drillmaster

“Miss Hakubi, class is over. Please stay with me a few moments before you proceed to lunch,” Dolores Umbridge told Ryoko as she was on her way out of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

This had become a daily routine for the space pirate and the toad. Umbridge seemed to get a thrill out of watching Ryoko reach out for Tenchi only to pull her away with the threat of expulsion looming over her head. The thought of this made Ryoko’s blood boil but she knew she had to keep her cool for Tenchi’s sake.

“So…are you actually going to say anything to me or is this going to be just another way for you to make sure I’m as far away from him as you’d like?” Ryoko mockingly asked restraint clear from her tone.

Dolores smiled. “Oh dear, that won’t do. If you speak like that to me again I’ll be forced to give you detention.”

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. “You’d give a Slytherin detention?”

“You, Miss Hakubi, are not a lifelong Slytherin. In fact, the only reason why you don’t have detention right now is due to your prefects telling me that you act like a model student when you are not around that boy,” she chortled. “No, I see that his influence on you is the issue. Is there anything you would like to add?”

The space pirate forced herself to smile. “No.”

“No, what?”

“No…Professor…”

Umbridge let out a small laugh. “You will do well to remember that. Off to your next class with you. Tut tut!”

*HPVFTS*

“I am going to KILL her!”Ryoko snarled while destroying a pillow in the subspace room. She was alone in her fury with only Ryo-Ohki there to comfort her.

Ryo-Ohki nudged the remains of the pillow and started to meow. “Hey, you try being forced to not be with Tenchi! How would you feel?!”

The cabbit stared at her companion and stared to cry. “My thoughts exactly.”

The door to the house opened up and Sasami cheerfully made her made her way in. When she saw the crying cabbit, she ran over.

“Ryo-Ohki! Ryoko, what happened to Ryo-Ohki?!”

“Don’t worry about it Sasami. She just imagined how it felt to be me not being able to see Tenchi.”

Sasami hugged the little creature. “Oh you poor thing! Wait, don’t you have class now Ryoko?”

She shrugged. “Eh, I didn’t feel like it. I’m too pissed off. Speaking of, where’s everybody else?”

“Oh,” Sasami started as she threw on an apron to start cooking. “I know Hermione led most of them to the hut where Tenchi does his training in the morning. Their friend Hagrid just returned and they wanted to visit him! Say, since your here do you have any preferences for tonight’s meal?”

Ryoko shrugged and sighed. “Maybe some of that rice I like? I don’t know Sasami; this just sucks.”

“Cheer up Ryoko!” Sasami smiled. “Just think; the fact that you are here and not causing trouble will make Tenchi happy later when you do see him!”

The teal haired beauty thought about it for a second. “How very true Sasami. Say, let me help cook! Tenchi will be surprised!”

Sasami laughed nervously. “Heh heh well…you can hand me ingredients! Yeah, that might be saf…a great idea!”

Ryoko clapped her hands in delight. Visions of Tenchi applauding her cooking filled her head, causing the space pirate to grin like a Cheshire Cat.

*HPVFTS*

“Wow, this is delicious!” Tenchi exclaimed. “You have really outdone yourself Sasami!”

The group had finally returned from their various classes. As they did not want to raise too much suspicion as to where a large group of people disappeared to during dinner, everybody typically paid a short visit to the Great Hall to show the staff that they had eaten with everybody else. Of course, there was nothing better in Hogwarts than a Sasami cooked meal.

“Thanks Tenchi! You know, Ryoko helped too! She wanted to make this extra special for you.”

Ryoko hovered over to her heart’s desire and nodded. “I did Tenchi! I missed you so much!” she said in a high, cheery voice.

Ayeka started to look at her food. “Whatever did she do? This food is actually edible!” the Jurain princess mocked.

The comment made Ryoko livid. “What did you say, you purple-haired nitwit?!”

“Not even ten minutes. I think that’s a new record,” Neville whispered.

“No,” Luna said. “I think our current record is about five minutes and thirty seconds.”

“Fair enough,” Neville conceded.

As the ladies bickered and argued, the attention turned to Hermione, who was explaining to the rest about their visit to Hagrid’s.

“…then Umbridge came to his house and insinuated that he would be one of the first to be fired! That woman is dreadful! She doesn’t even know if Hagrid is a good teacher; all she sees is a half-giant!” she bemoaned.

“Well,” Ron said meekly. “Hagrid really isn’t a good teacher. His hearts in the right place, sure, but I kinda prefer Professor Grubbly-Plank.”

If looks could kill, Ron would drop dead on the spot from Hermione’s. “Shutting up now.”

Ginny grabbed another bowl of rice and started to eat. “So I have to ask, has anyone put any thought to Lady Funaho’s idea from a few weeks ago? The one about starting a defensive spells club?”

“Between preparing Professor Kuramitsu’s project and Umbridge, when have we had time?” Harry asked. “Besides, I don’t know if I can even be an effective teacher!”

“Well it wouldn’t just be you. Tenchi would teach as well,” Hermione pointed out.

“Hmm?” Tenchi asked. “Wait, me?!”

“Yes Tenchi, don’t you remember? Auntie Funaho wanted you to teach swordplay while Harry would teach spells!” Sasami chimed in.

“But where would we even teach something like that? And how would the students even know to come without Professor Umbridge knowing?”

“Why not create another subspace room?” asked Luna. “It seems to work well here and it even has defensive capabilities.”

Washu shook her head. “No can do Luna. I’ve already stretched the subspace capabilities to the fullest possible potential here. If I were to do anymore, it may link up to the lab I created and that would be bad. Besides, I wouldn’t want to have the kiddies ask where a magical room came from out of nowhere.”

Ron shrugged. “Honestly, most people wouldn’t question it.”

“It’s not the students I would worry about,” Washu started. “If Umbridge were to realize what was going on, we wouldn’t have a fighting chance of keeping our secret private…hey that reminds me! We haven’t taken into consideration the students’ physical capabilities! We should be training them in combat too!”

“This is sounding exactly like Fudge’s worst nightmare,” Fred said.

“Is that a problem?” Washu countered.

Fred thought about it for a moment. “Nope! It’s brilliant, actually.”

Lee Jordan looked to the smoldering couch that was burned by the fight between Ayeka an Ryoko. “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t they teach us fighting skills? They clearly can hold their own even without their energy blasts, swords, and wooden shield things.”

Ryoko and Ayeka, weary from their fight, returned to the table and plopped themselves down. Panting, Ryoko reached out for a drink. “So…did I miss anything exciting, Tenchi darling?”

*HPVFTS*

The gang made their way to The Three Broomsticks for their weekend Hogsmeade visit. Hermione and Ginny had spread the word of the possibility of a secret club and waited to see the results.

“Do you really think people will come to this?” Tenchi asked nobody in particular.

“Never underestimate the power of word of mouth Tenchi!” George responded.

Neville looked worried. “What if Umbridge heard about it, or somebody went and told her?”

“That’s why we are doing it in The Three Broomsticks. There is a smaller chance of anyone overhearing us. That’s what Professor Lupin told us,” Hermione added.

“Hey, anywhere I can be with Tenchi is good enough for me!” Ryoko cheered, happy to be able to not hide being with him for once.

The group entered the bar and was surprised to see how many people showed up to the meeting. It seemed that every member of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff in the fifth year as well as a few assorted others had congregated to its own corner. Harry and Tenchi started to turn beat red, clearly nervous to face all of these people.

“You said this would be a few people!” Harry whispered to Ginny.

Ginny shrugged. “Never underestimate the power of word of mouth.”

After calming down the giant collective of students, Harry was motioned to speak by Sasami. Nervously he looked into the faces of his peers and searched for words. “Well…hello everyone. I’m sure you know why we are all here…”

“Yeah, we are here because our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is incompetent!” a boy named Anthony Goldstein whispered triumphantly.

A murmur of agreement filled the corner. Amazingly, not a soul in the bar paid them any notice.

“We are never going to pass our O.W.L.S. this way!” Parvati Patill bemoaned.

“Oh I get it!” Michael Corner exclaimed. “This must have been your idea Granger. You just want to do well on the O.W.L.S!”

Hermione sent him a dirty look. “Of course I want to do well on our exams, but that’s the least of our concerns. We need to do this because…Vol…Voldemort is back!”

A collective shutter was brought about by the mention of his name. “Oh come now!” Ryoko yelled. “It’s just a name! Stop being such pansies!”

“Why are they here?” Terry Boot asked, pointing to Ayeka and Ryoko. “Why would Slytherins want to do something like this?”

Ayeka laughed. “I wouldn’t talk to us that way. After all, we are going to be your teachers.”

“Where’s the proof that You-Know Who’s back anyway? I think we have a right to know since we only have the word of Dumbledore and Harry!” demanded Zacharias Smith.

