Hiei had seated himself on a patch of soft moss and waited. As the last of the class filed out, he was aware of Weasley’s eyes regarding him thoughtfully, but he gave no evidence of his awareness of it. After a moment the feeling passed as, undoubtedly, the red-haired ningen realized that he’d been left behind and left to rejoin the herd or whatever a group of ningen infants were called.

At first Sprout had been confused, thinking Hiei was staying behind for help, but Kurama quickly convinced her otherwise. He was, Kurama claimed, a friend of Hiei’s family and had been a personal friend of Hiei for some time. She’d still seemed a bit suspicious, but Kurama had assured her that he would write Hiei a pass if he was late for his next class.

Professor Sprout was puttering about with the gardening tools that were scattered about whilst simultaneously giving Kurama last-minute instructions. “Now, Kurama, are you prepared to supervise next period’s class? If it’s too early, we can wait a while, but this is a perfect opportunity for you…”

“I’ll be fine, Professor.”

“Oh, pooh!” The elderly witch said cheerfully, tugging a spade from the dirt. “Call me Pomona, Shuichi. We’re colleagues, after all.”

“Of course, Pomona,” Kurama repeated dutifully. “What year will the class be comprised of?”

The pudgy witch tapped her lip thoughtfully with a dirt-encrusted nail. “A first year study hall, fortunately. They’d normally be in Potions, but there was an incident in the sixth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class last period and the whole classroom is coated with some sort of glowing goo that seems to resist banishing charms. Severus was livid. Poor things… Anyway, they’ll be easy enough to manage, and it’ll be good experience. Have them repot Nipping Tulips in Greenhouse One, dear.”

“Of course, Pomona,” Kurama repeated. “Shall I discipline them if anything goes wrong?”

Professor Sprout nodded absently, grunting, as she levered a box filled with the discarded tools onto her hip. “That’s a very good idea, Shuichi! Go right ahead, establish authority while you can. If there are any problems, don’t hesitate to take away points, too.” Nodding to them both, Sprout departed, heading the castle.

As soon as the witch was lost to sight, Hiei “spoke” to Kurama, the youkai’s surprisingly bass voice sounding as clearly into the fox spirit’s mind as if he spoke aloud. What did you get off the ningens, fox?

Without responding, Kurama left the greenhouse, walking to the nearby Greenhouse One. Hiei immediately stood and followed him. Not much, the kitsune projected as they walked, aside from the usual scents of perfume, sweat, and magic. All smell strongly of demon- the effect, I believe, of Lupin and these “dementors” swarming about. Granted, my nose isn’t as strong in human form, so there may be a margin of error.

Hiei knew Kurama too well to take such a statement at face value. The fox wasn’t speaking his mind fully. Speak your mind, fox. If you do not, your inane questions will keep me awake tonight.

Kurama did not respond at first, instead began to set out dozens of flowering plants along a line of long tables. I’m concerned, he thought after a moment. Even discounting our own presence, there is too much demonic energy about this school. It seethes with it. Where are you going, Hiei? Kurama queried curiously when the fire demon stood.

I’m going to investigate the lycanthrope. Saying he didn’t trust the man would be a generalization- Hiei didn’t distrust anyone specifically, he distrusted everyone in general, including himself.

Which is also known as attending his class. I thought you weren’t worried about him? Kurama’s mind-voice was amused.

I’m not. But if he escapes and kills Potter while I am loitering about under the false assumption that he’s a harmless puppy…

Kurama sighed, both audibly and not, and was silent for a long moment. Gently shooing away an inquisitive butterfly from the butterfly bush, he said, Do what you want, then. “You should get going,” Kurama said audibly, “you don’t want to be late.”

P)P)P)P)

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet.

Harry craned his neck at an awkward angle, one that hurt his neck, but one that also boasted a view of the entire ceiling of the Defense classroom.

