Chosha's notes

Konnichiwa! A special thanks to my reviewers: Shauntell, plutobaby494, JoshRin, Kristy-chan, Quiescent Vengeance, Meiji no Pan and Crazy Hyper Lady so Arigato!

Anyway, by popular demand, here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: (eyebrow twitches) have a guess… I mean, it's only been said FOR THE PAST ELEVEN CHAPTERS!

Last time on RKatPS:

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville disappeared, which left Sano, Kenshin and Kaoru to track them down. However, while hiding from Filch, the whole lot of them make a rather terrifying discovery – one of the snarling, three-headed kind…

Chapter Twelve

Halloween

At breakfast the next morning, the five had something of a pleasant shock. Not only had Malfoy done the most amusing impression of a landed fish when he saw that Harry and Ron were still students at Hogwarts and not on the first train back home, but Harry had received a long parcel too. At first, Kenshin had thought it was some sort of sword, but when Harry had opened the letter, grinning from ear to ear as he passed it to them, he had realised it was in fact not a sword, but a broomstick. And by the way Ron was nearly drooling over the brown-paper parcel, Kenshin could safely conclude it wasn't just any broomstick, either.

However, the moment had been somewhat spoilt by Hermione, who refused to forgive them for 'dragging her along' on last night's escapade and had snapped, 'I suppose you thing that's a reward for breaking the rules!' Which lead to something close to a confrontation between the bushy-haired girl and the redheaded Weasley. When Hermione had stormed off in a huff, Sanosuke gave a long, low whistle.

'Oh man, and I thought Jou-can was bad.'

Kenshin prepared himself to scoop up everything breakable from the table in case Kaoru decided to throw it at the rooster-head. However, she just ignored him. Frowning, she said, 'Well, it wasn't exactly our fault. If anything, it's that jerk Malfoy. But she doesn't have to take it out on us.' She glanced at Harry and Ron. 'But you really have to be careful. I know we got lucky this time, but who knows what will happen next time.'

'Don't you start,' Ron grumbled. 'We've got enough from bloody-miss-know-it-all – we don't need it from you too.'

Kaoru looked as if she was going to throw a wobbly there and then, but Kenshin quickly reminded her that the teachers were watching. Mentally he sighed. Although Hermione was something of a know-it-all, she was trying to stop them doing something they might regret – a little like Hiko did at times. Too bad she just didn't know how to do it in a way the person would respond in kind. That was something no one could learn from a book.

Time seemed to have speed up for Kenshin after the encounter with the three-headed dog. In fact, two months had flown by since they had started Hogwarts. It was something of a shock to the system when they realised Halloween crept up on them and pounced. However, the situation between Hermione, Harry and Ron hadn't improved one wit in that time, even by Charms class that day, which everyone had been so excited about. Professor Flitwick had informed them they would be making objects fly, which everyone had wanted to do since the tiny professor had made Trevor the toad zoom around the room like a slimy green aeroplane. Kenshin himself was feeling particularly confident about the lesson that day. After all, he had practised said charm almost to death at the Leaky Cauldron.

'Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!' squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. 'Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too— never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.'

Everyone had been split into pairs. Kenshin was working together with Sanosuke, while Harry was working with Seamus. Kaoru had been pared up with Lavender Brown– another girl from Gryffindor. Unfortunately, Ron had been pared up with someone he thought was nearly as bad as being pared with Malfoy if he was in this class. He was pared to Hermione.

Sanosuke frowned in annoyance at the feather that had refused to move. Kenshin had offered to do a demonstration for him, but the bird-headed boy had issues with this feather. As a last ditch attempt, Sanosuke poked the feather with his wand, seeing if prodding the feather would get it float in the air, despite Kenshin's frantic protest-

BOOM!

'ORO!'

The feather burst into flames, scorching the table. Both Sanosuke and Kenshin went into a panic and started to put the fire out with their hats. It left a black ring of ashes on their desk and Sanosuke was covered in soot from the neck up. He let out a weak cough, making a small cloud of smoke. 'Remind me… never to do… that again,' he wheezed.

'Ororo…' moaned a swirly-eyed Kenshin beside him.

Harry, seeing the mess, did them both a favour by grabbing another feather from Flitwick.

Meanwhile, Ron wasn't faring much better. Especially after several unsuccessful tries and looking something like a human windmill as he tried to get the feather of the desk.

'You're saying it wrong,' snapped Hermione after the fifth attempt. 'Its Win—gar—dium Levi—o—sa. Make the "gar" nice and long.'

Ron glared at her and snarled, 'You do it, then, if you're so clever.'

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her robes, flicked her wand, and proclaimed, 'Wingardium Leviosa!'

