had nothing better to occupy himself with during the long trek through the halls of the Reikai Main Office, and he wanted answers. He could only hope that this conversation turned into one of the former kinds instead of the latter.

"So you were the one who found me."

"Hn."

So far, the conversation was not looking promising.

"What's confusing me is how you were able to find me at all. I was pretty far in the boonies. Did you need to see me for some reason?"

"I had orders from Koenma."

"To give to me?"

"To babysit you."

Yuusuke blinked. He had not heard that particular phrase from Hiei in a while. "Then where were you when I came back from Reikai? I couldn't sense you around."

The Jaganshi growled irritably, but Yuusuke determined that since there was no sign of the fire demon's katana being drawn any time soon, he was not the object of Hiei's anger.

"The incompetents in Reikai messed up," came the grudging explanation. "They were supposed to hold you until I could arrive; they obviously didn't. Then when they opened a second portal to Ningenkai for me to pass through, they got the coordinates wrong. I arrived nearly three miles north of you."

Yuusuke whistled, not envying the Reikai ogres their fate when Hiei caught up with them. Hiei hated incompetence almost more than he hated being called 'shorty' by Kuwabara.

Almost.

In a stunning display of loquaciousness, Hiei continued. "I had to track you with the Eye, but all the energy from their attacks had masked where you were, and your youki was low and hard to spot anyway."

Yuusuke's forehead creased in confusion. "Then how did you find me?"

The Jaganshi sent a brief, indecipherable, wine-red glance his way, his steps never faltering.

"You screamed."

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The hallway abruptly ended, and Yuusuke found himself and his teacher in a long room lined on either side by fireplaces. The ceiling overhead was decorated in a mural of oriental dragons and phoenixes twining in and out of clusters of clouds, and Yuusuke nearly ground to a halt altogether as he noticed that said dragons and phoenixes were moving.

"Keep walking," ordered Genkai sternly. "That's the least of what's ahead of you."

"Wonderful." Yuusuke shook his head and brought his mind back to the present. "If nothing else, I'll never be bored while I'm away."

"You have no idea."

Yuusuke scanned the room, and he puzzled over the excessive use of fireplaces as an aesthetic feature until he noticed people stepping into and out of various fires.

Green fires.

"Is this some sort of wizard hazing ritual?" he joked. "Trial by fire?"

"Travel by fire," she corrected him. "Your ride to England."

"... I know that you just didn't imply that I have to step into a lit fireplace."

"Idiot."

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For the first time in Yuusuke's memory, Koenma's desk wasn't stacked to neck-height with papers. Rather, the spacious surface of the desk was completely clear except for a small black box sitting directly before Koenma, who was watching the wall monitor with an expression of deep thinking upon his chubby, toddler's face.

"Heya, Half-Pint," greeted Yuusuke casually as he and Hiei entered. Hiei opted to lean against the wall beside the doorway when Yuusuke further approached the desk.

"You're late." Koenma glanced at him. "We've got to move pretty quickly now if you're going to get there on time."

Yuusuke smirked good-naturedly. "Why do I get the feeling my day's just gonna get worse from here?"

"Maybe Shizuru's powers are rubbing off on you. Watch the screen."

He turned obediently, leaning a hip against the desk and crossing his arms. The viewscreen lit up with a picture of one of the most malformed creatures Yuusuke had ever come across. "A demon?" he asked.

"Not quite. Meet Tom Marvolo Riddle," explained Koenma, "Now known primarily as You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or Voldemort-sama." Yuusuke noted that the '-sama' had a distinctive mocking overtone, and he concluded that this Voldemort guy really must have some sort of huge superiority complex for both Koenma and Genkai to sneer at the honorific. "Location: currently unknown, though we suspect that he's somewhere in England. Goals: world domination, among other things. He's a believer in pureblood wizard supremacy; anyone without magic or descended from anyone without magic is only good for target practice... Ironic, really, since he's only half-wizard himself. This is the guy that has his sights set on you."

"Naturally. He's mutated, power-hungry, prejudiced, and insane. What's not to like?" Yuusuke's mind was busy assimilating all of the information as he fell into the familiar role of a Tantei operative during a briefing. "Why's he want me?"

"That's what I'm getting to. We've been monitoring him for a long time. In addition to somehow going MIA on his scheduled death-date nearly sixteen years ago, he's caused enough unscheduled deaths for it to be a problem for Reikai. About two months back, several operatives reported on a rumor that a group of his followers had made an appearance in Japan, and we investigated. We couldn't find anything until there was an attack on a wizard-run magical museum nearly seven weeks ago. We sent Kurama in to investigate... you were on an extended case in Makai at the time, I believe."

"The slave ring," Yuusuke affirmed. "That's right."

"The item that was stolen was something called the Akumano Scroll. I'll eat my hat if I knew how Reikai artifact workers managed to leave that little doozy in Ningenkai for so long, but they did, and now Voldemort's got his paws on it." The screen showed a rather ratty looking piece of parchment, half-unfurled, and Yuusuke's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the writing on the parchment.

"Isn't that---?"

"Mmm-hmm. Demonic writing." Koenma sighed a sigh that had just a tinge of a whimper accompanying it. "I normally wouldn't worry overmuch since no human could read that without help, but Voldemort is a wizard and he has this annoying habit of beating the odds time and again. Also, the question rises, how would he know the value of the Scroll without a demon or demon expert to tell him about it?"

