Harry x Hunter: Adventures of a Zoldyck

by Monumentum

Lily dies to save her children and James is left broken, desperately clinging on to her memory by doting on their only daughter, too bad Harry is neglected as a result. Harry is sent to the world of Hunter x Hunter and gets adopted into the Zoldyck family and is raised and trained to be an assassin when he shows a unique talent, too bad he doesn't want to join the family business.

1. Chapter 1

AN: Hunter x Hunter does not get enough love on Fanfiction in my opinion, hence this story. The first half, which takes place entirely in the HxH world, is already written and just waiting for edits, while the second half, which takes place in Harry Potter, is still being typed up. This chapter is long, and the others will be too. I'm not sure how well that will be received but that's how it turned out.

---

"Lily it's him! He's here! Take the twins and run!"

The frantic cry that came from James Potter was amusing to Voldemort, both in how the man believed his mudblood wife and children could escape from him and just how unlike the man's normal cocky tone it was. As a result of his humor, the Dark Lord gave a low sadistic chuckle, thoroughly reveling in the man's fear. He calmed himself quickly however, he had mudbloods to kill after all and he didn't want to waste more time than necessary in this hovel.

"Move aside Potter, I'm only here for the mudblood and her spawn, there's no need for you to die."

"Never!"

James' defiant cry barely left his lips before he was banished into a wall, hard, and promptly lost consciousness. Voldemort did not have the patience to banter words with the Lord Potter and, after removing him from his path, not bothering to check if the man was dead or otherwise, moved on to his real targets. The door to where they hid was warded quite strongly and could keep out a determined assault from any normal witch or wizard for a least a few minutes, but Voldemort wasn't a Dark Lord for nothing. With a simple blast of raw magical power, the wards, and the door they were anchored to, splintered into shards, causing a delicious scream of terror from the mudblood within.

All but gliding into the room Voldemort took in his targets for the night. The mudblood was standing protectively in front of a crib, wand out and face locked in a glare of defiance, but he could tell it was just a façade. He could see the terror in her eyes and the shaking of her hand as she struggled to keep her wand pointed at him. Behind her were her twin spawn, a girl with her mother's hair and eyes and a boy with his father's hair and mother's eyes, both looking at the Dark Lord in innocent confusion. One of these children was the one prophesied to defeat him was it? Well, he couldn't have that now could he?

"Move aside girl."

"No! Not my children! Please not my children!"

"Move aside girl! I may have promised you as a prize but don't think I won't kill you if you stand in my way."

That was a lie, he was going to kill her regardless, he just wanted her to watch him kill her children first if possible. Severus would just have to deal with the disappointment, she was just a mudblood after all and one of his minions deserved better than such filth.

"No! Please kill me instead! Just not my children! Not Willow! Not Harry!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

With a flash of green light, the mudblood was dead, her body falling to the floor with a dull thump much to the confusion of her spawn. It was a pity she had used up his patience but the end result would be the same regardless. Now to remove the threat to his immortal rule once and for all.

"It's a pity you know; I can sense the magical potential in both of you. You both could have been great, it's just your poor fortune that you have to die. Avada Kedavra!"

Just like before a streak of green light shot out from the Dark Lord's wand, it's target? The, now standing and almost defiant looking, male twin. Unlike with his mother however, when the curse hit this time instead of leaving behind a corpse something else happened. Voldemort barely had to let out a scream of fear and denial before he was hit by a massive magical backlash, his body vaporizing instantly and his soul getting banished far from the Potter home. As for his intended target, the young boy was currently knocked out after being thrown into the back of the crib while his twin sister started crying in pain after getting hit by wood debris from when the magical backlash hit the walls and ceiling.

It was five minutes later when someone finally showed up in the room in the form of a badly concussed and barely standing James Potter. He had just woken up less than a minute ago and, despite barely being able to think let alone stand, quickly made his way to the last location of his wife and children. He didn't know how long he was out for but the ominous atmosphere in his home didn't bode well. He just prayed to Merlin he wasn't too late. Unfortunately, his prayers were only partially answered. When James caught sight of the still form of his wife lying on the ground, he dropped to his knees, no longer able to force himself to stand as the shock of losing the love of his life set in. He stayed there for an unknown amount of time doing nothing, even ignoring the pain filled cry of his daughter and the unconscious form of his son, before someone else finally showed up.

"James!? Lily!?"

Sirius Black's frantic cry rang through the empty hallway of the Potter house as the sound of rapid steps filled the quiet home.

"James! Oh god Lily! Oh James I'm so sorry!"

James Potter barely reacted as he felt his brother in all but blood engulf him in a hug, his mind still blank from the shock of seeing Lily dead. Sirius tried to gently coax his friend out of his shell-shocked state but to no avail so he turned his attention to his god children. Panicking slightly at the sight of Harry's still form he checked his godson first, breathing a sigh of relief after finding him only unconscious and not dead as he had feared. Turning his attention to his goddaughter the first thing he noticed was the large bleeding cut on her forehead. Unfortunately, Sirius didn't know any medical spells so all he could do was clean the cut and put a conjured bandage on it.

Unnoticed to Sirius however, as he was too absorbed in taking care of his godchildren, another person had shown up at the house, this time in the form of Albus Dumbledore himself. What Sirius also didn't notice was the calculating glint in the Headmaster's eyes as he stared at the young Willow Potter. As the recipient of the full prophecy he knew things that Voldemort did not, and that was the one prophesied to be the Dark Lord's downfall would be "Marked as his equal". Considering the new "mark" on the youngest Potter he was fairly certain who that was now. Unfortunately for his plans however, James had survived the attack so he couldn't, and wouldn't even try to, remove her from his care. He might want to mold the chosen one into a proper weapon against Voldemort but he wasn't evil and wouldn't take a child from their family just to further his goals. Oh well, he would just have to impress on James just how important his daughter was. So wrapped up in his thoughts Dumbledore never even once looked at or even thought of the other Potter twin, for if he did he would have noticed a dark shadow slowly seep into the boy's body.

---

Ever since the night that his mother died Harry Potter has been slowly but steadily forgotten by his father. It started out as little things, his father forgetting to greet him in the mornings or not bothering to tuck him in at night, but as he got older it started getting worse. First his father stopped celebrating his birthday (which was the same as Willows) then he stopped making Harry food, which led to him learning to cook on his own fairly quickly, until finally it seemed like he had forgotten Harry even existed. This was never more evident when his father had taken Willow on a vacation for her 5th birthday and had left him behind. That was a week and a half ago and Harry had run out of food 3 days ago. He couldn't even leave the house to find more because James has put the wards on lock-down when he had left and Harry wasn't keyed into them.

The only positive part of his life for the past five years was his sister, who despite getting spoiled rotten by their father, never forgot about Harry and always made sure to spend time with him. Sure she was a bit of a brat and was way too arrogant for a 5-year-old but she had a good heart and loved Harry deeply. What was more important to him was that she acknowledge his existence and didn't forget about him, unlike his father or godparents. At least that had been the case up until now. Willow had finally forgotten him as well just as he had always feared, otherwise why would he be stuck here, alone and starving?

If Harry had the energy for it he would be screaming in anger and despair from being forgotten by the only remaining part of his family who showed him love. As it was he merely felt a dull ache in his heart as he lay curled up in the too small mattress that was his bed. He could only pray that he was remembered soon or that Willow's vacation was cut short, otherwise Harry was afraid he was going to die like his mother. Yes, he remembered his mother, fleeting images of crimson red, feelings of warmth and comfort, lullabies with half the words missing and, that night. Willow also remember part of that night but only in her nightmares, but Harry? He could recall it all. It was why he struggled to keep living despite the empty feelings that plagued it. His mother had wanted him to live so much she had died for him; he wouldn't taint her memory by giving up so easily.

Four days later and with still no sign of anyone returning Harry's resolution to not give up was crumbling. He no longer had the energy to move and he was starting to see things, mainly his mother calling out to him or the man who killed her taunting him and telling him to give up, that he was unloved and unwanted. The former was nice while the latter simply didn't faze him anymore, it's not like his words hurt him, they were true after all. He was unloved and unwanted by his family; he had already reached that conclusion a week ago, he wouldn't submit though, not to the man who killed his mother. His mother who had wanted him, who loved him enough to sacrifice her life for him. No he would never listen to her killer, but maybe he could finally stop struggling? Maybe he should finally go to her? That was a good idea. There was nothing here for him anyways, besides the light around his mother felt warm and he knew she would never forget him like dad or Willow.

Unbeknownst to Harry his hallucinations weren't complete figments of his imagination. While neither his mother nor the Dark Lord were physically present, fragments of both of them were, albeit in differing ways. Voldemort's presence came from the sliver of his soul that had latched onto Harry all those years ago while Lily's came from the blood protection she had placed on her children. Neither was truly sentient and most of their "words" came from Harry's subconscious mind but the intent behind their "words" were real enough. "Lily" wanted to protect her son, to take him away from the place that was hurting him, that was killing him, while "Voldemort" wanted his destroyer to give up and submit to him so he could take over his body.

In the end Harry chose Lily and that choice would be his salvation as the faint voice of the Dark Lord cried out in a mixture of pain and fury. With a thunderous crack and a flash of light Harry was gone, leaving the house and his world behind to a place that was guaranteed to save his life, if nothing else. Several hundreds of kilometers away Willow Potter felt something within her break and a sense of loss fill her heart but couldn't figure out what had caused it. She wouldn't discover why until she returned home two days later.

