The petrel-led carriage touched down, and Harry stepped out, followed by Dumbledore, happy to be able to finally walk after the long journey. He was on the island of Minami Iwo Jima in the southern tropical region of Japan for a month at the wizarding school there: Mahoutokoro.
He looked at the school in front of him in awe. He'd never seen anything like this. The building there before him was easily summarized; an ornate and exquisite palace. It looked to be made of mutton-fat jade and Harry rather thought it resembles a pagoda or a Shiro.
At first, he had been very reluctant to come, but Dumbledore had insisted. Truth be told, he had been more than happy to get away from the Dursleys and with the training sessions that Dumbledore had set up for him, well, Harry hoped he'd be busy enough to keep his mind of off the events of the last school year.
The end of the year had been particularly horrible, and he kept getting this sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and admittedly hadn't been sleeping that well either the two weeks he was at Privet Drive. How could he? Every time he closed his eyes... Sirius... It was all his fault.
"Harry. Harry."
He shook his head, pulling himself out of his musings.
"Sorry, sir."
"I, myself, try to maintain a healthy dose of daydreaming to remain sane," Headmaster Dumbledore said. "No harm was done."
"I doubt I'd call it daydreaming, sir."
"No, melancholy is perhaps a better word, no?"
"Was it that obvious, sir?"
"Not overly so, my boy," Dumbledore said. "Shall we go then?"
"By all means, sir," he replied, letting the elder Headmaster lead the way.
While walking, he kept looking over the grounds. It really was a stunning place.
After a few moments, they arrived at the main doors. The wizened wizard knocked.
The door was opened just moments later by a middle-aged man. "Headmaster Dumbledore. Mr Potter. Yōkoso, Welcome! Headmaster Dumbledore and I have already made acquaintance but my name is Hiro Nakamura. I am the Headmaster of this academy."
"Nice to meet you, Headmaster Nakamura, sir."
"Thank you for having us, Headmaster Nakamura," Dumbledore said, with a slight bow.
"Do come in. Our kaki-kōshū is in session, however," Nakamura explained. "Due to this, you will notice students are still taking classes. So as we chat, it may be best not to make too much noise."
"Understood."
"The students have school in the summer?" Harry inquired.
"Yes, if the students don't... how do you say... pass?" Headmaster Nakamura said. "Yes, if they don't pass a class they can retake it over the summer. Our school has both a day program and a kishuku gakkō program where they stay all year, not unlike Hogwarts. We also start at a younger age compared to Hogwarts, if my memory serves."
"You would be correct."
There was a nod from Nakamura. "You see, Mr Potter," the Japanese Headmaster said, "we start at seven years of age."
"So young?" Harry inquired.
"Yes." He paused. "Our ancient school has quite a small student body despite this. However, our students do not board until the age of eleven. Before that, they are flown home every day in much the same fashion as how you got here."
"Interesting."
"Indeed."
"Ah, yes," came Nakamura's voice, glancing over at the young lady walking over in a gold robe. "Here is an upper year, Yukino Ito. She has the highest level of English among our students. She will be given Mr Potter a tour, and will hopefully help him to quickly adjust to our school. It can seem a bit uh... daunting... at first."
"I'll keep that in mind, sir."
Headmaster and pupil then started conversing in rapid Japanese, leaving Harry completely confused as to what was going on. He could only assume that the Headmaster was explaining the situation to the girl.
"Kon'nichiwa, Itō-san." [Hello, Miss Ito.]
"Kon'nichiwa, Nakamura kōchō. Watashi no tan'nin no sensei ga watashi ni koko de anata ni au yō ni tanomimashita." [Hello, Headmaster Nakamura. My homeroom teacher asked me to meet you here.]
Hai, watashitachi no gesuto ni tsuā o shite, watashitachi no gakkō ni tsuite setsumei shite kudasai. Kare wa eigo shika hanasenainode watashi wa anata ni kuru yō ni tanonda. Kare o misete kangei shite kudasai. [Yes, I need you to give our guest a tour and explain our school. I asked for you to come as he only speaks English. Please show him around and make him feel welcome.]
"Wakarimashita, kōchō." [Ok, Headmaster.] She turned to Harry. "Hello, my name is Yukino."
"A pleasure, Yukino. I'm Harry."
"Well, Harry," Yukino said, "shall we take a tour?"
"Lead the way," he said with a grin.
As the tour went on, Yukino shared little facts about the school and Japan in general.
Harry even managed to get a lengthy lecture on the different uniforms at the school.
