Disclaimer: I wish I own everything about Harry Potter and Prince of Tennis so I can retire in Japan and go every day to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Osaka. LOL

Hi! It's been a while since my last update and I'm currently out of my home country so I had difficulty trying to follow-up the next chapter even though I already had in mind long ago what will happen in this next chapter.

I gained confidence again to continue on this story because I've been seeing new readers adding this story to their alerts/favorites list. Thanks so much guys! You keep me going! I'm glad you guys are enjoying reading my fanfic! Douzo!

CHAPTER 12: Of Cats, Beetles and Pixies

"Mataku, I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Kikumaru exclaimed as he rushed near the Middle Courtyard where the Transfiguration classroom is located. He made it just in time to enter he room when the clock struck at 1 and he immediately found a seat beside a housemate at the front row near the door.

A gray cat with black stripes immediately entered the door after him and jumped on the teacher's desk at the front. Kikumaru's eyes gleamed with wonder as to why such a pretty cat was sitting there. Since he was sitting at the front, he quickly motioned to the teacher's desk and aimed to pat its back. Suddenly the cat jumped off the desk that made Kikumaru sit on the floor as he was taken aback when it changed into Professor McGonagall. Extremely surprised, he couldn't help but stare at the professor with his mouth wide open.

"Oh goodness Mr. Kikumaru, I beg your pardon but I'm not a pet." The whole class gave out a chuckle while Kikumaru stood up, gave a slight bow for forgiveness while smiling about the incident.

The professor gave out an overview about what to expect in her class during the year. She mentioned about Cross-Species Switches and changing a guinea fowl to a guinea pig. Kikumaru was filled with awe upon hearing the lessons he'll be learning in this class, but he was itching to ask about something else.

"Yes, Mr. Kikumaru?", Professor Mcgonagall said after seeing Kikumaru's right hand was raised up and waving crazily up in the air.

"Uhm Professor, I want to know if we can also learn how to turn into a cat, like you?" Kikumaru said while his eyes glittered with excitement,

The professor smiled and said, "I'm afraid it's not part of the syllabus for fourth years; being an animagus requires advanced magic and skill. We only do lectures about it for Third years. Since you brought it up, I could give a brief review about it for the benefit of everyone."

Deep inside Kikumaru felt disappointed for he really wanted to turn into a cat, but he still listened attentively about how one could be an Animagus. The animal form is not chosen by the wizard or witch as it depends on the person's personality. Kikumaru felt confident though that he'll turn into a cat if ever he'll get the chance to learn how.

When Kikumaru went out of the room after the professor dismissed their class, the second years were already lined up for the next class. Upon seeing Ryoma in the middle of the line, he waved happily and shouted "Ochibi-chan! Nice to see you again!"

"We just saw each other this lunch, Senpai." Ryoma wanted to disappear out of sight.

The second years already went inside but Kikumaru held up Ryoma and said, "Ochibi, where is Harry Potter? I don't see him here."

"Why would I know? Senpai, I need to go in now."

"Oi, please make Harry Potter sign my chocolate frog card! Onegai onegai onegai!" Kikumaru said while shaking Ryoma.

Professor McGonagall was fast approaching the classroom after getting some things outside when Ryoma reluctantly took the card and quickly went inside. Kikumaru smiled and skipped away from the Transfiguration classroom.

Ryoma rushed to sit beside Neville Longbottom in the middle just in time when the professor stood in front of the class. Suddenly Harry and Ron appeared at the door and froze upon seeing the professor staring sternly at them.

"It seems to me that being late has become a habit for you two. That would be 10 points off from Gryffindor by each one of you."

Harry and Ron's faced turned sour as they rushed to get a seat. They were greeted with scowls by their fellow housemates.

"Welcome back Second Years for another year in Transfiguration. This year we'll move a notch higher, so I expect you to have understood the basics and to perform better this time."

After going through an overview of the lessons for the year, Professor McGonagall asked them to turn beetles in to buttons without even lecturing them about it. Ryoma thought it must have been a lesson last year and they were just reviewing it. He was going to ask Neville about it but he noticed that he was having a hard time. Just by looking at the others around, all were struggling. Harry's beetle kept moving that made it hard to aim with a wand. On the other hand, Ron's desk was full of smoke that gave out a foul smell in the room. That was definitely not a good sign. In the end, Hermione was the only one in the class who got to turn her beetle into a button.

Defense Against the Dark Arts for the Second Year students started at 4 in the afternoon at the third floor of the castle. Ryoma wanted to get away quickly from the task Kikumaru wanted him to do so he hurriedly went to Harry's desk to ask him the favor. "My senior keeps bugging me to ask you to sign this chocolate frog card for him. "

Before Harry could react, a voice so loud and proud suddenly interrupted from behind and said, "Signing cards now, eh? Harry, Harry, Harry, you are now popular indeed, but my class is about to start. Your quill isn't out yet so let me get one for you. When you're a star you always need to ready a quill in your pocket, just like how you would do with your wand. You know how fans are, always asking at the wrong time." Professor Lockhart then took a glance at Ryoma, who answered with an I-am-not-a-fan look. He took out a shiny quill from his own pocket and scribbled his signature on the front side of the card. The professor's signature covered Harry's face on it. Harry couldn't even move or react while the professor talked away.