---

Harry wasn't sure if it was a blessing or a curse that dropped him off where he landed 7 years ago. On one hand he was cared for, given food, clothing, shelter and attention. On the other hand, the family that found him were the Zoldycks, the most infamous family of assassins in this world; and they had decided to adopt him. Being a Zoldyck meant learning to become an assassin and all that entailed, from bitter physical training, to learning to resist torture and even learning (and being forced) to kill. Harry had struggled at first but the punishments he had to endure when he failed to comply were worse than any discomfort over killing so he was quick to get used to it, though he never got over it. Once he did however, he apparently showed that he was very talented in the art of killing, much to the delight of his new "family". Harry was much less enthused as all that meant was that his training was increased in both intensity and duration.

Before that tidbit popped up he had merely been a curiosity, and a means of his new father to placate his new mother's whims, and had gotten the same training as the servants. Harry figured it was only because he looked a lot like her deceased younger brother that resulted in her "motherly" instincts flaring up when he had appeared, and his subsequent adoption. Of course the only reason he wasn't killed outright before that happened was because of how he showed up inside the Zoldyck home. Teleportation was apparently not something even infamous superhuman assassins saw every day and it was enough of a curiosity, and a potential advantage, to keep them from killing him outright for trespassing. Of course they never could figure out how Harry did it exactly but they were able to train him enough to master his ability, at least for short distances of less than 200 meters.

Harry of course knew it was magic but didn't mention that little tidbit. Even as a neglected child he learned enough about magic to know that would be a bad idea, though admittedly part of his refusal to elaborate was as an act of childish rebellion. Harry didn't know much about magic anyways, only knowing that it existed and piecemeal information from watching his old family and reading books. He did try to secretly practice magic use but, whether it was due to a lack of a wand or something about the new world he was in, he had zero success beyond his teleportation. He didn't even perform accidental magic despite knowing he had done so before and the many high stress situations he had been in since his adoption. Harry leaned more towards the latter reason rather than a lack of wand. It would certainly explain the limited range of his ability to teleport even though he knew that James had been able to do so for a much greater range. At least his ability to do so, regardless of its short range, meant he still had magic. While he didn't care too much about losing his ability to perform magic, magic itself was one of the few links he had left to his mother now that he was in this new world. The others being his eyes and his memories.

Still, all in all, his life wasn't completely terrible. At least no one forgot he existed. He would have mentioned not having to worry about dying or starving any more either but the life of an assassin was dangerous and he had to undergo hunger resistance training several times so that would have been a lie. Another positive was that most of the family actually loved him in their own twisted ways and in spite of himself Harry had grown some fondness of them as well. He didn't think he'd ever truly love the older Zoldycks and would likely never see them as true family regardless of what he called them, but he did care for them more than strangers or his old family. As for the younger members of the Zoldyck family Harry did care for them, love them even, and viewed them as family just as he had his sister prior to the event that brought him here.

Alluka was undeniably his favorite Zoldyck despite only getting to play with her a little more than a year before she was sealed away due to the family's fear of Nanika. Harry didn't understand why they were afraid of her, though that was probably because while Killua was Alluka's favorite, Nanika's favorite was Harry so he never had to worry about her action. Of course that might have been the problem as whenever Harry had to leave Nanika acted up and she got… upset as a result. Actually it was after one of those fits that Alluka was sealed away now that he thought of it. Harry didn't like it but he didn't have enough personal power or sway in the family to change the decision so it stuck. He did sneak in occasionally by teleporting though so that she didn't get lonely. Killua tended to join him as well so at least when he inevitably got caught he had company in the Isolation Room.

Speaking of Killua, he was like the brother Harry never had, and their bond and closeness reminded him of the twin bond he had shared with his sister before he had shown up here. It had taken a bit for the rather cold boy to warm up to Harry, but that was to be expected from who his family was and how he was raised. Once he did warm up to Harry however, Killua acted like any other child and was much more open and expressive with his emotions. It was the same for Harry really, the only times he could act like a child was with either Killua or Alluka/Nanika. The Zoldyck patriarch didn't see children when he looked at them, he saw assassins and the less said about their mother and brother Illumi the better. While none of them were completely evil people they were definitely not good people either and strongly discouraged them from acting their age, and tried to mold them into the perfect assassins/killers. Harry and Killua made sure to get back at them whenever they could though in a variety of ways, mainly in the form of pranks. They had spent many a day together in the Isolation Room for their stunts, like the time they managed to color their mother's clothes neon orange or put a neuro-toxin in Milluki's food/drink stash.

Despite the punishments for their pranks they never stopped doing them, Killua because he simply found them fun and Harry because they were a means of keeping hold of his last dregs of childhood. That and it got easy to ignore pain as time went on. Pranking was an outlet for all the crap he was put through so even if he wasn't used to the pain he would have kept doing them. Of course no outlet would be enough to compensate for all the terrible things he has seen, done or been put through. As a result, Harry wasn't the most stable of 12-year-olds, or even most stable of persons in general, but at least he was better than Killua. Killua actually liked killing to a certain extent now, unlike Harry. While Harry could kill without batting an eye or feeling any guilt, he didn't feel any pleasure from the act beyond the occasional vindictive pride for eliminating some of the more unsavory targets. Killua however had grown to be a bit a sadist and killing was his stress relief more often than Harry would like. Surprisingly enough however, despite his… quirks, Killua actually didn't want to be an assassin any more.

Harry wasn't sure how that came about, maybe it was an innate rebelliousness, maybe it was Harry's own influence on him or maybe it was just a phase. Whatever was the case it remained that ever since Harry had wormed his way into Killua's life, the boy had slowly grown disenfranchised with the idea of taking up the family job. Of course that wasn't well received given the sheer raw talent Killua possessed but no one in the family, except for mother and Milluki, made that big of a fuss about it. Which was likely the only reason they had "escaped" from home and were currently waiting to take the Hunter Examination, not that Killua would ever admit it (he was very proud of his skills and was of the firm belief that they were the reason why they hadn't been dragged home yet).

"This test is so boring; why are we taking it again Killua? It's not like we need to be Hunters to have fun and if the rest of the test is like this then it won't even be a challenge. I mean all we've done so far is jog for the last two hours."

"Because it sounded interesting at the time and both of us are too stubborn to quit no matter how easy it is?"

"*sigh* Yeah that sounds about right… hey does that kid look like to be our age to you?"

"You mean the one by the old man?"

"Yeah that's him."

"I think so. You think you're related? He's hair kind of looks like yours."

"Nah, I have no male relatives besides my former father... You want to go say hi?"

"Sure, he'll likely be more interesting than the test anyways."

With their course of action decided the two Zoldycks sped up and they quickly reached the position of the running boy, though not before passing by the rather grumpy old man he was running near.

"Oi wait up you two brats! Show some respect to the Hunter exam!"

In eerie synchronicity the two turned to face the man, both sporting similar confused expressions on their faces. By an unspoken agreement Harry remained quite while Killua voiced their shared question.

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you two using skateboards!? That's cheating!"

The two Zoldycks shared a brief confused look before Harry voiced their question this time.

"Why?"

"Wh - Why!? This is an endurance test!"

"No, it isn't." The sound of an unfamiliar young voice cutting into the conversation drew the attention of all three. It was the boy that Harry thought was their age, the one they wanted to talk to. Both Harry and Killua decided to remain quiet and see what he had to say, turning curious gazes towards the boy. The man however seemed upset by the boy's rebuttal.

"Gon, what are you saying!?"

Gon, that was his name huh? Harry glanced briefly with Killua and received a small nod of acknowledgment in return.

"The examiner only told us to follow him."

Fairly perceptive, that was promising, as was the lack of any strain or effort showing in his face or body from running two hours straight, unlike the old man they were next to.

"Whose side are you on, eh!?"

At this point both Harry and Killua ignored the yelling man and moved up to meet the much more interesting kid. Killua was the first to speak once more.

"Hey, how old are you?"

"I'm twelve years old."

Another short glance was shared between the two Zoldycks, this time with Harry giving Killua a shallow nod. Without any further words both jumped off their skateboards, doing an identical dismount trick that resulted in a spinning board easily landing in their hands as they started running without slowing down their pace. Like before Harry was the one to resume the conversation.

"Guess we'll run too."

"Wow! That was cool!"

"Thanks but that was nothing. I'm Harry, this is Killua, my brother."

"I'm Gon."

For the next half hour, the three children engaged in idle talk, with the two Zoldycks occasionally showing skateboard tricks to Gon, who was very quick to imitate after asking to try their skateboards. It was rather impressive and the two brothers were beginning to think that Gon might actually make a good friend. By this point however they were trailing in the back of the pack as the grumpy old man, whose name was Leorio and was Gon's friend apparently, was tiring out. Both Zoldycks thought he was on the end of his rope and neither really wanted to help him but when Leorio stopped running so did Gon, and neither Harry nor Killua wanted to leave their new friend behind.

"Hey, forget him. If he can't keep up that just means he isn't Hunter material. Let's get going."

Of course Killua, blunt as ever, didn't let things lie and spoke the words that both Zoldycks were thinking but that Harry had too much tact to actually say out loud. Gon didn't respond, instead opting to simply continue staring at his downed friend for several moments. Apparently Gon knew something that neither of them did as Leorio seemed to catch his second wind and, with a loud cry, dashed past them as he attempted to catch back up to the group. Gon was evidently pleased with this development and, with a quick flick of his fishing rod, the presence of which had resulted in a rather interesting story a few minutes' prior, Gon hooked Leorio's suitcase and the trio resumed running as well.

