Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Harry Potter.
Quick note before we start just so everything is clear. In order to make this crossover work I had to adjust the Harry Potter timeline a bit. Basically everything after Grindlewald is happening ten years later so instead of Harry and friends going to school from 1991-1998 (The fact that the skipped seventh year to hunt horcruxes notwithstanding) they will now attend Hogwarts from 2001-2008 allowing Rika to be their contemporary.
Rika Nonaka the Magical Tamer
Chapter 1: Onmyōji
Strange things had been happening to Rika Nonaka lately. Well perhaps a more specific explanation was in order, after all strange things happened to Rika all the time, such was the life of a Digimon Tamer but the things that had been happening to her lately were strange even by her lax standards of normalcy.
These things usually happened when she was angry. Glasses would shatter while no one was touching them for instance. Then just recently there had been that run in with Ryo, who was being his usual annoying self then suddenly his hair had turned bright pink. That incident, while it had been hilarious had really woken Rika up that something just wasn't quite right with her. She took this about as well as one would expect.
"I hate this! All I ever wanted was to be the best Digimon Tamer, sure that's not my dream anymore but I didn't sign on to be some sort of freak!" Rika was sitting curled up in her room crying after the latest bit of random destruction, the computer had fried itself after she got into a fight with her mother about her maybe trying another camera test. She was so sick of this, it was her that was doing these things; it had to be. There was no other common element. As she sobbed the glass windows on her sliding door shattered.
That was it, at that moment Rika Nonaka had finally had enough. She wasn't scared anymore, she was angry to be certain but it was a different kind of anger than what had been triggering whatever this was. This was a cold anger, not at any being but just at the situation itself. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.
"Renamon." She called, trying to keep the coldness out of her voice. Her partner wasn't at fault for this, at least as far as she knew. She probably didn't succeed. The yellow fox Digimon shimmered into existence in front of her. Rika had no idea how she did that, none of the other Digimon seemed to have that ability.
"Rika, what's the matter, there's glass all over the floor, were you attacked?" Renamon's protective instincts were obviously in overdrive. Rika looked up at her partner with red swollen eyes, Renamon was the only one she'd ever show such weakness to.
"No. I wasn't attacked. There's something wrong with me. Don't tell me you haven't noticed the strange things that have been happening around me lately." Rika said.
"Yes I have noticed," Renamon said with a nod, "Ever since we got back from the Digital World unexplainable things have been happening around you. Perhaps it has something to do with our trip to the Digital World. You should call the others and see if they are experiencing similar things."
"I've thought of that, but I'm afraid Renamon. What if this isn't happening to them too? What if it's just me? I finally opened up enough to have friends… I don't want to lose them because of whatever this is."
"They're your friends Rika, they'll want to help you. All you need to do is call them."
"You're right, I won't get any answers if I try to hide this I may as well just call them." Rika grabbed the phone and shakily dialed Henry's number; he was the most level-headed of their group and thus the most likely to take this situation, whatever it was, seriously. It rang twice before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Thankfully it was Henry on the other side of the line. Rika took a deep breath before speaking.
"Henry, it's Rika. I need you to get Takato and Ryo and meet me at the park, it's important." She said.
"What's going on Rika? You don't sound good, did a Digimon attack?" He seemed to have picked up on the slight panic in her voice. This was something entirely new to her and she needed answers.
"No, a Digimon didn't attack, I don't know what's going on. It might have something to do with Digimon, I just don't know. Just meet me at the park with the others in half an hour." She said.
"Rika, are you okay? I've never heard you this rattled before and you want Ryo there? You hate Ryo." Henry said.
"I don't know, but I only want to explain what's going on once, so just get Takato and Ryo and meet me at the park!" She snapped.
"Alright Rika, we'll be there." Henry said before hanging up. Rika hung up the phone and she and Renamon left to get to the park in time. Thankfully it wasn't a long wait for the others once they got to the park, and they'd all brought their Digimon with them. Unfortunately Ryo was missing and Kazu and Kenta were there instead.