“The proof? I saw him, I fought him! If you are here to hear about Cedric Diggory, clear out. I’m not going to talk about it.”

The crowd grew silent. Not a single soul left their seats. Once Harry was convinced he had control of the crowd again, he motioned to Tenchi to say something.

“Well now that Harry has said his piece, I think we should start with what we should go over with you…” the young Japanese man said.

“Who put you in charge?” Corner demanded, cutting Tenchi off.

“I did,” Washu said. “While defensive spells are important, it is critical to know how to physically defend yourselves for Defense Against the Dark Arts. What if you don’t have a wand? Ayeka, Ryoko, and Tenchi have experience in these matters so they are the highest qualified people here, regardless if they are from Slytherin House.”

“Fair point,” stated Lavender Brown. “But who will lead the teaching of the actual defensive spells?”

“It should be Harry,” Cho Chang answered immediately.

Most of the students nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Harry fought You-Know-Who last year, and don’t forget the basilisk he fought in the Chamber of Secrets!” Ron proudly told them.

“Don’t forget how he stopped that stone from being stolen in our first year!” Justin Finch-Fletchley.

“I have a question,” asked Susan Bones. “Is it true you can produce a corporal patronus?”

Harry was stunned. “Wait, you’re…”

“My aunt is Madame Bones. She told me about it after your trial this summer.”

“Blimey Harry, I didn’t know that!” Dean said. “That’s advanced magic!”

“Now you see why Harry is the most qualified to teach us this stuff,” Sasami said, satisfyingly.

The crowd was starting to be won over at this point. The students began to talk amongst themselves, impressed by the many accomplishments being listed about Harry.

Smith was not impressed, however. “That explains Harry, but not you three. I can see Tenchi, since we see him train every morning, but what about you two? How do we know you know how to fight?”

Just as he was finishing, the two women vanished and appeared behind the boy. One grabbed his neck, the other his arm. “Shall we continue and make this interesting?”

He quickly shook his head, causing the girls to let him go. The surrounding students laughed at this.

“Now it is important we keep this a secret! Umbridge is doing her best to keep us docile because the Minister is afraid we are going to rise up and form some kind of army,” Hermione added, causing the laughing to stop. This stunned everyone.

“You’re joking!” Ernie MacMillan said. “I knew Fudge was daft, but seriously?”

“It’s true. I heard it from Dumbledore himself,” Washu pointed out.

“It makes sense. Fudge is raising his own army of heliopaths,” Luna solemnly said.

The crowd looked at her. Hermione went to speak, but decided against it. She looked at Neville, who was going to ask too, but she stopped him dead in his tracks.

Producing a piece of parchment and a quill, Hermione placed them on the table in the hopes to get everyone back on task. “If you sign this parchment, you will swear never to tell Dolores Umbridge or anyone working for her. If anyone were to ask about what this meeting was about, just mention that it involved Muggle Studies. I am sure Professor Kuramitsu would cover for us, even with her not knowing what was going on.”

Surprising the members of the Muggle Studies class, the first person to come up and sign was Hannah Abbott, who typically made it known that she could care less about anything related to the Masaki clan. Soon after, every other person took their turn to sign their names.

Hermione leaned into Harry’s ear. “It’s working! We are winning them over!”

“Yeah,” Harry replied back. “But now we need to figure out where we are going to train. It’s going to be hard to just up an find a perfect room to train in, especially given how many people we have here.”

*HPVFTS*

“I found the perfect room for our little ‘idea!'” Harry came in to the library later that next week, excited. Studying at a table were Washu, Luna, Ayeka, and Hermione.

“Hmm?” Washu responded from her copy of “Hogwarts: A History.” “I’ve been combing this book and outside of that Chamber of Secrets place I asked you to take me to last week I can’t think of anything!”

“That reminds me: why did you want to visit there? And why did you want that fang?” Harry asked.

Washu smiled. “Research my boy. Research. Now, please continue with your idea.”

“Well, I was talking to Dobby about how frustrating it is that we can’t practice anywhere without Umbridge finding out…” Harry started.

Ayeka gave a look of confusion. “Who’s Dobby?”

“A house elf who is Harry’s friend. You probably wouldn’t know him since you are in Slytherin,” Hermione explained.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Ayeka started to yell before she realized she was in a library.

“I don’t think the house elves like to make themselves known there. Dobby used to be Draco Malfoy’s servant so I doubt he wants to make his presence known…” Hermione restated.

“A servant! But he isn’t even royalty!”

Washu raised a hand. “I think that I can speak for all of us that we don’t want to open that can of worms Ayeka. Harry, you were discussing Dobby the elf.”

“Yeah, Dobby told me about a room that only appears is a person REALLY needs to use it. We just really need to want it for our practices! It practically speaks for itself!” Harry finished.

Shutting the book she was reading, Luna stood up and looked at her peers. “Well, are we going to find our noble elf friend or not?”

After a short time, Harry and the quartet of women met up with Dobby, who was overjoyed to meet new friends of Harry Potter.

“Right, this way Harry Potter and friends! Dobby knows the way!” the little creature said, oblivious to the fact that Washu was writing down data about his magical properties.

“So you have the ability to transport yourself from places that even wizards cannot, yet are bound to your master’s requests?” she asked him.

“Oh yes, pink haired girl!” Dobby explained as he led on. “Only Dobby is now a free elf! Dobby answers to no person, except Harry Potter. Harry Potter is Dobby’s friend!”

In time they came to a small corridor on the seventh floor of the castle. “I’ve been up here before! This is where the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet is,” Luna stated.

“So apparently one has to walk down this corridor three times, each time specifying in their head what it is that they need the most, and the door should appear,” Harry told the group. “Here, let’s say we want a place we can hide that is stocked with what we need to train for Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

“I’d add to that desire that we do not want it found by Dolores Umbridge or any of her toadies,” Ayeka added, laughing at her own pun.

Shrugging, the group walked in a circle three times, each thinking the same thing. Finally, a door appeared. They opened it and were greeted by a large room full of books and other objects. On one area, they found a dummy with a want to practice defensive spells with; on another they found several wooden swords to practice with; and finally another was set up like a martial arts dojo with a padded floor. The students were awestruck.

“How…how was this made Dobby?” Washu asked the elf.

“Dobby does not know. Dobby does not think anyone knows. All Dobby knows is that it is here and has been here since the founding of the school!”

As they wandered around, Washu reached into her pocket and pulled out a small device. She tested the air and a beeping sound came from it.

“What is that Washu?” Hermione asked.

“This?” she replied. “It is a device set to locate specific traces of magical energy. I wonder if one of them is located in another version of this room…”

Ayeka looked confused. “Another what?! Stop being so cryptic!”

“I’ll explain later. Harry, I think we found our room! Now all of you, shoo! I have testing I need to do in here. I think I might be able to fortify this with additional reinforcements, but it may take some time,” Washu said, kicking the gang out into the hallway.

Dobby looked to Harry. “Dobby is confused. Is the pink haired girl one of Harry Potter’s friends?”

“Yes she is Dobby. An odd one, but a friend nevertheless.”

*HPVFTS*

The following day, Washu had told the group that the Room of Requirement was good to go. All that was left to do was wait for people to arrive, including the scientist herself.

“What DID you do in here last night?” Ron asked Washu curiously as she ran to the room.

“Work. I found some stuff I didn’t like so I removed it. Before you ask, I’m not telling any of you what it was. That includes you Ryoko!”

Ryoko crossed her arms. “I don’t care about that, but I do care about where you have been! You are an hour late for meeting us here! Umbridge almost found me looking for Tenchi!”

Washu shrugged. “Look, I had a meeting that I was late for in Hogsmeade. It was important. It’s harder to leave this school than Fred and George made it seem.”

“Novice,” scoffed George.

One by one the students filled the Room of Requirement. It seemed that every person who signed up had gotten the message to wait outside to be let in. Tenchi, who was waiting for everybody to arrive, led the way and took his place at the head of the room.

“Welcome everybody to our little club. Now, first things first: we need a name for this little gathering!” Ryoko yelled, raising her fist in the air. “I’m personally for the ‘Umbridge Must Pay Club!'”

“How about the ‘Anti-Umbridge League?'” suggested Angelina Johnson.

“I’ve got it: ‘The Ministry of Magic Are Morons!'” countered Fred.

Ryoko considered it. “It does roll off the tongue. That’s got my vote.”

Ayeka gave a small cough. “‘The Frog Squad?'”

“I was thinking,” said Hermione, frowning at her comrades, “more of a name that hid our true purpose here. If we were talking about this outside this room, people should not know what we are doing here.”

“I like the ‘Defense Association,'” Cho Chang said. “We can shorten it to the D.A.”

