XXXV

"You told Professor Snape about my Boggart?" Kakashi found Draco Malfoy during dinner in the Great Hall.

The blond boy jumped in surprise at Kakashi so rudely interrupting his conversation with his fellow Slytherins. Wearily, he eyed Kakashi. "What are you talking about?"

Kakashi had no patience for Draco's faux innocence. "I talked to Snape. He knew about my Boggart."

Draco snorted. "So what? Anybody could've told him." But even as he spoke, Kakashi could smell his lie. His pulse even quickened.

He had yet to meet a good liar in this school. Even the adults were easy to read, with the one exception being Dumbledore. And maybe Snape, Kakashi thought, though it always depended on the Potions master's mood. When he was angry, Kakashi could read him like a book, and thankfully, the man was almost always angry when he laid eyes on Kakashi.

"I know you're lying," Kakashi insisted with narrowed eyes, ignoring the snickering from the other Slytherins around the table. "Would you want me to share with your friends how you—"

"Alright," Draco interrupted quickly. "What do you want?"

"Why did you tell Professor Snape?"

Draco looked a bit annoyed by the question. "Come on," he whined. "You're not really bothered by it? Everybody knows. Your own Hufflepuff classmates told everybody what they saw. And you're angry with me?"

He was right of course. While Kakashi didn't particularly like the fact, that by now almost everybody knew about his Boggart, this wasn't the issue. Barely anybody had figured out what it really was, thinking Obito must have been a dark magical creature. He had heard some call it an Inferius. But Snape was different. Snape would know how to somehow use the information against Kakashi, so Kakashi needed to know, what Snape had found out.

"It really bothers you?" Draco whistled at Kakashi's glare. "Okay, okay… I'm sorry." He didn't sound as if he meant it.

"What did you tell him?" Kakashi asked again.

"What I saw," Draco shrugged. "Professor Snape asked me about it, and I told him." His brow furrowed. "It was a bit weird. He even wanted to view my memory, but…" he smirked innocently, "who am I to deny a teacher?"

Kakashi was stuck on the last part: View his memory?

But he wasn't close enough friends with Draco that he would ask him how that was done. He could just as well ask Hermione, and she would probably even know a lot better.

"So he saw everything?" Kakashi asked to make sure.

Draco shrugged. His pale grey eyes drifted from Kakashi's face over his shoulder.

"What is the meaning of this?" Snape's voice snarked from behind Kakashi. "Are you intimidating my students, Mr. Major?"

Kakashi didn't bother to explain himself.

"It's unfair!"

"You keep saying that Harry." Hermione leaned over her Charms book, frowning in thought as she tried to concentrate.

Harry felt wet and disgusting as he plummeted into the cozy armchair in front of the fireplace in the common room. His limbs still felt stiff from training. The weather had been horrible. He loved Quidditch, but when the weather was like that, he'd gladly skip practice. And to think that it would only get worse from now on. The first game was in six weeks, in early November… And then the second game likely in January. Ugh.

He'd waited the entire summer to finally be able to sit on the broom again. Now, he'd spent the last two hours getting drenched in rain with the cloaks barely protecting him from the wind.

"The first game was supposed to be against Slytherin!" he complained not stopping, just because Hermione was getting annoyed.

"You said that."

Harry huffed. "Draco's not even injured." But of course, he'd convince Snape to give Slytherin a free pass for the game in November. Now, Harry didn't even know if the game would be postponed completely, or if they'd get another opponent.

"He really isn't," Ron chimed in snuggling into the couch on Hermione's other side, eating from a bag of Bertie Bott's. "He's doing just fine in Potions again. Snape gave him an E for the potion I made him and magically, he was able to do them himself again." Ron threw one of the beans up and tried catching it with his mouth but failed. "I got a T, by the way, for not handing anything in." He threw another bean, but this time he managed to catch it. "Charlie still gives him his History transcripts though."

"We've talked about his too," Hermione groaned. "Seriously boys, can we talk about somebody other than Draco Malfoy." Then she remembered her book and the essay, she had to write. "No, wait, just be quiet for a while."

"Who's that woman Snape was with earlier?" Ron asked changing the topic away from Malfoy, but decidedly not shutting up.

Harry shrugged. He wasn't really interested, what Snape was doing with the other staff members.

"Hermione, you must know. You know all the teachers. Long, light brown hair, a bit younger than McGonagall. And that knitted sweater…" Ron grimaced. "Seriously, looked like the ones Mum always makes us for Christmas."

