Darkness

Day Ten

         After a long and exhausting flight, we finally landed in Heathrow. Yokoshima finally decided to behave himself and we removed the restraints. Most of us were suffering from jet lag. I had never liked flying, while Sukina had not flown for three years. Hiei looked as though he was about to kiss the ground. Kurama, was as ever, cool and calm, but I noticed that he was checking his hearing discreetly quite often. Gon was busy looking around, exclaiming at all the things he saw, while Kirua was shaking his head. Clapika had immediately ran to the toilet. Botan, used to long-haul flights, was humming away, while Yokoshima glared at her. Peter was getting some information for us at the counter. All of us had cleared Customs and were trying to figure out how we were going to get to Hogwarts. Someone was supposed to meet us, but whether at Diagon Alley* or here was open to debate.
         "The train station is in the city, Naoko-chan, but they have no idea where Diagonally (he did speak rather fast after all) is. We'll have to find our own lodgings for the night I guess," he said.
         "Well, blimey, are you the chaps that are supposed to be in Hogwarts?" a Scottish-type accent came from behind us.
         Su and I jumped, as did Botan. The rest all looked ready to fight. "Hagrid? You're Hagrid the Groundskeeper from Hogwarts, right?" I asked, after we'd all been standing and gaping at one another. The guys didn't hesitate because he was huge, they hesitated because he did not emanate any malicious chi. "Wow, yer'all the jumpiest bunch I've ever seen. Professor Kurama, Professor Hiei and Professor Karen, welcome to Hogwarts. Welcome to, to all of you," he said courteously.
         "Thank... you," Kurama said, a little confused. I didn't really think that Dumbledore would send Hagrid, although he was the obvious choice.
         "We've just landed here, and we'd like to get some rest before tomorrow. Is there a place nearby...?" I left it hanging, hoping Hagrid would get the idea.
         "Of course!" he said good-naturedly. "We'll sleep at the inn in Diagon Alley," he continued.
         "Um... we haven't seen much of London yet, so could we instead stay at one of the hotels here and do a little sight-seeing before we leave tomorrow?" Peter interjected as soon as he saw their faces.
         "Well," Hagrid replied, "It's a little hard ya know, lugging all those trunks..." he began when the rest of us looked at him with an even bigger puzzled look on our faces.
         "What trunks?" Sukina asked.
         "Well, didn't ya all brought trunks to Hogwarts? Yer know, for yer books, clothings and all...?" he said when he saw that there weren't any trunks at all.
         "We were going to buy our books and all other related materials in Diagon Alley. We do have several other bags to include all those, but they won't be much, ne, Onee-chan?" Sukina said, looking at me.
         "As far as we know. Let's see... Textbooks, the Ceremonial Robes... We don't need wands, no, definately not wands..." I began muttering to myself, losing myself in one of my mental lists. (Yes, I am mental, thank you very much).
         "Well, she'll have it all in the morning. Um... would you mind if we stayed at one of the," Sukina bristled at the word, "Muggle hotels here tonight? We'll meet you at Diagon Alley later, if you'll tell us how to get there," he said.
         "Well," he began, clearly undecided when Kurama jumped in smoothly. There was not a hint of an accent in his speech, which pretty much shocked my little sister.
         "I'll make sure that they won't stray. We're supposed to be leving at four, right? We'll meet you at Diagon Alley at Twelve. That should give us enough time," he said.
         "If you put it like that, Professor..." Hagrid began to say when Peter joined in. "I'll follow you, Professor Hagrid. I've seen London before, but I've never been to Diagon Alley. Besides, I miss Magical Accomodations," he said.
         Hagrid immediately brightened up. He took us all to the nearest hotel, which happened to be the Jewels. (I have no idea if such a hotel exists, and at this stage, I frankly don't care :p). The Jewels were owned by a trio of sisters who were close friends of ours. Futhermore, it was one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels in the vicinity. Just entering the lobby alone was enough to evoke a sense of luxury, sensuality and decadence. Su checked us all in except Peter and Killua, who was going to follow Peter to Diagon Alley. He told us that he had had enough of luxury to last a lifetime.
         Once we were in the rooms, Sukina handed me a piece of paper and a pen. I immediately began to scribble and when it was done, only then did I realise that we were no longer in the airport. She told me what had happened after taking and putting the list in a secure place.