“Yeah, the D.A. is good,” said Ginny. “But let’s make it stand for Dumbledore’s Army, since that is the Ministry’s worst fear!”

There was a loud cheer of agreement and in a flash Hermione wrote the new name on the top of the parchment. “It seems ‘Dumbledore’s Army’ is here to stay! Now, I think we should start primarily with the defensive spells, so Harry, you should take the lead.”

Harry stepped up to where Hermione was stand ing and faced his peers. “Right, I think we should focus on the ‘Expelliarimus’ spell.”

“Please!” Zacharias Smith scoffed. “What use is that dingy spell against a Dark Wizard?”

“That ‘dingy spell’ saved my life fighting Voldemort. But if you think that it isn’t important, there’s the door,” Harry coldly told him.

Not a single person left the room and Harry began to train the students. Some of his peers picked up on the spell rather easily while others continued to practice. After a short while, Tenchi took the floor and handed out the wooden staffs.

“It is all about your footing. Proper footing gives you good balance, which adds to the power of your strike. Think defensively unless you need to strike!”

He demonstrated his skills by jumping onto the wooden pieces lodged in the ground and striking his target.

“You know, we’ve never seen you fight somebody. Why don’t you spar with one of your friends? I think it would be good to see it in action,” Hannah suggested.

Tenchi looked to Ryoko, who beamed with joy to be asked to help Tenchi out. In the corner, Ayeka started to fume to herself.

“I won’t hold back on you Tenchi! It’ll just be like our first time back at school!” Ryoko jested.

The lad laughed. “Just don’t blow this school up Ryoko. I kinda like it here.”

The two combatants locked staffs and started to move at incredibly fast speeds. Blow after blow was parried, met, and deflected. In no time at all, the students were hooked not only for the practicality of the subject but the effectiveness of their teachers.

Soon after, Ryoko and Ayeka each took some students to learn about their styles of fighting. Ryoko, forceful as she was, focused on the offensive strategies that she felt would benefit the teenagers. Ayeka, however, took it upon herself to show the importance of defensive strikes. Washu was amazed at how balanced the two quarreling women were when it came down to business.

The first meeting of Dumbledore’s Army was a resounding success.

*HPVFTS*

“Miss Jurai, thank you for coming to visit me,” Dolores Umbridge told Ayeka as she walked into her office.

Ayeka had been expecting this at some point. It had been a few weeks and no doubt the term “D.A” had been thrown around a bit too much for Umbridge’s liking. Thankfully, Washu devised a perfect plan thanks to a clueless Mihoshi, who had helped without knowing what was going on. ‘If we told Mihoshi, the entire school would know in a second. I’m amazed she hasn’t blurted out that she’s a Galaxy Police officer yet.’

The princess bowed to the amphibian like crone. “It is my pleasure, Madame Umbridge. How can I be of assistance today?”

The professor motioned to a seat. “Sit down you silly girl; we have much to discuss.”

After sitting down, Ayeka was offered a biscuit, which she accepted graciously.

“I have been hearing stirrings of a group or an object called ‘D.A.’ I was hoping, given your interesting circle of associates, that you could shed some light on what that might mean.”

Ayeka forced herself to laugh. “Oh that? Professor Umbridge, it is a Muggle thing that Mihoshi…er Professor Kuramitsu tried to teach our class about. It’s supposedly some Muggle collectable that is shaped like a galleon. I think the Americans call them ‘Pogs’ or something. It’s so stupid, but I guess the stupid fads are always the one to stay.”

Umbridge rose an eyebrow. “Pogs?”

“Pogs.”

The toad sighed. “You know, between you and me, if I could sack her I would. That woman drives me insane.”

“Tell me about it,” Ayeka sympathized.

“If Cornelius did not want magical cooperation between…well that’s beyond the original point. I have been working with the Minister on your idea; the club that directly answered to ME. It merely needs to be approved by the Board of Directors over the holiday. I will be in touch with you dear,” she explained.

The princess nodded. “I understand Lady Umbridge. I hope all your endeavors go as you planned.”

“They will. By the way, how is Hakubi holding up with our little punishment?”

Ayeka gave her first natural smile of the entire conversation. “She is hating every second of it.”

“Good, it was meant to hurt.”

*HPVFTS*

By the beginning of December, the moral of Dumbledore’s Army soared. Harry had proven himself to be an adept Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. The students were really responding to Harry’s teachings and had managed to exceed his expectations.

Blending in perfectly were Tenchi and the girls. Washu had calibrated their wands to give off accurate reactions to the verbal spell commands. It was hard for Harry to remember that their wands were fake at times, but coming from Washu there was no surprise there.

The biggest surprise was the physical improvement of the group. By training hard physically and mentally, the students of Hogwarts had become rather fit and healthy. The biggest change was in Neville, who was taking his training with Tenchi very seriously.

Today was the final meeting for the club before the Holiday Break and Ryoko had a great idea in store for the kids. She made sure to get to the Room early to prepare it, which was easy given that she had nothing to do when she wasn’t pining for Tenchi at his side. As they all filed into the Room of Requirement, she got out some parchment, quills, and a fishbowl. In addition, a new curtain was placed behind her, blocking off half of the Room’s space.

“What’s this for Ryoko?” Hermione asked.

She smiled. “Wait and see, squirt. Wait and see.”

There was much talk among the members of the club, Tenchi and Harry included. This was a complete and utter surprise to everyone involved.

“Are we all here? Good. As you can see, I’ve made some changes to the D.A. today so I hope you don’t mind,” Ryoko started, turning herself to Tenchi, batting her eyelids.

“Well Ryoko, I can’t say if I mind or I don’t mind until I see what you have done,” he responded nervously.

The space pirate responded by pulling back the curtain, revealing a large square stage. The stage was in the center of the space with the floor surrounding it on all sides. It was raised up about three inches from the floor.

“Miss Ryoko, you cannot be serious about this!” Ayeka yelled. “This is going a bit too far!”

“No…no, I like it. It’s a fun way to see where everybody is in their training,” Tenchi said, nodding his head. “As long as we monitor it of course.”

Ryoko started to tear up. “Really Tenchi? You mean it! In your face Ayeka!”

“So are you going to tell us what this is or are you going to flirt?” Zacharias Smith asked. His question was met with a death glare.

“This is an arena. I think we will do a fighting tournament to see how much you really know. You do not have to participate if you don’t want to. We’ll have another one by the end of the year. Who’s brave enough to jump into the arena and test your might?” Ryoko announced to the crowd.

A majority of the students decided to enter into the fight. One by one, the matches were picked and students faced each other in a fury of combat. The students were only allowed to bring in a wand. If the wand hit the floor, the combatant must only use their hands. If the student was knocked out of the ring, they lost.

After about an hour and a half, the combatants were down to Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott.

“Imagine being taken down by your own kid sister,” Fred complained after losing to Ginny in the round before the semi-finals.

“Speak for yourself Fred. I got taken out by Ickle Ron before that bugger Smith knocked him out of the ring,” George replied.

In a crudely constructed box near the side of the ring, Luna, Washu, and Lee Jordan were sharing commentator’s duties.

“Well Lee, this sure has been an exciting tournament so far,” Washu spoke.

“Indeed it has Washu. We have reached the final match for the year and it was one nobody could have predicted. From Gryffindor we have our boy Neville Longbottom! Let us just remind the crowd of how he tore up the competition to get here, including such memorable moments like when he sent Michael Corner into the wall with a stunning jinx or when he swept Cho Chang off her feet out of the ring,” Jordan rambled on as Neville took the stage.

“Ah, but you are forgetting the trials that his opponent underwent! The lovely young lady is Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff. Though her tribulations were many, I think we all can agree that it was her disarming of Zacharias Smith in the previous round that was the most rewarding. It could be anyone’s game at this point. Anything to add Commentator Lovegood?”

Luna smiled from the booth. “Nothing relating to the match. I was just thinking about how the snow pixies from Tibet were doing with their snow production. They always manage to make the finest snow and I am really hoping for a white Christmas this year.”

“You and me both Luna,” Washu agreed, not missing a beat. “And it looks like the fighters have bowed and begun to duel! If I were to guess correctly, both combatants used the ‘Expelliarmus’ charm at the same time! Fascinating!”

Jordan nodded. “You would be correct there Hakubi. It is all down to physical skills at this point. Now if you recall, this was always an area where Abbott has always done particularly well with. She proved to be a pro fighter under Ryoko’s tutelage. I’m curious to see where this fight will go.”

“Ah, but you forget that Neville’s area of expertise was the sword play with Tenchi! That means that he is rather adept with being on the defensive side of things, though his actual classes with Ayeka did leave a bit to be desired. They both have the skills, but who will come out on top?”