It only took a minute at a light (too them) jog to catch up to the group after which they settled in to a relaxed pace, once more telling stories to each other. For twenty more minutes this continued until they reach the bottom of a long flight of stairs and the pace started picking up even more, causing the young trio to resume their "light" jogging pace to keep him. Taking this as a sign that they were nearly at their goal Killua decided to start a competition.

"Hey Gon, Harry, wanna race to see who finishes first?"

Gon was quick to accept and even confidently set the losing penalty "Sure, the losers have to buy dinner."

Harry gave a slight shrug before he too responded in the affirmative "Why not, though if you lose I want your pocky instead of dinner Killua."

"Ah! You bastard! Leave my pocky out of this!"

As he had only gave his previous condition to rile up his brother Harry was quick to change his mind. "Fine, fine. We'll go with Gon's idea then. Losers buys the winner a dinner each."

"You're on! And you're cooking dinner when you lose, don't cop-out and order takeout."

Harry just rolled his eyes as he caught sight of the drool on his brother's chin "Tch, fine."

Gon gave a light laugh at the two's interaction, finding it rather funny. Once the two settled down however the three turned a bit more serious and, after sharing a brief glance and nods, they quickly started the competition.

"""Ready…Go!"""

The three took off at a high speed, none of their posture's or speed affected by their burdens (skateboards for Harry/Killua and fishing pole/suitcase for Gon) as they easily charged past the candidates in the back of the pack. Both Zoldycks were impressed and pleased by how easily Gon was keeping up with them, even as they steadily increased their speed. He was going to make a good friend indeed.

Pretty soon they passed by Leorio and Kurapika (someone Gon told them about but they hadn't met yet), though not before the shocking revelation that Leorio was in fact a teenager. If not for their balance training they might have tripped and face planted at the shock. The man looked like he was middle aged, not a 19-year-old for Pete's sake. As it was they merely kept running as their brains rebooted, ignoring the brief exchange between Gon and his friends. Pretty soon after that they were nearing the front of the pack and passing by scores of exhausted hopefuls. Killua took this chance to talk to Gon once again.

"I'm impressed that you can keep up with us."

"Really?" The rather sheepish and confused expression on Gon's face, like he didn't understand what was strange about that, put Killua on the back foot so Harry took over for him.

"Yeah, you must have gone through special training in order to have that kind of physical ability… Well either that or maybe it's just that everyone else is too slow."

Gon just looked confused but Killua seemed to think that the latter was more likely judging by his response.

"These people are weak boring. The Hunter exam looks like it's gonna be a breeze if this is all it has to offer, that's no fun."

Gon just let off some sheepish laugh at that, not knowing how to really respond, so he decided to change the subject. "Hey…why do you two want to become Hunters?"

Killua decided to answer for both Harry and himself. "Well I'm not interesting in becoming a Hunter. I heard the exam was supposed to be really hard, so I thought it'd be fun. Harry is here because I dragged him with me and he stayed because he was as bored as I am. It's been a bit disappointing so far however, the only interesting things being meeting you and watching that Hisoka guy… What about you?"

Gon seemed to mull over Killua's words briefly before he adopted an upbeat expression and proceeded to give his own answer. "Well, my dad's a Hunter, so I want to become a Hunter like him."

"You seem to look up to him a lot, must be nice to have a father like that. What kind of Hunter is he?" Though only Killua noticed, Harry's voice was slightly bitter when he spoke.

"I don't know, I never met him."

Harry paused at that, not really understanding how to continue so Killua took over for him.

"Hahaha. That's pretty weird."

"Really?"

"You want to be like your dad but you don't know anything about him?"

"Yeah. I was raised by Mito, so I've only seen my dad in pictures and heard about him in stories."

"Who's Mito?"

"My Aunt, my dad left me with her and she raised me herself… When my dad was twelve he took the Hunter Exam. He passed and became a Hunter, then he left the island. I want to find out why he chose to be a Hunter over being with me."

The rather upbeat and even happy tone in Gon's voice put both Killua and Harry off, though his words struck Harry the hardest. He knew what it was like to be abandoned by a father, to be chosen over something, someone, else. He knew how much that hurt. So why? Why did he sound like he wasn't upset? It was only when Gon responded that Harry realized he had spoken out loud.

"hmm… I guess I don't see why I should be. Mito raised me so I didn't miss him, not really. When I found out he was a Hunter, and that he had chosen his work over staying with me I was simply curious. I mean how amazing must being a Hunter be for him to love it so much that he left me, I want to find that out. If I become a Hunter, I feel like I can understand him better and eventually even find him to ask him myself. I don't care what his answer will be, either way he's still my dad and nothing will change that."

Harry still didn't understand, and by the looks of it Killua didn't either, so they simply put the matter to the side as it looked like they had finally reached their goal. With a final burst of speed, though it still wasn't either of the Zoldyck's maximum, the trio burst past the remaining contestants and, with a flying leap, passed through the door and the examiner right as soon as he stopped running.

"""Goal!"""

"Yay! I won!"

"What are you talking about Gon? Obviously I was faster."

"You're both wrong, I was."

"I was."

"No, I was!"

"I was faster; you both owe me dinner!"

"Wrong you both owe me dinner!"

"No, you me!"

"Me!"

"""Me!"""

"Hey Mr. examiner, who was faster?" Harry asked the examiner, deciding to end the argument and prove he won in the process.

The man's expressionless face and placid tone gave no hint to how humorous he found the situation. "I believe that you all finished simultaneously."

"Oh…"

"Then…I'll buy Harry dinner, Killua you buy mine and Harry buys yours."

"…I don't get it but as long as Harry makes it himself that's fine."

"Tch, fine, not like I don't cook our food anyways."

After that the trio settled down to wait for the remaining examinees to catch up so they could continue on to the second part of the exam. The examiner was rather lenient it seemed as he gave a full ten minutes for the participants to show up, though Harry doubted that some of the examinees felt that way. The survivors had been cut down considerably to a bit less than two thirds the starting number, but it seemed like Gon's friends were among them, though Leorio appeared to be dying. Gon was quick to greet them as they passed the threshold, with Harry and Killua following a few steps behind.

"Hey Kurapika."

"Hey Gon. Is this our destination?"

"No, it isn't."

"I see… The fog is fading."

"Really?"

Kurapika was correct as the fog quickly dispersed and revealed a rather impressive, if ominous feeling, forest. Gon seemed excited by the sight though both Harry and Killua were rather non-pulsed. They had seen many forests in their lives and the ominous feeling had nothing on that given off by the one around their home.

As if waiting for the very moment the fog dispersed the examiner started speaking to the gathered examinees. "The Numere Wetlands, also known as the Swindler's Swamp. We must cross these wetlands to reach the second phase of the exam. This place is home to many bizarre animals, many of them being cunning, insatiable creatures who deceive and prey upon humans. Be very careful. If you let them fool you… you're dead."

For some reason that neither Harry nor Killua understood his words seemed to shock many of the participants. It was rather obvious that they could die in the Hunter Exams, it was literally one of the first things that show up when looking for information about them. Hell they even had to sign waivers absolving the Hunter Association from legal responsibility if that happened. That being the case Harry doubted that the people who had been shocked or unnerved by the declaration would last long.

With a resounding thud the shutters over the tunnel entrance closed and the examiner resumed speaking. "These wetland creatures will use every trick in the book to fool their prey. An ecosystem in which creatures obtain food through deceit…Hence the name Swindler's Swamp. Stay very close to me so you won't be deceived."

"What a Joke. How can they fool us when we're expecting it?"

Harry nearly face palmed at Leorio's brash statement, you don't tempt fate like that, even a child knows that much. Of course, taunt fate and you shall receive as no sooner did the words leave his mouth did something show up to mock his declaration. That something being the appearance of an, apparently, wounded man claiming to be the real examiner and the corpse of a monkey like creature that resembled the so called "fake" examiner. It was rather disappointing how quickly many of the examinees got fooled, it obvious which was real if they thought about it logically. Besides himself only Killua and a few of the more veteran testers remained un-fooled, even Gon was tricked, disappointing the two Zoldycks slightly. Before things got out of hand and the examinees did something stupid, the situation was resolved by Hisoka, who proved just how right he and Killua were to label him a threat by easily killing the fake examiner with playing cards of all things while simultaneously trying to kill the real examiner.

With that little spat of drama settled, and a brief reprimand/warning form the examiner, the second half of the first Exam started and the remaining hopefuls followed the examiner into the forest. Of course the fog returned almost as soon as they entered the woods and quickly got thicker, causing many of the testers in the back of the group got separated. Harry and Killua remained in the front of the group to not lose sight of the examiner, not because they'd be too bothered if they did get separated. It was more of a precaution against staying near Hisoka, neither of the two assassins wanting to be near the psycho, especially with the growing feeling of danger in the air around him. They ended up leaving Leorio and Kurapika behind as a result but neither of the Zoldycks particularly cared as Gon had come with them.

As they continued running however they quickly lost sight of anyone else around them due to a combination of the dense fog and the various predators picking people off. They even ended up getting swallowed by a giant frog that was hiding underground of all things at one point. Getting out was easy, they simply used Tonpa's poisoned drinks, which the two Zoldycks kept a stash of to quench their thirst, but the smell and feel of frog vomit was beyond disgusting and it was a blow to the two Zoldyck's pride that it had happened at all. It was after that incident that their group split up, not because of the fog or another attack however, instead it was because Gon was worried about his other friends and wanted to check on them. Neither Harry nor Killua noticed until they had already reunited with the examiner's group and Gon was already gone (no pun intended) though, but they weren't really worried. If Gon died that was it, if not he'd show up again. The rest of the run through the swamp was rather easy and after twenty more minutes or so of running they reached their destination. They got a bit worried when they saw Hisoka walk into the group with Leorio over his shoulder but their worries proved unfounded when Gon and Kurapika showed up just before the deadline.