"So what sort of power does that scrap of paper have that a would-be world dominator would want?"

"The Akumano Scroll is a set of instructions." Koenma's pacifier bobbled as the godling worried at it. "It details a ritual that a human can use to drain a demon's youki and add it to the wizard's own powers. After the Scroll's disappearance, Reikai set out to monitor all the strongest demons to be found. You were at the top of the list, the only S-class currently residing in Ningenkai, so when I heard a report earlier today that wizards unfamiliar to the area had been seen nearby, I set Hiei to watch you... That didn't work out quite the way I thought it would."

A loud, derisive snort came from Hiei.

"You're still technically on parole, you know!" snapped the toddler.

"As you love to remind me," came the Jaganshi's dry rejoinder.

Koenma huffed. "In any case, the best thing for us to do is to get you to the last place that Voldemort will dare enter. We've been working overtime since the attack to get it all arranged; it simplified things that Genkai knew a wizard who is kin to the wizard who will be helping you..."

"Aberforth, right?" asked Yuusuke. "She mentioned him. Something about a bicorn."

"Aberforth Dumbledore, that's right." Koenma abruptly snickered. "I don't know about a bicorn. From what I heard, she helped him out with some trouble he got into for, and I quote, 'practicing innappropriate charms on a goat.' But in any case, Aberforth is brother to a man named Albus Dumbledore. On the screen."

A new picture appeared, this one of a man clad in violently purple robes and an equally violently purple, pointy hat, delicate gold spectacles perched upon his nose in front of the most deviously twinkling blue eyes Yuusuke had ever seen, and the image was completed by the thick white hair and beard that fell far past the wizard's waist.

"That's the man that Genkai and, by extension, Aberforth have spoken to on your behalf. He's the headmaster of a wizarding school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is where we're going to hide you."

Doubt began to bloom in earnest in the back of his mind. "I thought that wizards hated demons."

"They do."

"And demons are weak against magic."

"They are."

"So they'll probably kill me the second that they realize what I am!"

"That," said Koenma proudly, "is what this little beauty is for!" He held up the as-of-yet inconspicious black box, holding it toward Yuusuke. The Toushin took it with trepidation, suspecting that another of Koenma's radical plots was afoot.

However, upon opening the box --slowly, carefully, and with all due caution,-- all he found was a simple silver chain, complete with a kanji charm representing 'phoenix.'

"Gee, Koenma," he said with a smirk, "I'm sorry to disappoint, but I walk the straight and narrow, y'know?"

The godling blushed scarlet. "Shut up and put it on, you delinquent!"

Yuusuke laughed, and he suspected that he heard Hiei snicker, but he obeyed and clasped the chain around his neck. "So, what's so special about this thing, other than as a symbol of your undying affection?"

"The only thing in this room that's going to be 'undying' is me unless you cut the crap and pay attention!" snapped the toddler. "It's an energy-masking charm. Unless you take it off --which I heartily suggest you do not,-- no one can sense your youki for what it is. In addition, it's got a few low-level shielding spells and a FastLearner charm on it to help you master your pitiful English skills sooner. Of course, we wouldn't have had to go through the trouble if you hadn't skipped out on the majority of your foreign language courses at school."

"If I hadn't skipped so many classes, I wouldn't have gotten hit by that stupid car," Yuusuke pointed out, "and you would have been out one tame S-class battle demon for your Tantei team."

Koenma grumbled something unintelligible at that. Yuusuke spent a moment pulling his hair out of the circle of the chain before his eyes narrowed.

"You said you were hiding me at a school? Pig Pimples or something?"

"Hogwarts," Koenma corrected. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Too bad you can't learn their brand of magic, it would have made things much simpler, but Genkai has already written to Dumbledore, and he replied that he would be able to work around it."

"You enrolled me as a student!"

Koenma blinked. "Oh, no. You're going to teach."

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Yuusuke dubiously scooped up a handful of the strange, gritty powder, and the scent of soot and lightning brushed against his nose. "Are you sure this stuff works? I just have to yell out where I'm going?"

"Extremely certain." She frowned. "You want to go to 'Ministry of Magic, London, England.' And speak very clearly. It's too bad that you can't floo directly to the school itself, but international floo lines only connect between ministries. In any case, remember the names I told you: Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If you can keep those straight, then you'll be fine."

"Hurry it up!" whined an unidentified female from behind them. "We've all got places to get to, too, you know!"

Yuusuke looked at Genkai. "Grandma..."

"You'll be met at the Ministry," she said briskly. "They'll be expecting you. Remember those names."

"Aberforth, Albus, Hogwarts. Right." The powder was beginning to stick to his palm, but he squared his shoulders and strode toward the fire, raising his hand. Genkai called out one last time.

"And for kami's sake, Dimwit, if you ever hear the word avada, attack first and ask dumb questions later!"

The powder was consumed by the flames, turning them green. "Ministry of Magic, London, England!"

The world was washed away in a tide of emerald light.

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)) To Be Continued... ((

A/N: Next, Yuusuke meets the welcoming committee and experiences a severe bout of culture shock.

)) Kurome Shiretsu ((