-------------------------------------------------------------
The group sat in Professor Fai's office. By this time, they had had so many "detentions" Filch didn't bother to check if there was a Sakura, Syaoran or Kyo missing.
"Sakura," Syaoran said firmly, "You must tell us exactly what happened after breakfast the day you saw Snape's potions class was cancelled."
Sakura nodded. " A Griffindor Prefect had become angry at me, and I left to the dungeons. There I met the ghost peeves who cheered me up."
Kyo raised his eyebrows at the strange statement. "Are you sure it was Peeves?"
Sakura insisted that had been the kind ghost's name. "Anyways," She continued, " As I left to go to my first class, I saw peeves floating back to where I had come from, the
Great Hall."
Kurogane's face loosened from the tight expression he usually wore. "That's where he was found petrified!"
Fai thought a moment. "Coincidence?" He suggested.
Kurogane shook his head. " Remember what that witch said in the other Japan? There is no coincidence in this world. There is only Hitsuzen- inevitability. "
Mokona, who had not spoken a word since they entered sagaciously added, "A naturally foreordained event. A state in which all other outcomes are impossible. A result by a single causality and all other causalities would necessarily produce different results so reads.... Kodansha Japanese Dest Dictionary, second edition..."
"Right. Whatever Mokona said, " Kurogane mumbled.
Fai snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"
"What?!" They all chorused.
"For Halloween, I can dress as a magician! "
"What?"
Fai hadn't finished. "Kurogane could be a ninja, Sakura could be a princess, and Syaoran could dress up like an Archeologist!"
He was so enthused that he didn't realize the rest of the group was staring at him befuddledly.
"Huh." Kurogane said when no one else had spoken.
"Excuse me," Kyo began," But what does that have to do with anything?!" He was already confused with them talking about other japans and hitting some girl named Susan. Now they were just plain off topic.
"It was just a sudden thought," Fai said defensively. He cleared his throat. "Then what happened, Sakura hime?"
For a moment, Sakura wasn't sure what he meant. Then she remembered what she'd been saying. "Then I arrived to potions and everyone was leaving because there was a sign on the door informing students class had been cancelled. With everyone gone, I risked a peek inside and saw...."
Kyo looked sympathetic. "After you saw Snape's body, did anything stick out like a scar or burn that might indicate a curse or cause of death?"
Sakura shuddered. "You've asked a similar question before."
Kyo cocked his head. "I-I have?"
"Yes. And there was a mark, a burn on his arm as if he'd been branded. But after I saw this, Kurogane came and covered my eyes. And then I must have passed out from shock. When I woke up, Madame Pomfrey shooed you away before I could say anything."
They looked at each other.
"The gap." Syaoran whispered.
"Huh?" Fai asked what he meant.
"Our memories from the middle of your class to the end of that morning are gone. That's
what I meant."
Sakura sighed. "I left the nurses office soon after and ran into Yusuke."
Fai smiled. "I like Yusuke. Good kid. Good wizard."
Kyo looked to Syaoran. "Yusuke?"
"A Griffindor like me," Syaoran replied helpfully.
"So what DID the burn look like?" Kurogane asked with impatience.
" Like a skull with a--" Sakura was cut off by a harsh pounding on the door.
"I'll get it," Kurogane said, standing to open the door.
Dumbledore stood in the doorway.
