Chapter Three

The seven teenagers came tumbling out of the Weasley fireplace to land in a sooty pile on the floor. Well, five of them landed in the sooty pile. Hiei and Kurama, while slightly blackened, managed to keep their balance as they spun out onto the hearth.

After helping up those on the floor, Hiei, Yusuke and Kurama took stock of their surroundings. They were in the kitchen of a house that was odd even by youkai standards. Everything seemed to be a patchwork of mismatched magical items. Kurama voiced his opinions out loud: "This is cozy; I like it." His remark was closely followed by Yusuke's "Cool house," and Hiei's typical "Hn."

"Glad you like it," Ron grinned. "Mum's been cleaning like crazy in preparation for your arrival. Only, I kinda forgot about it, so I thought she was doing it just for the sake of being a crazy cleaner."

"Congratulations on the wonderful alliteration, Ron," Ginny said sarcastically. "But yeah, he's right. After Bill and Fleur's wedding, she turned us all out of the house…sent us to Head – a friend's house, I mean, so that she could dust without interruption."

Hiei tugged on Kurama's sleeve. "Kitsune, where do we put this?" he asked, referring to the luggage he, Kurama, and Yusuke were still toting around.

"Yes, where will we be staying?" Kurama inquired, turning to face their hosts. He had wondered whether they each would have their own room, or if the three Tantei would share. Then, there was also the possibility that he and his companions would have to sleep with some of the normal humans. Privacy would have its peaks, that was for sure. They would be able to discuss the mission away from prying eyes, and it would also draw attention away from Hiei's unusual preference to either sleep on window sills or high up in trees

"I dunno," Ron replied. "Lemme ask Mum. MUM!" he called, "WE'RE HOME!"

There was a rustling sound outside the door and a flustered Mrs. Weasley rushed in. "I saw you coming on the clock," she explained, "but I had to do a couple of finishing touches first."

Yusuke stepped forward. It was cruel having Kurama do all the introductions. He was probably tired of it by now. "Yo! I'm Urameshi Yusuke, the guy with the long red hair is Ku – Minamino Shuichi, and the unsociable runt is Jaganshi Hiei." At these words, Hiei released a guttural grow and glared at the unfortunate Spirit Detective.

"Hey!" Ron interjected. "I thought you guys' first names were Yusuke, Shuichi, and Hiei, not the other way around."

Kurama realized that the translation potion apparently didn't catch little quirks like that. "In Japan," he explained, "we say our last name first. It would seem that the translation potion doesn't fix that."

"Well, anyway, pleased to meet you boys –" here, Kurama sighed in relief, glad that there was no confusion over his gender " – My name's Molly Weasley. Ron? Will you take them upstairs? Harry will be staying in your room, Ginny and Hermione will be in her room, and Shuichi, Hiei, and Yusuke will be in Fred and George's old bedroom."

"I'm going to start getting supper ready, so Ron, Ginny, if you would lead them up…"

The whole gang traipsed up the stars following the two redheads in front. Kurama watched as they passed by a variety of doors, some opened, other not. As the septet neared the top, the two guiding Weasleys slowed to a stop.

"Here's your room," Ron said, gesturing towards a door on the right. "Harry and I are on the top, and Ginny and Hermione are in between. If you need something, holler."

"I reckon that Mum will have dinner done in about half an hour," Ginny added, "so you should have time to get all of your bags unpacked."

When the room was opened, it was in slightly better shape than it had been when Harry had stayed in it. The boxes had been removed, and there were now three nice-looking beds and the same number of chests of drawers. Luckily (for Hiei) there was a window, shielded by red and white checkered curtains.

Hiei immediately moved towards the bed nearest to the window and set his bags down upon it. As Yusuke started to choose a sleeping place, Kurama hastily took the middle bed, hoping it would forestall any possible arguments that could possibly occur between the other two.

"This really isn't such a bad place," Yusuke commented. Kurama had the feeling that he had originally offered a complement just to be polite. "A bit cramped, though."

"While we have some time," Kurama suggested, "Why don't we discuss the mission a bit more. In all the confusion, I never really did catch Koenma-sama's reason for keeping Kuwabara-kun behind."

"But," Yusuke began apprehensively, "what if we're overheard?" Kurama cut him off with an uncharacteristic smirk. "Got that covered," he replied, pointing to a rubbery vine that was quickly filling in all the gaps between the door and the doorframe. Yusuke hadn't even seen the fox run a hand through his hair. Hiei might have, but if he did, the little fire youkai wasn't telling.

"Ah!" Yusuke said, satisfied with Kurama's reply.

"I wonder what those three are talking about in there," Ron said, glaring suspiciously at the door behind which the three transfers were currently having some sort of discussion.

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione ejaculated. "They're just Japanese transfer students. It's not like they're hiding something."

"It's just, why Hogwarts?!" Ron exclaimed. "They could have gone anywhere in the world, even to America, but they have to choose the place where the wizarding world is at war. It just seems too suspicious."

"You know, I agree," Harry concurred with a nod.

Hermione groaned. "Not you too, Harry!"

"Hey! It can't hurt to investigate them a bit," Harry defended.

"It's an invasion of privacy!" Hermione insisted. "Tell them, Ginny!"

"Well," Ginny considered, "One can't be too careful, but it's still rude. We would have to worry about getting caught, too."

"Got that covered," Ron smirked, blissfully unaware that Shuichi had done the exact same thing just moments before. He held up four sets of Extendable Ears. Handing one to Harry, he turned to push his own under the door. Hermione resolutely refused the Ear that was offered to her, dragging Ginny upstairs before the girl could even consider accepting.

Ron knelt to slide his Extendable Ear under the door crack. However, he frowned and stood back up again. "What's wrong?" Harry queried.