""Gon!""

"Killua! Harry!"

"I can't believe you actually got here on time, there's less than a minute left…"

"we thought you'd be late or had kicked the bucket."

"hehe, I just had to track Leorio's cologne."

""Cologne… are you a dog?""

Leorio, Kurapika and Gon all laughed at that, though Gon's was more sheepish than amused. Before they could continue their conversation however they were interrupted by the examiner.

"Excellent work everyone. The second phase of the exam will be held here, in the Biska Forest Park. So, I shall take my leave. Best of luck to all of you."

With that said the examiner walked back into the forest without a backwards glance. Before people could start gossiping however the large iron gates of the castle-like walls they were standing in front of opened, revealing the guarded interior and the groups new examiner(s).

"Will all applicants who passed the first phase please enter?"

The loud call came from the women seated in front of a very large fat man. Harry noticed the woman's interesting appearance, from her teal colored hair to her lack of an actual shirt (the one she was wearing being see through) and provisionally labelled her a seduction expert before dismissing further thoughts on the topic as unimportant for the test. That didn't mean he didn't think it was important for other… things, he was going through puberty after all. Harry's thoughts on the matter were interrupted by the examiner speaking up once she noticed everyone had trickled in.

"Welcome. I'm Menchi, the second phase's examiner."

"And I'm Buhara, the other examiner."

Before anything further could be said however a thunderous growl rang out in the clearing, it's source was the large examiner, Buhara's, stomach, much to the many contestant's astonishment as it sounded the equivalent of a rock slide. Manchi was quick to fill the silence before Buhara could apologize and start another conversation on if the man was actually human.

"Well, there you have it. The second exam will be… cooking!"

Protests rang out from several contestants, the loudest of which came from a larger man standing at the front of the group. Harry didn't pay too much attention to what was being said, too busy laughing at Killua's death glare. This exam would be easy for Harry but Killua… well let's just say he burns cereal and leave it at that. He did make sure to pay attention to the examiners' words enough to know the specifics of the exam, which basically boiled down to create a pork dish to feed them. It was relatively simple and Harry wasted no time after hearing the "gong" to dash into the forest in search of a suitable candidate for cooking. The rest of their group following him quickly.

In the end it was thanks to Gon's noes, rather than Harry or Killua's own tracking skills, that let them find their "ingredients", which turned out to be car sized carnivorous pigs. For some reason the others panicked and started running when the herd starting charging at them, even Killua though Harry suspected that was more for fun than because he was actually worried. Harry didn't bother, instead opting to jump into a tree and wait for an opportunity to take down an outlying pig. He didn't have to wait long and, with a shift in his hand to give himself claws, pierced a hole right through the beast's skull, killing it instantly.

Harry was the first to arrive back at the cooking stations and he used that time to quickly prepare his main ingredient. He doubted that many of his fellow competitors actually knew how to cook properly and he didn't want to give away an advantage by showing them how. Fortunately, for him, he managed to finish all of his prep work by the time the rest of the examinees returned, all with a massive pig carried over their head. It was rather amusing to watch them all, to a man (and woman), decide to spit roast their catch, without any other thought on seasoning or even cleaning the mud and… other material from their skin. Harry could feel the displeasure radiating off of Menchi as she glared at the culinary barbarians.

Harry was surprisingly, though he himself had excepted it, not the first examinee to present his meal. That distinction belonged to the fat man who had derided cooking and Gourmet Hunters at the beginning of the exam. His meal consisted of a badly burnt whole pig, organs, bones and all. Surprisingly enough Buhara actually liked the pig, though Menchi instantly shot it down, drawing protests from the man for not even tasting it. In the end however she easily browbeat the man into backing down, letting others take their turns, though they really shouldn't have bothered.

The same thing happened over and over again as multiple competitors presented the exact same thing to an increasingly pissed looking Menchi who got even more abrasive with her critique, until finally Harry finished cooking and decided to bring it to be judged. Unlike all the others Harry actually knew how to cook and wasn't presenting a whole, badly roasted, pig as his meal. Instead he brought up two plates (albeit one was the size of a small child, taking into account Buhara's apparent appetite) of roast pork belly. It wasn't too complicated or time consuming to make but it tasted good, could be arranged to look good and, more importantly, wasn't the same as everyone else. Menchi actually lost the pissed off look on her face when Harry brought up his meal and, even more importantly, she actually tried his dish unlike the others she denied on pure principal. Buhara passed it instantly, unsurprisingly, but it was Menchi's response that Harry was truly waiting for.

"I'm glad we have an examinee who isn't a fucking barbarian and actually knows how to cook beyond simply roasting their pig over a fire… *munch, munch* *gulp* hmm not the best I've ever tasted but very impressive for a brat, you pass, albeit barely. Next!"

Harry smiled in victory before turning to look mockingly at the rest of the examinees, enjoying their bitter expressions as they were outdone by a kid. What can he say, he might have gotten a bit of sadistic tendencies himself over the years. Killua's was amongst the best however as he was still smoking slightly after setting himself on fire when he tried, and failed, to cook his own pig. The remaining 50 or so testers followed after Harry but none of them seemed to learn anything and still turned in entire roasted pigs until finally it was his group's turn… it was as funny as it was sad. Leorio did nothing different beyond putting a flag on top of his pig, Gon a Lei and Kurapika made his into a weird multi decker sandwich thing with no bread. All of them failed and with that the exam was over.

"Ahhh I'm stuffed." Harry thought stuffed was too light of a word considering the small hill of car sized pig skeletons resting next to Buhara.

"Yeah I'm stuffed too… and with that the second phase is over, with only one examinee passing. We're finished here!"

This caused an immediate uproar amongst the participants, led mostly by the same fat man as before. Harry thought it was foolish, the instructions were clear and the fact that none of the others even tried and simply tried what everyone else was doing was their fault and their fault alone. None of the remaining examinees even thought to change their tactics after watching him pass for crying out loud. Cooking isn't simply shoving meat into a fire, everyone knows that as long as they simply think about it, especially when their examiners are Gourmet Hunters. When you go to a restaurant to order food do you get handed an entire, poorly roasted, pig to eat? No, so why would you expect Professional Hunters whose entire focus is on food to pass you for giving them that. Buhara doesn't count considering he acted like the stereotypical fat guy and found anything he could put in his mouth delicious.

As a result of his contempt Harry just tuned out the rather intense argument, even when he was mentioned. Though that was also because whenever he was mentioned it was in the context of "that brat" or "that shitty kid" rather than using his actual name or badge number. He did make sure to avidly watch when Buhara bitch slapped the loud fat examinee into a tower, it was hilarious. Things looked to get even more violent however when several participants looked like they wanted to fight it out despite Buhara's display and a knife wielding Menchi. Mainly that was Hisoka judging by the blood lust coming off him, though he was all that really was needed if Harry was honest with himself. Luckily however the tension was dispelled by the arrival of a Zeppelin and the Hunter Association Chairman. For an old geezer that man sure knew how to make an entrance, what with jumping from his Zeppelin several stories in the sky and all.

In the end it was decided to redo the second exam, much to the relief of everyone bar Harry. Harry, being the only who passed the first, second exam was able to sit the redo out if he wanted. He ended declining mostly because, like Killua said, he was bored and he thought it looked fun. Diving off a cliff, hanging on by a thin thread (literally), jumping for a delicious treasure (egg) and riding an updraft back out? Harry was an adrenaline junky through and through and that sounded like it was right up his alley. Most of the fun was taken out by everyone, bar a few of the less intelligent examinees, following Gon's lead on when to jump however. At least the egg was in fact delicious and proved to be a good way to end the second exam. In the end the second exam ended up cutting down the remaining applicants to forty-four.

The third phase of the exam, as it turned out, was quite a distance away so the remaining examinees were going to be taking the Zeppelin the Chairman arrived in overnight to reach it. Harry, along with Gon and Killua, were quite excited to explore the craft as it was much larger and more technologically advanced than any they'd be in before. Before Harry could board however he was pulled aside by Menchi who gave him her contact information and told him she'd be happy to mentor him if he wanted to be a Gourmet Hunter after becoming a Hunter. The offer surprised him, as he honestly wasn't expecting it despite being the only "official" pass in the second exam. It almost made him feel bad that he didn't want to be a Gourmet Hunter but he kept the card anyways and thanked Menchi for it before taking off to find his brother and new friend. After a brief meeting between the Chairman and the remaining participants the trio was off, making a right nuisance of themselves to the crew of the ship. It was fun and Harry got to see Killua in one of his increasingly rare pouting moods when he had managed to swipe the offered candy before him, so he felt the day had been a good one. The three had just gotten finished raiding the kitchen and were munching on some snacks, with Killua occasionally sending glares Harry's way, and watching the ground pass them by, when Gon decided to ask some… awkward questions.

"Hey Killua, Harry, where are your mom and dad?"

Harry let Killua do the talking, considering that despite being adopted by the Zoldycks he didn't view them as his parents and his real parents where either dead, or as good as dead in Harry's eyes.

"Hmm… they're alive…Probably."

Gon gave no indication that he noticed the lack of care in Killua's tone when he asked his next question. "What do they do?"

"They're assassins."

"Huh? Both of them?"