Oh great the idiot twins are here, that's just what I need today." She mused.
Takato was the first to approach her, the normally laid back gogglehead looked concerned. "What's going on Rika, Henry said it sound urgent." She ignored his question and turned to Henry.
"Where's Ryo?" She asked. Henry shrugged.
"He refused to come, something about pink hair."
"Of course." She muttered.
"So what's going on?" Takato asked again. Rika took a ragged breath before beginning.
"Strange things have been happening to me lately when I get angry. Windows shattering, computers exploding... turning Ryo's hair pink. It started shortly after we got back from the Digital World. What I want to know is if this has been happening to any of you?" The group was silent for a prolonged moment. What she was saying was crazy, she knew that, but they also knew that she wasn't the kind of person who would joke around about this sort of thing.
The group exchanged silent looks. Finally Takato spoke up. "No Rika, this hasn't been happening to any of us." She'd been afraid of that.
"I always knew you were weird Rika , but this just takes the cake, you're nuttier than a fruit bat." Kazu said.
"Kazu..." she growled. Kenta who was always the more meek of the pair of best friends shook Kazu slightly.
"I don't know if you should be making fun of her right now Kazu." He said.
"Hey it's not my fault she's a freak-" Kazu said.
"Kazu shut up!" Rika roared. Kazu's sentence cut off but his mouth kept moving.
"Kazu, why are you still mocking her?" Takato asked impatiently. Kazu flailed about frantically, making it clear that he actually couldn't speak. Takato's eyes widened, "Rika, did you do that?" Rika wanted to bolt this had gone very badly, what would her friends think of her now?
"Why to go Rika, it's about time someone shut him up." Terriermon cheered.
"Terriermon, now isn't the time for that." Henry chided, "Well this is strange, I don't know what's going on with you, but maybe Mr. Shibumi would now, I can have my dad call him." The shock of all these events had distracted the group from a car pulling up.
"That won't be necessary, I know what's wrong with Ms. Nonaka." A voice said. The children and Digimon turned toward the voice to find a blonde man wearing sunglasses.
"Yamaki, you know what's going on with Rika?" Takato asked.
"Yes, I do, I need her to come with me, her mother is waiting at Hypnos, everything will be explained there, but only she and Renamon can come." Yamaki said.
"Alright, if you have the answers, I'll come with you because I'm sick of this." Rika said before getting in the car.
Once they arrived at Hypnos Rika was quickly shuffled into a conference room where her mother was waiting with an elderly man wearing a plain black silk with five kamon, or family crest, on the chest, shoulders and back. Though she was no expert on kamon so she couldn't identify the symbol. It looked like a tree in a circle. What Rika did know was that this type of kimono was extremely formal.
"Ah, Ms. Nonaka, you have finally arrived. I am Professor Hiroshima Tsuchimikado, and I have been most anxious to speak with you. Please, sit." He said with a smile. Something about this felt off to Rika, but she looked to her mother who nodded, so Rika pulled up a chair and sat at the table across from this Professor Tsuchimikado.
"So you're a professor? What exactly do you teach? I was told to come here to find answers to a problem I've been having." She said. Professor Tsuchimikado chuckled.
"Ah, straight to the point, your mother told me you would be. She also told me about the strange things that have been happening around you, I'm here to answer all your questions. However I would like to meet your Digimon first."
"You know about Digimon?" Rika asked in shock. She supposed she shouldn't have been so shocked after the D-Reaper battle, but people had a habit of rationalizing away things that didn't fit into their world view.
"Yes, I am aware of their existence though, I am one of few in my community that do." Rika nodded and Renamon appeared.
"This is my Digimon Renamon, Renamon this is Professor Tsuchimikado."
"I's a pleasure to meet you." Renamon said with a bow.
"Likewise Renamon," Professor Tsuchimikado said, "A kitsune, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."
