Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Demonic Guardians ❯ Ch. 2: The Reikai Tantei ( Chapter 2 )

IMPORTANT NOTE ON UPDATES: Be forewarned that my updates aren't very fast.  I found out a long time ago that I can't do quality and quantity at the same time, so if I have to give up one, I would rather keep quality.  However, no matter how slow my updates are, by no means does it mean that I've given up.  If I DO decide to discontinue this fic, I will tell you guys directly instead of letting you wonder.  Take me seriously on this.  Please refer to my profile when you want to know the current progress.

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Well, enjoy!

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Demonic Guardians

Ch. II: The Reikai Tantei

The curtains of twilight had already fallen by the time Hogwarts Express reached the school, casting its tall towers and parapets into shadows and giving the place an eerie, ominous feel.  Myriads of pinpricks of light freckled the inky heavens, a noticeable contrast to Japan's nights, where the pollution and light blocked out the stars.

The Reikai Tantei were among the last to leave the train.  Yusuke and Kuwabara were visibly impressed by the castle, and even Kurama had to admit that it was quite a sight to behold, even if it did not measure up to some of the palaces he had seen in the Makai.  Hiei gave no reaction after an initial 'Hn.'

They went with the main flow of students, blending in with the bustling crowd until something big and cloaked in black blocked their way.  Yusuke looked up to see a huge lumbering man towering over him.  He was almost twice as tall as Yusuke, and at least three times as wide, with a round face covered with a thick black beard and hair, and two beady black eyes that twinkled at the Spirit Detectives.

"Yeh four mus' be the new transfers, eh?" the man asked in a deep brass voice.

Hiei scowled at him, but the hostile gesture went unnoticed by the stranger.  Kurama gave him a reprimanding look before offering his hand as was customary for Western acquaintances. 

"We are.  I'm Shuichi Minamino."

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' the Keys and Grounds at 'ogwarts," said Hagrid as his massive hand enveloped Kurama's in a handshake.

"Yusuke Urameshi," said Yusuke.

"Kazuma Kuwabara."

Hagrid turned to Hiei, expecting the fire demon to introduce him like the others had.  However, the only response he got was a scornful 'Hn."

Kurama sighed heavily.  "And that's Hiei Jaganshi."

Hagrid beamed at them, regardless of Hiei's rudeness.  "Ye four will be comin' with me, then.  Professor Dumbledore gave me orders to take you with the firs' years t'be sorted."  He held up an arm and bellowed over the crowd of students, "Firs' years!  Firs' years over here!"

Hiei allowed himself another scowl.  If all the humans here were like this fool, then this place would be hell.

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"You've got to be kidding, Neville!"

Neville shook his head vigorously.  He was sitting at the Gryffindor house table, surrounded by Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and several other boys all clamoring to hear from him what had happened on the train with Malfoy.

"Go on.  What happened next?" asked Seamus eagerly.

Face flushed and unaccustomed to all the attention he was getting, Neville related the incident in detail.  "So after he snatches the wand, Malfoy tells Grabbe and Goyle to hex him."

"Just like him, to call his cronies to do the dirty work for him," commented Ron sagely before the others hushed him quickly.

"And guess what happens then?"

"A Professor walks in and tells Malfoy off?" suggested Dean.

"Even better."  Neville paused for effect.  "They jinxed each other!"

His statement was met with silence, until Collin Creevy squeaked, "No way!"

Amidst the hearty laughter, Hermione walked over and sat down between Ron and Neville, beaming.

"You wouldn't believe what I just found out!"

"What?"

"There's Japanese transfers to Hogwarts this year!" she gushed.  "I overheard the professors talking about it."

"Neville met one of them on the train!"

"Really?"

Harry stopped listening to the conversation.  His friends' cheerful chatter belied the danger looming over the wizarding word.  It was his sixth year at Hogwarts, Voldemort had returned, and the Ministry was finally acknowledging it.  The Daily Prophet reports of escaped Death Eaters were becoming a frequent occurrence, and the Order of the Phoenix was steadily gaining more and more members.  He also knew with a gut-wrenching certainty that Voldemort was more likely than not scheming some way to kill Harry.  And Sirius - Harry's thoughts froze as soon as that name entered his mind.  He could not bring himself to think of his godfather, had not been able to all summer.  The first few days after Sirius's death, Harry would remember him numbly for a few seconds, before the paroxysm of pain came crashing down on him.  He had long since learned to swerve away from the topic before the numbness ended.