It was eighteen stone blocks across and seventeen vertically, which made… Doing quick mental calculations, he came up with 306. That was not counting, of course, the large patches that had been replaced with a rough, mud-like material over time. Possibly plaster. Idly, Harry wondered why exactly the plaster was there. Had there been a fire? Probably not, unless there had been another teacher like Lockhart in the past.

The rest of the class had long ago –about ten minutes now, judging by the sunlight streaming through the window- drifted from the mild anxiety that comes of expecting an authority figure at any moment to languishing in extreme boredom.

Neville, who was seated two seats over, had started to play solitaire using a pack of self-shuffling playing cards.

Dean Thomas and Seamus had begun to –loudly- debate the high points of soccer versus Quiddich.

Yusuke had, to all appearances, fallen asleep while sitting perfectly upright in his chair. Every now and then the exchange student made a strange “tch” sound, which Harry guessed was a snore of some kind.

Hiei, unsurprisingly, still hadn’t shown up.

To his left Hermione and Ron were squabbling loudly over what sounded like Filch. Hermione was winning at the moment it seemed, though he had no idea what they were talking about. “Ron, will you pay attention? Hogwarts simply isn’t large enough to-“

“I am paying attention,” Ron returned, ”Where d’you think ol’ Filch’s victims went to when their detention was over? Nowhere! They just stayed in detention!” That made a strange sort of sense, Harry supposed. Filch was certainly sadistic enough to imprison students indefinitely in detention.

Hermione didn’t see it that way, however. “Honestly… Dumbledore wouldn’t have let him do that, Ron. He’s very meticulous about counting students,” Hermione said dryly, straightening out her quills. “Even Moaning Myrtle was accounted for, and she died for Merlin’s sake.”

“What about Hiei?” Ron said triumphantly. “Where’d he go? He never came back for break!”

Hermione gestured wildly toward Yusuke’s seat, which was closest to the door. “Right over there, of course… Hiei!”

However Hiei disappeared and reappeared about the school, he seemed to have used mundane methods this time, and had walked to class.

Yusuke lazily opened an eye to peer at his companion. He eyed his friend silently for a long moment before closing it again. “Hey, Hiei. Teacher’s not here yet, so you’ll get off scot-free.”

The small student seated himself beside Yusuke with a grunt. “Hn.”

Ron seemed to have taken Hiei’s sudden appearance personally. “Where the f-”

“RON!” Hermione interrupted, looking scandalized.

“-Were you?” Ron finished lamely. “Even Fred and George were at least in the general area of their class. Most of the time.”

Hiei was silent for a long moment before saying, “Talking.”

Harry was about to ask what Hiei could possibly talk about, and with whom, when the scruffy man from the high table strode through the door.

One glance at the man told Harry that if the professor had looked like he’d drop dead at any moment at the feast, he certainly looked worse now. Professor Lupin’s skin had blanched to a worryingly pale shade, and he had deeper bags under his eyes. The man bright eyed and alert, however, as he stated, “Books away, this is a practical lesson.” Amid the shuffling as the students complied, Lupin said, “Sorry I’m late, Madam Pomfrey was consulting me about some creatures from the advanced class.”

“Which ones, sir?” One of the Ravenclaws piped out.

Lupin looked faintly surprised at the question, but smiled and answered, “Demons, or demonic off-shoots, to be precise. You certainly won’t find them in your textbook.”

“Professor, what type of-“

Lupin cut her off mid-sentence, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, but I do have to teach today. Ask me after class. Now, follow me, we’re off to the teacher’s lounge.”

The walk to the teacher’s lounge was fairly uneventful, save for a small altercation with Peeves the Poltergeist. With a small charm Lupin sent the poltergeist off expeditiously to a reverent, “Cool, Sir!” from Dean.

“Everyone crowd in,” Lupin called over the heads of the class when a few hesitated to enter the forbidden room. “I’m sure we’ll all fit. Come on. Mind your foot, there, Fawkes had an accident there this past weekend, and its still hot to the touch.”