Their feather slowly rose into the air, hovering a good four feet off their desk. 'Oh, well done!' cried Professor Flitwick, clapping and jumping up and down lightly on his pile of books on his stool. 'Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!'

Ron looked just about ready to stuff the feather right in her mouth to see if it would shut her up.

By the end of Charms, Ron was in a foul mood.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron mumbled darkly as he, Harry, Kenshin, Sanosuke and Kaoru walked through the crowded corridors. 'She's a nightmare, honesty.'

Suddenly someone pushed past them. Kenshin just caught sight of their face as they fled. His eyes widened. It was Hermione.

'Hermione-dono!' Kenshin gasped. There was no need for any of them to sense ki. Her face was practically screaming misery in her stance, tears flooding down her cheeks. "I think she heard you," said Harry, looking concerned.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed that she's got no friends." Kaoru glared daggers at Ron, before looking worriedly after the crying girl.

…Hermione never turn up to lessons for the rest of the day.

o0o

The great hall was decorated in the Halloween spirit. Thousands of live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling, swooping low over the tables like black clouds. Jack-o-lanterns threw eerie shadows over the walls. The golden plates were soon filled with the largest array of food that Kenshin had only ever seen once that rivalled it, and that had been at the sorting feast. The decorations were so amazing that Hermione was swept from everyone's minds.

Kenshin was just about to dig in (before Sanosuke ate everything) when Quirrell burst into the hall, the wide doors almost slamming into the walls. "Trrrrrroooooollllllll," he was screaming. "In the dungeons! Troll in the dungeons!" everyone fell deathly silent, staring at the man in shock. He stood in the middle of the room.

"Thought you'd like to know…"

And he fell flat on his face in a dead faint.

Silence. Then-

Panic broke out, screams and shouts – it was a complete uproar. It too several purple firecrackers from the end of Dumbledore's wand for the silence to return.

Calmly, Dumbledore said, "Prefects, lead your houses back to their dormitories. The teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Percy ordered all the Gryffindors to the common room. Kenshin frowned a little. How could a troll get in? From what Ron had said, trolls were famous for being a little slow to say the least. It couldn't have got in on its own…

They were about half way there when Kenshin noticed two ki that were very much missing in the crowd of semi-panicked students. Kenshin froze. They wouldn't…

He spun round to see Harry and Ron sprinting off in the opposite direction. Kenshin realised with a jolt that Hermione, who had been missing since they last saw her running off, didn't know anything about it at all. Kami-sama!

Kenshin was about to run after them – they wouldn't be able to handle a troll on their own if it had moved from the dungeons - when Sanosuke hissed, "Where the hell are you going!"

Kenshin turned to look over his shoulder. "It's Hermione-dono. Harry and Ron – they went after her. She doesn't know!" Sanosuke swore. Kaoru's eyes went wide, her hands jumping to her mouth.

And they bolted down the corridor after Ron and Harry.

Kami-sama! Please don't let us be too late!

o0o

Kenshin tried not to jump as Sanosuke let out a stream of colourful curses that would have made even Hiko blush. Kaoru was looking as though she was about to hit him for scaring her, barely suppressing a loud 'Eep!' Not that Kenshin could blame either of them. Oh, they had caught up to Harry and Ron no problem. It was what else was there, the sight and smell before them, was enough to make him go cold on the inside.

A foul stench that smelt as though moulding socks had mated with an unwashed public toilet seat made Kenshin want to gag. But what made him turn pale was grunting and stomping towards a petrified Hermione, who was shrinking in terror beside the far-most wall - Not one, but two of the most hideous creatures Kenshin had ever laid eyes on. Both of them were at least twelve-foot tall, their knobbly, dull, granite-grey heads almost brushed the ceiling of the girls' bathroom. Their legs, thick as tree-trunks crunched the tiles of the floor. Piggy, beady black eyes were fixed on the brunette, while a wooden club the size of a log dragged along the floor in both of their thick, clawed hands.

'Hermione, Move!' yelled Harry, but this barely got her attention. She looked ready to faint. However, the two other occupants heard and began to bumble towards them. 'Confuse them!' Harry told them, quickly running to dodge the swinging clubs.

Kenshin darted towards Kaoru and swept her from her feet as the club crashed down to the floor. Tiles exploded, dust rising in clouds. Ron, who had ran round away from Harry, Hermione and the other yelled 'Oi, pea-brain!' and lobed a piece of the pipes at the trolls. However, only one turned to see what had made the sound. Sanosuke swore as he vaulted himself to the left, narrowly avoided getting his head crushed by the club of the second, furious troll.

