Dumbledore-sensei sent all the Gryffindors back into the Great Hall, where every other House joined them there ten minutes later, each with its own guard tailing after them. The other guards reported to the Gryffindor guard, and together the four set off to speak to Dumbledore in the room where Harry had first been detained to before being Sorted into his House years ago.
Kakashi disengaged the Kage Bunshins, sighing as he showed them the bloody kunai he had taken from the Fat Lady's portrait. The teachers were all looking at him suspiciously, except for Dumbledore, whose calm expression seemed to be disappointed.
"Whoever used this kunai was not shinobi." Kakashi began. "There's this particular part of the kunai wherein blade meets handle. Most novices tend to cut themselves on this point." He twirled the kunai on his finger briefly before showing it to the teachers, blade first.
There was silence. Then Dumbledore nodded. "We must search the Castle. Can you watch over the children in the Great Hall?"
Kakashi almost grimaced behind the mask. He had hoped to be out there searching as well. But he nodded. "But, I will help you, in a way."
Forming seals, Kakashi bit his thumb and ran the finger over a scroll. He rolled the scroll up, made a few more seals and then slammed the scroll on the floor.
"Ninpou." Kakashi murmured. "Kuchiyose - Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu." Small chains emerged from the scroll, digging into the marble floor.
Smoke clouded the senses as the eight Nin-dogs appeared. Several teachers were mildly surprised to see eight dogs, each wearing the forehead protector and bearing a blue jacket. Hagrid almost yelled.
The ANBU seemed to be amused as he stared at them. "These are my cute Nin-dogs." He explained. One Nin-dog, a huge bulky bulldog was definitely not cute, though by the way Hagrid was shaking, he was itching to pet the huge bulldog, and he even had a most disturbing sparkly look in his eyes.
"Yo." One Nin-dog, a small pug, spoke. "What's the call up for?"
The ANBU nodded and showed the small pug the bloody kunai. The pug sniffed at it for a few minutes, then watched as Kakashi passed the kunai about, each Nin-dog smelling the air.
"Yosh." Kakashi spoke. "Find me."
A few minutes later, Dumbledore appeared to tell them all that they needed to search the Castle, and that the four guards would be staying with them as the teachers left for the search, each teacher following a Nin-dog. The familiar sight of the guards patrolling in the Great Hall comforted them somewhat.
The Potter brat and his friends had retreated to a corner, tugging along what seemed to be three purple sleeping bags. Kakashi eyed them for a moment before turning his back on them and watching another red haired Weasley scold everyone else.
Kakashi knew this Castle now, like the back of his own-gloved hand. He knew that one could not Apparate inside the school, nor can one sneak past the dementors, who had arrived for the Hogsmeade visit as per contract. Was Black a shinobi? But if he were, he wouldn't get his hand injured on the kunai in the first place.
There was also the issue of the Weasley boy's rat. There was also a vague, very well hidden old scent of human on the boy's rat. The human smell was different from the Weasley boy's own scent, which made Kakashi even more suspicious of the rat.
McGonagall-san's transformation had inspired Kakashi to learn more of that specific jutsu. In the days he had been missing on duty, he had devoted his time to learning that jutsu, as it appeared, after many frustrated attempts, that the jutsu was user specific. So he had dug into Hogwarts' library, and had come up with the hand seals, after much guesswork, to perform the said jutsu.
Lupin-san's smell had gone from vaguely canine to vaguely human. Also, he seemed even more tired and constantly under pain. Kakashi wondered why. Was the man a Jinchūriki? But then again, if he were, he would've given off a large amount of chakra as the days grew.
The lights went out.
Kakashi stared at Dumbledore, who was making his way towards him. Kakashi saluted as Dumbledore stopped in front of him.
"Nothing yet?" Kakashi asked. "They'll work hard; it's just that they all have their little quirks." Kakashi was talking about Pakkun, who had been paired, as it was, with Snape.
"No, it's not about that." Dumbledore frowned. "The knife on the portrait frame…was that one of yours?"
