Hehehe! I've been picturing the first half of this chapter for a long time. I had to do a bit of research on kappas before writing it. Since they've been mentioned a few times throughout the Harry Potter franchise, it's only natural that Rin shows everyone how to handle one.

Enjoy!

Chapter 13

Kappas

Defense Against the Dark Arts quickly became almost everyone's favorite subject. Only Draco Malfoy and his crew didn't have anything nice to say about it or the teacher who taught it.

"Look at the state of his robes," Malfoy observed in a loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws on their way to Herbology. "He dresses like our old house elf."

Yukio, who overheard Malfoy's complaining, adjusted his glasses. "Not all great teachers dress extravagantly. Remember last year's teacher, Malfoy?"

Terry chuckled. "Ironic, isn't it? Last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher dressed in fancy robes and was mediocre at best. This year's teacher dresses in secondhand robes and he's doing brilliantly."

Anthony chuckled too. "You know what? You're right."

Malfoy scowled at Yukio's group. "Weasley's family can afford better robes than him," he said.

Michael scowled back. "Go insult another hippogriff, Malfoy," he said.

Malfoy kept up the scowl before leaving the four Ravenclaws to catch up with his fellow Slytherins.

Terry sighed. "Well, we're now on Malfoy's hate list," he remarked.

"Welcome to the club," said Yukio. "I've been on it since day one."

~0~0~0~

After boggarts, the third years studied Red Caps, nasty goblin like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, such as battlefields and dungeons of abandoned castles. When Rin learned that they would study the kappa next, he became excited. Living in Japan gave the Okumura brothers knowledge about certain mythical creatures and how to defeat them.

Rin snuck off to the kitchens to get what he needed.

"Rin Okumura!" a female house elf named Dolly called out as she ran towards him. He quickly embraced her.

"Dolly, how've you been? It's been so long!" Rin greeted back. Ever since Rin's first year, the house elves of Hogwarts enjoyed his company as he taught them how to make snacks from Japan. Dolly was the house elf Rin was closest to.

"Is Rin Okumura here to teach the house elves how to make a new snack from Japan?" asked Dolly.

"Not this time, Dolly, I'm here on school business," answered Rin. "I need something from the kitchens for my next Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

Dolly tilted her head in confusion. "Something from here? What does Rin Okumura need from the kitchens for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"I need a cucumber and an ice pick."

Dolly blinked her large eyes. "How does a cucumber and an ice pick help Rin Okumura fight the Dark Arts?" she inquired.

Rin smirked. "I'll show you…"

~0~0~0~

For a while Harry was worried that Rin wouldn't bounce back from his melancholy mood, but after learning that they would be studying kappas at the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class Rin never looked so excited.

Upon entering the classroom, everyone saw what looked like a scaly monkey with webbed hands and feet sitting in a bathtub. Its hands twitched, like it wanted to get its hands on something.

"That's a kappa?!" Lavender Brown exclaimed in disgust. The kappa hissed at that comment, making her recoil.

"Quite correct, Lavender," Lupin confirmed.

'Wow! It looks uglier in person.'

"Now, who here can tell me what a kappa is?" Lupin continued.

Hermione raised her hand. "It's a water demon. It feasts on human blood and strangles anyone who comes near their homes, such as shallow ponds and rivers," she explained.

"Very good."

Ron was confused. "Hold on. If kappas are demons, why are we studying them here and not Demonology?" he asked.

"A very good question, Ron," said Lupin. "While they are technically Dark magical creatures, kappas are one of the few that are considered both a demon and a magical creature. Don't be surprised if Professor Shura teaches you how to fight them too.

"Now, there are several ways to defeat a kappa. One of which is to trick it into bowing to you. The water on its head will spill out, weakening it," Lupin explained. "So, who thinks they can trick the kappa?"

To everyone's surprise, Rin raised his hand.

"Excellent, Rin!" Lupin praised. "Come over and give it a try."

Rin stepped forward and waited for the kappa to make its first move. The scaly creature stepped out of the bathtub. Rin remained still. The kappa slowly approached the boy, his webbed fingers twitching more and more. It was almost like it was hesitating to get closer. Rin put his hand in the sleeve of his robes.

"Hurry up, Rin!" Dean called out.

"What are you waiting for?" added Seamus.

The kappa was about to jump towards Rin when he pulled his hand out of his robe sleeve. In it was… a cucumber. The whole class facefaulted.

"Bloody hell, Rin! How are you going to fight a kappa with that?!" Ron exclaimed.

Rin smirked. "I'm not. Watch," he answered. The kappa had stopped what it was doing and was eying the cucumber hungrily. Harry squinted and noticed that there was writing carved into the vegetable.

Rin's smirk turned into a smile. "Hey, little guy," he said to the creature. He offered the cucumber to it. "Hungry?"

The kappa looked at the vegetable and back at Rin before snatching it. He saw the writing on the cucumber, nodded, and started eating it.

Lupin applauded. "Well done, Rin. Very well done. Five points to Gryffindor!" he praised. "Another way to protect yourself from a kappa is to offer it a cucumber with your name or someone else's name written on it."

"Yeah, there wasn't enough room to write everyone's names on the cucumber, so I used an ice pick and wrote 'Gryffindor third year students' on it instead," Rin explained.

Lupin laughed. "Should have known you would know all about kappas since they're from Japan like yourself," he remarked. Rin could only smile proudly.

~0~0~0~

Shiro and Swain looked through their notes at the Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Tomorrow, they would present their plans to combat Oscar Redstone, Voldemort, and his supporters. Remus Lupin suddenly knocked on the door frame.