The teacher’s lounge wasn’t terribly impressive, Harry noted as he squeezed past Parvati Patil. It was, he suspected, much like any other teacher’s lounge throughout the world.

The smell of stale coffee hovered about the place like a shroud, though there wasn’t a muggle coffeemaker in sight. An old bulletin board hung on the wall, a few notices on it proclaimed in cheerful colors curfew times and booklists. A few mismatched sofas were scattered about the room, one of which had a large, bite-shaped chunk missing on the armrest. A battered cabinet, probably used to store files or books, leaned against the wall on three legs- the fourth looked suspiciously like it had been spellotaped in place.

There didn’t seem to be anything remotely threatening about the room, save for the bite-mark, which had taken a good 75 of the armrest with it. Lupin entered the room after the class carrying a covered container that made a swishing sound as he moved. Harry instantly recognized it as a muggle coffeepot.

After everyone settled themselves, Lupin brandished the container, which made an angry swishing sound. “Let me introduce you to the water elemental. Now who here knows how a water elemental is made? Ah, you, girl, your name is? Hermione is it? Ah then, go ahead.”

“Well, sir,” Hermione stated, sounding like she had an invisible textbook before her, “an elemental is created in one of two different ways. A lot of unstable magic hitting certain aspects of a landscape, be it air, water, the ground, or fire, causing it to animate, or having the same piece of landscape become incredibly agitated over mistreatment of it. There is a third method that is safer and that is the summoning of an elemental”

Lupin beamed as she finished. “Excellent, what house are you in? Griffindor? 10 points to it, then. While she is right that elementals are generally stable or unstable depending on its generation, we will not be generating it in this class, I believe that is Professor McGonagall’s department. Now we couldn’t get a normal water elemental because the water around this area wasn’t agitated enough, the squid notwithstanding. Luckily, however, we accidentally created this one while making coffee this morning, and after I removed the pot and its contents to a safer location, I requested that Dumbledore let it be for my classes.”

“Now, as you might expect, there is quite a lot of unstable magic around Hogwarts, so a new elemental usually appears every once in a while. Professor Sprout typically handles any elementals that crop up, though she does have trouble with the fire ones. Now, who knows how to stop an elemental from forming?” He consulted the attendance list, “Weasley.. Ronald Weasley.”

Ron, who was nodding off on one of the couches, jerked himself awake at his name. “Sir, uh, I need to say somethi-ing and move my wand?”

Lupin nodded. “That’s generally the preferred method, yes, more specific. …Harry Potter, have you an answer?

Harry, who’d been perilously close to falling alseep next to Ron, began shuffling through his textbook wildly. “Yes, you need a “de-agitator” spell. That’s for elementals right?”

“Yes, 5 points to Griffindor for looking through the book. Now to recognize an elemental is forming, you will notice a motion that is peculiar to the landscape that is forming it, for instance, less motion in Fire, more motion in Earth, a gathering of water at the highest point, etc. Now the de-agitator spell, Locostori, will stop the elemenatal and calm it, but will not dissipate one already around. For that you will need a new spell, of which there are four, one for each elemental. Does anyone know the one for water? I think you can answer, Terry, Boot, is it?

Harry couldn’t recall Terry ever being called on in this class. Terry smiled as his name was called, “Yes, sir. Um, Locoteri”

Lupin smiled, “Yes, another 10 points to Ravenclaw. As they sound similar they shouldn’t be confused. Now that spell will only work on liquid elementals, termed water, as they are usually in that form. This particular one would more accurately be called a coffee elemental. Now, I am going to take this enspelled lid off the pot and each of you will face this one at a time,” Neville made a kind of choked whimper, “I will summon it after each has gone, allowing another to stop it.

“Locoteri is fairly simple spell, as it requires no special wand movements or concentration, only the word. Now repeat it: Locoteri.” The class dutifully droned after him.

“Now, don’t worry, it won’t actually hurt you, I’ve set up a barrier. It can only intimidate you. Neville, you can go first. Are you ready?” Neville nodded jerkily. “All right then!”