The innocent question from Gon caused both the Zoldycks to burst out in laughter. Leave it to Gon to come up with such a response to learning his friend's parents kill people. Despite the moment of levity Harry still kept quiet when they calmed down and let Killua continue speaking.

"That's your first reaction? You're a riot Gon."

"Huh?"

"You're the first person our age who's ever responded seriously when I say our parents are assassins."

"Well, you're telling the truth right?"

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

"It's just a hunch."

"…You're weird. Most people only like me because they can't tell when I'm serious, Harry being the only exception so far… We're from a family of assassins. So they're all assassins. And my family has really high hopes for me and Harry… But we can't stand it. I don't like having my life planned out for me and Harry dislikes being forced to kill people, especially for something as simple as money. When I told them I wanted my own future they all snapped and Harry backed me up. My mother started crying and told me I had the potential to be a top assassin before she started screaming at Harry for 'corrupting' me."

Gon gave a nervous sounding chuckle at the story, which Killua waited to pass before resuming speaking.

"Horrible parents right? It's natural their kids would go bad. We ended up fighting, so I stabbed my mother in the face, Harry beat our brother Milluki into a small coma before we ran away from home. I'm sure they're out for blood by now, though Harry seems to think we were allowed to escape. Tch, he just doesn't believe in my awesome skills."

Harry finally decided to speak up at this point. "I don't believe in your 'awesome skills' because you and I both know that even if Milluki and mother couldn't find us, father, grandfather and Illumi certainly could. It doesn't matter what skills of yours, or mine, we use."

Killua sounded completely unconcerned when he replied, much to Harry's slight annoyance. "Yeah, yeah. If they find us, we'll just send them packing. And when I become a hunter I'll start by capturing my family, they're worth some hefty bounties…"

Harry couldn't help it, he snorted in incredulity before bursting out in laughter at his brother's arrogant claim. They both knew it would be impossible for them to accomplish such a feat for a long time, time that neither of them had before they were tracked down and forced to come home despite what Killua said. Gon laughed along with Harry, though for different reasons, mainly Killua's expression when he started pouting angrily at his friend and brother. Killua proceeded to argue loudly that he could totally accomplish his goal all the while Harry made snarky remarks and Gon asked innocent, but devastating, questions about how he'd do it, to which Killua had no answer. The good atmosphere was ruined however as all three felt the presence of something threatening wash over them coming from one of the nearby hallways. They turned to face the direction the feeling came from but found nothing there.

"Is something wrong?" The curious voice of the Chairman asked as he calmly walked towards the trio from the opposite direction of his earlier "attack".

"Ah… Mr. Netero, did you see anyone coming from that side?" Gon's question the chairman without a hint of suspicion in his voice. Harry and Killua remained on alert however, not trusting the coincidence of the man's appearance. Both reactions got a subtle smirk from the Chairman as he responded in the negative, though the mocking lilt to his voice caused the two Zoldyck's to narrow their eyes in irritation. Killua decided to be direct about the two's suspicions, rather than keep it in reserve like Harry preferred to do.

"You're pretty fast for an old man."

"Eh? That little trick? I barely moved."

The mocking undertone in his voice was clear for both the young assassins to hear and the tension between the group increased further, though Gon didn't seem to notice. Harry decided to try and divert the tension by speaking up in place of his brother.

"What do you want, Mr. Chairman. You don't have anything to do until the last phase, right?"

"mah, mah. No need to be so unkind. I got bored and was looking for some companions for the night."

"…I don't think you'll be able to find any hookers aboard the ship Mr. Chairman, and if you're referring to us… please don't make me call the police. It'd look bad on my Exam record."

Killua burst out in laughter at Harry's rather caustic response while Gon looked confused and Netero utterly flabbergasted. It took the old man several moments to compose himself enough to respond.

"Not like that you stinking brat! *cough* *cough* Anyways… I meant to ask the three of you, any thoughts on your first attempt at the Hunter Examination?"

Gon was the first to reply. "uh-huh! It's been fun! And there haven't been any of the written exams I saw in my nightmares!"

The innocent response got a few chuckles from the Chairman and the two Zoldycks before Killua turned serious and gave his own answer, deciding that simply going with the flow was the best option at the moment.

"I'm disappointed…I expected the exam to be far more difficult. I assume the next phase will be more entertaining?"

"Well now… I wouldn't know about that. And what about you, you stinking brat? What do you think?"

Harry gave the old Hunter a smirk when he heard the annoyance in the man's voice before he replied. "It was interesting but I agree with my brother, it was rather disappointing and I had hoped for more difficulty".

"I see, I see…How you would three like to play a game with me?"

"I thought I said not to make me call the cops old man?"

"Not like that you stinking brat! *ahem* The game is simple and if you are able to defeat me, I shall immediately let you all become Hunters."

Gon was quick to agree but Harry and Killua hesitated a bit before giving their agreement. Neither of them particularly trusted Netero, but the man knew how to catch their interest so they wouldn't refuse playing his "game". The trio followed quietly behind the Chairman as he took them to a rather large room, where he proceeded to shed his robe (which set off several more cutting remarks from Harry and an equal number of angry denials from Netero) and took out a black striped yellow rubber ball. Clearing his throat to give himself time to calm down from Harry's, successful, attempts at riling him up Netero proceeded to explain his game.

"*ahem* Now, I'll go over the rules of the game. If you can take this ball from me before the airship reaches its destination, you win. I believe we're scheduled for an 8 AM arrival, so you about 9 hours to try. You're free to attack me however you'd like. I won't touch you."

"You'd better not you dirty old man, I have the police on speed dial if you try anything."

"SHUT UP! Will you stop insinuating I'm a pedophile! Stupid, stinking brat. Always mouthing off to the elderly. It's like no one ever taught you respect."

"My family taught me to never to trust strangers unless you have sufficient black mail or the power to end their life in your hands."

"Ah…"

Netero didn't really know how to respond but Killua was quietly snickering in the background. He always did love Harry's sense of humor. It was just unfortunate that most of his comments seemed to fly over Gon's head and, as a result, he tended to ignore them, as evidenced by his next comment.

"You can't touch us? That's too easy! You can't call that a game."

"Heh, why not give it a try first?"

Instead of Gon however, Killua decided to take the first stab at Netero, figuratively of course (this time). Harry could easily tell that despite his best attempts at cutting down the tension Killua was still highly agitated by Netero and was letting his anger affect his judgement slightly. He'd let things play out but if Killua needed his help he'd step in. Despite knowing that Killua was upset it was still surprising to see him break out Rhythm Echo right off the bat, though unlike Killua, Harry, as a bystander, saw the recognition in Netero's eyes. That didn't bode well for his brother's success in his attempt to get the ball. And Harry was right.

When Killua launched his first attack at the ball the Chairman instantly knew from where it came from, easily jumping back on one leg to avoid the follow up blows. What followed was Killua forgetting most of his training as he grew increasingly frustrated by Netero dodging his blows, in a myriad of insulting ways, from hitting him with the ball to jumping over his head. Eventually it got to the point where Killua threw away any attempt at getting the ball and instead focused on taking out his opponent. His course of action being launching himself at the Chairman's pivot leg in a devastating sweeping kick, likely intending to shatter the bone out of frustration. Harry thought it would work when he saw Netero fail, or chose not, to dodge. Instead however, he was treated to the sight of a perfectly fine old man and a frantically bouncing Killua who was cradling his now very bruised shin. It was at this point that Harry knew that the Chairman was not a normal human, not when he survived unscathed a kick that could dent steel.

Killua, at the urging of Gon, tagged out and let their excitable friend have a turn at trying to get the ball. Harry kept one eye open on his attempts as he checked over his brother's leg, looking for any sign of a broken bone. Thankfully there was none and his full attention turned towards watching their new friend in action. He had rather impressive speed, though it was embarrassing to see him launch himself head first into the ceiling. Apparently situational and spatial awareness was not part of his training regime. Gon continued trying to get the ball for several more minutes after that happened, evidently not affected in the slightest by using his head to dent the ceiling, before Harry tagged him out for his own turn.

Harry didn't think he'd be able to get the ball on his own after watching Killua and Gon's attempts, but he wanted to use this opportunity to probe the Chairman as best he could to form a viable plan. Like Killua did before him Harry started out using Rhythm Echo, to the man's brief surprise. Harry wasn't as good as Killua in some of the family's assassination techniques but Rhythm Echo was one in which they were equal at, and considering Killua had mastered the technique, the surprise wasn't unexpected. Seeing one child master an assassination technique was one thing but two was something else entirely. Harry was actually counting on that surprise and, using the brief window in which his tension relaxed ever so slightly, launched himself into the air, copying Gon's semi-successful tactic. Unlike Gon though Harry remembered the ceiling existed so, instead of hitting it head first, he flipped himself around and used it as a springboard to launch himself back down and at the ball in Netero's hand. Harry actually managed to scrape it with a finger before it was quickly yanked out of the way. That didn't deter him however and Harry seamlessly continued his assault on the old man following the failed attempt, but, like the others before him, he found it was ultimately futile. In the end, after testing a few tricky angles and avenues of attacked (mostly using the ceiling or walls) and never getting as close to obtaining the ball as his first try, Harry tagged out, letting Killua have another go now that he had recovered.

This went on for a bit over four hours and by that point all three of the boys were exhausted, though Harry, by virtue of keeping a calm head and not expending his full effort, was the least so. Currently it was Killua's turn and, like usual, he was being humiliated by the Chairman, though this time it seemed he wanted to bring the other two boys in on it as well.

"You boys aren't getting anywhere. Why not attack me all at once?"

