Master and Son
It was eleven o'clock in the evening sleeping in a cupboard under the stairs of the 4th Privet Drive house, was a six year old Harry Potter, trying to rest for tomorrow's mayhem of his relatives the Dursleys. While his eyes were close he wished
'I wish I were in a place where I could be appreciated for what I can do.' He said in his mind, and in that second a small light appeared in the small cupboard that was bothering Harry a little and he slowly began to open his eyes and see the small light. He immediately placed his round lent glasses and took a closer look, for Harry the light seemed to be emitted by a small grain of rice. He then began to advance with his right arm towards the strange light to see what it could be.
"What is this?" He said and in two seconds his index finger touched it and right in that moment the light turned more powerful and brighter till, to avoid the blinding light Harry closed his eyes and after a second the light together with Harry vanished.
….
The next moment Harry began to wake up he was feeling dizzy but he managed to come back to earth, he noticed he was lying on a cold road that seemed to be paved, he was feeling strange and his body seemed to have become lighter.
He then decided to try standing on his feet but when he touched the ground, to his horror, his hands turned into wings. He managed to avoid screaming, in order to not attract attention, he pulled with his wings from the ground and began to stand on both his new skinny tall bird feet and started to look at his new body.
He now had black, white and gray feathers allover his body, and was wearing a pair of red trousers but he wanted to have a better look and he noticed a water pond where he could see his reflection like in a mirror, he went there to see his full body. He now has a body of a small crane; the only things that remain from his former self was now the messy look of his black feathers that once were his hair, his lightning bolt scar on his forehead, his green eyes and his glasses.
After that, he began taking a look around him to see where he was, all the buildings were not like he knew back in Britain, every building was totally different everything seemed to be Asian, mostly Chinese.
"Where am I, what happened to me?" Harry said concerned, but before he could receive an answer he began to feel the earth moving, like an earthquake. This made him panic, but in the next moment he also heard an explosion behind him and noticed a giant mountain that was actually a volcano.
"Oh God!" He said and started to run as fast as he could and while running he saw the doors of the houses beginning to open and from there all sorts of animals; from pigs and gooses to goats, buffalos, rhinos and even elephants began to run in complete panic.
In the same village at a different place, another crane was trying to help the people escape from this rain of fire, this was Master Crane one of the Grand Masters of the Jade Palace and a member of the Furious Five. He was trying to show people the way out of the city before the situation was too critical.
Harry then realized that he was now a crane, a bird, so he could try to fly from there as far as he could. He began to stretch his wings in an attempt to fly; he began to blow from them in order to make wind for him to fly and began to jump. After several jumps he tried again but this time a powerful one and managed to get himself in the sky, for a moment Harry was feeling great but then he heard another explosion from the volcano and a boulder of fire almost hit him but he managed to avoid it.
"All right this was completely a bad idea." Harry said and decided that it was better to get on the ground but the fire boulders were coming like rain and with great effort he tried to get as close to the ground as possible. Then he heard a call for help and noticed a rabbit mother holding his son, they were in front of a building that was being hit by a boulder and rocks began to fall, and in that moment Harry began to have something like a flashback; a woman in a room that was saying to him that her, together with his father will always love him before something like a green thunderbolt hit her and she fell on the ground. He then went to help them.
"Someone, help please!" The mother rabbit said before noticing the boulders from the building that began to fell, she was holding her son to protect him, and just in that moment Harry flew under the boulders with his eyes closed, the boulders seemed like falling slowly and he managed to push them out of the way before the boulders crushed. He was lying on the ground and after a moment he began opening his eyes and saw another pair of legs, he looked up and saw an adult crane that was looking at him with yellow eyes, wearing blue trousers and a conical Asian hat.
After five seconds they felt another earthquake and the taller crane said to Harry "Come with me young one." And he took Harry by his wing and began to run. After a few miles, the tall crane began to spread his wings and Harry knew what his intention was and he did the same, they both began to blow their wings and began to get in the air to fly, but even in the air it was dangerous, Harry looked back and noticed a boulder that was coming towards the one that took him from there.