A black burst of water shot straight out from the pot toward Neville with the power of a cannonball. Several people screamed.

Moments before impact the monster splattered against the air before the class, spreading out flat as if there was a wall there. Harry heard Neville sigh in relief; he’d forgotten about Lupin’s barrier.

Hissing frightfully with the sound of crashing waves the water elemental wavered before Neville, who seemed frozen for a fraction of a second before stuttering, “L-locoteri!” A jet of white light burst from Neville’s wand toward the liquid creature, encountering it with a hiss of steam.

The elemental failed to disappear, but it wavered slightly in confusion. “Very good, Neville! Step back!” Neville stepped back gratefully, rejoining the class.

“All right! Harry!”

Moving much slower now, the monster lurched awkwardly at Harry. Now that he was before it, Harry strongly smell the stale coffee that had former the coffee. Raising his wand, Harry cried out, “Locoteri!” A beam of thin white light arched from his wand and sank into the elemental with a sizzle. One hit didn’t appear to be enough, however, and the elemental remained place, though it had shrunk slightly.

The rest of the students managed the creature similarly, though Seamus had a bit of trouble when he missed and hit Professor Lupin, causing the teacher to stumble back slightly. “Sorry, sir!”

As the last of the Ravenclaw students stepped back into place, Lupin lunged forward, scooping the watery creature up in the pot, and slammed down the lid. Securing the lid tightly, the Professor nodded at the class, a satisfied smile on his careworn face. “You all did very well! Five points to everyone who fought the elemental. Off you go, now. Oh, that’s right. You wanted to speak to me, Miss Granger? Come on, we can speak in my office.”

“Yes, Professor.” Hermione said, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll only be a moment. You can go ahead.”

“Me and Hiei have got to go,” Yusuke said. “I have to ask him something in private. Personal issues,” he said in answer to their questioning looks.

Harry and Ron shrugged. “Ok,” Harry said.

Ron shook his head and leaned against the doorframe. “We’ll stay,” he informed Hermione. “We don’t know what class is next anyway.” Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Professor Lupin, who had watched the proceedings in amusement.

The walk to the Professor’s office took but a moment. Juggling the water-filled container, Lupin unlocked the door and walked in. “Please, take a seat,” Lupin told them as he moved behind his desk. “I just have to put this fellow away.”

Harry looked about curiously as the three of them took their seats. The office was quite different than the last time he’d seen it, under Professor Lockhart’s supervision. Numerous books on magical creatures were scattered about in neat piles, and what looked to be a collapsible butterfly net. A large empty fishtank sat in a place of honor by the desk, next to a small lunar calendar.

Lupin had stopped by the large aquarium by his desk. Inverting the pot, Lupin swiftly removed to top, holding the pot out at arm’s length. Moving much slower now, the water monster dripped into the tank. The only possibly comparison, Harry thought, would be dripping honey. “It’ll be fine in there until Professor Sprout decides what to do with it,” Lupin said when the water level stopped about halfway up the tank. “Now, Miss Granger. What did you want to ask?”

Harry’s eyes drifted to the tank Lupin had dumped the water elemental, where his gaze froze in fascination as tiny dark whirlpools, almost eye-like, stared out at them from the aquarium. As he watched, a pocket of air in the rough shape of a gaping maw grew below the eyes, which leered out at him.

He jerked back to the present when Hermione began to speak. “-type of demons did Madam Pomfrey want to know about? I know there are many kinds, but most wouldn’t have any kind of medicinal purpose,” she was saying.

Lupin pursed his lips and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Transformative ones,” he said after a moment. “Madam Pomfrey wanted to know whether certain types are more dangerous than others.”

“Are they?”

Lupin nodded emphatically. “Oh, of course. It depends on their nature obviously, so one type may be more sadistic or bestial-natured than others, and some may be concerned solely with blood for aesthetic purposes and leave after seeing it.”

Hermione paled slightly. “That’s not very comforting.”