"I like your Mum's sweaters," Harry chimed in feeling a need to defend Mrs. Weasley. Ron snorted.

"That's probably Professor Burbage," Hermione answered distractedly. She looked up at Harry and added at his quizzical look, "Muggle Studies. Seriously, didn't you even look up the teachers when you chose your electives last year?" She shook her head disapprovingly.

"So, what's with Burbage?" Harry asked because he didn't know why Ron even mentioned her.

Ron shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think Snape asked her something about Charlie." He threw another bean and missed. "I overheard Snape saying his name. But no idea what they were saying."

This finally made Hermione look up curiously. "Charlie?"

Ron nodded, as he caught another bean but spit it straight out in his hand.

"Stop it, Ron!" she exclaimed. "That's disgusting. And stop throwing them!"

With a slight blush, Ron threw the bean in the fire. "It's bogey flavored," he tried to defend himself. "You wouldn't want to eat it either."

"Then don't eat them!"

"Alright, alright." Harry tried to calm the situation. "We were talking about Charlie."

"Right," Ron nodded.

"But you didn't hear what they were talking about?" Hermione shook her head. "So, we learned nothing new." She shrugged. "Charlie and I have Muggle Studies together, but why would Snape be interested in that?"

"How would you know?" Ron scoffed. "You don't even go to Muggle Studies."

Hermione blushed. She seemed about to retort something, then she only pressed her lips tight.

"I still think, the language is the best hint we have so far," she said after a while.

"But he had an explanation for it," Ron disagreed. "And since we don't speak Afrikaans, we can't disprove it."

"What about his accent?" Hermione suggested. "Until yesterday, I didn't know how close Afrikaans was to Dutch, which is really closely related to English… But his accent…" She clicked her tongue. "What's that R-sound he sometimes makes?"

"He says he has a speech impediment," Harry said. Charlie had told him during one of their evenings in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh…"

Ron huffed. "He really has an explanation for everything," he grunted. "It's infuriating. He could be lying his pants off and we wouldn't even notice."

Harry shook his head. "Nobody's that good at lying. And Dumbledore wouldn't—"

"We talked about that," Ron interrupted him. "Dumbledore already fell for Quirrell."

"Charlie isn't Voldemort." Harry was getting tired of this.

"Come on, Harry." Ron grinned sheepishly. "It was just an example—"

With a heavy thud, a thick ball of orange crashed into Ron's belly.

"EH!" Ron exclaimed jumping up, scrambling to check his cloak pockets for Scabbers. "Your beast again, Hermione!" He twisted and turned to dislodge the tomcat from where it had clawed into his cloak, then Ron kicked after the cat.

"RON!" Hermione screamed in anger. "Don't kick him."

"Then keep your ugly beast away," Ron shouted back. He now held a squealing Scabbars in his hand and high above his head.

Crookshanks jumped onto the couch and ducked as if preparing for another attack.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione grabbed the cat just in time and quickly carried him up to her dorm room.

"He's mad!" Ron yelled after her. "Your furball is a crazy killer cat! And cruel! Scabbers never did anything to provoke him!" He turned to Harry when Hermione disappeared "He didn't!" He huffed. "Even if he wanted to, I wouldn't let him. He's with me all the time now. I even think about bringing him to class, as long as he's not safe here. But she still lets her cat roam free."

Harry didn't know what to reply. Normally, he would agree with Ron, just this time, he had actually been relieved at Crookshanks' interruption. He didn't like their investigation of Charlie.

Ron invited Kakashi for a game of chess before Dinner on Friday. Kakashi had never played the game before, but as Ron explained the rules, it reminded him a bit of Shogi. He didn't take the game seriously, just spending some time with Harry's friend, while Harry was training with his Quidditch team. He lost the first round.

It wasn't that big of a surprise. Ron had more experience and knew the pieces and patterns better… And well, he had forgotten to explain a particular move called castling.

"Sorry for that," Ron said sheepishly, after setting Kakashi's king checkmate. "I forgot about that."

Kakashi nodded, not feeling anger over the lapse in Ron's game introduction.

"We don't need to count that," Ron offered unhappily. "That wasn't fair."

Blinking, Kakashi looked at the Weasley. "I didn't know we were counting," he admitted. He was suddenly reminded of Guy. He hadn't thought about the Green Beast back at home for a while now. Here in the magical world, he could almost forget that there was an entirely different world waiting for him to return to. He wondered if Guy missed him. Or had he already found another rival to challenge? As he considered that option, Kakashi felt a sudden sting of jealousy.

