Hey, long time no see! ^^ This is more of a reminder of what's happened so far, to an extent, but things will start heating up in the next few chapters. I'm going to start rewriting this, so updates will take awhile. (Not that they don't already.) Enjoy! ^^

There was something unsettling about the maze. Hitsugaya could feel it from the moment he entered and the entrance disappeared behind him. The magic in the area was almost suffocating, as if he were an academy student in the presence of a Captain. He stumbled under the pressure, before continuing on his way. He and Kurosaki had to find the others quickly, before something happened.

Hitsugaya tried to expand his senses, but the large amount of magic made it difficult to sense anyone else, even Kurosaki, whose spiritual pressure was usually out of control. He could sense the large amount of magic that came from the audience, where Matsumoto and the others were as well.

He furrowed his brows, straining to find other familiarities. There was Kurosaki. He seemed to have found one of the other contestants, probably Cedric. Now Hitsugaya needed to find Harry. He came to his first choice in paths, where a crossroads opened before him. He stood there for a moment, before a dark silhouette dashed past him down the left path. He followed it, and almost sighed in relief when he felt the familiar presence of Potter.

Wizards were just so unpredictable at times.

As he ran, careful to watch where he stepped, his mind spun with unanswered questions. He could still remember what they had overheard. Since Hermione had used that translation spell the other day, the language barrier hadn't been a problem. But now the problem was what they were talking about in the first place. Hollows? Zanpaktou? None of what they talked about made any sense. And then there was the conversation they'd overheard back in the infirmary.

"Of course you wouldn't know, Kurosaki. I died several years before you met Kuchiki after all." Shouta's voice.

"Izukai has a… situation that caused a problem in Soul Society several years back. Though I suppose it should be expected that it will resurface every few years or so." Toshiro.

"So what's this problem or situation or whatever it is that he's got?" Ichigo.

"…Insanity." It was barely audible, but it was there. Hermione stifled a gasp.

"Oh," Ichigo was heard again.

"Think about it like your hollow, Ichigo." That sounded distinctly like Rukia. "The only difference is this isn't controllable or capable of being contained. It's hardly even considered living."

"He doesn't like it when you refer to him like that." Shouta again.

"What the bloody hell are they talking about?" Ron muttered, looking between the others in confusion. Hermione didn't answer, but that look on her face didn't bode well for the secrets of the Japanese students.

Harry still couldn't get over what they'd heard then. Who was Izukai? He'd heard of the killer from the television and from his aunt and uncle's conversations in the past. Did that mean of them were actually Izukai? And the others knew about it…

And then there was that thing Shouta had said.

"Of course you wouldn't know, Kurosaki. I died several years before you met Kuchiki after all."

Harry stopped in his tracks, bringing his hand up to his chin to think. He went back over all the times the transfers had done something strange throughout the years.

Back in his second year, there was the way they'd showed up at the scene of every incident before he did. He thought he was the only one who could hear those voices, since they'd been spoken in Parseltongue. With Shouta, it was understandable as his family had a history, but what about Hitsugaya? Did he just follow along? And then there was Shouta's scars, and what Manabu had said about him.

"Shouta isn't what he says he is. To put it bluntly, he's a murderer. He's killed thousands of people, even the girl he loved, all mercilessly. He says that it was to protect his sister, but I think he's full of crap. He murdered my parents in front of my own eyes, and he got away with it all claiming self-defense. I want to confront him and deal with him myself. Also, he's not Shouta Watanabe."

Did that mean Shouta is that killer? He's Izukai?

And then there were the incidents in the Chamber of Secrets and the Dark Forest. Shouta was holding a gun, and Toshiro a weird sword. And that man that attacked them with Riddle...

In his third year, they were unusually sensitive around the dementor on the train, and the fight they'd had. What was that about? And their boggarts… No normal kid, transfer student or not, should have boggarts like that. But if Shouta was Izukai, then his boggart would make more sense, Harry supposed. Then there was the way they were unusually secretive about their origins, especially when they brought him to Japan over winter break.

And what was their connection with that string of murders they'd encountered? There was that one kid who had been killed, who must've been a muggle since no one knew who he was. And that man—Raynaulski—who attacked him back in the tower. Shouta knew him, he'd explained that much, but how? What was their connection to each other?

And earlier this year, they did things he didn't understand. Their reflexes were far above normal, even if their school supposedly taught physical combat. And what was Vellamo, that weird creature from the second task, talking about?

"The lords told me the Champions have sinned! And sinners must be punished!"

"I'd say the same for you, Captain. You seem to have yet to realize that you've already lost. You've got a double-sided blade."

Why had he referred to Toshiro as Captain? Was he just mocking him? And this "lords" business… There was more than one.

"…My real name is Shouta Izukai. And our school is top secret, so not even Dumbledore knew about it until a few years ago."

That's right. He'd forgotten through everything that had happened. Those newspapers he'd found, with Shouta's face on it… But the other never seemed so threatening. And until now, it hadn't ever sunk in that Shouta was Shouta Izukai, and that he had killed a lot of people.

Harry's face drained of color at the thought. He had to tell Dumbledore, had to let the man know that everyone was in danger. Why hadn't he thought of this when he'd first found out? Harry cursed quietly, taking off at a run down the path of the maze again. Shouta seemed so… unthreatening, so normal. He didn't seem like the kind of person who could kill. He groaned inwardly at his stupidity. Well, of course not! How could he have escaped suspicion for so long otherwise?!

Shaking his head to clear it of more rampaging questions, Harry surged forward with a new burst of energy. He couldn't do anything until he got out of the maze. First he'd get out of here, and then he'd go find Dumbledore. He wouldn't let the bastard get away forever.