Kaoru, seeing the opening as Kenshin dashed back to try to help Sanosuke, ran to Hermione, shaking the girl's shoulder. 'Hermione! Come on! You have to run!' But the girl was too scared to move. Franticly, Kaoru pulled her arm. 'Hermione!'

'Kaoru-dono!'

Kaoru looked up at Kenshin's horrified yell, just in time to see one of the trolls go berserk, smashing its club blindly in their direction. She yelled and pushed the girl down, just as the club swiped at their heads, taking down several cubicles with it, covering them in wood and dust. Hermione screamed.

Kenshin almost felt sick with fear when he saw the girls disappear in a cloud of smoke. Kaoru-dono!

Something happened then. Something in him snapped, as if something that had been restraining something deep inside broke. He felt an icy calm wash over him. His eyes were no longer the soft violet they had always been.

They were amber.

He jumped out of the way of the swing of the troll's club. If I don't want us all to get killed I better do something about it now. Kenshin snatched up one of the Pipes lying across the floor from where Ron had thrown it. Roughly, it was the exact size and shape of a katana – Perfect. Kenshin struck the pipe towards the ground.

"Doryusen!"

Pieces of blade-sharp tile flew at the troll with the power of a truck, stabbing into thick, grey hide. The Troll howled in pain and rage, crashing round from Sanosuke, who had been clutching hold of the club in a desperate attempt not to be crushed from the swing it had aimed at him, sending the rooster-headed boy flying into the wall. The Troll roared and swung for Kenshin with all the strength it could muster. Kenshin leapt out of the way, sending the troll off-balance.

Now!

Kenshin flipped in the air, landing against the wall feet first, pushed off towards the ceiling, his makeshift sword raised.

"Ryutsuisen!"

Kenshin dived down, his 'sword' sent crashing home onto the creatures head with all the force he could muster. Bone crushed beneath him, a howl of agony abruptly cut off as he sent the thing crashing headfirst through the floor, tiles exploding around him. As the smoke cleared, the tiles had rippled away, the creature's head missing in a mass of stone and tile.

Kenshin landed with feather-lightness beside the mass.

One troll down.

Meanwhile, Harry had seen Hermione and Kaoru disappear under the dust and did the only thing he could think of to distract the other troll. He did a great, running jump and latched himself to the troll's neck, the wand in his hand thrust into the troll's nose. It howled, waving its club round as it aimed for Harry, who could do nothing but hold on for dear life.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Ron's quick thinking just managed to save Harry from being crushed by the berserk troll's club. The troll's club floated in mid-air, yanked from its grip. Slowly, it turned in the air, hovering - before landing on the troll's head with a loud, sickening crack. The troll swayed and fell flat on its face with a 'boom' that echoed over the walls, sending Harry vaulting from its back and rolling to the floor.

Silence. Only the panting of the children and the spray of water from broken taps could be heard. Kenshin groaned as he touched his head, which had begun to pound. When his eyes opened, they had become amethysts once more, as if the smouldering amber had never been.

Kenshin glanced round at the others from his place on the floor, where he had knelt to gain his breath once more. Sanosuke was hauling himself from the floor, his rooster-like hair drooping from the weight of the debris. Seeing Kenshin's eyes on him, ne smirked and gave him the thumbs up to show he was okay. Harry was cut a little from flying bits of tile and a little shaky, but Ron looked a little shell-shocked, wand still raised as he merely stared at what he did.

Kenshin felt fear rise in him for a second, until Kaoru and Hermione burst from under the debris, looking a little worse for wear – their ropes were literally white from the dust and pieces of tile. Kenshin sighed in relief.

Hermione stared at what had been done. One troll crashed halfway through the floor, the other lying over the other side, flat on its face. A little shakily, she said, 'Are they… dead?'

'I don't think so,' said Harry, slowly. 'I think they're only knocked out.'

Sanosuke looked at Kenshin, admiration in his eyes. 'Shit, Kenshin! That was so cool what you did!'

Kenshin smiled a little shakily. It had happened a little fast, it would take a little time for the events to catch up with him. 'Th-thanks.' He glanced at Kaoru and Hermione. 'Are you both okay?'

'I've been better.' Kaoru said as she dusted herself off, until she saw his face. Her eyes widened. 'Kenshin! You're bleeding!'

I am…? He couldn't remember getting hurt. Kenshin glanced into one of the cracked mirrors, seeing blood on his left cheek. Funny thing was, he didn't hurt. Raising a hand, Kenshin brushed his fingers over the blood, seeing it come on his hand, but there was no cut present on his face. 'I don't think its mine, Kaoru-dono.' Kaoru was looking at him as if she didn't believe him. Kenshin smiled and waved his hands franticly. 'Really! I'm fine, de gozaru yo!'