"What are you talking about?" Rika asked impatiently.
"Tell me Ms. Nonaka, what do you know of onmyōji?" Rika just stared at him blankly.
"I've never heard of onmyōji sir." She said.
"That doesn't surprise me, the onmyōji are ancient and our ways have been banned in the No-Maj world for two centuries now." The man mused.
"No-Maj, what are you talking about?" Rika asked.
"Ah yes I got ahead of myself. onmyōji are practitioners of Onmyōdō, you would call it a form of spell-casting. In short Ms. Nonaka you are an onmyōji, or in more common vernacular a witch, or at least have the potential to become one; you would need to be trained of course." Professor Tsuchimikado explained.
"So what you're saying is that I can use magic? Okay, but what does that do to you or thing strange things that have been happening to me?" She asked.
"Well when a potential onmyōji, comes into their powers they cannot control them. Strong emotions cause the magic to flare and, well things happen. We call this accidental magic. As for what it has to do with me, you asked what I was a professor of earlier. The truth is the I am the Headmaster of a school called Mahoutokoro that trains potential onmyōji. I myself am descend form a long line of onmyōji, going all the way back to Seimei Abe himself." That last part made the man visibly puff up with pride, though it meant nothing to Rika.
"So long story short you want me to attend your magic school. Fine where to I sign up?" She asked. Professor Tsuchimikado blinked in surprise.
"I must say you are taking this rather well, most No-Majborn potential onmyōji I talk to are a little more... disbelieving about magic existing." He said.
"My best friend is a talking digital fox that a year ago I thought only existed in an anime and a card game, I've learned to take weird stuff in stride. Magic exists and I'm a witch, sure, why not? It's no stranger than Digimon being real." The old man chuckled again.
"That is true I suppose." He said.
"You mentioned a term before No-Maj, what does it mean?" Rika asked.
"It's a term that we onmyōji picked up from the gaijin. It is American in origin; it's a name for people who aren't onmyōji. Even the onmyōji were affected by World War II. So American wizards helped us rebuild just like their No-Maj counterparts. As such their was a bit cultural exchange and the onmyōji adopted the American term for non magic people. You are No-Majborn which mean both of your parents were No-Majs."
"Okay, you didn't seem surprised when you saw that Renamon was a fox. Why was that?" Rika asked.
"Renamon is what we a kitsune, or a fox spirit, a thing I'm sure you are quite familiar with from mythology. Kitsune are common companions and servants for onmyōji, we call such companions shikigami. I firmly believe that Renamon came to you to aid you in learning how to use your magic."
"Alright, so when do I go to Mahoutokoro?" Rika asked. Professor Tsuchimikado shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"That's the thing Ms. Nonaka, I'm afraid you are not allowed to enroll in Mahoutokoro." He said.
"What? Just what kind of scam are you playing at, I thought you were here to help my daughter!" Rika's mother Rumiko broke her silence for the first time in this meeting and did so with a roar.
"Please don't misunderstand, normally Mahoutokoro would be happy to have Rika as a student however there are extenuating circumstances in this case. First of which is that she is what one might call a late bloomer. Normally children show magic at very young ages. We normally start onmyōji training at age seven at Mahoutokoro. However Rika has only shown signs of magical potential very recently. If she were the daughter of onmyōji this wouldn't be so much of an issue as she would have the background knowledge needed. Being No-Majborn however..."
"Give her the materials, she'll study hard before the start of term." Rumiko protested.
"There is more to it than that I'm afraid. Rika's bursts of accidental magic have been obscenely powerful for reasons we have not yet been able to pinpoint, though we theorize that it might have something to do with her merging with Renamon during the D-Reaper battle. The truth is, we at Mahoutokoro are unsure if we would be able to contain her if things go awry." Professor Tsuchimikado explained.
"There must be other magic schools I could go to." Rika said.