“I think it will be a tie,” Luna said bluntly.

The other two commentators turned to the third. “What makes you say that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They want to let the other one win,” she smiled.

“Uh…why?” Lee Jordan asked.

Rolling her eyes, Luna just smiled. “You’ll see one day Lee.”

Neville and Hannah were rolling on the floor now, with Hannah placing Neville into a head lock. Suddenly, Neville adjusted himself and launched himself away from her. The suddenness of the movement caused Hannah to launch back herself. Both parties fell out of the ring at the same time.

“How did you know that was going to happen Luna?!” Lee asked the blonde Ravenclaw.

“It was the most logical outcome.”

Ryoko went over to Hannah and helped her up off of the floor, with Ayeka doing the same for Neville. The two opponents met each other back on the ring and shook each other’s hand.

“Good match Longbottom. That was a fancy maneuver you had there,” Hannah told her peer.

“Agreed Abbott, though it wasn’t perfect. I still managed to fall out of the arena.”

“There is always next time,” she smiled.

Ryoko pulled out a marker from nowhere and scribbled something on two plastic trophies that she had acquired. She hastily crossed out the “second place” logo on one of the trophies to make it say “first place” like its twin.

“Well damn kids, you did well! See everybody; this is why we are practicing! Longbottom here couldn’t throw a punch at the beginning of this year and in less than two months he managed to outwit every one of you but Abbott here. Keep practicing everyone and have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you wizards celebrate,” Ryoko shrugged.

*HPVFTS*

“You know Ryoko, I never would have seen you as a teacher, but you did great yesterday,” Tenchi told the spiky haired pirate while waiting for the final movie night of the term.

Washu started to cry. “Like mother, like daughter…I’m so proud!”

Ryoko hit her on her head. “Cram it Washu! What can I say Tenchi, I can think on my feet. I…oh no, Umbridge is here! I’ll see you later sweetie!” With that, she teleported back over to Draco Malfoy, who did not even notice what had just happened.

“Oh, it’s you Hakubi. Ready for another mind-numbingly dull night with Kuramitsu’s Muggle-loving absurdities?” Malfoy asked the girl.

“Funny Draco, I thought you liked some of these movies,” she sneered.

Draco got red in the face. “Don’t press it Hakubi. I already cover for you and Jurai every chance I can get. Your little stunt at Halloween, amusing as it was, really ticked off Umbridge. She questions Parkinson and me nearly every day.”

Ryoko raised an eyebrow. “Does she? Well, what do I owe you for the help?”

Draco put up a hand and waved it off. “Nothing Hakubi. I must say, I am sure Father’s stock has nothing on what you and Jurai drink.”

“Did…did I turn you into an alcoholic? Oh man, Tenchi is going to kill me!” Ryoko worried, while also trying to hold back laughter.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I am just enjoying myself for now. I know that…that father has much to worry about at home, so your sake does help take the edge off,” the blonde haired boy revealed.

Ryoko was shocked to hear that there was something going on in Malfoy’s life that he was not letting on. “Draco, you know I’m here if you need to talk right?”

He laughed. “Please; soon Father will be honored like never before. This worrying will all be for nothing. Now are we going to drink to whatever drivel Kuramitsu is going to play or are we going to sit here and twiddle our thumbs?”

Producing a jug and two glasses from subspace, Ryoko toasted with the Scion of the House of Malfoy. The lad made a face after the drink and let out a hiccup.

“So is there any chance that you’ll tell me about your father?” Ryoko pried.

“Nope.”

“Damn.”

By this point, Mihoshi had prepared and started the movie, which was a cartoon about a blind man playing a rich man visited by three ghosts. Ryoko largely tuned it out, but found a part of it to be really moving. There was a song about how when the old man was a boy, he was all alone in the world. Ryoko could relate to that. It was moments like this that reminded her of her servitude under Kagato.

Until Tenchi came along and made her realize that there was a voice to answer her’s back and even a shoe to click to her clack. She was not alone in the world any longer.

“So, if you all find any movies you want to play here over break, why don’t you bring it back to school and we’ll try to play it! Merry Christmas everybody!” the blonde haired teacher cried, breaking Ryoko out of her thoughts.

She returned back to the Slytherin common room and made her way to the closet. Ayeka was close behind her. “Coming in Princess?”

She turned her nose up at Ryoko. “Of course you monster. I must say, it will be nice to return home, even for such a short time.”

“You know your mother will probably be coming right?” Ryoko pointed out.

Ayeka shuddered. “Please don’t remind me Ryoko. I want to be happy for my last night here.”

The room was not as packed as the ladies thought. Most of the Gryffindors were gone, and the one that was singing on the karaoke machine. Sasami was singing some upbeat pop song while being cheered on by Mihoshi and Washu while Luna was looking at the upcoming song choices.

“Oh Ayeka! Ryoko! Come on, we are having an end of the year party!” Sasami said as she finished. “The Gryffindor common room is having its own party and we are kind of party hopping back and forth. I’ll be back soon!”

She ran out the door back to the common room, leaving Ayeka and Ryoko in the dust. “Really? It’s our last night and they couldn’t be here.” Ayeka deadpanned.

“Cheer up Ayeka; you’ve got us!” Mihoshi laughed. “Come on and sing with us!”

“I’ll pass Mihoshi. Is anyone else here?”

Washu pointed to the bathroom. “Harry’s in there. Apparently he wanted to get away from the crowd for a few minutes. I don’t blame him.”

“Ah, well Harry, when you go back, tell Tenchi to come in!” Ryoko called to the bathroom.

She heard no reply, so the 700 year old woman went rummaging through the kitchen to see if there were any snacks available. As she opened the refrigerator, she heard Harry scream out in agony.

Rushing to the door, she ripped it open to see Harry on the floor, sweating and panting. His eyes were shut and he started to make a hissing sound. Ryoko started to shake him.

“Kid! Harry! Snap out of it!” she cried. “Washu, Ayeka, get over here! NOW!”

The ladies in the room made their way over to Harry. Washu booted up her computer and viewed Harry’s vitals.

“His mind is currently not in his body. It’s like his subconscious has stretched out to another source…” Washu started.

“What does that mean?!” Mihoshi cut her off. “I don’t want Harry to die!”

“QUIET! He’s not going to die! I’m confident I know what is going on, but I cannot be sure just yet. I need to run some tests…” Washu muttered.

“Damn it Washu, we don’t have time for tests! Can you help him or not?!” Ryoko growled.

“Yelling at her won’t help anything Ryoko!” Ayeka snapped. “Please Miss Washu, do something…anything!”

“I’m doing everything I can! Harry needs to come back to his own mind on his own! What we need is to…hmm?” Washu looked to her screen. “He’s coming back!”

Harry blinked his eyes several times and looked up to the quartet of ladies surrounding him. “Where…where is Ron?”

“Harry, you need to calm down. You just scared us really bad…” Mihoshi began. She was stopped when Harry grabbed her shoulders.

“Ron’s dad is about to be attacked by Voldemort’s snake! I saw it! I was the snake!” Harry rambled on.

Ayeka looked confused. “I…I don’t follow.”

“Well I do!” Washu cried. “Ayeka, stay here and wait for one of the Gryffindors to return and bring everybody to Dumbledore’s office. Have somebody bring McGonagall too; we don’t want her to worry. Everybody else, we need to get to Dumbledore, right now!”

‘I need a drink,’ thought Ryoko, who was not typically this sober before noon.

The month of October had arrived and the classes started to get a bit more intense. Of course, having only taken Charms, Transfiguration, and Muggle Studies, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She was thankful not to have her head of house as a professor as she had no ability to cook let alone brew a potion.

Still, it was all worth it just for this class. Muggle Studies was fantastic because it allowed her to spend time with her beloved Tenchi and to watch Mihoshi’s surprisingly entertaining class. Of course, the sake always helped, which she was unable to drink this morning.

“And so, class, as you can see from the video, Mr. Freeze is a character that actually works better as a tragic character than a throwaway character with a weird gimmick! Any questions?” Mihoshi asked her Muggle Studies class, which caused Ryoko to stop daydreaming about precious liquor.

Ernie MacMillan rose his hand up. “Professor Kuramitsu, since it’s almost here I figured I’d ask. What do Muggles do for Halloween?”

Mihoshi paused. “Well…I…Tenchi, what do Muggles do for Halloween? We’ve never done anything outside of watch a few movies,” she asked her student.

“Err…I’m not going to lie, Halloween was only recently imported over to Japan so I’m not that caught up on your customs. I know something about dressing up and pumpkins, but that’s it,” said the crown prince of Jurai.