Kenshin wiped the blood from his face with the sleeve of his robes – just as footsteps could be heard dashing towards bathroom. Kenshin stiffened, while Sanosuke groaned, 'Oh…crap!' They hadn't realised what a racket they had been making, but how could they not have. Two trolls had literally distorted the walls and cubicles and had been knocked out with the force of an atomic bomb. Of course it was going to make a little noise! Mere seconds later, Professor McGonagall burst into the room, closely followed by Snape and Quirrell. Quirrell whimpered and slid to the floor at the mess.

Snape bent over the trolls, examining them closely. McGonagall looked so angry, even Kenshin flinched. For a moment, there was silence. Then-

'What on earth were you thinking of? You were lucky you weren't killed!'

Kenshin tried to look anywhere but at the fuming teacher: at the walls (the tiles broken into almost human shaped form where Sanosuke had been thrown), Ron (who still had his wand raised) – anywhere. His eyes rested on the lower robes of Professor Snape. Then he saw it.

Blood was on his robes, which were shredded, as if ripped by large, powerful jaws. His eyes widened, before the robes were swept across his leg. The Potions master shot him a death-glare. Kenshin's eyes narrowed in return. What the hell was he up too?

'It was my fault Professor – they were looking for me.'

Kenshin blinked in surprise and glanced towards the hesitant voice. His eyes turned the size of saucers.

'Miss Granger!'

Hermione avoided her eyes, still a little pale. 'I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own, cause I've read all about them.'

Ron's wand clattered to the ground and Kenshin almost fell over. Hermione was lying? And to a teacher! Was she sick or something?

Hermione took a deep breath. 'One troll was bad enough, but then another one showed up. If they hadn't come for me, I'd be dead by now. Sanosuke and Kenshin distracted one and Kenshin knocked it out with a pipe, Harry stuck his wand up the other's nose and Ron knocked that one out with its own club. They didn't have any time to fetch anyone – they were going to finish me off when they found me.'

The others nodded insistently, trying to look as though they weren't on the verge of a heart attack from Hermione's out-of-character act and that the story wasn't new to them. McGonagall turned to Hermione and scolded her, taking five points from Gryffindor 'for her foolishness'. Kenshin was confused. Why was she doing this for them? It was as if Snape was dressed in pink, throwing flower-petals and telling everyone 'I wove you!'

Hermione quietly took the scolding and left for the common room as instructed. The others froze as McGonagall turned to them.

'Well, I must say you were lucky, all of you. But not many first years could have taken out one fully-grown mountain troll, let alone two. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go.'

They hurried out of the chamber, but not before Kenshin had heard the teacher say, 'Those Trolls sure did a lot of damage. They even ripped the tiles from the floor.' Kenshin cringed. Especially since that was his fault. Kami, he hoped he wouldn't have to pay the bill for fixing the toilets!

Just as they rounded the corner, Kenshin felt a flash of malevolent ki. Kenshin almost froze at the feel of it. Such a vicious, cold, malevolent taint that made his blood run cold. That second ki! Was it…Quirrell who let the trolls in? That second ki…?

'Kenshin…?'

Kaoru blinked, realising Kaoru was looking at him with concern. Kenshin smiled. 'Sorry. It's nothing. Come on.'

The girl returned the smile and set off. As soon as her back was turned, Kenshin looked back at the teachers with hard narrowed eyes. The three headed dog, the tears in Snape's leg, the flash in the dormant ki Quirrell shouldn't even have… what did it all mean?

Kenshin hurried after the others. Whatever it was, Kenshin was going to find out. He just hoped his intuition was wrong…

Reaching the fat Lady, they said the password and climbed inside. The common room as packed and quite noisy. Food had been sent up and everyone was eating. However, away from all the crowds stood Hermione, waiting silently by the door. For a moment, they looked at each other in embarrassment. Then-

"Ummm... thank you," whispered Hermione. "For coming to rescue me…"

"Psh," blew out Sanosuke, then grinned, exchanging a look with Ron and Harry. "Don't go all mushy on us. We saved your life, so in return stop acting like a bossy know-it-all, all right? You'll make friends a lot easier.'

Hermione blinked in surprise. Kenshin smiled in agreement. 'Anyway, you go us out of trouble with McGonagall.' Kaoru said with a smile. 'Lets call it even, ne?'

Hermione smiled, tears in her eyes.

'Thank you…'

To be continued…

Chosha's Notes

Can't think of anything to comment on just yet. But, if you guys have a question or comment for me, please review and I will do my best to answer!

Next time on RKatPS

Kenshin's confused, Harry is a wreck. Whats up? Next episode: Quidditch begins!

Ja ne for now! See you next time!

Chosha Kurenai xXx