"Watch out!" Harry said and pushed the other crane before the boulder hit him. They continued flying till they reached a safe distance from the volcano and landed in a bamboo forest, both of them turned around to watch what was happening. After a minute, the tall crane turned towards Harry he was impressed by his green eyes, there were like pure emeralds.
"Thanks for saving me." Crane said making Harry to wonder, no one ever thanked him.
"With pleasure, sir." He replied a bit shyly looking at the ground.
"What is your name?" Crane asked.
"H-Harry sir." He said making crane to think, 'Harry' was a strange name it wasn't Chinese it seemed foreign, but that didn't matter.
"Harry a strange name, well Harry; I am Master Crane master of the Jade Palace." He said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Harry said shyly.
"Where are your parents?" Crane asked making Harry to have a sad look.
"I don't have any parents' sir; they died when I was one year old and my relatives didn't treat me well." He said fearful, he knew that if he would tell him how he got here he would think he was crazy. While looking in his green emerald eyes, Crane saw that he was telling the truth and felt sorry for him.
"I understand, well then come with me, I will get you to the Jade Palace, don't worry, everything will be all right, trust me."
"All right I will come." Harry said and he together with Master Crane began to walk through the bamboo forest towards The Valley of Peace, they walked all night till the sun began to rise up in the sky and till they reached a water spring.
"Let's rest a little; the distance towards the Valley of Peace is still very long." Crane said.
"I agree." Harry said and he and the kung fu master went to the water to drink, once they saw they're reflections Crane noticed the scar on Harry's forehead that he didn't notice during the night. He never saw a scar shaped like that.
"Where did you get that scar?" Crane asked the young crane.
"To be honest I don't know exactly sir, my relatives always told me that it was from the accident when my parents died. They said that I escaped alive with only this scar." Harry explained but Crane didn't believe it.
"Harry I think they lied to you, it is not possible for someone to escape with only a scar, especially with one like that, there must have been something else."
"I know but what else could have been?" Harry asked.
"I don't know but that's a thing of the past now, you don't need to think about it." Crane said and just in that moment two crocodiles appeared and crane knew they were bandits. Harry was scared on seeing them and Crane noticed.
"Stay behind me." He said.
"Look what we have here." One of the crocodiles said.
"Let's get them." And both charged at them, Crane began fighting them, the first crocodile bandit used his fists but the kung fu master blocked them easily and punched him with his wings and feet, the same happened with the second one. Harry was amazed by the fight even if he stayed hidden till he noticed that the kung fu master was hit in the face and fell, which made Harry angry so he said:
"Leave him alone!" one of the crocodiles began heading towards him, the crocodile was in a way reminding him of his cousin that was always hitting him and bullying others, but this time he will not take it anymore, once the crocodile got near him he tripped him and pushed with his wings to make him fall in the water. The other noticed and went to him but Harry immediately avoided him dived in the water as well while Crane noticed what happened and got up. But the crocodile bandits also got up and tried again but this time they almost caught him. As soon as Harry noticed that he waved his right wing, a bamboo stick folded and hit them in the head and he managed to get away. The crocodiles didn't realize what happened so they tried again, but then Crane came and punched them with his wings before throwing them. After that, they began to run away and Crane turned towards Harry who was worried about what he will say:
"Impressive, I didn't know that you will manage to fight back." The older Crane said.
"Yeah, my cousin was always bullying me but I never had the courage to fight back till now, what the crocodiles did, reminded me of what he was doing to me and to other children. He was bullying everyone, no matter if they were boys or girls." Harry explained making crane a bit distressed.
"And your uncle and aunt never punished him for what he was doing?"
"They never took notice of this, they always spoiled him, and he was the favorite, while I was the black sheep that got punished for things that seemed unusual or unexplainable, like what happened with the bamboo stick." Harry explained.
"I noticed, but I don't think you were the cause. There is always a logical explanation." Crane said before making a pause to watch the direction where the crocodile bandits went.
"We better leave they might return any minute, with company." Crane said.
"We will continue to go on foot?" Harry asked.
"No we will fly, it's much faster." He said before extending his wings and went into the air with Harry following him.
They're journey took three days till they reached the Valley of Peace and in the meantime Harry tried to learn some kung fu from master Crane, thinking that he will be put on a test. Crane told him about Master Oogway, Shifu and the rest of the Furious Five and about what they have to do as Kung Fu masters.