Luna raised her hand. “Professor, Muggles take the time of Halloween to dress up in colorful costumes and go from house to house to collect candy from strangers. It is called Trick or Treating. There is also the day of Mischief Night, or Gate Night or the Devil’s Night. This involves the tradition of pranking individuals and vandalizing properties. I always thought that this was due to wrackspurts or nargles, but further evidence supports the idea that it is just the will of the young and young at heart.”

Fred and George exchanged glances. They looked back to Ryoko, who was grinning like a schoolgirl. ‘Mischief Night eh….?” she thought.

Mihoshi clapped her hands together in excitement. “Wow! That sounds amazing! I think I know what we will do for Halloween! We are going to do a project!”

Washu and Tenchi exchanged glances. “Now Mihoshi…aren’t you jumping the gun here…” he started.

“What kind of project, Professor?” asked Ginny.

“Well seeing how you all enjoy this holiday and we are a Muggle Studies class, why don’t we put on a costumed performance for the school on Halloween night? I know just what we will perform! Oh, but we need costumes! And to rehearse! Oh there is so much to do!” Mihoshi rambled to herself.

“Hey Mihoshi, what are you blabbering on about? We can’t make out what you are saying?” Ryoko yelled from the back.

“Is anyone here good at dancing? We need to organize a set!” the first class detective asked the students.

Glances were exchanged from every corner of the room.

“This does not sound good,” Ayeka muttered, banging her head on her desk.

“I can dance. Rather well, I’d reckon,” Luna dreamily responded.

“Yay! Luna, stay after class and we can talk! The rest of you are free to go!”

The class left very confused, Ryoko among them. This was shaping up to be actual work and if she had to do actual work…

“If I have to dance in front of the school, I think I’ll push for Umbridge to subject me to the Dementor’s kiss,” Ron groaned.

“Hey it could be fun!” Neville shrugged.

“You’re only saying that mate because you actually can dance!” the red headed bear of a teen retorted.

“This may be a good opportunity to dance with Lord Tenchi!” Ayeka giddily told herself out loud.

“Ha, this isn’t going to be a formal dance princess. It’ll be some kind of musical number that you see all the time in bad plays and crappy TV specials,” Ryoko laughed.

“My, how unoriginal!” Washu exclaimed.

Sasami put her hands on her hips and stopped walking. “Hey, this is going to be super fun! I’ve never done anything like this and I think it will be only as good as we make it. What do you say?” she pleaded.

Ron, Harry, and Dean started to back up. “I say we skip class for a few weeks and get the heck out of here,” Dean said. The other boys nodded.

Tenchi started to join them. “Yeah…I’m with Ron and Dean on this one…I don’t dance…”

The princess and the pirate ran over to embrace the poor boy. “Unless it is with me?” Ayeka said, fluttering her eye lashes.

“Please, he wouldn’t dance with you even if you were the last creature left in the galaxy!”

“Well you said yourself, demon, that this isn’t a formal dance! That means the chances of me dancing with Lord Tenchi are higher!”

“Lord Tenchi, who do you want to dance with the most?” the two girls stared intensely at the poor boy.

Tenchi shifted uncomfortably. “I…err…help me…” he pleaded.

Ron leaned in to Harry’s ear. “See mate, that’s why we shouldn’t dance. It’s the Yule Ball all over again!”

Ginny sighed. “You boys are helpless.”

*HPVFTS*

“So what did we just watch? And furthermore, how the hell do you find these movies?! You’ve never once watched that at home!” Ryoko asked her housemate turned teacher the next time the class met. Professor Mihoshi had just screened an odd American Movie to the class, which was apparently the basis for their performance.

“Um Ryoko, we went over this. I’m not going to repeat it!” Mihoshi argued sternly.

This sudden burst of passion caused Ryoko to blink. “Um, whatever. That was cute and all but could you please explain WHY the hell we watched it?”

Mihoshi dragged out a giant container of costumes. “We are going to pick costumes now!”

“MAKE SENSE, DAMN IT!” Ryoko yelled. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her ear and pinch. “OW!”

“Calm down, little Ryoko. I’m sure Mihoshi would be happy to explain if SOMEONE would let her talk. Jeez,” sighed the pink haired one.

“I hate you Washu.”

“Love you too, pumpkin!”

“Class please, settle down!” Mihoshi told her entire class even though it was directed entirely at Ryoko. “Now I ran out and bought several costumes from local Muggle stores so you all could participate. Remember, it’s a grade!”

At the mention that this would actually be a graded assignment, the class ran up to the container in order to secure the best costume first.

“I really don’t want to end up in anything lame,” Ernie told nobody in particular.

“At least you don’t have two brothers here who will make fun of you no matter what you wear,” Ron countered, frantically looking at the costume choices.

Ginny looked offended. “What? I can’t make fun of you either?”

“Ha ha Ginny,” Ron deadpanned.

After searching throughout what seemed to be over thirty different outfits, slowly the students began to find costumes to their likings.

“Hey guys…criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot,” growled Neville in a Val Kilmer Batman costume.

Hannah Abbot rolled her eyes. “Of course YOU would pick that one.” The Hufflepuff girl had chosen a purple cat costume. She looked over to Ernie, who was wearing a hockey mask.

“I have no idea what this is supposed to be, but I guess I like it,” he said, taking off the Jason Vorhes mask.

The twins and Lee found matching Ghostbusters costumes and Ginny wore a Little Red Riding Hood outfit.

“Well it’s better than those dreadful dress robes we had to wear last year,” she muttered to herself.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” came the voice of Luna, who had just put on a light blue and white dress.

“Look everyone, I found Ryoko’s costume!” Ayeka, obviously grabbing an angel costume for herself, chortled as she pulled up a devil’s costume.

Ryoko snatched it away. She looked like she was going to say something back but shrugged and put on the outfit. “What the hell. It’s better than whatever the hell Washu just put on.”

The pink haired scientist managed to put on a frilly outfit which looked to manly to be feminine and yet too feminine to be manly. “Ryoko, this happens to be a costume of the Muggle playwright William Shakespeare!”

“Like I care who Will Shakesman is,” she grumbled.

Sasami picked up a costume and showed it off. “Look guys, I found a Princess Leia costume!”

Dean eagerly started looking in the pile. “Wicked Sasami! Professor, did you get any other ‘Star Wars’ costumes? I’d kill to be Boba Fett or Darth Vader!”

Mihoshi walked over and dug around. “Aha! Here you go!” she handed the excited boy an Ewok costume. He adopted a dejected look, quietly put it back in the pile, and just picked up a simple Muggle gangster costume.

After some time the last of the class forcibly adopted costumes. Harry merely found a black demonic robe, Ron grabbed a vampire outfit, and Tenchi found a simple chef’s outfit. Ryoko noted that they seemed more uncomfortable with the idea of dressing up than she was.

“Please kill me,” whispered Harry.

“I would, but if I did I’d be the known as the one who killed ‘The Boy Who Lived,'” Ron replied in hushed tones.

“So? At this point the Wizarding World will probably throw you a parade. Save me the humiliation of doing whatever it is that we are about to do.”

“Ok, so do we all have our costumes?” said Mihoshi, who was wearing her Galaxy Police uniform.

“Professor, who are you supposed to be?” asked Hannah curiously.

Mihoshi laughed. “I’m a police officer silly!”

“What’s a police officer?” asked Ernie. Hannah whispered in his ear. “Oh! Like an auror!”

“Yup!” she said, clearly clueless as to what an auror was. “Now Luna, let’s put on the music and get a routine going.”

Luna skipped up to the record player that Mihoshi produced and started to play the song that Mihoshi selected. The class groaned when they realized what they were doing.

“Really Professor?” asked Fred.

“Why do you torture us so?” Lee inquired, exaggerating his response greatly.

Mihoshi looked upset. “Torture?” she repeated. “But…I thought you all would like this. I understand. Class dismissed,” she replied while trembling. It was clear that she was going to cry the second the room emptied.

Swallowing her pride, Ryoko went up and put an arm on her shoulder. “Hey Mihoshi, we are just playing around. Of course we want to be a part of your Halloween thingy. Don’t we guys?” she gave a death glare at her classmates, which sent shivers down the young wizards’ spines.

“Yes!”

“Of course!”

“I love to dance!”

Mihoshi’s spirits instantly rose and actually started to cry. “Oh class, I love you guys so much! 100 points to you all!”

Sasami looked to Luna. “So Luna, what type of dance do you want us to do for this song?”

Luna smiled. “I wouldn’t call it a dance, Princess Sasami Organa of Alderaan. I’d consider it more of a mini play.”

*HPVFTS*

“Happy Halloween to you all! Tonight is, as most of you know, our traditional Halloween feast. Now we have a special treat for you all. First, let us extend a large round of applause for our Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge,” the voice of Albus Dumbledore announced at the Halloween dinner.