"Mind if I come in?" he asked. He, Lily, and Alastor would also be held on trial for not reporting their magic usage in front of a Muggle. They would also voice their support for an alliance between the Knights of the True Cross and the British Ministry of Magic.

Swain smiled. "Not at all. Come on in," he insisted.

Remus came in and leaned against an empty bookshelf. "Looking over your notes or something?" he asked in an effort to make small talk.

"We sure are," Shiro confirmed. "This idea is crazy and I have my doubts but if it helps both our causes, it's worth a shot."

"I'm more concerned about what happens to us if it doesn't go through," said Swain.

"Hey, man, it was your idea," said Shiro. He then turned to Remus. "So, what did you want to talk to us about?"

Remus sighed. "I thought I'd give you some advice on who you're dealing with during the trial tomorrow," he explained.

Shiro shrugged. "Dumbledore's gonna be there. What's there to be worried about?" he asked.

Remus winced. "Well, the Minister of Magic is going to preside over the trial for starters," he began.

"Millicent Bagnold, correct?" Swain asked for clarity.

Remus nodded. "Yes. There's also the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartimus Crouch, Sr."

"'Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?' Sounds like a mouthful," said Shiro. "They oughta shorten it a little bit. Who else?"

Remus let out another wince followed by a cringe. "Dolores Umbridge, the Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office," he finished.

Swain did a double take. "Umbridge? Is she related to Vidor Umbridge from the UK Branch?" he asked.

Now it was Remus's turn to do a double take. "Who is Vidor Umbridge?"

"One of the best Aria exorcists in the United Kingdom Branch of the Knights of the True Cross," Swain answered. "I remember being in the same class as him. We both studied to be Arias. He always said that he wanted to outdo his witch of a sister. I thought he meant it metaphorically, not literally."

"Is he a wizard?" asked Remus.

Swain shook his head no. "No. Muggle."

Remus gripped his chin in thought. "That's very interesting."

Shiro decided to jump back into the conversation. "Okay, so what's so bad about Vidor Umbridge's sister?"

Remus scowled. "Dolores Umbridge is a vicious woman. She hates Muggles so she'll treat you two as people beneath her status. She probably won't take you seriously."
Shiro smirked. "I'll make sure she sees reason."

"Just promise us you won't say anything to provoke her," Swain pleaded.

Shiro chuckled. "I'll just treat her like I treat Alistor."

Swain facepalmed and turned back to Remus. "How much of a fight will Umbridge put up?" he asked.

"It depends on how much the others support your idea," Remus answered. "If they support it, she'll probably play along and pretend to support it while secretly hating you for being born. If they are against your idea, she'll take delight in adding more fuel to the fire by pointing out your flaws until the Ministry decides to wipe your memory of the Wizarding World."

Shiro rolled his eyes. "Oh, great. She's a butt kisser."

~0~0~0~

Shiro finished reading the letter Shura sent him. While he was glad that she and Remus Lupin had met up again after all these years, Shiro couldn't help but wonder where Remus had been until now. After James and Lily were murdered, Remus seemed to have gone off the grid. Shiro had no way of contacting him. Swain didn't know where he'd gone either.

However, after reading Shura's letter, Shiro couldn't help but worry about Rin. His power was getting stronger every day. If what Shura said was true, then time was of the essence. Shiro went to the cellar located in the chapel to check on Kurikara. To his horror, the seals on most of the sword were nothing more than burnt up pieces of paper.

Shiro sighed. He closed the case that held the sword and left the cellar. He then pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Mephisto, it's me… Yeah, it looks like the seals won't last much longer. I wouldn't be surprised if they all burned up by the end of the school year. After that, it's only a matter of if and when he'll draw the sword," he said. "Listen, I'm gonna talk to Albus about something. I have a plan… Depending on whether he's willing to go along with it or not, I'll need you to be in on it too… Yeah, I'll send an owl to him after this."

A long pause followed as Shiro listened to what Mephisto had to say. Shiro's eyes widened the more he listened until…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ESCAPED SWAIN'S HOUSE?!" he hollered. "He stayed there for what? Four or five weeks? Is he even in any condition to travel? Swain told me he was practically a skeleton when you dropped him off on his doorstep… A month is hardly enough time for a man to recover from twelve years of whatever hell Azkaban put him through… Come on, even you can't stand to be within ten feet of those Dementor things."

Shiro listened to more of what Mephisto had to say and then he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"And Amaimon can't track him down? …Then keep an eye out for him in Hogsmeade. That's probably as close to Hogwarts as he'll be able to get… Alright, I'll talk to you then."

Shiro then ended his call and went into the house and into his study. He pulled out a piece of paper and started writing. It took him several crumpled up pieces of paper until he got what he wanted to say just right. He put his letter in an envelope, wrote Albus's name on it and sealed it. He then went up into the attic where a Japanese scops owl was sleeping.

"Oi! Sekigan, wakey-wakey!" Shiro called out. The owl, Sekigan, ruffled his feathers before making an irritated hoot and turned away. Shiro didn't like that behavior. "C'mon, Sekigan, you know the deal. You deliver my letters to Albus and I let you live here with all the vermin you can eat."

Sekigan let out a frustrated hoot this time before swooping down and landing on the window ledge, sticking his foot out. Shiro managed to attach the letter to the owl before opening the window for Sekigan to fly out.

What could Shiro be planning?

For those of you who don't know, Dolores Umbridge has a Squib brother. Since we don't know his name, I took creative liberties. Not sure what I'll do with him. I'll have to see how the rest of the series pans out (if I get through all seven books).

Keep reviewing, pretty please!