Predictably, this infuriated Killua and he once more launched a furious assault on Netero, though Gon seemed to take his words without the mocking intent behind them and swiftly joined the fray with an excited grin. Harry, instead of launching himself directly into battle like Gon, decided to take a subtler approach and circled the three with Rhythm Echo, waiting for his chance to strike, hoping to use his observations to good use.

For several minutes Gon and Killua launched a flurry of attacks on the Chairman to no avail, all the while Harry continued to use Rhythm Echo and waited patiently for a chance to strike. His chance finally came when Gon got sneaky and utilized his boot to extend his kick and catch Netero off guard, hitting him in the chin and knocking him away from the ball. Killua wasted no time in capitalizing on the opening and struck him from behind to increase his distance away from the ball. Harry, for his part, refrained from striking as he knew that the old man wasn't out yet. He was proven correct when, in a feat of incredible agility, Netero hooked the ball with his foot and launched it forward, right in position for him to easily recover. The old man's plans were derailed however by the addition of Gon's remaining boot getting chucked at the ball, knocking it out and away from the Chairman's range. It was here that Harry finally saw his chance to strike and launched himself full force at the ball, managing to get two fingers on the illusive prey before getting bulldozed aside by the charging form of the Chairman, much like Gon and Killua had before him.

At this point Harry knew that getting the ball was impossible and was already planning to quit when he saw Killua's face. His brother had snapped and Harry needed to get him out of here before he did something he'd come to regret. Harry was already in the process of trying to drag Killua out of the room when Netero spoke up, once again a subtle mocking lilt to his voice.

"I commend you on your efforts."

Harry could hear Killua's teeth grinding together at the sound of the man's cocky words. Harry gave Killua a firm squeeze on the shoulder in warning, which served to calm him down thankfully, though only slightly. Harry could almost visibly see Killua reign himself back in before he finally responded to Netero.

"*Sigh* Forget it… I give up. I lose."

Harry was quick to echo his brother. "Same. I'm done here."

Gon seemed generally confused by the two Zoldyck's decision though Netero had a knowing glint in his eye that served to piss of Harry. The shitty old man could obviously tell what Killua's state of mind was and was enjoying it. Thankfully Killua was distracted by Gon speaking up otherwise he might actually try to kill the Chairman if he saw that.

"Eh why? We still have plenty of time, and just now we came really close."

"Jeez, you really have no clue do you? The old man has barely used his right hand or his left leg all this time but we're still powerless against him. We could probably chase him for a year and never take the ball away."

"Oh? You figured it out? And here I thought I'd fooled ya."

"Tch, shitty old man." Harry didn't appreciate the mocking tone any more than Killua did and let it be known with the venom in his voice.

"You really know how to piss me off you old geezer. Let's go Gon, Harry!"

"I'm coming Killua." Harry was right behind Killua as he walked out the door but paused when he noticed Gon not following them and heard Gon speak up, which also caused Killua to poke his head back into the room.

"Ah, I'm gonna play a little longer."

"Oi! Didn't you hear what I said!? It's useless! You won't be able to take the ball from him! Why can't you accept that like Harry and I can!?"

"Yeah! But I don't care about the ball. We've only used up half of the time limit, I'm gonna make Netero use his right hand before the time runs out."

"I see…" Despite his words it was clear Killua did not, in fact, see what Gon was talking about.

"Just leave him to it Killua, he's having fun here but we don't have to stay, Gon can meet up with us later."

"Yeah, I got it. Good luck Gon. I'm gona get some sleep or something."

"Goodnight Gon, good luck against the Chairman."

As the door closed Harry quickly went to work calming Killua as best he could with his words and some light physical contact. Like Harry, Killua was not the most stable of individuals and it was bad to be a bystander when he flipped, he tended to get… violent. Thankfully Harry was one of the few people safe from his ire and possessing the ability to calm him down so he was slowly able to coax his brother back to his normal self if given enough time. Unfortunately, there were some rather arrogant Hunter examinees awake at the moment who just so happened to bump into Killua, and also just so happened to be cocky enough to try and accost him for "being in their way" and "not respecting them". Harry barely kept the two's heads from being ripped off by his brother (literally), though the strain of doing so was unbelievable. Thankfully the two weren't completely bereft of a survival instinct and quickly made themselves scares after witnessing the clawed hands less than an inch from their throats.

"Calm down Killua, there's no need to kill them. They'll likely die in the next exam anyway. Now take a deep breath and center yourself. You're better than this brother."

With a few deep, shaky breaths Killua calmed down enough that Harry could release his grip on his arms. As his brother continued to struggle to calm down Harry quickly engulfed him in a hug and whispered soothing words to snap him out of his blood-lust. It took a few minutes but eventually Killua was good and with a curt thanks, to which Harry merely nodded in response to, the two Zoldycks made their way to the nearest room to sleep. Harry hoped a good night's sleep would be enough to calm Killua down for the third task, otherwise it was going to be a blood bath regardless of what it entailed. Thankfully it was and Killua was back to his "normal" self by the time they met back up with Gon, Kurapika and Leorio.

The location of the Third Exam turned out to be on top of a man made pillar, which was on a pillar shaped mountain. It was strange, like most things in this world, but Harry just went with it. According to the…person? Animated snack? Anyways, according to the being whose head looked like a green jellybean the pillar was called the Trick Tower and the goal was to reach the bottom within seventy-two hours. Seemed simple enough until one of the other contestants, who happened to be a pro rock climber, was eaten alive by giant flying demonic baby things after he tried to scale down the side. Yeah neither he nor Killua decided that climbing down on the outside was a good idea after that. It didn't take long for them to figure out how they were expected to get down after they noticed the number discrepancy on the top of the tower and the existence of trap doors. Harry, Gon and Killua managed to find five all right next to each other and, after calling over Leorio and Kurapika, decided to see where they led. That five trapdoors were so close together was suspicious to everyone but they decided that even if some of them were traps it was better to risk it than try and find other doors. They all felt rather embarrassed though when it turned out none of them were traps after saying their goodbyes and they all wound up in the same room together.

Apparently their route down the tower was a group one that required five people, which as luck would have it, was the exact number of their group. They all quickly put on the available stopwatches and were prepared to head off when they were interrupted by the Third Examiner, who also happened to be the Warden of the Tower (which doubled as a prison), Lippo. He gave this whole spiel about his test and the route they were on, which was the route of majority rule, before wishing us all good luck on the test. It was rather nice all things considered, none of the other examiners wished them luck before.

With that done they all approached the door to leave the room, which also had their first group decision: whether or not to open the door. Obviously they all chose to open the door and were promptly faced their next question: whether to go right or left. In a three to two vote they decided to go right, though Leorio got rather angry and confused by the decision, apparently believing his choice to be the "right" choice. Their chosen path led to a rather interestingly designed room with a small platform on each side connected to hallways with another platform in the middle, all of which were separated by a deep, seemingly bottomless, pit in the ground. The third Examiner Lippo was quick to explain what they had to do as Harry and his group stared across the gap to an equal numbered group of what appeared to be prisoners judging by the manacles.

"Welcome. Before you are some of Trick Tower's prisoners. The Hunter Exam Committee has officially hired them as examiners. You will be fighting against the five of them. The fights will be one-one one, each person may only fight once and you are free to use any method you like. There will be no draws, a win is declared when the opponent admits defeat."

Here the apparent leader of the prisoners spoke up, a tanned bald man covered liberally in scars, his voice deep and full of arrogance. "You may pick your order, it's majority rule so secure three wins and you may pass. The rules are simple."

Lippo cut in at this point. "The fights themselves however, won't be as simple. The prisoner's sentences will be reduced by one year for every hour they delay you here. Their goal is, to put it simply, also to buy time."

"I see… and we must reach the goal within seventy-two hours, of which an hour has already passed. So time will be critical during these fights." Harry nodded at Kurapika's words, agreeing with the blonde completely.

"Okay, I'm up first. Choose your combatant." The arrogant tone of the lead prisoner once more sounded out from across the room.

"Hmm, what do we do? He said that we can fight with any method. So that means anything goes." Killua was quick to pose the pertinent question to the group to start up the discussion.

"we don't know what they'll try to pull…" Leorio muttered lowly.

"There's too much at stake without knowing what they have up their sleeves. Given that I…"

Kurapika's word were quickly cut off as Harry made his presence known.

"No. I'll go."

"Harry!? No, I can't let you take that risk. This is a hardened criminal we're dealing with here."

"Calm down Kurapika, Harry can easily deal with that man, don't worry about it."

"Killua! How can you be so calm!? Your brother is offering to use himself as essentially a guinea pig."

Harry felt annoyed by the way he was being ignored and made his displeasure known. "I can speak for myself you know. I'm doing this and it's honestly not your choice to stop me. Besides none of those people are a threat to me, I'm a Zoldyck for a reason even if I was adopted."

Leorio and Gon looked confused by the last part of his words but faint recognition blossomed in Kurapika's eyes at the name, which was interesting to note, after which he promptly stood aside. Killua, for his part, gave a smirk and a simple fist bump to his brother as Harry stood forward and waited for the bridge to connect to the middle platform. Once it was Harry didn't even hesitate as he crossed the bridge and faced his opponent. Who once more spoke up, his voice filled with arrogance and not a little ridicule.

"Are you sure about this kid? I got a two-hundred-year sentence for burglary and murder. I won't hold back just cause you're a child."

"ohh? Is that so… I'm fine with being your opponent."