The short minister could be heard standing up. The room applauded, though none applauded more so than the Slytherins and from Dolores Umbridge. “Thank you Dumbledore,” he said curtly. “I was invited here by one of your teachers, Professor Mihoshi Kuramitsu. I would like to thank her for allowing me to come back to these hallowed halls once more.”

The Muggle Studies class were just outside the Great Hall, waiting to perform. However, beyond the idea of stage fright, the development that the Minister of Magic was attending just made things worse.

“Miss Mihoshi, what were you thinking inviting the Prime Minister to Hogwarts?! This is going to offend him greatly!” Ayeka shrieked while the applause was going on.

Mihoshi, who was too busy waiting for her cue to walk into the Hall, did not acknowledge her at first. Ryoko could see that Mihoshi looked incredibly determined. She had not seen her this way since the time that she went for her driver’s license. ‘I have to hand it to the ditz. When she wants something, she really goes out of her way to get it done.’

“Oh, were you talking to me?” she said at last. Ayeka almost fainted from her seething anger.

“Um, Professor Kuramitsu, if I do what you and Luna choreographed with Fudge here, we could all get in trouble. Probably Dumbledore too,” Harry started.

“Harry, this is going to be fine! From what I gather, Muggles dress up like this all the time. Now break a leg everyone!” she said as she entered through the door.

Ron looked around. “We are so bloody screwed.”

“Hello everybody! Wow, there are so many people here!” the voice of Mihoshi rang.

“It’s the same amount as usual!” yelled Pansy Parkinson.

“Really? I don’t think I have ever counted, but I really should. Um…well it is Halloween! And after this performance we have a great Halloween movie to watch that goes with this! Um, any questions?”

“Yes, Professor Kuramitsu. How does this relate to school? What is a movie?” the minister asked, being the only person, living and deceased, in the school to not see a movie before.

Mihoshi laughed. “Oh silly Minister, movies are fun! And this one is great!”

“Indeed Professor?” came the voice of Dolores Umbridge. “And what, pray tell makes it so great?”

“Well, I suppose I should tell you! You see, ’twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems in a place that, perhaps, you have seen in your dreams. For the story you are about I be told took place in the holiday worlds of old.” She stopped reciting and presumably looked around.

Ryoko took this opportunity to have one more secret drink from her ever-appearing sake jug. If she was going to scare the hell out of some school children, she might as well be drunk for it.

“Guys, you had better put your all into this! Mihoshi is counting on us!” Sasami whispered excitedly.

After finishing her drink, Ryoko adopted a devilish glare. “Yeah class, let’s give em hell!”

“Now you’ve probably wondered where holidays come from! If you haven’t, I’d say it’s time you’ve begun!” Mihoshi stated theatrically.

The candles in the Great Hall all blew out simultaneously. The students started whispering to themselves, clearly interested in what was going on. Suddenly, the sound of violins filled the air. Professor Flitwick had apparently been given sheet music and enchanted several instruments to play Mihoshi’s featured musical selection.

“Boys and girls of every age, wouldn’t you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see, this, our town of Halloween!” came the collective voices of the class.

As the class attempted to sing and/ or speak the next lyrics, Washu prepared a special treat off stage. Using her computer, she caused lightning from the ceiling to crash when most dramatic as well as to create a spotlight out of nowhere.

“This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Pumpkins scream in the dead of night! This is Halloween, everybody make a scene! Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright. It’s our town, everybody scream! In this town of Halloween…”

The school thus far seemed to be divided as how to take this. Dumbledore seemed amused, but most of the students were just baffled. Severus Snape looked bored out of his mind and Minerva McGonagall seemed to find some pleasure in Dolores Umbridge’s obvious torment.

Suddenly, the light flashed to Ernie, who had snuck up behind McGonagall without her noticing.

“I am the one hiding under your bed; teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red!” he bellowed dramatically as the elderly teacher jumped to the delight of Umbridge.

“I am the one hiding under your stairs; fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair,” Hannah droned from the other side of the hall. She was putting absolutely no effort into her performance. This caused some Hufflepuffs to laugh.

“This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!”

Just then, the light flashed to Dumbledore. From beneath his seat came, to the old man’s bemusement, the Weasley Twins and Lee.

“In this town we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Song!” The trio announced, lighting off a firework into the center of the Hall. The firework illuminated Neville, clearly enjoying his Batman costume. The school cheered.

“IN THIS TOWN!” He yelled with all of his might. “Don’t we love it now? Everybody’s waiting for the next surprise!” As he finished he fired a grappling hook Mihoshi had found for him and disappeared into the darkness.

The school seemed to be taking some amusement out of the night thus far. Of course, the Slytherins were laughing for all the wrong reasons. Of course, Luna had prepared for this and choreographed it into the song.

“Round that corner, man, hiding in the trash can, something’s waiting now to pounce and how you’ll SCREAM! This is Halloween!” Ron bellowed at Malfoy, who fell backwards off his seat. He vanished under Harry’s Invisibility Cloak.

“Red and Black!” screamed Dean, who was also having fun with the absurdity of tonight’s events as well as relishing the chance to scare Malfoy.

“And slimy green!” Ron added, reappearing next to Hermione and Seamus at the Gryffindor Table. “Aren’t you scared?”

“Well that’s just fine!” came the voice of Ginny from the air. She swooped down in a broom and lit up the room with more of her brothers’ lights, which were accentuated by Washu’s own light show.

“Say it once, say it twice, take a chance and roll the dice! Ride with the moon in the dead of night!” she cackled. “Everybody scream! EVERYBODY SCREAM!”

“In our town of Halloween!”

“I am the clown with the tear away face!” Washu gloated at Michael Corner. She pressed a button which caused his section of the table to disappear, having him and Kevin Entwhistle fall into a well placed bucket of water. “Here in a flash and gone without a trace!”

“I am the ‘who’ when you call ‘who’s there?’ I am the wind blowing through your hair,” sung the voice of Luna, which seemed to be coming from everywhere.

The lights turned red and focused on the ceiling where Ryoko was floating. “I am the shadow on the moon at night! Filling your dreams to the brim with fright!” she bellowed as she summoned several demons and sent them toward Umbridge.

The older woman screamed as the demons were about to savagely attack her. However, Washu sent the beast from whence it came before it could do any actual damage. The crowd cheered at this new development while Ryoko looked dejected that she could not harm the woman.

“This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!” sang the students, both from Muggle Studies and from the crowd.

Sasami twirled down the Great Hall. The students applauded at her costume, enjoying the reference that they understood. “Tender lumplings everywhere! Life’s no fun without a good scare!” she cheered.

The light turned to Tenchi, who tried to put on a positive face but was clearly struggling to be thrust into any spotlight, and Ayeka, who looked like she wanted to die despite being paired up with her love.

“That’s our job,” Tenchi spoke.

“But we’re not mean,” sighed Ayeka.

“In our town of Halloween.”

The Great Hall was illuminated in a giant light, forming a makeshift Bat Signal. From the rafters, Neville leapt down and theatrically presented himself again, clearly getting lost in his character. “IN THIS TOWN! Don’t we love it now? Everybody’s waiting for the next surprise!”

“Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back and SCREAM like a banshee; make you jump out of your skin!”

The door of the Hall opened up and a mist crept into the room. The room was light with an erie glow. A cloaked figure strut out onto the floor. He wore a black hood that caused several teachers and students to gasp in terror. Even Albus Dumbledore stood up at this development.

“This is Halloween! EVERYBODY SCREAM! Won’t you please make way for a very special guy? Our man Jack is King of the Pumpkin Patch! Everybody hail to the Pumpkin King now!” the class sung. By now the pumpkin lights had turned a pale green and of the members of the class save the twins and Lee were all visible in cloaks behind the cloaked figure. It was a truly frightening sight.

“This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!”

As the crowd was chanting, the Weasley Twins and Lee Jordan prepped up their proton packs and stood to face their cloaked classmates. Their packs began to glow a bright red and the music quieted down.

“In this town we call home, everyone hail to the pumpkin song,” Lee said with a smirk.

In a chorus of “Las”, the trio shot streams of water into the crowd and onto the head cloaked figure. The mask of their foe fading away, it revealed itself to be Harry Potter in a pinstripe suit. While this was going on, the pumpkins started to explode one by one, showering all the students with candy and fireworks that spelt out “Happy Halloween.”

The room was silent after the performance. It seemed like everyone was unsure if this was the last part of it or if there was more to come. Professor Kuramitsu walked to her class and bowed.

“Thank you all for being a great audience! Now that you have heard this song, we can watch ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’ one of the only Halloween movies I have seen!”

The crowd erupted in applause. As the children cheered, Ryoko high fived her classmates and patted Mihoshi on the back, who was now crying.

