Eriol Hiiragizawa is a very important character in the second story arc. Sakura has captured all the Clow Cards and is now the Mistress of the Clow. However, because Clow Reed is now dead, the cards are slowly losing power. In order to bring back the full power of the cards, Sakura must now support them from her own magic-- which is not strong enough. Slowly, she must transform the cards into Sakura Cards to be able to use them again. Eriol, who posseses all of Clow Reed's magic and magical knowledge, makes tests for Sakura to overcome. He poses as a transfer student from England at Sakura's school in order to keep closer tabs on her. Unfortunately, Syaoran mistakes this for a romantic interest and considers Eriol a rival for Sakura's heart. Eriol creates obstacles for Sakura ranging from gigantic (stuffed) bears to angry snowmen. To overcome these obstacles, Sakura must transform different cards for each task. He wisely does not reveal his identity to Sakura, knowing that she would not try hard enough against him if she knew he was a friend. In the end, he confronts her with his magic and an ultimatum: finish transforming the cards and defeat me with your magic before dawn, or the whole world will fall asleep forever. Sakura at first doesn't want to harm him, knowing that he is Eriol, but as he gives power to his guardians (Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun), Cerberus and Yue cannot beat them. She transforms the final two cards, Light and Dark with Syaoran's help, and successfully defeats Eriol's magic.

All of them go back to Eriol's place to have tea (in the anime, they go the next day, and in the manga, they go right away after the battle). Eriol explains everything to Sakura and friends, and also patches things up with Yue in regards to Clow Reed. He also reveals that he knows Ms. Mitzuki, and also that she knew everything which was going on in Japan. A romantic interest is implied between Eriol and Ms. Mitzuki in both the anime and the manga, but is emphasized in the manga. As well, in the manga, Eriol reveals that Sakura's father is the other half of Clow Reed's soul, and transfers half his magic into Fujitaka Kinomoto, enabling his sixth sense to see spirits and the spirit of his dead wife, Nadeshiko. This is not shown in the anime. Eriol goes back to England after his job is completed, and later gives Sakura advice on how to fight the Nothing card in the second movie.

Eriol is basically a very polite person and tends to speak in riddles. He is very good at sports, and enjoys tormenting Syaoran with his coolness. As well, he likes to keep people off-balance mentally, most notably Syaoran and Sakura. He helps Sakura fix her stuffed bear when it ends up looking too much like Kero-chan, and she wonders how to repay him. He decides to throw her off-balance and kneeling, kisses the back of her hand, making her blush. He is also an excellent story-teller, and quickly becomes friends with Yamazaki-kun. They enjoy telling untrue stories to Sakura and Syaoran together. He is also a very good student. He is the perfect complement to Tomoyo's personality, but unfortuately, he is already in love with Ms. Mitzuki. He is also an excellent cook. Eriol's voice actor is Sasaki Nozomu.

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