Professor McGonagall had entered Great Hall, a long line of shivering first years trailing after her.  Harry smiled as they stared at the enchanted ceiling in awe, knowing that he had been just like them five years ago.  He recalled the apprehension of being in a foreign place he knew almost nothing about, awaiting an unknown test that would dictate his fate.  He noticed that more than a few of them were studying the old patched Sorting Hat curiously.  Perhaps some of them were wondering if the 'test' was pulling a rabbit of it, as he had considered when he had first seen the Hat.

The tear in the Hat's brim opened wide and it began the annual Sorting song.  As it had in every year before, the song gave a brief description of each House, their qualities, and histories.  The song ended with a warning not unlike the one from last year, cautioning Hogwarts against the oncoming power and darkness of Voldemort's return.  Harry clapped along with everyone else as the Hat ended its introduction, and McGonagall held up a list of the first years to be sorted.

"When I call your name, please come forward and put on the hat," she said, and then peering over the rims of her square glasses, she read the first name.  "Alsup, Kyle."

A scruffy boy with sandy blonde hair overshadowing his eyes shuffled up to the stool and placed the Hat on.  A brief moment later, the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and Kyle went to join the Gryffindor table amidst storms of congratulations and applause.

Harry did not pay much attention to the Sorting after that, and clapped after each interval half-heartedly.  Sitting beside him, Ron was massaging his stomach and willing the Sorting to speed up while Hermione sent him disapproving looks from across the table.

"Hurry up and let's get to the feast already!" he heard Ron grumbling as "McCullough, Matt" was pronounced a Ravenclaw.  Harry did have to agree that the Hat seemed to be taking longer than usual to sort the first years.  He also noticed with a pang of disappointment that there were very few new Gryffindors this year, and more Slytherins than he would have liked.

Finally, "Wheeler, Michael" was made a Slytherin, and Professor McGonagall left Great Hall once again, but did not take the stool or Hat.  Dumbledore stood up at the staff table. 

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts.  Before I go any further, we must first finish the Sorting.  We will be having four new transfers this year."  Here, Dumbledore paused as the students turned to their neighbors with surprised whispers.  "They have come from Japan and will join the sixth years.  As you know, Hogwarts has not had transfer students for several decades, and so I trust you will welcome them to our school."  He sat back down, and McGonagall reentered with four unfamiliar faces.

"Jaganshi, Hiei."

A short boy with spiked black gravity-defiant hair and a white headband stepped up.  He walked with a stony, cold demeanor, one that suggested hostility.  His eyes spoke of smoldering anger.  As the Hat slipped over his eyes, Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry, "I'll bet you that one's a Slytherin."

No sooner had he said this that the Hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" and Hiei joined the cheering Slytherins under their green and silver banner.  Not once did the cold glare leave his face as he took a seat near the center of the table between Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

McGonagall waited for complete silence again before calling, "Kuwabara, Kazuma."

The second transfer was tall, broad-shouldered, and had bright orange hair.  The Hat did not take long to declare him a Gryffindor, and Harry clapped just as loudly as the rest of his table, glad to welcome the new Gryffindor after receiving almost no first years.

"Minamino, Shuichi."

"That's him, Harry!  The boy from the train!" whispered Neville excitedly.

Harry shifted around in his seat for a better view.  A figure with long red hair moved towards the Sorting Hat with an unnatural, almost feline grace, attracting admiring stares from both girls and boys. 

"Didn't you say he was a boy?" asked Ron curiously.

"Shhhhh!" hissed Lavender Brown from across the table before turning with rapt attention towards Shuichi and the Hat.

The Hat, meanwhile, seemed to be having a difficult time sorting Shuichi.  After a full minute, the rip in the Hat's brim opened and shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry heard Lavender and several other Gryffindor girls sigh in disappointment.  The Ravenclaw girls, however, seemed to be in far higher spirits.

"Look at Malfoy!" said Ron, pointing towards the Slytherin table.

Malfoy was glaring at Shuichi with a loathing look akin to the one he always saved for Harry.  His fists were clenched and his face was twisted in an angry scowl.  Harry could almost hear him thinking of possible methods of revenge against Shuichi.

"If he makes Malfoy that angry, then he can't be half bad," commented Dean.

McGonagall called for silence and read out the final name.  "Urameshi, Yusuke."

Yusuke walked up with a cocky, almost arrogant swagger, corners of his mouth tilted upward in an ever so slight hint of a smirk.  So far, Gryffindor sounded the most desirable House.  He was hardly surprised that Hiei belonged in Slytherin and Kurama had been sorted into Ravenclaw, but he doubted that he would be in either.