"No…" Ron shrugged. "Uhm, I mean, we're just playing for fun. But what's the point of winning, if not to keep track?" He let the pieces set themselves up again.

"Mah," Kakashi hummed still having time for a second round. "No, we can count that. I would've lost either way." He probably would've. Now that he thought back on the game, he had made a few mistakes that Ron had exploited relentlessly. "I'll win the next one, though."

"We'll see." They watched as the last pawn moved to its spot. "Do you want to be white now?" But Kakashi didn't think he needed to play white. "You're pretty good, by the way," Ron continued, as he moved his first pawn. "For a beginner."

Kakashi smiled. "Why, thank you."

And then he crushed Ron in a matter of 31 turns. Truthfully, the boy wasn't bad. He'd noticed Kakashi's first two strategies in time – or maybe more likely, he'd already played enough games to be keenly aware of the different opening moves – but then he had blindly fallen for the last.

"Damn," Ron grumbled, staring at where Kakashi's rook forced his king to surrender. Still a bit fascinated by the dramatics, Kakashi watched as the small white king, waved his fists in frustration.

"I've never been defeated so shamefully!" The king yelled at Ron, before putting his crown down in defeat.

"Bunch of bullcrap," Ron replied. "They are always so overdramatic." He pointed at the black king. "That's why I gave you black. That one tends to exaggerate much less."

Kakashi smirked. "So, you thought I would lose again."

Ron shrugged. "Granted, you're better than Harry and Hermione. Another?"

Kakashi agreed because he didn't have anything else to do before curfew.

They were in their fourth match and this time, Kakashi was aiming for a much more decisive 14 turn victory, when loud hooting distracted them. High above their heads, a swarm of owls entered the Great Hall. Circling around, they looked for their owners and addressees. Dinner was long over and the Great Hall wasn't nearly full, but there were still enough owls to obstruct the view up to the late evening sky the ceiling was depicting.

"What's going on?" Ron wondered, catching the owl that was crashing down next to him.

"I didn't know the Daily Prophet had late evening auditions," Kakashi replied, eyeing the rolled newspaper in the owl's grip.

"Sometimes, when something big happens," Ron said distractedly, as he tied the newspaper loose. It was very thin. No more than a few pages, Kakashi reckoned. "Last time it happened when Black escaped from the ministry. And before that when he escaped from Azkaban…" He looked at the headline. "Yeah, of course." He grunted as if annoyed. "No big news unless it's to do with him these days." He folded the newspaper and put it aside to continue their game, not interested at all in the contents of the Daily Prophet evening edition.

Kakashi eyed the paper curiously. "Do you mind?" he asked, nodding at it.

Baffled, Ron looked from Kakashi to the paper, then he nudged the Daily Prophet towards him with his elbow. "Go ahead." He moved his knight. "And it's your turn."

But Kakashi wasn't interested in the game anymore, instead, he unfolded the newspaper and started to read. At least he was by now used enough to the odd letters, that he could read it quickly.

Wizengamot Decides Reintroduction of the Dementor's Kiss

After a six-hour deliberation, the Wizengamot has finally decided to agree to the proposal to reinstitute the ultimate punishment, the wizarding penal system has to offer. Minister Cornelius Fudge already proposed the new regulation in early August. In a first voting, the change to the legal code was shot down by the Wizengamot.

Amelia Bones, spokesperson of the Gamot was one of the major voices stopping the motion. "The Dementor's Kiss is a cruel punishment that we rid ourselves off after the last war against him Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It would be a travesty if a criminal such as Sirius Black would force us to regress back to these dark old times," she said to the Daily Prophet back in August. Maybe witch Bones forgot the danger, criminals like Sirius Black pose to our society. Surely his actions in mid-August have reminded her and all of us, of the true danger a man like Black embodies.

Black's brutal escape from the Ministry holding cells, when he injured four - one of them still in critical conditions - undoubtedly proved that s uch actions cannot remain unpunished, and the ministry has to set an example dissuading others to follow in Black's footsteps. What would happen to our peaceful world, if people like Sirius Black – murderers, and death eaters – could roam freely?