They were now in front of the main gate of the Jade Palace, Harry was amazed of the size of the palace and about the fact it was up on a mountain, but before they entered, Harry was very nervous about what he will have to do when he will meet the other masters and Crane noticed.
"Is everything all right Harry?"
"I will be put on a Kung Fu test, sir?" Harry asked nervous.
"We will see." He said making Harry a bit distressed and they entered in the Hall of the Warriors where all kinds of different artifacts were exhibited. At the end of it, where there was the reflection pool where a small red Panda wearing an orange robe near a great tortuous with a bow stick, when they heard the doors opening they turned around to see master Crane together with a young one when Crane saw them he bowed in respect and Harry did the same.
"Ah, Crane you had returned from the village where they had problems with earthquakes?" The red Panda asked calmly.
"Yes, master Shifu, I am afraid that the village was situated near a volcano that erupted so I tried to save as many as I could." Crane said, and in that moment Oogway turned and noticed the young one.
"And who is the young one?" He asked with a gentle voice and a smile. Crane began to explain what Harry told him and how he found him.
"It's understandable; I know very well that some parents or other family members could do things like this to their children." Master Shifu said, remembering what his father did to him, he then turned to Harry who seemed to know what was going to come.
"You said that he managed to defend himself when you two were attacked by two bandits, by remembering how his cousin used to bully him all the time?" The red panda asked.
"Yes, master." Crane said.
"Well then, let's put him to a test." Shifu said and together with Master Oogway, they went to the direction of the training hall and Crane followed them, after a few steps he turned back to see Harry who was nervous about it.
"Come, you don't need to worry." Crane said encouraging him, Harry still nervous began to move forward and went near him.
All four walked till they went outside and climbed on the stairs in a garden full of trees and other plants that was well kept. They reached a double wooden door that was the entrance into the training grounds. Once they entered, they saw Master Monkey and Viper training, who stopped and bowed before Shifu and Oogway.
"Master." They said in unison.
"I see that you are trying to improve." Shifu made a pause before saying: "Very good." After that, Viper noticed the six year old crane child.
"Master, I see we have a young one." She said and Shifu noticed.
"Yes, Master Crane will explain later, Monkey please, bring us a dummy." Shifu ordered and the monkey bowed and went inside, after a second something, a mantis came and accidentally knocked Harry down making his glasses fly a few centimeters away.
"Oops. Sorry." The mantis said.
"Mantis, be more careful." The viper said with a strict tone, she used her tail to get Harry's glasses and give them to him.
"Here you go." She said kindly and Harry took them and placed them back on his beak. Once he saw her he got a little scared but he managed to calm down a little.
"Thank you, miss." He said politely and went back on his feet, but in that moment someone else came behind him and said.
"It seems that we have a newcomer." It was a female voice that seemed not too friendly making Harry even more nervous, he turned his head around and saw a female tiger wearing a Chinese qipao with golden vine patterns and black trim who was having a stern face, making Harry to almost turn pale and Crane noticed.
"Tigress, this is Harry, I found him in the village during the volcanic eruption, his parents are dead and I took him with me, master Shifu wants to put him on a test." Crane explained and in that moment Monkey came out with a training dummy.
"Well then…..Harry lets see what you can do." She said and Harry, with his heart in his beak, moved forward till he got in front of the dummy.
"Everything you have to do now is hit the dummy as hard as you can, in any way you want." Master Shifu explained.
"Ready, now." He said and Harry hit it with his wing but he manages only to make it move and he knew it wasn't good enough.
"Again." Shifu ordered and Harry hit it again but still it wasn't good and then master Shifu said more pushing:
"Again, much harder!" After saying this, Harry gathered all his strength and prepared to give a powerful blow but when his wing was 3 mm away from touching it he made the dummy crash so hard into the wall that it broke into pieces. No one except Oogway noticed. On seeing this, the Furious Five and Shifu got impressed by this.
"Wow, even I can't hit that hard!" Mantis said impressed.
"Sorry for the dummy." Harry said.
"Don't worry; we had to replace that for a long time." Monkey said before Master Shifu came.