"There are, actually I had one I had one in mind. Tell me Rika, how is your English?" Professor Tsuchimikado asked.
"I'm proficient." She said curtly.
"Good, the school I have in mind is called Hogwarts. It's in Scotland, and while is curriculum isn't quite up to the rigorous standards of Mahoutokoro it is headed by perhaps the greatest onmyōji, or wizard as the gaijin call them, of the age, Albus Dumbledore. Their Charms professor Fillus Flitwick is also a dueling champion and several other members of its faculty have earned accolades. The reason I bring up Hogwarts is not only because of this, but also because it starts students at age eleven so you would be starting on an even playing field with the rest of the students."
"It sounds good, I need to learn how to control my magic, I don't care how far I need to go." Rika said.
"Good, I'll arrange a meeting with Professor Dumbledore so he can tell you about Hogwarts, I have no doubt that Hogwarts will accept you." Professor Tsuchimikado said, "Also you must not ell anyone about you being a potential onmyōji, not even your Tamer friends. The magical world is a secret, if word got out to the No-Majs it would cause chaos."
"My friends and I were able to keep our Digimon a secret for moths I'm pretty sure they could handle not telling people about magic. I want to be able to tell them where I'm going." Rika said.
"While I see your point Ms. Nonaka, that decision is above my pay-grade. I'll see what I can do. For now you are free to go, I will contact you when I get word back from Professor Dumbledore about when he wishes to meet you."
It was two weeks later that the meeting with Dumbledore took place and once again Rika found herself being guided into a private conference room at Hypnos headquarters. Rika didn't think much of the man on first sight. For one thing he needed a razor, his beard was long enough to be tucked into his belt. Had wizards not invented shaving?
Rika had learned long ago to not just judge a person, Digimon, or any kind of being on their appearance alone. So he studied the seemingly benign old man more thoroughly and found that behind the aged exterior, crooked nose, and grandfatherly half-moon spectacles there was a definite power there that showed this man was not to be trifled with. That feeling power created quite the dissonance coming from what looked to be an old man in purple pajamas.
"Ah Ms. Nonaka, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. Tell me, is Renamon here with you?" Dumbledore asked.
"You know about Digimon too? I didn't think that the knowledge that they were real had spread outside of Japan very much. Even here people still try to pretend as much as they can that the Digimon attacks and D-Reaper never happened." She said. Dumbledore gave her a disarming smile and she swore she saw his eyes twinkle.
"Ah yes, I know about Digimon, as I'm sure Professor Tsuchimikado told you I am a rather influential person in the magical community. You may rest assured that their existence is not well known among my people. We tend to ignore developments in the Muggle, oh excuse me, I accidentally used the British term, No-Maj, world, for better or worse." Dumbledore said.
"So I wouldn't have to worry about Hogwarts students hounding me with questions about Digimon." Rika surmised. As she spoke the yellow fox shimmered into view beside her. "I am allowed to bring Renamon to Hogwarts right?"
Dumbledore looked slightly uncomfortable and he seemed to conjure yellow candies out of nowhere. "Lemon drop?" He offered.
"No thank you." Rika said trying to keep up her politeness as best as she could, she could see that some sort of bad news was coming and she wasn't going to be mollified by candy. He offered some to Renamon as well who shook her head in silent refusal. The old wizard shrugged and popped a lemon drop into his mouth. He sucked on it for a few moments before speaking.
"At this point we are unsure if Renamon would be able to step on to the Hogwarts grounds. Normally a witch's familiar, or shikigami as you in Japan call them would be most welcome at our school. However Hogwarts has been in existence for roughly a thousand years and in that time it and its grounds have absorbed much ambient magic from years of student learning. Places of magical antiquity such as Hogwarts produce a phenomenon that interferes with No-Maj electronic devices. As Renamon is digital in nature this may have a detrimental effect on her."