"It is my foremost duty as the Minister of Magic to protect the Witches and Wizards of Great Britain and Northern Ireland along with our non-magical neighbors. Sirius Black's actions cannot remain unpunished. What answer does our world have to a man such as he? Who cannot roam free, and yet clearly, cannot be detained!" Such were the words of Minister Fudge, before he posed the question to the Wizengamot again this morning.

It took the esteemed witches and wizards of the Gamot six hours to come to a decision. Now it is official:

Upon his recapture, the fate that will await Sirius Black is final-

"It's your move, mate." Ron waved at Kakashi and then gestured at the chessboard, where he had basically lost the match already.

"What's the Dementor's Kiss?" Kakashi moved his bishop the way he had intended. There was only one move Ron could do now, to prevent his loss.

"I don't know," Ron answered distractedly. He didn't even think about the question, as he frowned and contemplated his next move. "Damn." He was smart enough to know, that he was losing, but clearly hadn't found his way out of the predicament.

"I want to know." Kakashi didn't let it go. He'd much rather Ron focused on the question than on the game. "The Dementor's Kiss. Hey!" He snapped his fingers in front of Ron's face to get his attention.

Annoyed, the boy scowled at him. "Seriously, I don't know. Dad mentioned it once, but I never asked. It's a punishment, I think, why?" He glanced at the newspaper. "Did they decide to give it to Black?" Ron didn't seem all that perturbed by the suggestion. "Why do you even care?" Then he flicked his king, that growled at him in annoyance for being mishandled so nonchalantly. "I give up. Another round?"

Kakashi shook his head. He wasn't interested in chess anymore. "Another time."

Ron looked disappointed. "Why do you care about Black? Not like they caught him anyway."

Kakashi shrugged. "Think about it. Those Dementors. Would you want to be kissed by them?" He grimaced in disgust, even though that wasn't the reason that had him worried. Whatever this punishment was if it wasn't used for so long and only now reinstated for Sirius… That couldn't be good. Still, his antics worked on Ron, who paled a bit at the mere idea of kissing a Dementor.

"Well, good thing I'm not an escaped murderer," he grunted and started putting away the chess pieces. His white king was still openly cross with him, for having lost multiple times. "Get in there!" He threw the king in the small bag with the other pieces.

Kakashi looked at the bag in thought. The Dementor's Kiss. One more thing to ask Lupin about. The only problem was that he had started purposefully avoiding the teacher ever since the Boggart incident. He knew Professor Lupin was eagerly waiting to meet him alone one day, to question him about the Boggart. And what would Kakashi say then? Clearly, he couldn't keep telling people, that Obito was a bird… That might've worked to stop Harry and Neville from asking further questions – not because they fell for it of course, but because they were too awkward to bring the topic up again. It wouldn't work with the adults. In truth, he should probably talk with Lupin about it. He could see it as a practice for Snape, who'd surely question him about it as well, eventually.

"Well, Harry's training should be over soon. I should go looking for him..." Ron took his chessboard and stood up. "And Scabbers. I forgot to give him his tonic." Ron spoke more to himself than to Kakashi, but Kakashi listened intently. "As long as Crookshanks didn't eat him."

"Crookshanks?" Kakashi had heard Ron complain about the cat many times before, but since both Hermione's cat and Ron's rat spent the majority of their time in the Gryffindor common room, he didn't get to see what Ron was complaining about yet.

"Yes. That fat cat has it in for Scabbers!" Ron seemed eager to air his grievances about Crookshanks, but then his shoulders slumped a little. "I really need to take care of the tonic."

Kakashi wondered if the rat tonic would do a rat animagus any good. He stood with Ron, realizing, that he wouldn't get any information about the fight between Crookshanks and Scabbers today. And really, was it even important?

"Do you have any idea, where to get hair dye?" He quickly asked before Ron could leave.

The boy stopped short. "Hair dye?" He glanced at Kakashi suspiciously. "What do you need hair dye for?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm running out." Just this morning, he had opened the last bottle. With his bright grey roots growing in quickly, he needed to dye his hair regularly. It would still last him to the end of the month, but then he would need more. He could bridge a few days with a Transformation, but he didn't want to waste chakra – even just a tiny amount – for any lengthy time, if he could just as well dye his hair.

"I have no idea," Ron answered eventually eying Kakashi suspiciously. "So, that's not your natural hair color? Why do you dye?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Brown makes me look younger." He turned to look where Justin was. Surely the muggle-born student would know where to get some hair dye. Was there special magical hair dye? "I guess I'll ask somebody else."

He left, just as Ron asked what his natural hair color was.