"Ah, Rugredo…I see you got my message." Dumbledore said with a smile on his lips. Hiei merely rolled his eyes and looked around the small office. Then his gaze rested on the small shoe beside him. He'd never get used to those damn portkeys.
"Hn…When do you want me to start?" he asked.
"Yes, the job….well, I'm afraid I've asked you here for….standby, if you will." Dumbledore carefully explained, "I believe Umbridge intends on firing Sybill soon, so….you're welcome to stay here within my office for the time being….." he noticed Hiei's annoyed look, "If that is alright of you, of course…"
"….It's fine." He grumbled. He glanced at Fawkes, who looked like shit. Suddenly, Fawkes burst into flames and ashes…Hiei arched his eyebrow in amusement, "I take it you have some kind of….sick fascination in seeing birds blow up?" Dumbledore merely raised his brow in amusement, before he let out a soft chuckle.
"No, no," a twinkle of delight flashed in his eyes, "Fawkes is simply…'resting', if you will. He'll come up from the ashes, born anew." He turned to look at the pile of ashes, "It really is an amazing site…." Hiei took another look around the room, and almost did a double take when he saw one of the people in the pictures move.
****
"Hiei, you really are doing well in your training!" James let out a nervous laugh, "I hafta admit I'm surprised. Honestly, I was kinda' expecting you to threaten me out of training you or something, but you've done ridiculously well!…..I'm jealous..!"
"Hn…" the red eyed demon rolled his eyes and prepared to leave for Ningenkai to leave for the Makai one last time before his mission started,
"Oh…and Hiei.." he stopped walking, "before you leave….I feel the need to…warn you." James uncertainly told him. Intrigued, Hiei turned around and gave James an annoyed expression.
"Warn me? Of what, you're dumb death spells?" he snorted. Harry's father waved his dismissively waved his hand,
"Afraid not, my short morbid student," Hiei let out another snort of amusement, "What I mean is I need to warn you about the everyday aspects of a wizard's life, and the 'not a chance in hell' aspects way of your kind of life. Once James saw he had Hiei's undivided attention, he continued, "for instance, your kind of pictures don't move-"
"..What the hell are pictures?" James nearly fell over in surprise.
"Uh….ok…a picture is an image taken that is copied by a camera….and stored within the picture..or photograph…you understand?" he got a slight nod from the demon, "Good…ok then. Well, you see, our kind of pictures….tend to…move." He explained.
"Is that all….?"
"No! Uhh….well, as you noticed, we have numerous types of…'sweet snow' in our world, just as we have several different types of candies and such."
"Candies?" Hiei questioned with an arched brow.
"….Nevermind." James muttered, "forget the candies, just….be prepared for different types of edibles and such."
"Can I leave now?" James didn't miss the bored tone in Hiei's voice.
"Uh….well…" the wizard just delved back into the subject, "You also need to look out of moving stairs…you do know what 'stairs' are, right?" He assumed "yes" by the evil look he was receiving, "Ok…good. Now…erk…there's also the 'password portrait, or pictures and/or photos….photos and pictures are the same thing….Anyways…they'll demand passwords and such to go enter a certain room. Another thing-" Hiei let out a resigned sigh and plopped to the ground, his shoulders hunched down as he sat Indian style…waiting for the lecture to be done and over with, "the moving corridors, some rooms and hallways tend to move around, so it's easy to get lost within the school. None of the main rooms or dorms moved, thankfully. And….uh…you will be assigned to a special table that is only for the teachers. Plates of food will magically appear in front of you when everyone is gathered for lunch or whatever…and…uh…get used to a mob of owls flying through the windows to deliver mail to the students. You teachers get your mail within your offices. Ehh….there will be floating candles in the cafeteria….hm…what else..?" he bit his lip in deep thought, "Oh yes, don't bother the Womping Willow….you'll see what I'm talking about when you get there." He added upon seeing Hiei's odd expression, "And….oh! My son should have an invisibility cloak….try to keep him out of trouble…ok?"
"Invisibility? As in…invisible?"
"….Yeah…"
"Can you…by any chance…buy these 'invisible cloaks?" a malicious grin spread over Hiei's face, "It'd come in handy for me in the Makai…."
"Uh…no. And…don't steal my son's." James warned him, "Yeah…there's also numerous secret passages and such, but that'd just take to long to explain."
"Finally…." The fire koorime muttered as he stood up, "I'll try to keep in mind everything you said…"
"Wait!" the short demon let a snarl, before glancing backwards.
"What?!" he hissed; anxious to return to the Makai.
"Just one more thing….some books tend to do…odd things when they're opened. For instance…some books will start screaming bloody murder, while others while put a sleep spell over you. Be careful when you open a book…." Hiei shook his head in exasperation before he left.
"If you have to warn me dangerous books, why do you wizards make them?" hr grumbled under his breath as he left.
****
"Something wrong, Rugredo? You seem a bit…lost." Hiei quickly shook himself out of his thoughts and face Dumbledore.
"So what am I to do until this other professor gets fired?" he saw no valid point in answering Dumbledore's question.
"I'd li-" he was cut short by Professor McGonagall suddenly bursting into the office.