The Hat's method of sorting had presented a problem to the Reikai Tantei, who were wary of any sort of mental intrusion, human or otherwise.  It was Hiei who suggested that he use his Jagan to erect a barrier around all of their minds, allowing the Hat to see only what was necessary for the sorting without arousing suspicion.

This was one of those rare occasions when Yusuke was grateful to the fire demon.  He had no desire of anything having access to his mind, thank you very much.

The Spirit Detective put the Hat on and waited.

Another brave one, I see, spoke a voice in his head.  Courage is hard to come by these days, with the Dark Lord resurrected.

Yusuke grinned mentally.  Yeah, yeah.  Just put me in Gryffindor and let's get this over with.

The Hat chuckled.  As you say. "GRYFFINDOR!"

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Hiei eyed the humans around him in distaste.  It was degrading that he had to put up with their presence, much less pose - pose - as one of them!  He scowled at the idea of it just as an old man with long white hair and beard and wearing half-moon spectacles stood up at the staff table.

Malfoy, sitting on Hiei's right, interpreted the expression as one of disdain for Dumbledore. 

"Dumbledore," he said sneeringly.  "What do you think of him?"

"Hn."

Draco was slightly thrown off by the rude reply, but pressed further.  "Father says the old fool's going senile."

Hiei snorted derisively.  He was amused that someone this old was still running a school.  "The ningen should have died long ago."

Malfoy wondered what 'ningen' meant, but decided that he liked this boy.  Surely he must have come from a respectable family.  "Are you a pureblood?"

"Pureblood?"  Hiei turned to face him with steely crimson eyes, and Malfoy gave a start.

Red eyes. . .

Like Voldemort. . .

"Are your parents wizards?" he rephrased.

"They both had magic," said Hiei bluntly in a tone that made it clear the conversation was over.  The answer was true, but not in the sense that Malfoy had been seeking.

The wizard boy, however, accepted the reply with an approving nod.  A pureblood who despised Dumbledore.  This Hiei would make a decent Slytherin.

Dumbledore was presenting the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, a tired looking man with frayed robes and weary smile.  Hiei studied him, sensing something underlying and vaguely feral about the man.

"Professor Lupin has returned to reclaim his position as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.  Some of the older students may remember him teaching here three years ago. . ."

"I can't believe he's letting a bloody werewolf teach us!" hissed Pansy Parkinson three seats down.  The rest of the Slytherin table expressed their disapproval as well, Malfoy being the loudest with a declarative "Just wait till my father hears about this!"

Hiei's eyes narrowed.  Werewolf, was it?  He remembered seeing a passage about werewolves in one of his textbooks.  Humans who transformed into monstrous wolves once every moon. . .  Hiei wondered if that gave Lupin heightened senses like Kurama, and made a mental note to himself to be cautious around this professor.

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At the Ravenclaw table, Kurama was thinking along the same lines.  He would have to mention the necessary precautions to the rest of the Reikai Tantei sometime soon.  He watched Professor Lupin sit back down and spotted Genkai rising.

She had offered to come with the Reikai Tantei under the guise of part-time Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but Kurama knew that she was really here to supervise the mission, and to help with their cover story.

Dumbledore explained to the student body that Genkai would be teaching for the days of Lupin's absence, in other words, she would be substituting on the full moons.  Whether or not this Dumbledore knew the whole truth behind it all, Shuichi did not know.  No one was supposed to have any knowledge of the Reikai Tantei and their purpose, but this professor seemed to possess wisdom and power uncommon to humans.

Kurama listened with interest as Dumbledore mentioned the Forbidden Forest, warning all students not to wander into it.  The prospect of exploring the forest and its plants brought out some of his Youko curiousity.  I wonder what sort of plants the wizarding world has.  It also sounded like the perfect place to undergo his Youko transformations.

The kitsune tilted his head heavenward and gazed at the enchanted ceiling of Great Hall.  A waxing silver crescent moon graced the night sky, and Kurama embraced its light.

Yes, a perfect place for his transformations. . .

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Well, that's all for now.  Hope everyone liked it.

The authoress needs your help!  Cyber cookies for everyone who answers my questions:

1.  Does Kurama have the ability to change to his Youko form at will? 

2.  What was the name of that centaur guy who came to teach Divination in the fifth book? 

3.  Did the book mention whether or not the centaur planned on staying to teach or if he decided to teach for a year and quit the job?

Thank you!