"So you're saying I can't come with Rika to your school." Renamon said. To anyone else the Digimon's voice would've sounded completely even but Rika as her Tamer could detect the slightest edge to it. Renamon saw it as her mission in life to protect her. Frankly Rika wasn't to keen on being thousands of miles away from her best friend and partner for months at a time.
"If Renamon can't come with me then I won't go. I'll take my chances with out of control magic." She said folding her arms. Dumbledore gave her another grandfatherly smile, most people would have found them soothing but Rika was starting to find them a bit annoying.
"Your loyalty to your Digimon partner is admirable, worthy of any Hufflepuff. Though given what I've been able to find out about you through various means I imagine that the Sorting Hat is going to have quite a time trying to place you." Rika quirked an eyebrow in confusion, that sentence had made absolutely n sense to her. Her obvious confusion made Dumbledore chuckle, but he just went on with what he was saying before.
"That said it's not impossible for Renamon to come to Hogwarts with you. This problem was foreseen. I have been in communication with Mr. Gorou Misuno, the man you know as Shibumi. We have been devising experiments to test the interaction of Digimon with magic and so far the results are promising to though we can reach no conclusions as of yet. Mr. Misuno theorizes that as sapient beings Digimon may be immune to the detrimental effects that electronics usually encounter in places like Hogwarts. If he's right then I suppose that just shows the power of the soul, but I can make no promises."
"So you think I might be able to take Renamon with me. Good." Rika really couldn't care less about the science or philosophy of it as long as she had Renamon with her.
"Yes, but I'm afraid that Renamon would have to stay hidden while at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said.
"Why would that be? Didn't you say that your people were mostly ignorant of what happened in the non-magical world? Wouldn't they just think me some exotic magical creature?" Renamon asked.
"You are very astute Renamon, as I'm sure your Tamer is as well Yes, I did say that the general magical community is ignorant of the existence of Digimon and we would like to keep it that way. There is no creature quite like a Digimon even in the magical world. People would be curious about you and eventually the fact that you are not a magical creature would be discovered and I'm afraid the results of that would be catastrophic."
"Why, you live in a world with magic. Why would another form of life like a Digimon be so hard to accept?" Rika asked.
"There are things even magic cannot do Ms. Nonaka Chief among these are things like resurrecting the dead and creating life. When the Monster Makers took on the Digimon project nearly two decades ago and succeeded in their goals they did something even magic could not. They created life from nothing. The knowledge that a group of young No-Majs with their computers did in less than two years what magic failed to do for centuries would shatter the worldview of wizardkind. Especially given the unfortunate prevalence of the attitude that No-Majs are a laughable backwards people."
"I fail to see how Digimon shattering the perceptions of some idiots who don't know what they're talking about is my problem, or a bad thing for that matter." Rika said.
"Societal collapse is no laughing matter Ms. Nonaka and I fear that is where such a revelation would lead. So if you are going to attend Hogwarts I must impress upon you the seriousness of my request that you keep Renamon a secret while you are in the wizarding world."
"So does this mean I was accepted into Hogwarts?" Rika asked.
"If you are interested." Dumbledore replied. Rika and Renamon shared a glance, they didn't need words to communicate and Rika wanted to be sure that her partner was alright with the condition set forth. After a brief moment Rika nodded.
"I'll go to Hogwarts." Dumbledore smiled again and handed her a rather thick envelope.
"This will detail all your need supplies for your time at Hogwarts this year as well as your ticket for the Hogwarts Express. Unfortunately you will be unable to acquire the requisite textbooks in the nearest magical settlement in Kyoto so we will have to arrange a time for you to be brought to Diagon Alley in London. As such I suggest you hold off on your shopping until then so as to get get it all done at once."
"Thank you." Rika said.
"It's my pleasure, it always warms my heart to welcome a new Hogwarts student Ms. Nonaka. As a present from me I would like you to have this, it's from my personal collection and may help you find it easier to acclimate into Hogwarts." He pulled out a well worn book and handed to Rika. The title read Hogwarts: A History.