‘Hey, I guess everything turned out all right after all.’

*HPVTS*

“You were all completely out of line! What were you thinking, dressing Potter like You-Know-Who and putting it out there?!” Umbridge roared. Her face was beat red and had forced the entire class and their teacher into Professor Dumbledore’s office along with Cornelius Fudge, Minerva McGonnagal, and Severus Snape.

Mihoshi blinked. “Um…remind me who ‘You-Know-Who is again?”

Umbridge got in her face. “Don’t play dumb with me you blonde bimbo!”

The insult caused Ryoko to make her way toward her teacher and grabbed her collar. “Listen to me you fat oaf, I don’t care if you are a teacher but if you insult our teacher and friend in front of us one more time, I assure you that you will not like what I have to say.”

“Minister, do you see what these foreign barbarians are doing to me?! Should she be able to get away with this?!”

Fudge seemed torn about what to do. On one hand, Ryoko could tell that he would love to get Harry Potter and Dumbledore in trouble. On the other hand, he had his already dwindling reputation to uphold.

“See here Dolores, we are not going to expel any one. However; Dumbledore, as a student has laid a hand on her teacher I feel that is ground for detention, do you not agree?” Fudge asked Dumbledore, who could tell at once that he was not really asking.

Severus Snape stepped in for the Headmaster. “Minister, as Miss Hakubi is of my house I would request to discipline her as I see fit. She has been warned repeatedly to stay away from Mr. Masaki here. Why don’t we forbid her from being with him on school grounds outside of the few classes they share together? I assure you it would devastate her.”

Ryoko adopted a look that was so terrifying that not even Ayeka would dare to gloat.

Fudge thought it over. “Yes, I agree. I have always trusted you Severus, especially since Lucius always speaks so highly of you. But this still doesn’t excuse what else happened tonight!”

The sentence caused Umbridge to adopt a toothy grin. “Yes, thanks to Educational Decree Twenty Five, I have the ability to revoke privileges as I see fit. As it was Potter, the Weasley twins, and Jordan who caused the big scene at the end, I feel that banning them from all Quidditch matches would be appropriate. I also think that we should put a stop to these silly Muggle events like movie nights. They are rather useless in my opinion.”

Harry’s jaw dropped. “Banned from Quidditch? But Professor…”

“You can’t take away these things! They are all that we have!” Sasami yelled.

“This is a crock of horse crap!” Ryoko scolded.

“Ryoko, calm down!” Ayeka whispered, trying to both maintain her cover and to stop an international incident.

Minerva got into Dolores’ face. “Now see here Dolores!”

“Now YOU see her Minerva! You common teachers think that you run this school! Do you not see it Cornelius? Do you not see their lack of respect for me and, by proxy you?”

“You are getting out of line! You are putting words in my mouth!”

“ENOUGH!”

The room turned to Mihoshi, whose yell took everyone off guard. “Stop this fighting! This has nothing to do with respect for you Mr. Fudge, but for the students expressing themselves! Have you all lost sight about what this day means? It is for having fun! Don’t take out your own frustrations on the children for what I have allowed them to do! We came to this country to see a time of peace but all I see here is fighting!”

A silence filled the room. The teachers and students who knew Mihoshi were taken back by her sudden outburst of passion. It was clear that she truly had a passion for this subject and her students.

“Well Cornelius, I think Professor Kuramitsu has given you a rather appropriate response. I think, to compromise with both parties that the Quidditch ban will be upheld for now, but only until we return from our holiday break. Miss Hakubi, you will do the same for your punishment. However, the students enjoy the movie nights and I must profess the same for several of my staff as well. I humbly request that those nights still stand,” Albus Dumbledore pleaded.

Fudge considered the situation. “Oh, very well! But mark my word Dumbledore, Dolores will keep me informed of anything else that might happen in this school! And as for you Miss Kuramitsu, I deeply apologize for the level of aggression shown here tonight. I hope you do not judge all of England for Minerva McGonagall’s outbursts.”

Mihoshi looked to McGonagall and to Fudge. “Thank you Minister. Maybe you should come back for our next movie night! We are probably going to screen ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ or maybe ‘Singing in the Rain!’ It is so hard to find good English speaking movies from Japan that aren’t ‘Godzilla.’ I wish I could bring ‘Sailor Moon’ over.”

The minister, not even attempting to make sense of her rambling, declined and left the building. The students were all dismissed to return back to their rooms while the teachers continued their arguments in Dumbledore’s study.

“So no Quidditch for over a month!” Fred moaned.

“This is terrible!” George cried.

“You know what isn’t terrible guys? Professor Kuramitsu!” Neville cheered. The rest of the class agreed.

Mihoshi started to cry. “Aw, thank you guys! This class means so much to me and so do all of you!”

Sasami gave her a hug. “You mean a lot to us too Mihoshi!”

Just then, Professor Umbridge barged out of Dumbledore’s office. She took a look at the group, and stopped.

“Oh Miss Jurai, would you please escort your housemate back to Slytherin? She should not be out with Mr. Masaki here,” she grinned as she walked back to her office.

Sparks started to fly around Ryoko. “Umbridge…you will pay for this. YOU WILL PAY!”

Hermione Granger was pleased.

Harry had come and told her, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Neville, and Sasami to follow him over to a Gryffindor Closet. This had struck her as odd but when she saw Washu Hakubi, her opinion of the situation completely revised itself.

“Harry, how did she get in here?” Hermione asked her friend.

Washu waved to her. “Hello to you too Granger!”

Harry tried to form words but it proved to be difficult for him. “I…err…Tenchi…”

Tenchi also seemed to be lost for words. Sasami looked from Harry to Tenchi to Washu. “Washu, does Harry know? It hasn’t even been a month!” The blue haired girl told her friend.

Warning flags shot up in Hermione’s head. “Does Harry know what?”

“The secret of why we are here silly girl! Isn’t that what you have been after since we got sorted here?” Washu teased. “Now if you all wouldn’t mind, would you please enter the closet. Single file if you could.”

The Gryffindors gave looks to each other. “Um Washu, we all won’t fit in that closet at once,” protested Ginny.

Tenchi gave one of his trademarked sighs. “Oh trust me, if it involves Miss Washu and a door, you will fit,” he groaned.

The students entered the room one at a time. As Hermione entered the closet, she heard Ron curse so loudly all of London probably heard. Somehow, their closet had transformed into a large living room. There were other doors that no doubt led to other rooms but Hermione was too flabbergasted to consider looking around yet.

“Wicked!” Neville cheered.

“Brother of mine, me thinks Washu is playing a prank on us,” said a wide eyed Fred.

“Nope! It’s a subspace house!” Sasami cheered.

“Blimey, we are in space? How did we get in space?” Ron asked nervously

“Not space, good Weasley. Tis subspace,” came the voice of Luna Lovegood, walking out of another room sipping on a cup of tea. “I just made some, would anyone like any?”

Sasami clapped her hands. “A kitchen! Oh Washu, thank you! I’ve missed getting my hands dirty in the kitchen! Come on Ryo-Ohki, let’s get you some carrots!”

“Meow!” cried the small cabbit on Sasami’s shoulder.

“Wait, so you have somehow added an entirely separate house inside of Hogwarts that can be accessed through a closet. What if somebody were to open it?” Hermione asked.

Washu took some of Luna’s tea. “Good question. When you all walked in you were scanned for your DNA. The only way the door will open to here is if one of you use it. It will recognize only your touch. So please, do not use this closet for anything other than coming in our little subspace club. I don’t want to have to wipe any memories from your classmates.”

“Hold on a bloody moment, how is all of this possible? You are only a fourth year! You can’t possibly know magic like this!” Ron cried.

Suddenly, the image of Ryoko walked through a wall, carrying a bottle of sake. “The hell Washu; you invited everybody? I thought we were keeping the kids out of this?”

Washu smiled. “How uncharacteristically considerate of you Ryoko dear.”

Ryoko shifted her gaze. “Well this just means I can’t get drunk. I’m pissed you bastard!”

“Well I am most certainly not complaining! Now we finally have a way to be with Tenchi every night!” Ayeka added as she entered the room, dragging a sleeping Professor Mihoshi along with her. “Of course, this one still hasn’t woken up.”

“Ok, I need to evaluate the situation so back it all up and answer me this: Where are we? What is going on? Why are you really here? And why is Luna here?” Hermione demanded.

“Oh, so I’m playing the exposition game again? Fine by me, it’s a role I fill quite nicely if you don’t mind me saying. Let’s see….well we are all aliens from outer space except Tenchi who was born on Earth but is actually Ayeka and Sasami’s nephew. Ryoko is my daughter and I’m over 20,000 years old. We are presently in another dimension that I accessed in order to place a house for us to converge and lounge in secret away from prying eyes and ears. We are here to save lives from Voldemort and another alien who may or may or come back from the dead. Oh and Harry is involved. We good? Comprende’?” Washu rushed.