“Well, not every monster will attack out of spite, as I’m sure Professor Hagrid can attest. It’s in their nature.”

Hermione didn’t look convinced, but she nodded and thanked him anyway.

“You’re welcome. Do you need a pass for your next class?”

Hermione shook her head. “We’ll make it.”

“That was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" Harry commented as they left.

"He seems like a very good teacher,” Hermione said in satisfaction as she rooted through her backpack.

Harry nodded. “Yup… What class is next, anyway?”

Hermione glanced at her schedule. “We have Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures next. I guess it’s at Hagrid’s house now.”

“So Hiei, what’d you think of that elemental?” Yusuke asked when they were about halfway there. “Remind you of something?”

Hiei cast his fellow exchange student a dark glare but said nothing.

Malfoy and a gang of Slytherins were waiting for them by Hagrid’s hut. “What’s this?” the blond drawled delightedly. “Potty’s made some new mudblood friends to add to his collection?”

“Leave us,” Hiei said dismissively. “You’re no true threat to us, you reek of cowardice and submission.”

Malfoy spluttered furiously before collecting himself. “You would say that, mudblood,” he sniffed at Hiei. “You wouldn’t recognize nobility if it stabbed you in the arse.”

Yusuke blew out his breath in a sharp whistle, drawing Malfoy’s eye. “I wouldn’t do that. He gets touchy about his family.”

Hiei’s face became blank. “What did he say. I’m not fluent in imbecile.”

“Drop dead, Hiei,” Yusuke said absently before continuing, “And strangely enough, I think I got the gist from the babble. I think it means -and I’m just guessing, his idiot accent is really thick- that he thinks your family is scum.”

Between one breath and the next Hiei vanished. Draco looked about himself wildly, gripping his wand tightly. Crabbe and Goyle looked around in bewilderment. “W- where did he- I’ll tell my father about this, and then you’ll-“

“Funny,” Yusuke remarked calmly, leaning against the wall of Hagrid’s hut. “The way I heard it, a magician never reveals his secrets. And a wizard is just one step away, isn’t it? Especially one like you.”

Malfoy had just opened his mouth to respond when a light tapping on his shoulder brought his head snapping about. The small foreigner stood behind him, a clenched fist raised before Malfoy’s face.

Malfoy shrank back slightly from the raised fist, but Hiei merely inverted it and opened his fist, releasing a small cluster of downy white threads. Malfoy stared uncomprehendingly until a cleared throat drew his attention to Yusuke. Grinning broadly, Yusuke gestured at Malfoy’s head.

Malfoy’s pale hands shot up instantly and patted down his head. His hair was now shorter in the back by an inch. Malfoy was dumbfounded. “W-wha, how…?”

“For the record,” Yusuke said sweetly, patting Malfoy’s cheek, “Hiei’s a pureblood. Keep that in mind next time you throw around insults.”

At that point a loud bang came from ahead of them as Hagrid’s front door slammed open. “All righ’, all righ’! I’ve got a real trea’ for you today!” boomed Hagrid. “Bu’ Ye gotta foller me out to the woods. I got some real nice creatures te show ye. Amazin’ creatures, you’ll find.”

As the class follows Hagrid, they start whispering fearfully. Hagrid says, “Nottin’ to worry about, ‘though normally ye shouldn’ be out here wi’out a teacher,” (here he throws Harry and Hermione a glance) “but I’m here to take care o’ ye. Don’t lag behind there, Neville.”

The woods echoed loudly with the sound of bats, and a wolf howled, making the class huddle together as though they were going to be picked off one by one. That was before they entered a clearing closed off by a paddock, where a gasp of appreciation rose from the students.

“These,” Hagrid says proudly, throwing his arms wide, “are ‘ippogriffs. Beau’iful, aren’t they?”

P)P)P)P)

Yusuke and Hiei weren’t mentioned in the elemental scene because spell effects are usually similar across the board. Either they work the way they’re supposed to, or they fail spectacularly. Neither of the detectives did the latter, obviously.