Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, Harry Potter, or YuGiOh... YYH belongs to a Japanese man who thought it would be interesting to kill off his hero before the story even got properly started. HP belongs to an English woman who killed off a character with a lot of potential, but not before a huge amount of fangirls fell in love with him. YGO belongs to a Japanese man who decided killing people was far too simple, but having egotistical main characters mess with the minds of idiots would be just jolly good entertainment.

Well, you can all thank PenPusherM and LadyKatsu for getting my butt in gear to write this - both threatened me with 'I won't update 'til you do! So there!'

So it's their fault.

There was going to be another scene...but quite honestly, I didn't have the heart to rewrite it for the third freaking time. The characters annoyed me to no end - thus you are all stuck with this. Said scene will most likely appear next chapter.

(Sighs) Anyone have any other really good shonen-ai fanfiction out there? Anyone?

Communications

Hiei moved silently through the Forest, using the trees to keep himself off the ground. As promised, he'd begun a set of nightly sparring matches against the kitsune to keep the both of them in practice. The fire demon grimaced a bit as he thought of his choice for battle grounds – giving a plant master such as Kurama miles upon miles of weapons to choose from must have spawned from a fit of insanity, no matter how effectively fire worked against foliage.

It seemed Kurama had already beaten him to the clearing, leaning slightly against a tree that somehow served to accent the pristine white-and-green outfit he wore. Landing in a conveniently placed tree-branch that placed him slightly above Kurama's eye level, he waited for the kitsune to acknowledge his presence.

"Hello, Hiei. Are you warming up to the idea of teaching yet?"

Hiei snorted. It was just like the fox to goad him about his position. "You must be joking, Kurama. What would give you the idea I would ever enjoy this?"

Hiei sensed Kurama's arms moving to cross themselves as the red-haired fox relaxed further, and the fire demon realized there would be no battle tonight. "Oh, come now, Hiei. Surely you've at least picked a pet for yourself?" His smirking aura was almost tangible.

"A what?"

"It's a ningen custom. Children favored by the instructor are deemed by the other's to be a 'Teacher's Pet'. One of them must have caught your eye." Kurama pretended to think for a minute, idly watching a leaf flutter to the ground. "I believe mine would be Miss Granger. She uses her mind, but I have the suspicion she could be a vindictive little vixen if pushed."

"Ningen are useless, Kurama. You should know that. And your pet has no athleticism. Now, that Malfoy child – he looks like he'd stand half a chance. Less brain, but at least he has the movements of a fighter to–" he broke off at the sound of Kurama openly snickering. "What?"

"Nothing, Hiei. But you're contradicting yourself." Kurama pinched a lock of hair and twisted it between his fingers in a contemplative manner. "Perhaps we should pit our favorites against each other?"

A derisive snort met this suggestion. "Hn. Trust you to come up with a new form of amusement."

Kurama looked up towards the fire demon with an expression coated in mock horror. "It's not amusement, it's….well….training? Oh, all right, so Youko's found a new pastime. But you must admit, it would be fun. I'll have to look into this."

Hiei smiled wickedly. "I'm teaching dueling for a reason, Kurama. I'll find a way."

Kurama blinked as the breeze from Hiei's quick departure ruffled the strands of hair he'd been toying with. "Touché."

"Harry! Ron! Open the door! I'm going to lose all my–" Crash. "Books." A half-hearted sigh and a few more sets of thuds followed the announcement as Hermione bent over to pick up what she'd lost.

The door to the boys' dormitory opened quickly to reveal a head of black hair. "Hermione-kun, why are you carrying all that up here? You can't have that much homework, it's only the second day of school." Mokuba finished replacing a binder in his hair and bent over to help her gather the materials, giving her a kind but quizzical look.

Hermione smiled up at him wryly. "You'd be surprised how skilled Harry and Ron are at getting out of their homework. Ginny should be coming up to help me because the Common Room's so crowded." He handed her the last book and was rewarded with a quick thanks. "Where are you going, anyway?"

He looked at her quizzically. "Hm? Oh, I'm heading off to help my brother with something. He's waiting for me in the library." She narrowed her eyes and he put up his hands in defense. "My homework's done, I swear! See ya later."

"Hey, Hermione, that you?" called Ron from inside. "What's a 'burbuja'?"

Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "What is he talking about?"

Hermione shook her head, frizzy hair flying. "No idea. But I'm sure I'll find out somehow. See you later." She waved him towards the portrait hole. "Go before your brother gets worried."

He smiled wryly. "Happy studying."