Harry's response was void of emotion as his vibrant green eyes faded in color, from brilliant Emeralds to dull Jade, as the life and innocence in them were snuffed out and replaced with something else, something colder and more sinister. The inmate in front of him seemed to sense that but, other than a small shudder, ignored the ominous feeling coming from Harry and simply continued to set the rules for their fight.

"Right…Now, let us determine the method of combat. I propose a death match!"

Harry could hear the panicked shouts of Leorio, Gon and Kurapika even as he calmed voice out his acceptance.

"Ha! I commend you for your courage brat, but you'll need more than courage to survive against me! Let…The fight… begin!"

With a loud cry the prisoner launched himself into the air towards Harry, who remained in place not even assuming a combat stance. His fellow companions, bar Killua, shouted out to him in panic but Harry acted like he didn't even hear. Just when it seemed like the inmate's arm was going to pierce Harry's heart, said boy appeared to fade out of existence, baffling both his opponent and his unprepared teammates, bar his brother. The baffled expression on the prisoner's face remained frozen in place, even as he died with his head cut off from his body and soared into the gaping chasm below. With a dull thump the, now headless, body fell to the ground and revealed Harry standing calmly several feet away with his arm raised horizontally, as if just finished from a sweeping motion, and his face set in a look of pure apathy. It took several moments for a flustered Lippo to call Harry the winner of the round over the PA system and send out the walkways once more. Harry, his face still frozen in apathy, calmly walked back to his team, taking care to avoid getting blood on himself from the still twitching corpse that he promptly tossed over the side.

Only Killua was composed enough to greet his brother and quickly offered his congratulations as he gave Harry a tight hug, serving the dual purpose of snapping him out of his killer mode, returning his eyes back to their normal brilliance, and obscuring the words he spoke from the others. Gon was the first to recover and once again displayed his naivety by congratulating Harry and saying how cool he was. Leorio and Kurapika took longer to come around but they too offered their own shaky congratulations before turning their attention towards the remaining prisoners in an attempt to calm their nerves.

The next prisoner to step forward was noticeably shaken by the previous match. He was a thin and rather weak looking young man who kept giving Harry rather terrified glances, which no one could fault him for. It was commendable for him to actually step up though and, after a brief debate, it was decided that Gon would be the one to face him. Harry thought it was a good thing as Leorio and Kurapika were still too shaken by his "match" to be reliable and the man didn't seem like the type that could pose a threat to Gon even if he wanted to. The match between them was far removed from the death match Harry participated in, instead being a rather simple contest between which two different sized candles burnt out first. The decision on which candle to choose was a majority rule decision but ultimately they decided to let Gon chose and simply voted for his decision.

In the end, the choice ended up not mattering as Gon, in his usual straight forward fashion, simply blew out his opponent's candle rather than let them burn down naturally. With his victory the group only needed one more win to proceed and the prisoner's looked anxious. It was at this point that the only prisoner to remain in the back of their "room" decided to step forward, his actions bother relaxing and worrying his fellow prisoner's at the same time. The reaction was curious and Harry could only think that they were afraid of him yet at the same time confident in his ability to win. His guess was confirmed by Lippo who introduced the man with a clearly shaky voice.

"I didn't want to use him but… the Hunter Exam has no mercy and I can't let you win that easily. If your challenger dies, then that's fate. Johness, I'm removing your cuffs."

The name, combined with the man's appearance as he removed his cape as enough to get a reaction out of Leorio, a rather bad one at that. The rest of the group was curious about what set him off but it was Killua who voiced their question.

"What's got you so worked up old man?"

"That's Johness! Johness the Dissector! The worst mass murder in Zaban's history! He chose his victims randomly, it was a famous case and, by the time he was arrested, 146 men, women and even children met brutal deaths by his hands. The only thing the victims had in common was that he murdered them all with his bare hands. He was known for his iron grip, the power in his fingers able to bend even steel."

"hehhh? Is that so? Welp, that settles it, I'm taking my turn now."

"What!? Killua you can't be serious!? You can't fight against that monster; you won't even get a chance to surrender before he kills you!"

"Leorio is right Killua, you shouldn't go out there. That kind of man is no opponent for a child."

"Kurapika, Leorio, enough. Let Killua go up, he'll be fine. He's a Zoldyck and my brother after all. Small fry serial killers like this Johness aren't a threat, they're barely even considered amateurs."

Harry's words shut the two older members of the group up as they had brief flashbacks to Harry's own "match". Needless to say Killua took the stage, though it was clear he was unimpeded by his opponent. Harry could tell that their teammates were worried despite his words but Harry made no move to comfort them, actions spoke louder than words after all. In the end it was anticlimactic as Harry thought it would be as Killua decided to pull a dad and rip the serial killer's still beating heart right out from his chest before he could even blink. Leorio and Kurapika were once again disturbed be his rather cold and merciless action, shooting worried gazes between Harry and Killua, though thankfully doing nothing else. Thankfully they calmed down quicker this time, though Gon was somehow completely unfazed by the entire thing, which was both worrying and comforting to the Zoldycks at the same time.

All in all, their first obstacle only took about 15 minutes in total to pass, leaving them with the better part of 70 hours to reach the bottom of the tower. For the next 8 hours the team continued making their way down the tower, having to use majority rule countless times to decide on simple things like opening doors or which way to go, to more complicated things like "activate the trap but gain a shorter route, or deactivate but take a longer one". Finally, however they reached their last choice room with roughly 61 hours left to spare. Like many others this choice was simple, chose the short and easy path but sacrifice two members to use it or take the long and hard path without having to leave someone behind. Luckily they had plenty of time left so in another unanimous decision they all chose the longer path. It ended up being like a repeat of their last 8 hours as they dodged trap after trap as they slowly wound their way down but it wasn't that hard all things considered. They ended up making it to the base with over 53 hours left in which they could recuperate for the next phase of the Exam.

Unsurprisingly they weren't the first to the bottom, they weren't even in the first 10 in fact, instead being the 14 – 19th participants to pass. Thankfully the other examinees, specifically Hisoka, kept to themselves so their two-day break was rather peaceful as Harry, Gon and Killua acted their ages, taking turns riding the two Zoldyck's skateboards and Gon teaching them how to use his fishing rod. That ended up with a few embarrassing moments when they accidently hooked onto Leorio's clothing but it was all good fun. Competitors continued to trickle in over the remaining time period and by the end of the third exam only twenty-six applicants remained, the number actually surprising Harry as it meant that a bit more than half the remaining applicants had manage to pass the test.

The fourth, and second to last, exam was to be held on an island, on which the examinees would be hunting each other for their badges. In total only 6 points were needed to pass, of which 3 points were allocated for an examinee's own badge, 3 points for their target badge, and 1 for any other badge they collected. Basically, so long as you had six badges of any kind by the end you would pass, regardless of whose badges they were. Harry's target ended up being one of a trio of brothers, though he wasn't sure which one, as was Killua's, which Harry found all kinds of ironic. Gon ended up getting the short straw by pulling Hisoka of all people. He seemed rather excited about it though, a strange combination of happy and utterly terrified to be facing the psychotic clown, so neither Harry nor Killua were worried too much about him. Harry and Killua still decided to split off from Gon after hearing about his target though, not willing to mess with Hisoka without being asked by their friend first. They would be working with each other for this exam though, mostly because they both thought their targets would be boring and wanted someone to kill time with.

Harry and Killua spent the first full day mostly just goofing around as they slowly explored the island. Neither were very worried about being ambushed or bumping into other examinees thanks to the training. They could tell the general threat level that the people following them posed and it wasn't much. The next day was more of the same at least until sunset when he and Killua decided that they were tired of being followed by their targets and made to take matters into their own hands. The three brothers (the other two having called in backup) proved to be just as disappointing as they had thought and, just to make it the slightest bit fun, the two Zoldycks decided to strip them down to their underwear before leaving the three unconscious.

The two moved on from the location after that, though they decided to leave them with the tag they didn't need, moving deeper into the island where they could faintly detect water at. The remaining days passed by rather slowly for the two but they also ended up being peaceful now that their only tails were from the Hunter Association. In the end, once the week passed, only ten people remained to move on to the final phase. Once more the remaining competitors boarded the Hunter Association's Zeppelin to travel to their next location. The flight was longer than the last one, even though it felt shorter, but the only noteworthy thing to happen was giving an interview to the Chairman. The questions were few and rather straightforward, which Harry appreciated, not wanting to be near the shitty old man longer than he had to be.

Why did he want to become a Hunter? He didn't, he was taking the Exam for fun and because his brother dragged him here. Which of the other nine applicants was he keeping an eye on? Hisoka, for obvious reasons. Which of the other nine applicants did he want to fight the least? Killua and Gon, because the first was his brother and the second his friend. That was all the interview consisted of. Harry didn't ask the others what they said, nor did they ask him, instead opting to simply pass the time with idle talk before bunking down for the night. They didn't arrive at their destination, a hotel owned by the Hunter Exam Selection Committee, until sometime shortly after noon the next day, where they finally learned what the Final Exam was going to entail. It was a tournament, one where the bracket was lopsided and only one of the applicants wouldn't become a Hunter. Killua was unsatisfied by the tournament's structure, mostly because several people had more chances to win than him. Harry was ok with it, mostly because he could tease the "losers" about it, especially since he had a higher number of chances than his brother.