"I see that you are very powerful." He said, making Harry a bit more confident.
"Thank you sir." Harry said with a little smile.
"That wasn't a compliment young one." The red panda said before adding:
"You are powerful but you need more then this, let's go in the training hall, I want to see how you are when you fight an opponent."
That made Harry even more stressed, how will he manage to fight against an opponent and who will be his opponent, he thought.
They all entered the training hall. Harry was amazed by the training gear they had but he knew that he doesn't have time to admire it, so when they stopped, his attention moved towards the red panda. Monkey together with viper, mantis and crane seemed concerned about this.
"Master with all do respect, do you think it's necessary? I mean he is only a kid." Monkey said.
"I want only to see his reactions and nothing else, and Monkey; you will be the one that will attack." Shifu said before turning to Harry.
"Young one, you will stay here." Shifu said pointing at a place near a wooden red column. Harry went there and turned around while Monkey went towards the other end of the room and turned around. Meanwhile, the others moved away to watch.
In a few seconds Monkey began to charge at him and jumped, Harry immediately turned to the right and Monkey landed on the floor. This was reminding him of how his cousin's friends charged at him to beat him but this was now different. Monkey then tried again and almost knocked him, but Harry avoided him again and pushed him with his wing on his back.
The third time when Monkey charged faster and made Harry to get scared and when he prepared for the blow he placed his right wing in front of him and made a plank to move and when he jumped, the plank went out from the floor and hit the monkey.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to do that." Harry said concerned for Monkey.
"Don't worry it wasn't you're fault, it was an accident." Monkey said with his hand on his head. The blow was a powerful one.
"Zeng!" Shifu called a goose wearing a yellow robe with a green belt and matching hat.
"Yes master Shifu." He said.
"When was the last time you checked the floor to see if it needs repairs?" Shifu asked.
"It was a month ago sir, for me everything was fine back then."
"Right, go and call someone to repair it." Shifu ordered and Zeng obeyed.
Master Oogway then turned towards Harry with a calm smile on his face. He knew very well that the young crane had a special power and that he has a good heart and wants to help people, defend them and this are the qualities of a true kung fu warrior. Then, he turned towards Master Shifu.
"Shifu, how about we discuss a little in private, shall we." Master Oogway said.
"Yes master." Shifu said respectful, and then the tortuous turned to Crane.
"Master Crane, please give the young one a tour of the Jade Palace." He said in a calm voice.
"Yes master." Crane said bowing and turned to Harry and said "Follow me."
Harry followed him, his heart was still beating heavily thinking about what the Masters Shifu and Oogway were talking. Crane showed Harry the rest of the Jade Palace; the weapons` room, the Peach tree of Heavenly Wisdom and the dormitories, the tour ended in the kitchen.
Crane gave him something to eat, presuming that after such a long trip he should be hungry. In the meantime, while Harry was eating, Crane was telling the other Furious Five about how he found him and what happened during the trip to the Jade Palace.
"Wow, he truly has courage." Monkey said impressed.
"And has potential." Mantis said.
"Yeah, even I was impressed about it." Crane said.
"But still, why were his relatives treating him badly, he didn't deserved it." Viper said thinking about what Crane told them.
"Even I couldn't imagine that." Crane said and just in that moment Tigress came.
"Still, there is something that is a little bothering."
"What do you mean?" Crane asked.
"The scar, where did he get it?" She asked.
"I asked him but even he doesn't know, his relatives told him that he got it from the accident where his parent's died when he was one year old." Crane said.
"What kind of accident could it have been to make a scar like that, it's not usual." Monkey said.
"Especially if it was one where both parents died." Mantis said.
"Even I think that is a lie but this is what he knew." Crane said.
"Well, I think that there is something more to this story, something that even he doesn't know." Tigress said. In the meantime, in another place in the Jade Palace Master Shifu and Oogway were discussing about what to do with Harry.
"The young one was very impressive during the tests." Master Oogway said.
"Indeed, but he is very young and don't know what could become of him." The red panda said thinking that he didn't want to repeat the mistake with Thai Lung.
"You don't need to worry about this, both his heart and mind are in the right place. And I also noticed that he has a very special gift in him that is also very unusual and powerful." Oogway said, in a calm tone with a smile on his face.