Hermione rolled her eyes and entered the already chaotic dorm. "Yeah right," she murmured to herself. "Second day back and the first thing on my list is studying, I'm sure." Shaking her head as if to clear it of that train of thought, she let the pile of materials land haphazardly on Harry's unoccupied bed. "What have we got to work with, guys?"

Harry moved from his position of trunk-digging and smiled proudly as Ron abandoned his essay to look Hermione's way. "We've decided to take your advice."

The Gryffindor girl blinked. "My what?"

Ron continued, and the smiles on both of the boys' faces grew. "We're taking your advice and getting an early start on homework. 'Evil won't wait for your Potions due date' and all that."

Disbelief persisted on her face. "You're what?"

Harry nodded. "We're two essays away from being done with all the homework for the next week. So we thought we'd start with something important."

Ron looked enthusiastic. "Like what new plans You-Know-Who's got up his sleeve."

"Or the new teachers."

"Or running the D.A. again."

Harry smiled in a firm sort of way. "We're not winging it this year, is the point. We'll have a plan, and we'll make that plan work."

Tears were nearly brimming in Hermione's eyes, and she rushed to engulf both of them in a hug. "Please tell me you're not joking."

"We're not."

"At least until the essays get really ugly."

She pulled back just as Ginny stepped into the room, depositing another armload of books on Harry's bed. "Then we've got a lot of work to do. Ginny, grab a seat."

I am so lost. Beyond lost. I think the world ended somewhere next to that statue. Who'd figure that the library, of all places, would be so blasted hard to find? You'd think that'd be the central point of a school, but no, the central point of the school apparently doesn't exist because the walls move! libraryschoolno wallsMokuba was truly, honestly wishing that Hogwarts had some sort of accompanying map. He'd left the Common Room fifteen minutes ago, gone through several doors possessing destinations he wasn't familiar with, and found himself completely and utterly lost.

Maybe Seto's lost, too.

Right. Somehow, that didn't seem like his big brother. While the elder Kaiba possessed only the most elementary of people skills, he did seem to enjoy the benefits of a personal GPS tracking system in his head.

Something that didn't get passed on to me, apparently. I'm lucky to find the upside of a compass.

Finally stumbling upon an eager-to-help Professor McGonagall, he found a side route to the library and his none-too-patiently waiting brother. They exchanged pleasant greetings and ducked into an unused classroom just outside the library's main entrance.

Seto's hand twitched as he set his briefcase on a dusty desk and dug a letter out. "Mokuba, I need you to read this and tell me what you think. I received it this morning at breakfast."

As his brother handed the note over, the younger Kaiba noticed a great many crease lines on the parchment, as if it had been opened and refolded time and time again as the day wore on. A heavy hand had carved out the message in ink so dark a purple it seemed black, and had been dated not five days before.

To Whomever It May Concern,

Please make no attempts to burn, discard, or disbelieve this letter. Though at this time I know neither your name nor your face, you and I shall be meeting soon.

Judging by the reaction an item in my possession has been displaying recently, I assure myself it is safe to assume you have, at minimum, rudimentary knowledge of a set of objects known as the Millennium Items. If I am incorrect in this assumption, please include in your response a request for such knowledge.

The Millennium Rod, held by a High Priest of Ancient Egypt, has been, for lack of a better word, 'acting up' and 'pulling' itself away from my side. This leads me to believe it is searching, yet again, for a new owner, though the possibility remains of it merely leading me towards a new ally. This letter has been sent to you using adapted powers of the Millennium Rod itself – therefore I ask you to please excuse it's brevity in knowing that I am still unsure as to whom I am addressing.

I ask for nothing more than a conference between our two persons; note that any international setting will do.

Sincerely,
Malik Ishtar of the Ishtar Guardians

Mokuba looked up at Seto, eyes widening. "You can never have small problems, can you?"

Seto smiled deprecatingly, the expression looking deadened on his face. Mokuba began to notice the small lines around his features and the stressful stance of his body. "It's not in my nature."

Mokuba sighed. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

Seto looked surprised and slightly revolted. "Ignore it, of course. Do you really think I want to deal with that psychopath again?"

"No, but you should at least answer him," quipped Mokuba. "It's good manners."

Seto ran a hand through nearly-ragged hair. "The Millennium Rod – he's talking about that golden stick he kept brandishing around?"

The black ponytail bobbed up and down. "Yeah, I think that's it. So…."

"So what?"

Mokuba sighed and looked at his brother in exasperation. "So we've got to talk to Yugi about this, don't we?"