“Wait…can you repeat that?” Harry asked.

“Sure Harry. What do you need repeated?” Washu asked.

Harry paused. “Um…all of it.”

“Yeah, I completely missed all of that,” admitted Ron.

“Long story short kids, all of us except my Tenchi are actually from outer space. There, happy now?” grunted Ryoko.

Ayeka shot her a look. “‘Your’ Tenchi?”

Neville sat down on the couch. “Outer space…so you…you are aliens!”

Wash shrugged. “Didn’t I just say that Longbottom?”

Hermione tried to process this piece of information. Since joining the magical community, she had often wonders what other things might be out there, but never did she expect to actually MEET an alien. This did explain odd things like the cabbit Ryo Ohki and Ryoko’s ears, but it was still a lot to take in. Still…

“Okay, I’m willing to accept that possibility but did you say you were over 20,000 years old and that Ryoko was your daughter…and that…” Hermione began.

“Yup, I’m sure if you created some kind of crappy family tree it’d look weird as hell, but try not to think about it,” Ryoko admitted.

“So your aunt is trying to get in your pants?” George asked Tenchi.

Ginny hit her brother. “Really George? Of all the things to ask you ask that? Grow up you prat!”

“Well Ginny, it is a fair question. But tell me this then: why are you lot even on Earth?” asked Fred.

“Well Mr. Weasley, Sasami and I are princesses of the planet Jurai, the rude demon there is a space pirate, Miss Washu was a professor at the academy, and Mihoshi here is a Galaxy Police officer,” Ayeka explained.

“That didn’t answer the question. Actually it raised even more!” Harry asked, clearly confused.

Tenchi stood up. “All right, let’s try this. Ryoko,” he said pointing to her. “Was brainwashed by a bad guy named Kagato to attack their,” pointing to Ayeka and the kitchen. “Planet. My grandfather, their half-brother, chased Ryoko to Earth and imprisoned her in our shrine. This happened over 100 years ago. About four years ago, I broke into the shrine and awoke Ryoko. That caused Ayeka to come to Earth and Kagato as well. Mihoshi,” he said pointing to the sleeping woman on the ground. “Was chasing him. We all ended up fighting him. We stopped him and saved Washu, who was his captive. Now they all live with me.”

“Oy, I get it now! But isn’t it a bit much? I mean living with all these girls?” Ron asked.

Ginny shot him a look. “Have you ever counted how many people we love with?”

Ron shrugged. “Yeah, but they are all girls!”

The comment caused Hermione to roll her eyes. “Oh Ronald, you are unbelievable. Now this begs the question: how did you get into Hogwarts? Why did you pretend to be wizards?”

“Oh, that’d be because of Professor Dumbledore,” Sasami said as she brought in some quick treats that she and Luna whipped up. The group all congregated around the food and sat back down on the couch.

“Sasami, I don’t know what this is but this might be heaven,” George said while devouring a dessert treat.

“I concur, brother of mine. It is fantastic! In fact, it looks like Ickle Ron has ac ended beyond the mortal plane of treatdom,” concluded Fred.

“Speak for yourself Fred, I think I’m going to meet him there,” said Lee Jordan.

All eyes were on Ron as he ate his food, but then they all turned back to Lee, who was not there a moment ago.

Washu grabbed him. “Mr. Jordan, how did you manage to get in my subspace house?!”

Lee grabbed another one of Luna’s and Sasami’s offerings. “I nicked Harry’s cloak to prank you back for the great one you pulled on me in Flitwick’s this morning, saw something was happening and followed you all. Pretty wicked I have to say.”

Harry looked offended. “You took my cloak without asking?”

Lee shrugged. “It’s all for the greater good. You know, like Dumbledore always says!”

Ron started to say something, but because his mouth was full it came out garbled. He swallowed and tried again. “Speaking of Dumbledore, you said you were here because of him. I thought you all were here because of Fudge!”

Washu beamed at him. “An excellent observation Ronald. That was called ‘reverse psychology.’ We convinced Fudge to let us come to the school and view how the other half lives. Fudge greedily agreed so he could show the world at large how ‘peaceful’ Wizarding Britain is now.”

Neville nodded. “That’s…rather clever I have to say. But now explain how you even met Dumbledore to begin with.”

“Well about four years ago we came into contact with Kagato, the bad guy I mentioned earlier. Dumbledore’s phoenix sensed the battle and led Dumbledore to my Grandfather’s shrine. We talked and realized that it may be good to keep in touch,” Tenchi began.

“Yeah, but then Professor Dumbledore came back a few months ago after you fought in the graveyard Harry! He was told that a teacher made a prophecy that Voldemort would seek out Kagato and it is up to you and Tenchi to stop that from happening!” Sasami interjected.

There was silence from the group. Hermione could not believe her ears.

“So you are saying that, while I have been right in thinking that there was more to your story than you were letting on, you are all actually here to help Harry stop Voldemort? But why does it have to be Harry and Tenchi? Why can’t it be Dumbledore or one of the other teachers?” Hermione asked.

Washu adopted a serious look on her face. “From what Albus told me, that is just how a prophecy works. Despite you being only fifteen, Harry you are the chosen one. What you will have to do to stop him, I know not. I am working with Dumbledore and a colleague right now to assist in that fight, but you will have to be the one to do it.”

“But wait…what about me?” Tenchi asked. Hermione noted that Washu did not apparently fill everybody in on all that she knew.

“Fate will find a place for you too Lord Tenchi, but I believe that the fate of the world rests on Harry’s shoulders. That being said, let’s kick back and play some games or something! There is too much serious talk going on here for my liking!” Washu said, completely killing the somber mood.

“No, no, no, no. We are not at that point yet Hakubi! You still haven’t told us where we are!” Hermione angrily demanded.

“Subspace.”

“Which is…?”

The pink haired scientist sighed. “You are presently in another dimension. I accessed it and created a portal in the closet. Happy? Any final questions?”

Ginny rose her hand. “Why us? I understand Harry, but why are we involved now? And what is Professor Umbridge finds out?”

Washu patted her on the back. “If there is one thing in the universe that can be valued above all else, it is the trust of a friend. You are all Harry’s good friends and, as such, are now our friends. We trust you; even you Granger!” she added to her brunette rival. “Harry can’t do it alone. As for Umbridge…”

“May I, Miss Washu?” Ayeka interjected. “Professor Umbridge is by all means one of the worst people I have ever met. However, Professor Dumbledore discovered and told Miss Washu that she would be gaining power in the school as of Monday. As such, we needed to prepare a plan. That is where I come in. I will gain her trust and try to figure out what she is up to at all times.”

“Why don’t we just take her out?” Lee Jordan asked.

Ayeka became flustered. “Take her out? We can’t do something like that! It would cause an intercontinental upset!”

Washu nodded. “The princess has a point. As long as Dumbledore is still here our hands are tied.”

Fred and George smiled. “We understand Washu.”

“We can bide our time.”

The female Gryffindor prefect narrowed her eyes. “You had better, you two. Don’t force me to write your mother.”

All of the Weasley shuddered in horror.

“Whelp, anything else before I force you all to have a party to celebrate getting all of this out in the open?” Washu posited to the group.

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” asked Luna.

“Never change Luna,” grinned Washu.

Harry poked the sleeping form of his Muggle Studies teacher. “Hey, what about her? Is she all right?”

Ryoko laughed. “Please, she’s probably exhausted from watching a movie in school. All we have to do is say the magic word and she’ll get up. Hey Mihoshi, ready for karaoke?”

The slumbering professor shot up half dazed. “Wha…karaoke? Oh! Harry, Lee, Ron…all of you! I didn’t know it was time for class! I overslept! Oh no, what am I going to do?”

Sasami handed her a microphone. “Sing silly! You get first song!”

Hermione could not help but smile at the chaos that unfolded that night. There was much singing and laughing. Ryoko and Ayeka got into one of their famous fights. However, this time the students saw their full powers since they were not technically in school. Hermione could not get over the simple facts of matter construction and flying, but yet here they were.

“Lost in thought, eh? I have to ask; how does it feel to know you were right?” Washu asked the girl later on in the party, as Ron was butchering some kind of song her had only just heard moments ago.

Hermione shrugged. “I suppose bittersweet. I was so convinced you were here to hurt Harry that I never allowed myself to openly trust you.”

The greatest scientific mind in the galaxy offered her hand to the greatest witch of her generation. “The question is do you have it now?”

Quickly taking the hand, Hermione shook it and smiled once more. “Yes. Yes I do.”