"Professor, Umbridge just fired Professor Trewalney! What should we do?!" s
urgently asked, oblivious to Hiei in her moment of panic.
"Calm yourself, Minerva, and inform Umbridge that Sybill is not kicked off of these grounds, and try to comfort our resident divination professor." He ordered with a kind smile. She quickly nodded, calming a bit, and left the office. Then, Dumbledore turned to Hiei.
"It seems you won't have to wait at all!" he exclaimed with a grin. Hiei rolled his eyes in a 'duh' fashion before eyeing the door.
"…How did you know that…this Umbridge would fire this..Trewalney now?" he questioned with a raised brow. The headmaster merely grinned and opened the door to the stairway.
"Just a lucky guess… now then, come with me…" Just as they arrived to the Entrance Hall, the two immediately heard the wails of disbelief, denial. Dumbleldore made a gesture for Hiei to stay put, while the scene before them took center stage.
"No!" a woman hunched on the floor screamed, "NO! This cannot be happening… it cannot… I refuse to accept it!" the fire demon watched as another woman sneered at the hunched one, whom he presumed was the fired Trewalney. His eyesight switched over to the sneering old hag, and frowned.
"I take it the gloating one is Umbridge." He stated as Umbridge mercilessly rubbed Trewalney's misfortune in the professor's face. With a grim look, Dumbledore gave a slight nod of his head. He watched as Trewalney continued to ramble about how Hogwarts was he only home in a panicky voice, while Umbridge seemed to draw great pleasure and pride upon seeing the wreck that was once the Divination professor. Suddenly, McGonagall stepped away from the crowd to comfort the sobbing teacher, glaring at Umbridge.
"There, there, Sybil…" she soothed as she softly pat her back, "Calm down…. Blow your nose on this…" she summoned a tissue with a flick of her wand. Hiei's eyebrows shot up in barely disguised surprise. He didn't see that often, "it's not as bad as you think, now…you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts…"
"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" he heard Umbridge hiss as she took a threatening step closer, "and your authority for that statement is…?" Hiei glanced over at Dumbledore as he stepped out of the shadows and into the light for all to see. (1)
"That would be mine," he said with a small hint of smug satisfaction in his voice. The short demon couldn't help but notice the awed looks of respect and admiration from the staff and students as the headmaster made his appearance.
"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" she let out an unpleasant laugh, "I'm afraid you don't understand the position. I have here-" he watched as she pulled out some parchment from within her robes, "and Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister for Magic." He let out a quiet snort at the mention of the minister. The guy must be an idiot for hiring that unprofessional bimbo….in his "humble" opinion, "Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation, and sack any teacher she-that is to say, I- feel not performing to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trewalney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her." A look of pure agitation appeared on her face as Dumbledore continued to grin at her. Then, he looked down and gently murmured, "You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have ever right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the quthority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid, "he went on, with a courteous little bow, "that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trewalney continues to live at Hogwarts." Trewalney burst into a fit of wild laughter in which a small hiccough was barely hidden.
"No-no, I'll g-go, Dumbledore!" 'And this', Hiei thought to himself, 'is
another example of Human Stupidity. If someone offers you a good thing that isn't fishy, take it!' "I sh-shall- leave Hogwarts and s-seek my fortune elsewhere-"
"No!" the headmaster sharply replied, "It is my wish that you remain, Sybill." He turned to McGonagall, "Might I ask you to escort Sybill back upstairs?" the woman quickly sprung to action and crouched down to grab Sybill's arm.
"Up you get, Sybill…" Hiei watched as another professor came hurrying to the two's aid and gently took Sybill's other arm. The trio another professor, who muttered an incantation, and followed them up the steps with Trewalney's floating suitcase. 'I'm gonna' have one helluva' time here…'Hiei sardonically thought to himself as he watched the floating bags. Umbridge, meanwhile, stood rigid as a board as the scene before her unfold.
"And what," she whispered, "are you going to do with her oncde I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?" she demanded.
"Oh…that won't be a problem," a mischievous twinkle of glee appeared in his eyes, "You see, I've already found us a new Divination teacher, and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor." Personally, Hiei couldn't have cared less where his "lodgings" were located, but whatever annoyed Umbridge was fine by him. She reminded him too much of some arrogant low class Makai Lord.
"You found-?" her voice held a shrill note in it, "You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two –"
"The ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if-and only if- the Headmaster is unable to find one," he finished, then he dramatically gestured to the hallway's entrance, "And I'm happy to say that on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?" 'I suppose that's my signal to come out…' Hiei thought to himself as went, step by step, out of the shadows and into plain view of the students and remaining staff, '…and to start yet another impossible mission.'
"This is Professor Shigure," Dumbledore happily announced, "I think you'll find him suitable."
"Hn…"
A/N: Whelp….another chapter finished after…a few years. Sorry for the delay! My computer literally fried, we had to find a new one, went to Hawaii, exams, and another string of projects. Damn…I hope ya'll liked it. I've made it longer than usual, though it doesn't look like it. (I stopped double-spacing my chapters. I realized it made it look like I typed twice as much as I really did, and I just don't like that.) Anyways, R&R, and unfortunately, until Summer, you're going to have bare with me on these huge gaps between updates. I'm REALLY sorry!