Seto stared at his younger brother, momentarily traumatized. "We've what?"

"Alright," Ginny stated, running her wand along an unrolled sheet of parchment. "We've determined that we have no idea what You-Know-Who's up to this year, other than the general 'kill-rampage-and-induce-terror' sort of plan. The D.A., due to a horrendous study schedule-"

Hermione shot her a look of venom. "Excuse me for wanting to pass sixth year."

Ginny cleared her throat again. "Like I was saying, due to a horrendous study schedule thrust upon Harry, Ron, and myself, the D.A. will be postponed until we determine whether or not the Defense teacher is actually competent this year."

Ron rolled his eyes. "What are the chances of that happening?"

Harry lazily moved from the bed to a lower vantage point on the floor. "We'll see."

Ginny continued with a look of determination. "That leaves two things – the strange appearance of one Mokuba Kaiba into Gryffindor house, and the even stranger appearance of our new professors."

Silence reined for several long seconds until Hermione spoke up. "Start with Mokuba.

"Start with Mokuba," said Hermione, absently chewing on the end of a Sugarquill. "He's probably the one we'll figure out first."

"For what it's worth, guys, I really don't think Mokuba's got anything to do with Voldemort," said Ginny ponderously. "He just….I dunno, doesn't have the 'evil vibe'."

Harry nodded his head. "There might not be anything we actually need to 'figure out'. I mean, really, he's seems like a normal enough kid."

"A super-human, sure, but still a normal kid," scoffed Ron. "Come on, Harry, you've got to be kidding me. You saw him jump fifteen feet into the Divination Tower same as I did."

"And you're still sure he wasn't using a levitation spell?" asked Hermione.

"Hermione, for the last time!" growled Ron, exasperated at having to retell the story multiple times since he day previous. "He didn't even have his wand out! Neither did that teacher!"

Hermione nodded and removed the Sugarquill from her mouth. "Right. Professor Mouto."

Ron grinned. "He's gotta be one of the most lax teacher we've ever had! Him and Urameshi are great! I mean, we got off attacking Malfoy with just a friendly 'teacher-to-student-to-students' talk."

"He seems to have a real rivalry with Professor Bakura, though," mused Ginny. "Even without what you said about him turning blue after you left, I've still seen the two of them quarreling all the time."

"Honestly," said Harry, "Bakura scares me a little."

Ron toyed with a chess piece. "He's got more of a scare factor than Trelawney ever did, I'll give you that."

Ginny stole a chocolate frog from the bag Hermione had brought up. "When you think about it, all the teachers seem a little dark. Not evil, really, just like the Auror's – they've seen so much of the dark it can't help but seep into them a little."

Hermione glared at her for the stolen chocolate before acquiescing. "Especially Professor Hiei – is that his first name? I don't think anyone ever actually has introduced us to him as anything else, really."

Harry shrugged. "Must be. What's with those ears on Professor Kurama's head, though? Mokuba asked him about it and it seemed like a private joke."

Ginny and Hermione looked wistfully at the sky at giggled as they caught each other's expressions. Ron barely avoided grinding his teeth at the two. "Doesn't matter, Harry," said Ginny, making a waving motion with her hand. "I mean, really, can you imagine Professor Kurama as evil?"

"He seems to have issues with Bakura, too, now that I think about it."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Does that make him evil?"

"No, that makes Bakura an outsider," said Ginny. "Or an anti-hero. Anti-villain, maybe?"

Hermione quirked a smile and changed the rails of the conversation, unwilling to delve deeper into the question. "Nobody's seen Professor Kaiba really interacting with anyone but Mokuba, have they?"

"Not really – that's kinda weird, when you think about. They all seem to know him – I've heard Professor Mouto mention him in class," responded Ginny.

"Professor Urameshi mentioned him too – not in very friendly terms, though. They're kind of opposite ends of the spectrum, when you think about it."

"Nuh-uh, Kaiba's on opposite ends with that new Flight Instructor – Botan, I think her name is. She's so….happy. Like the epitome of Hufflepuff." Ron pointed out. "By the way, Ginny, she told us she'd be out there during our practice tomorrow."

"Our practice?" Ginny's eyes went wide. "Oh man, Harry, we've gotta pick new players tomorrow! This is going to be hell. And it's two in the morning!" She sighed and started gathering up her books. "Alright, Hermione, I'm going to bed. Harry, Ron, try to get at least a little sleep so I don't have to call Pomfrey out to the first Quidditch accident of the season, alright?"

"Goodnight!"

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