Kakashi nodded. In the darkness, he turned and looked straight at Harry.
"When you three are done using the toilet, go back to sleep." Kakashi spoke. The purple sleeping bags moved, and Harry, Ron and Hermione soon crawled out of it and excused themselves.
Kakashi turned back to Dumbledore. "Yes, it was one of mine. It was stolen. There's a foreign scent about it."
Dumbledore frowned still. "I've found a temporary guardian for Gryffindor. There's no point in moving out the children tonight."
For the next few days, the school talked about nothing except for Sirius Black. That and on how annoying the new Gryffindor guardian was. Even the Gryffindor guard appeared annoyed; there were many kunai and shuriken marks on the portrait's frame. Sir Cadogan was very noisy at night, and Kakashi had often lobbed him a few shuriken or kunai to keep him quiet.
Under Dumbledore's orders, Kakashi tailed the Potter boy everywhere now, keeping one hand holding a kunai in his pocket. McGonagall had informed Harry-kun that if he took the guard along, he could go to Quidditch Practice.
The weather steadily worsened as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. The Gryffindor team trained harder still. Upon the return of his Nin-dogs the next day, only Pakkun had managed to sniff even a small whiff.
"There's no doubt about it. There's an intruder in the Castle." The small pug spoke, looking at his owner.
Kakashi nodded. "I know that. Thanks for the help." He saluted. The pug saluted back, lifting up a small paw. The eight Nin-dogs disappeared in a puff of smoke.
When the Potter boy had heard that Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff instead, Potter was shouting furiously that there was nothing wrong with the blond brat's arm. Silently, Kakashi agreed. He was the one who saw that particular Jutsu anyway. The boy's arm was working fine.
The day before the match, Kakashi had been approached by McGonagall-san. She was holding a red and gold scarf and offered it to the guard. The howling winds were cold, she knew, and the guard's attire beneath the jacket was questionable. Wordlessly, Kakashi accepted the scarf and wound it around his neck. The rain fell harder, and at one point Kakashi was forced to stay indoors, barred from visiting the Lake in the mornings due to the freezing rain.
The Malfoy brat was being dramatic about his arm again, and the Potter gaki seemed to be infuriated by the excess drama. He had a Quidditch match tomorrow, and he had no room for small incidents that would put his mind off the game.
As the Potter boy's guard, Kakashi was in charge of shooing off pests (Malfoy), killing or capturing Sirius Black and the removal of certain elements (Oliver Wood). The first time it happened, Kakashi had been nearby. He took this as a small chat, as they were walking to Herbology. But when Harry was clearly five minutes late, Kakashi took matters into his own hand by wordlessly grabbing the Potter boy and pulling him to the Greenhouses.
Now, his Kage Bunshin was tailing the boy. Lupin-san had excused himself, saying he was sick today, so Kakashi was forced to substitute, and that meant producing another Kage Bunshin to follow the Potter boy around while he taught class.
Currently, Kakashi was thinking. He had decided, in the small room that served as his bedroom in Hogwarts, to disguise himself to teach class, but whom to Henge into?
The logical choice would've been Sensei. But he was in his boggart (Kakashi still flinched at the word) and the whole school knew Sensei was dead, so Kakashi decided on a mix.
He thought of Rin, Obito and Sensei, and tried to combine certain traits from them into his transformation.
"Henge no Jutsu!"
There was a puff of smoke, and Kakashi stared at his transformed self in the mirror.
Obito's black hair spiked in many different directions, Sensei's left cobalt eye stared at his reflection, and Rin's green right eye glanced at him. A pair of goggles hung around his neck, and Kakashi fingered it gingerly. He paused for a moment, staring at his reflection, but then he turned and put on the black cloak he would have to wear over his Jounin uniform (For Dumbledore-sensei had told him he could wear anything under the black cloak).
It was time for him to teach. Lupin-san had given him a basic outline, but Kakashi decided to make a new kind of activity.
Kakashi hung the five silver bells on his belt and left the room.