"What will that be, Master?" Shifu asked a bit confused.
"He has to find out, and he will do this in the right time, till then he needs to be trained by someone that has a paternal figure for him, likely the one that knew him first." The great tortuous said.
Shifu then thought for a moment and knew who will be the one.
Crane was walking, thinking a little until his master came.
"Crane!" Master Shifu called and he bowed respectably.
"Yes Master Shifu." He said.
"I discussed with master Oogway about what to do with young Harry and came to the decision that he can stay and learn Kung Fu." The red panda said.
"I will then go and tell him, master." Crane said before Shifu added.
"Not so fast." He said, and Crane turned back "I also decided that from now on, you will be his official Master, he will learn kung fu from you and with a little help from the other masters." That made Crane think a little, Harry will be from now on his student and he will now teach him what he knows, for him, it shouldn't be hard to train a young one.
"Thanks for the information master, I will go and tell him." He said bowing respectfully and he went to the kitchen where Harry was, opened the door and saw him at the table.
"Is everything all right?" Harry said with a nervous voice thinking what the decision of master Oogway and Shifu is.
"Yes, Master Shifu told me what the final decision is." Crane said before being cut.
"They didn't accept me." Harry said very quickly and very nervous making Crane to ask.
"What?"
"Nothing, sorry. Please continue" Harry said.
"All right, they accepted you, you will learn kung fu and your will be my official student. The other masters will also contribute, you will start tomorrow." Crane said, making Harry to get excited, for, never in his life he was as happy as he was now.
"When do I have to wake up?" Harry asked.
"Early in the morning, do you think you can manage?" Crane asked.
"I will do my best to wake up." Harry said making Crane smile at the young crane.
The rest of the day passed very quickly. Harry watched how the masters were training, for him this was really exciting and in the same time he also realized that the lessons will not be easy. Although, he knew that he has to give his best and had to learn to read the ancient texts of kung fu. After dinner his new master showed him his new room, it didn't have too much stuff except for the bed and a small desk where he could put his glasses, but for him it was better then where he slept in the past.
"Good night Harry hope you will enjoy a good sleep." Crane said.
"I will thank you." He said smiling and then Crane closed the door and went to sleep in his room. After placing his glasses on the desk, Harry kneeled to the ground on the small bed and put his head on the pillow, but before closing his eyes he thought about what happened in the past days and the good grace he received from Crane and the others.
"I will not disappoint you master, I promise." He said whispering before closing his eyes; he was officially determined to keep this promise till the end.
Meanwhile, in Britain at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, in the headmaster's office, professor Dumbledore together with the professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick and Sprout were worried, they detected a strange magic disturbance at Privet Drive and found out that Harry disappeared.
"How on earth could a six year old boy disappear?" Minerva said worried.
"It seems that his powers were much greater then we thought, not too many wizards manage to have such great powers." Professor Flitwick the leader of the Ravenclaw house said:
"Wherever he is, we must find him." Professor Sprout said worried before turning to the headmaster who was looking in a mirror that has the ability to show where people are and all four heads of the houses went there.
"Headmaster, has the Mirror of the Seeker found something?" Snape asked.
"We are about to see." Dumbledore said, while looking at the black mist in the mirror, after three minutes of watching, the mirror began to show a wooden traditional Chinese style room with a small desk at the right side of it and there, sleeping on the bed, was a small crane, with a lightning bolt scar on his head that made them all shocked.
"Mister Potter turned into a crane!" Professor McGonagall said shocked.
"It seemed that the disturbance that happened was actually a portal that sent him into another world where animals are the dominant species and it seems that the portal also turned him into a crane." Professor Dumbledore said.
"But what will happen to him while he is there?" Professor Flitwick said.
"In my opinion, we will have to wait and see what will happen." The headmaster said, while watching the young crane that was peacefully sleeping, then a though came in his mind, a though that made him think that he was much safer there in the other world then in there's making him to feel much better then when he placed him with his uncle and aunt and said with a small smile.
"It seems that he is much safer there."
Authors Note; this chapter happens three years before the events in the first Kung Fu Panda movie and with five years before the events in Kung Fu Panda 2. Please let a Review