The professor gave out a laugh and said, "Oh, I didn't realize this was a Harry Potter chocolate frog card. Interesting. You see, I have been asked to be a part of this card collection several times but I did not give permission for them to do so for reasons that I may become too popular than I can handle." He chuckled again and gave back the card to Ryoma. No expression at all can be seen on Ryoma's face. "Starstruck, my lad?. I do understand." Then the professor patted his back as he smiled widely and headed to the front of the classroom.

"Well, well sorry for the delay. When you're a star wizard, a lot of unexpected things can really happen. So Harry my boy, heed my advice. During a duel, you should always have your wand ready, but during other times, always have your quill ready." The professor gave out a big sparkly smile as the second year girls almost fainted at the sight. Meanwhile the boys' jaws literally dropped.

After his long introduction, the professor asked them to answer a short quiz. Ryoma thought it was a quiz to measure how much his classmates have learned the previous year about Defense Against the Dark Arts. It turned out to be worse than that for it was a quiz all about Professor Lockheart. It had questions like "What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite toothpaste?", "How many times does Gilderoy Lockheart brush his teeth?" and the likes of it til question number 54. Ryoma have observed that most of the girls were answering eagerly, especially Hermione. The boys were just scratching their heads. He wasn't alone after all. In the end, Hermione was praised for getting full marks that made the professor give points to Gryffindor.

Ryoma was already feeling down and annoyed with the class. It wasn't what he expected it to be, until the professor brought out a covered cage in front of the classroom from under his desk.

"The start-of-the-term quiz have not yielded promising results from you, so I am expecting that you would read my books more as we progress from lesson to lesson. That is, from one adventure to another. Now now, let's move on and create your own adventure."

The whole class looked attentively at the covered cage. Professor Lockhart warned the class to remain calm so as to not provoke what was inside. He then pulled the cover off the cage and said "I now present to you to these little beasts, the Cornish pixies!"

These creatures were about 8 inches in size and electric blue in color. They had big wide eyes and very long pointy ears. They also have sort of like an antenna on top of their head. "They look like aliens from outer space", Ryoma thought. These little fellows though were just small and had wings. They couldn't stay still inside the cage when the cover was lifted off. They tried to mock the students by making funny faces. Some of the students gave out a soft laugh and thought these pixies look harmless.

"Don't you underestimate our little blue friends. Now let me see how you handle them!" The professor opened the door of the cage that made all the Cornish pixies fly out.

The Cornish pixies wreaked havoc everywhere in the classroom. They threw books, broke the windows and toppled tables and chairs. Half of the class were tried to hit the pixies with their hands or books while the other half hid under their tables. These little ones were really fast and smart that even an attempt to use a wand against them would fail. A group of them even raised Neville to the ceiling and had him hanged on the chandelier. Neville cried for his dear life.

Professor Lockheart's face was painted with confusion but sarcastically he said, "Too much for you to handle eh? Well, well leave it all to me. Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" Nothing different happened after the professor said the spell. Suddenly the school bell rang and this made all the students get out of the classroom. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ryoma were almost at the door when the professor blocked their way and said, "I have a very important errand to attend to. I leave them all to you. Goodbye!" The professor rushed out and shut the door at them.

"Bloody hell! He left us to clean after his mess!" said Ron while swaying his hands to keep away the pixies going after him.

"The professor just wants to train us for unexpected battles" Hermione said while freezing some pixies with a spell while she roams around the classroom.

"Can you believe the words coming from her mouth?" Ron said to Harry who was busy hitting pixies with a book. Ron then noticed Ryoma and shouted "Wicked! What's that you're holding? That sure is handy against these pixies!"

Ryoma was using his tennis racket and he hit the pixies as if they were tennis balls. He was able to hit a lot but more and more pixies targeted him after seeing what he was doing.

"Ron this is not the time to admire muggle things! You better help and do something!" said Harry while he struggled with a few.

"I'm trying!" Ron said while he hit them with his notebook.

Most of the pixies swarmed at Ryoma and they held him up til he can't swing his racket anymore. He then fell on the floor that made Harry run to him and help. Nothing could be done for all the pixies gathered at them and made them unable to move. Hermione fought back at the group by swaying her wand and shouted "Immobulus!" All the pixies in the room suddenly froze. Ryoma and Harry were now free to move.

Afterwards clapping hands were heard above. They looked up and saw Neville clapping his hands while still being hanged on the chandelier. "You were awesome Hermione! Can you help me down too? Please?" He then just gave a pleading smile.