After being tugged by the guard to escape Wood, Harry hurried to Defense against the Dark Arts, only to find a hastily scrawled note on the blackboard and most of his fellow classmates' bags scattered haphazardly.
Go to the school grounds, leave your bags here, and bring only your wands. The note said.
Harry pulled out his wand from his pocket and hurried to the Grounds. There, he found the rest of his classmates still waiting, sitting on the grass, the teacher was not anywhere in sight. He joined Hermione and Ron nearby.
"Do you think Professor Lupin's sick? He told us he'd be lecturing us today." Hermione spoke worriedly.
"Well, I'm dying to find out what that new teacher is going to do." Ron replied, settling down on the grass.
At that moment, there was a puff of smoke and their teacher appeared.
Clad in a strange green flak jacket, navy Muggle clothes and a black cloak with a silver fastener, their teacher was strange. His black hair was unruly, like Harry's. He had mismatched eyes, one green and the other blue, and a permanent grin on his face. There was a pair of goggles hanging around his neck and there were five bells tied to the belt around his waist. In one hand was a wand and in the other was a small orange book; on its cover was a man chasing a woman.
"Yo." The teacher said, grinning. "For now, I am your Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. You may call me Professor Hatake, though you may also use my first name."
The Slytherins frowned at this eccentric teacher, but the Gryffindors were curious. He was wearing Muggle clothes after all, but he held a wand. Hermione raised her hand.
The teacher nodded. "Yes, miss Granger?"
Hermione stood up and asked. "What are the bells for?"
Kakashi laughed. "Ah, sharp, aren't you? These bells…" He held them up, tucking the book somewhere in a pouch strapped to his belt. "Are your assignment today. I will be grouping you all into four six-man teams; three from each House."
Everybody groaned. Gryffindors did not mix with Slytherins….ever.
Professor Hatake frowned. "No complaints. If you fail my test or refuse to participate, I'll fail you for Defense against the Dark Arts."
Shocked faces stared at him in horror. Hermione dropped the book she had bought along.
Smiling sheepishly, Professor Hatake scratched the back of his head with a gloved hand. "Ehh….Ano…No need to look like that, it's quite easy. All you need to do is to get these five bells from me."
There was a spark of hope in everyone's eyes. Malfoy appeared disgusted.
"But…" Professor Hatake raised one finger. "I only have five bells with me. One of you will most certainly fail."
Everybody groaned again.
Kakashi looked at them sheepishly. "However…" he spoke, smiling slightly. "You may use any spell against me; Curse, Unforgivable, Jinx or Charm, Whatever it takes for you to get the bells. But Accio is banned, obviously."
Malfoy eyed the teacher. "Any spell? But won't you get injured or hexed?" He asked, incredulous.
Kakashi shook his head. "Try me." He smiled. "I'll be calling your teams now, so listen up."
The teacher took out the book again and stared at a small slip of paper on a page.
"Team One; Gryffindor: Potter, Weasley, and Granger. Slytherin: Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle."
Malfoy and Ron glared at each other. Hermione looked nervous and Harry stared at Malfoy.
"Team Two; Gryffindor: Thomas, Patil…"
"Team One, to me." Kakashi spoke, finally closing the small orange book and tucking it into his kunai pouch. "Remember, you can't get the bells without approaching me with the intent to kill." Kakashi began. "It's a free-for-all, except for Accio charms. And start when I say…"
He was cut off when Malfoy pointed his wand at him and shouted.
"Stupefy!"
Kakashi stared at the jet of red light. There was a satisfied look on Malfoy's face. Hermione panicked, Ron launched himself at Malfoy and Harry tried to hold back Crabbe and Goyle by himself.
Kakashi raised his wand.
"Protego maximus."
A magical barrier appeared, bouncing back Malfoy's spell. Kakashi then teleported to where Harry was, he reached out and grabbed Crabbe and Goyle by their collars, hoisting them up in the air. Kakashi reached out with his foot and kicked the Malfoy brat's wand out of his hands.
This all happened in a matter of seconds.
The whole class stared at him like he was Voldemort himself.
"I didn't say start yet."