"There's some sort of rubbery plant thing blocking the crack," Ron replied, scowling in annoyance.

"Well," Harry smiled. "That just proves that they're up to something."

"Hey, Kurama?" Yusuke asked in Japanese. "What is our mission, anyway?"

Said kitsune stared at him, sweating slightly. "You mean you don't know?"

"Nah," the punk grinned. "Pacifier Breath didn't tell me and Hiei nothin'."

"The toddler said you would explain," Hiei added.

"Figures," Kurama mumbled under his breath. "Oh well, I suppose I have no choice."

"Okay, Kurama, don't tell Yusuke and Hiei, but I am unofficially putting you in charge of this mission," the young ruler of Reikai informed the redhead.

"Why?" Kurama requested, confused. "Shouldn't it be Yusuke? I am still on parole, you know."

"Normally it would. However, this latest mission involves infiltrating a school. I think that makes you most suited for the job," Koenma acknowledged.

"True. Why send Yusuke and Hiei, then?"

"Good question. About Yusuke, I have to put him to some sort of use, or my dad will question why I went to the trouble of hiring him. Second, I believe you might end up needing some back up. The latter is true about Hiei, as well," Koenma explained.

"So what is this mission, anyway, Koenma-sama?" Kurama asked, his curiosity piqued.

Koenma clicked his remote and brought up an image of a splendid western-style castle on the screen behind the fox. "This is Hogwarts," he informed Kurama. "I believe that you are aware of the small population of humans that have learned to amplify and channel their reiki using 'wands', and call it 'magic'." Kurama nodded in confirmation. "Hogwarts is a wizarding school in Britain. That, however, is not our problem." Koenma clicked the remote again, this time showing a picture of a snake-like man. "This is Tom Marvolo Riddle, more commonly known as Lord Voldemort. This man has been causing us a lot of problems here in Reikai. Not only has he been flooding us with innumerable spirits, he has also been attempting to evade his own death. Botan!"

The poor ferry-girl came through the door carrying a humongous tomb labeled Reikai Laws, Vol. XXVIII. She set it down in front of Koenma with a loud 'thump'. "Here you go, Koenma-sama," she said. With a tiny wave of greeting to Kurama, the blue haired spirit left the room.

Meanwhile, Koenma was paging through the thick volume. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "Reikai Law, No. 1,279,586, Vol. XXIVII, Sec. 12, Part 2… 'no human, youkai, or spirit shall in any unnatural way attempt to make themselves immortal, due to the massive amounts of paperwork it generates…'"

"So," Kurama paraphrased, "You want us to get rid of his means of immortality and arrest him for breaking Reikai law."

"Correct!" Koenma grinned, pleased with the kitsune's deductions. "And let me assure you that his punishment will be many times more severe than yours and Hiei's."

"What I don't understand, though," Kurama frowned, "is how this involves infiltrating a school."

"Hogwarts is a wonderful source of information. You can use it as a base while you go out and destroy Horcruxes."

"Horcruxes?" the bemused fox questioned.

"Yes. Pieces of Voldemort's soul." The toddler fumbled around in a drawer. "Here. Read this. It should explain." Koenma shoved a sheaf of papers into Kurama's hands.

"What will we be posing as? Teachers? Guards?"

"Nope," Koenma grinned, an innocent smile spreading across his childish face. "Exchange students!"

"What?" Kurama yelped. "But, Koenma-sama," he tried to keep himself calm and collected, "we won't have access to restricted material and we won't be authorized to the grounds in times of need."

"You think I haven't thought of that?" Koenma pouted. "The headmistress knows exactly who you are. She'll make arrangements."

"All right," Kurama replied.

"Dismissed," the tiny ruler informed him. The kitsune bowed and walked out of the room.

"So that's what we're doing," Yusuke said with a nod of his head. "Thanks for telling us Kurama, unlike certain people. Coughkoenmacough."

"Hn."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Yes, Hiei, we are going to have to say with the 'stupid humans.'"

Hiei glared.

"And no, you are not permitted to decapitate them if they annoy you. Now, Yusuke, tell me if you will about what Kuwabara-kun is up to."

"Well, according to the toddler, someone has to baby-sit back at home. Pacifier Breath also mentioned something involving 'less fighting' and 'stealth mission.'"

"Ah," Kurama said, needing no more explanation.

"Oi, Kurama!" Yusuke suddenly recalled something that had been bothering him for some time. "Why can't we just call you 'Kurama Minamino'? No one would know the difference," he pointed out.

"Actually," the kitsune corrected, "As Youko, I stole a rather valuable object from the school about 700 years ago. The name Kurama would not go by unnoticed."

"Really?" Yusuke asked eyes brightening. "What was it?"

Fortunately for Kurama, their conversation was then conveniently ended by Mrs. Weasley's cry of "Dinner is served!"

Disclaimer: YuYu Hakusho belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi and all related industries. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and all related industries. I make no profit off this work of fiction.

A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope this chapter properly explained what the Tantei are up to. Although I hate to admit it, this chapter was already complete when I started to post the story; I just took my time typing up my edits, blaming it on end of the semester school work and having to finish up a Solstice present for my younger brother. '

Notes:

-The reason why 'Kitsune' won't translate when Hiei uses it to refer to Kurama is that the potion can't figure out whether it's Kurama's name or not. Obviously, names aren't translated literally, so the potion decides to leave it as is. How if Hiei said, "Look at that kitsune!" it would translate as "Look at that fox!".

-About Kurama's theft…by my personal timeline, this occurred before Makai and Ningenkai were divided by the barrier. And since Hogwarts is 1,000 years old, and Kurama is even older…it's totally plausible.