Yukino explained that when a student started at the school they were given robes that would grow with the student and change colour as the wearer gained experience. They would all start out pink, however. If the wearer received top grades in all the school subjects, their robes would turn gold. Any student who betrayed the Japanese wizard's code or practised the Dark Arts would see their uniform turn white. A white uniform, she explained, was a huge disgrace and the student in question would be immediately expelled.
Moreover, Harry quickly realized exactly what Headmaster Nakamura had meant when he said the place could be daunting at first. Harry still thought it was less confusing than Hogwarts though, in one way, at least. At least here, the staircases didn't randomly change on you. What was it with confusing schools. It just had to be a wizarding thing, he said. Some things never change.
He chuckled.
"What's so funny?" she said with a smile.
"Oh, just thinking that wizards like to make schools complicated. It seems to be a trend."
"Do you like your school?"
"Hogwarts? Yes. It's basically home."
"Good," she said with a smile.
"Do you play any sports here?"
"Me personally, or in general?"
"Both."
"Actually, we play Quidditch quite well. I am the chaser for my section."
"Brilliant!" Harry said with a grin. "I play Seeker."
"You have the build for it," she said with an appraising nod.
"True enough," he said with a small laugh.
"You know, part of Mahoutokoro's reputation rests on our outstanding reputation for Quidditch, which, legend has it, was introduced to Japan centuries ago by a band of foolhardy students from your school who were blown off course during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe on wholly inadequate broomsticks."
"Oh?" Harry asked interest peaked.
"Yes. They were rescued by a party of wizarding staff from Mahoutokoro, who had been observing the movements of the planets. They remained as guests long enough to teach their Japanese counterparts the rudiments of the game, a move they lived to regret. Every member of the Japanese Quidditch team and the current Champion's League winners - the Toyohashi Tengu - attribute their skill to the gruelling training they were given at Mahoutokoro. Here they would practice over a sometimes turbulent sea in a storm, forced to also keep an eye out for not only for the Bludgers but also for planes from the non-magical airbase on a neighbouring island."
"That's actually pretty interesting."
"I like history. and Quidditch. A perfect match really," she said with a chuckle.
"Definitely," he said.
She glanced at him, clearly wanting to ask something. "Why did you look so sad earlier?"
"What do you mean?"
"When I was coming down, I could see out the window," she explained. "You seemed... unhappy... to be here. When you were getting out of the carriage, I mean."
"Oh?" Harry said, rather uncertain. "I don't mean to offend you or anything."
"Offended, Harry-san?" she said. "No, not offended. Curious."
"I see." He sighed. "It was a long trip."
"I can imagine," she said with a chuckle. "You came through Tokyo, didn't you?"
He nodded in confirmation. "It's a beautiful city."
"It is," she said with a grin. "It's my mother's hometown as well. My family lives just outside the city."
"Wicked."
"So, why were you said?"
"You won't let it go, will you?"
"No," she said with a snort. "Will taking really do any harm?"
"No," he gave her a sad smile, "I guess not."
"Take your time," she said with a gesture towards him.
"Thanks," he said.
He fidgeted a little.
"Well, I messed up really bad a few weeks back," Harry said, a lump in his throat. "There's this dark wizard who's after me and well, I fell for a trap he set."
"And someone got hurt?"
"Yes," he said. "My Godfather."
"Is he ok?"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. It was hard to force the next words out. "He died."
"And you blame yourself?" she asked with a frown.
"It's my fault. He was trying to protect me. If I hadn't fallen for the trick, which I had been warned about, by the way, he would have been home. Safe. He only left his house because he had heard I'd run off." At this point, he didn't even try to stop the tears from coming. "It's my fault."
"You cared for him very much?"
"He was the closest thing I had to a father," Harry said with a nod, wiping his eyes.
"Then I'm sure he'd forgive you for making a mistake," she said. "You're young. How can you be expected to have all the answers?"
"I guess I can't," he said with a sigh. "It feels like I need to have them though, a lot of the time. I have a lot of responsibility."
"And that is why you are here?"
"Yes. To train."
"Well, you said you regret your mistake. Just learn from it, do your training, and move on." She squeezed his hand. "I'm sure he'd want you to be happy if you were as close as you say, and I'm sure you've learned from this."
Ain't that the truth. He never wanted to make the same mistake again.
If only he could bring Sirius back. But still, she was right. Sirius would want him to be happy, wouldn't he? He cared about Harry. Even want to bat for him at the Order meeting. He wanted Harry better prepared. Want to give Harry the best chance. He'd willingly gone, knowing the risks. Just as Harry had. No, Sirius probably would just sit here calling him stupid and tell him to go cause chaos with Fred and George for good measure.
"Thanks," he said, squeezing her hand back. And he meant it. Even though it still hurt, he'd felt lighter than he had in days.
"For what?"
"For listening."