The first match was between Hanzo and Gon. It wasn't much of a fight as Gon, despite his physical abilities, was very outmatched by the highly trained ninja. Despite that it lasted a long time, though that was because of the rules more than anything. Victory only if your opponent admits defeat and disqualification for killing blows were straightforward, though they made things more difficult than one would think. Watching Gon get brutalized for three hours just because he refused to admit defeat was rather difficult but both the Zoldyck's watched it with impassivity that only years of desensitization training could accomplish. In the end their friend was able to win in a most absurd manner, basically being so stubborn that Hanzo gave up in sheer frustration, though not before breaking Gon's arm and having to knock him out and literally force him to accept his "victory". The mood became rather light hearted after that, confusing both Killua and Harry, to a lesser extent. Neither really understood Gon's actions, nor the crowd's reactions to them. Harry could give make a guess that he believed was likely 60-70% correct thanks to his better grasp of "normal" people and their behavior, but Killua was completely clueless. In the end both put it out of their minds and put their attention on the next fight.

The next match was Kurapika versus Hisoka, with Hisoka deciding to forfeit in the end after only a brief amount of actual fighting for some reason, leaving a very flustered Kurapika the victor. The third match was Hanzo versus Pookle, with Hanzo easily obtaining victory, Pookle proving not to be as fearless or stubborn as Gon. The fourth match was between Hisoka and Bodoro, with Hisoka obtaining an easy victory after beating the old martial artist into the ground and whispering in his ear.

Finally, it was Harry's match against Pookle, which, much like Hanzo, he won almost instantly through the threat of violence and the man's own fear of bodily harm. Killua's match was next against Pookle, though he let his pride get to him and gave up without fighting, passing up on a guaranteed victory. Harry didn't blame him too much as Pookle was boring and not much of a fight but it was still rather stupid considering the circumstances. None of the remaining examinees looked that interesting either after all except for Gittarackur, who made Harry feel a sense of trepidation. The 6th fight was supposed to be Leorio against Bodoro but that was postponed by Leorio's request to allow his opponent time to recover from Hisoka's beating, another stupid decision, if an honorable. It was next match was when things finally went to shit and the Zoldyck's past came back to haunt them. Killua was up against Gittarackur, a man who gave off only slightly less bad vibes than Hisoka but looked twice as freaky. Though that wasn't his real name or appearance as it turned it Gittarackur was simply Illumi in disguise, which shook both Harry and Killua very badly, especially when he started speaking.

"Yo. Long time no see, Kil, Har. I heard you cut up mom Kil, and that Har put Milluki in traction."

Killua's voice was shaking as he stuttered out his reply. "I-I guess."

"Mom was crying…tears of joy. She was so happy to see that the two of you had grown up. But… she was worried about you two leaving home so she asked me to check up on you. What a coincidence."

Harry let his fear turn to anger at his older brother's words and snapped at Killua. "Coincidence my ass. I told you so Killua! I fucking told you!"

"Shut up Harry!"

Illumi paid the two's byplay no mind as he calmly continued talking. "Still… I didn't know you both wanted to be Hunters. I'm trying to get a license for my next job… and you two?"

Killua, seeing that Illumi had yet to threaten either of them was a bit calmer when he replied this time. "We… don't really want to be Hunters… I just felt like taking the exam and I dragged Harry along with me."

"I see…That's a relief…Then…I have some advice for you both. Neither of you are cut out to be a Hunter. You were born to be killers. You're puppets of darkness, without passion. You don't want anything or wish for anything, no matter what lies you tell yourself. As those who live in the shadows, you can only feel pleasure when people die. That how Dad and I raised you, Kil. It was how Mother and I trained you, Har. What would you accomplish by becoming Hunters?"

Harry couldn't help it, he all but screamed his denial at Illumi's words. "Shut up, you don't know anything Illumi! Just because we don't desire to become Hunters doesn't mean we don't have something we want beyond a life of killing!"

"Harry is right!"

Illumi remained calm. "You don't"

""We do!""

"There's something that I really want, and that Harry desires just as much!"

"Hmmm…. Tell me what it is that you both want…" Despite the flat tone of voice bother Harry and Killua could feel a slowly increasing pressure weighing down on them, preventing them from responding. "What's wrong?... There's nothing you really want, is there?"

""That's not it!""

"I want…"

"We want…"

""To become friends with Gon! We're sick of killing people! We want to be friends with Gon and live a normal life!"" The two sounded like they were desperately trying to convince even themselves with their shouted words.

"That's impossible… You'll never be able to make friends. Your only concern when you meet someone is whether you should kill them. That's how you were trained. You've both had to repeat that lesson enough to remember that right? You just don't know how to classify Gon because he's too dazzling for your eyes. You don't actually want to become friends with him."

"You're wrong…"

"You don't know anything…"

Both Killua's and Harry's voice were growing quieter, weaker as they struggled to argue against Illumi's words.

"If you stay with him, you'll both end up wanting to kill him one day. You'll get the urge to see if you can actually kill him or not. To see which of you will be able to do it first. Because your souls are those of killers."

"What the hell are you talking about! Killua! Harry! You're already Gon's friends. It doesn't matter what your brother says or what you think Gon already considers you his friends and nothing will change that!"

Both Killua and Harry were being badly rattled by their older brother's words and not even Leorio's attempt at an uplifting speech served to break them out of that state for long. Not when Illumi was there to instantly snuff out the hope his words briefly inspired within the two.

"Really… Gon's already considers you both as friends huh?... That's no good…Okay. I'll kill Gon then."

The temperature of the entire room felt like it dropped twenty degrees at Illumi's words as a malicious pressure started to envelop the entire room. Killua was breaking out in to cold sweat on the verge of hyper ventilating and Harry was not far behind. The feeling got even worse as Illumi continued speaking.

"A killer doesn't need any friends. They'll only slow you down… Where is he?"

One of the Hunter Association examiners tried to step forward and stop the eldest Zoldyck brother but received several nails to the face for his efforts as Illumi calmly kept walking towards the exit. His path was barred however by Kurapika, Leorio and even Hanzo surprisingly enough. This was enough to get Illumi to pause, though not out of fear.

"This won't do. I need a Hunter license to do my job, but if I kill them I'll fail and Kil will pass automatically. Oh! …Darn. The same thing will happen if I kill Gon. Hmmmm… I know! I'll pass the exam before killing Gon. If I wait until I pass the Exam I can kill everyone here and still keep my license, right?"

Surprisingly enough Chairman Netero responded in the positive to Illumi's words, apparently entirely unconcerned with the threat of casual mass murder. Illumi's voice was rather upbeat from that piece of information.

"Did you hear that Kil? You have to beat me if you want to save Gon. Or put your hopes in Har's ability to save him from me. So…Will you fight me for your friend's sake Kil? Will you defy me to save your friend's life Har?..." Illumi received no response from his brothers and simply continued speaking. "Neither of you can do it, because you're more worried about whether or not you can defeat me, whether or not you can go stand in my way. And… you already have your answer: 'I'm not strong enough to go against my brother.' 'Never fight an enemy that you can't beat'. I drilled that into your heads long ago." Illumi had been steadily reaching for Killua's head throughout his little speech, getting close enough that Killua tried to take a frightened step back. "Don't move!"

By this point Killua was in full on panic mode as Illumi was reaching his hands out towards him, desperately wishing to run but unable to against his brother's commands. Harry, despite not being the main target of Illumi's words or actions, wasn't faring much better and, like Killua, was completely frozen in place.

"If you move an inch Kil, I'll assume that the fight has begun. And if you move I'll assume you have decided to defy me Har. I'll also assume that the fight has begun if we make contact Kil, there's only one way to stop me. You know what that is… But don't forget…If neither of you do anything, your dear Gon will die."

Harry could see Killua struggling against his fear and instinct as Illumi's hand grew closer, and closer to his head. Harry himself was also struggling to move, to take a step forward, to active his teleportation ability, to do something! But in the end neither of them could and Killua ended up voicing his surrender, much to Illumi's delight.

"Oh, that's good! Then the battle's over. Hahaha. I lied, Kil, Har. I was lying about killing Gon. That was just a little test. But! Now I have my answer. You two don't have the right to make friends. Nor do you need friends. You should just listen to dad and me and do your jobs just as you always have. When the time comes, I'll tell you to retake the Hunter Exam Kil, and Har, I'll tell you when to take a Hunter request. You don't need your licenses yet."

Harry and Killua both felt something break inside them at Illumi's words and remained unresponsive up till Leorio's match against Bodoro, acting like mannequins as they quietly stood on the sidelines. Kurapika and Leorio both tried to snap them out of their funk but nothing worked, they simply remained motionless. It was only when Leorio's match started several minutes later the two finally moved, though not in the way anyone expected as the both of them proceeded to kill Bodoro in cold bold. Killua was disqualified after that, as they couldn't determine which of the two's blows had caused Bodoro's death in the end but neither of them cared. They were running on autopilot, their minds completely blank even as their friends yelled at them for an explanation. They didn't respond, instead both quietly walked out of the room without acknowledging anyone's words or actions. Their actions in eerie synchronicity and looking more like those of a robot than a person, the only break in the pattern was Harry instinctually catching and pocketing his Hunter's License when it was thrown by Netero. Neither of the two looked back, nor did they stop by the infirmary to see Gon, as they simply continued walking into the building, and the Hunter Exam, were far, far behind them.

AN: And that was the first chapter, covering a brief prologue and the entirety of the Hunter Exam Arc. The next chapter covers the Zoldyck, Tower of Heaven and Yorknew Arcs. Since this story is Harry centric the arcs themselves tend to not last as long as the manga or anime. Anyways this is my first story that I've posted and I'll be finishing it before posting another. Let me know what you think, I'm not sure how I'm going to handle reviews (as in how, or if I'll reply) but I will be reading them so say what you want.

-Monumentum