Kawamura just got out of his History of Magic class when he saw Kikumaru waiting in the hallway for him. "Eiji! You won't believe who, or rather what, my professor is at History of Magic. He's a ghost! But apparently that class was super boring. I felt sleepy most of the time!"

"Taka-san, let's do some chitchat later. We must get to the hospital wing, quick!"

"Why? What happened Eiji?"

Kikumaru pulled Kawamura and ran as fast as they could; there was no time for Kikumaru to answer his question. They did stop a few times to ask other students where the hospital wing was.

Upon reaching the vast entrance of the hospital wing, Kikumaru shouted "Ochibi-chan! Daijoubu desu ka?" He then ran to where Ryoma was and squeezed him with a hug while weeping.

"Daijoubu desu, Kikumaru-senpai." Ryoma was on the bed and was surrounded by all his seniors from Seigaku. "I only got scratches." He then tried to free himself from Kikumaru's hug for he was hurting already.

An old lady sporting a white cap with a long cape at its back approached their group and said "Young lad, I am requesting you to please lower your voice. As the head nurse, I have to ensure that this place would be as quiet as possible for the other patients. Understood?"

Kikumaru bowed to her and said sorry.

"Mr. Echizen, your visitors are beyond six persons already. I only allow six persons per patient. May I request some of you to leave already? Besides, he only got a scratch so he'll be discharged from here soon."

"Understood. Thank you for your care Madam Pomfrey" said Tezuka as he bowed to her. "Inui, let us go so that Kikumaru and Kawamura can stay for a bit. We still need to discuss practice routines. Ryoma, have a good rest." Ryoma gave the captain a nod.

"Oishi, see you at our common room later." Seigaku's mother hen just gave a nod to Inui and Tezuka as they walked out.

Shortly after the two went out, Colin Creevey and Ginny Weasley came rushing in.

"Ehem ehem. Where are you two going?" Madam Pomfrey blocked their way.

"Can we please visit Harry Potter? I heard he was hurt by Cornish Pixies" said Colin. "I want to see if my brother is doing fine too. I heard he is here with him." Ginny added.

"Go on, go on. Just don't cause a ruckus, understood? He only got scratches so he'll have to go soon." The two smiled and nodded to Madam Pomfrey as they approached Harry Potter's bed. Hermione and Ron were there sitting beside him.

"Harry Potter is also here?" Kikumaru suddenly got excited after he heard Colin and almost jumped where he was but Oishi blocked him with his arm.

"Eiji, calm down. Madam Pomfrey already warned you."

"Wakatteru, demo...ahhhhh Ochibi-chan, do you still have the card? Did he sign it for me?" Kikumaru said while trying to sneak glances at Harry Potter.

Ryoma's eyes widened, then he just looked down as he was reaching for the card in his pocket. He couldn't look at Kikumaru directly as he gave back the card to him.

"Ah it got squashed a bit, that's fine. Oh, he signed it already! Arigatou...eh...errr...nani kore? Professor Lockheart? Doushite, Ochibi-chan?"

Ryoma curled his lips and said, "He suddenly barged in when I was asking Harry to sign it. We couldn't do anything to stop him. That professor has a star complex you know." Ryoma did not look at Kikumaru.

"Yada! I could have asked him to sign my Defense Against the Dark Arts notebook, but not my Harry Potter card!" Kikumaru suddenly threw tantrums and cried while sitting on the floor.

Colin and Ginny were on their way out of the hospital wing when they overheard what Kikumaru was crying about. They approached and tried to appease him for Madam Pomfrey was already glaring at him. "I have an extra Harry Potter chocolate frog card. I can give it to you. We can ask him again to sign it for you." said Colin.

Kikumaru stopped crying and said "Really? You're going to give your extra card to me? Oh, thank you very much!" His eyes sparkled with happiness. Kikumaru, Colin and Ginny then chatted happily about Harry Potter while taking glances at him.

From afar, Ron saw the group and said, "Harry, witness the birth of your fan club!"

"Shut up Ron!" Having a fan club never crossed Harry's mind, ever. Hermione just gave out a chuckle and they all laughed together.

NEXT CHAPTER:

"Hello everyone! This is Hermione Granger. A lot of magical things were already experienced by our new friends from Japan. That's not the end of it and there will be more soon. On the next chapter, they will have loads more to learn as they experience the other Hogwarts subjects. Stay tuned for the next chapter, Chapter 13: Ryoma and the Whomping Willow. So, excuse me while I continue on my studies."

"Did you know that the birthplace of Tennis is in England?"

Yatta! I finally finished another chapter! That took me over a year again! I am so disappointed. Maybe I should have a day-off for a year or so to just finish this. Anyway, I am still happy that there are still new people reading this. Nice to meet you all! For my old readers, if you are still there, I appreciate you coming back!

Hope you all like this chapter. I've been dying to upload this as soon as possible. As usual there are some changes, OC moments and the likes. Feel free to comment and I'll be glad to answer questions and take in some suggestions. Arigatou gozaimasu! * bows * See you again after...oh well...see you when I see you!