The Price of Friendship
Manta was probably the shortest person in Hogwarts, so it was no wonder Voldemort chose him to be his kidnapping victim. Manta would have cursed Voldemort to oblivion after the Dark Lord called him a 'helpless shrimp' right in his face, but, unfortunately, he got hit with a stupefy.
And now, Manta shivered, glancing around, I'm being held in a stupid dungeon.
He huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around his knees. It was cold, and the dripping wet stone walls didn't help.
Yoh-kun, please save me, he though desperately. Even with wizarding abilities, he still felt like bait.
He sniffled, and hugged himself tighter.
I won't cry, he thought, willing himself not to.
He had to hang on enough for Yoh to come and rescue him.
"Voldemort has taken a hostage." Snape said informed his fellow Order members bluntly.
Many of them frowned. Bill leant forward, concerned, "Who is it? One of the students?"
Tonks said, "Did he take one of them during the attack on Hogwarts?"
Snape nodded curtly. McGonagall said softly, "It was Manta Oyamada. I saw You-Know-Who take him."
"You mean that really- " George began.
"-Really short sixth year?" Fred finished.
Molly Weasly frowned reproachfully, "Boys!"
Harry, Ron and Hermione, only present in the meeting because of a lot of persuading and pleading, and a bit of, in Harry's case, shouting, glanced at each other worriedly. They were in the same year as this boy, yet they had never really known him. The tri only recognised him because of his shortness.
Remus Lupin asked tentatively, "Did Voldemort give any… demands?"
Simultaneously, everyone glanced at Harry.
The green-eyed boy noticed, and jumped up, indignant, "Then let's go rescue him! He might be getting tortured because of me!"
Dumbledore looked uncomfortable, "Harry, I apologise, but- "
Moody continued bluntly, "You-Know-Who has amassed huge amounts of forces. And smack in the middle of them is the Oyamada kid. If we attempt a rescue mission, a lot of people on our side would die. It's suicide."
"But-!" Harry looked disbelieving.
Dumbledore said softly, "It pains me to say it, but this is for the Greater Good. Many lives perishing for just one person is too much of a cost."
"But if it were me, you'd all go right in wouldn't you?" Harry exclaimed heatedly.
The headmaster was about to answer, but a voice interrupted.
"You know," A green-haired woman, leaning against a wall opposite Harry, was watching them argue with dark eyes, saying haughtily, "It seems, for all this talk about how you stand for the Light, your no different than the Dark Lord."
Moody whirled, wand out, "Saying such things! Are you a Death Eater?"
The woman looked amused, "Not at all. I am Jun Tao."
She shifted her gaze to Dumbledore, who seemed to grow even wearier than usual once he realised who was speaking.
Jun sighed, sounding disappointed, "The Shaman king won't be happy at all about these developments."
As if to emphasize her point, the door to the room slammed open.
Yoh Asakura stormed in, looking windswept. Behind him, a group of people followed him in, along with-
"Ghosts?" Hermione muttered, thinking hard.
Yoh glared at Dumbledore, and demanded, "Where is he? Where is Oyamada Manta?"
"A Ravenclaw, aren't you?" Voldemort ask softly, twirling his wand between his fingers.
The shivering form, curling into a vulnerable position, lay in front of him. Manta didn't answer, but the Dark Lord knew he wasn't dead – yet.
"You're not a Gryffindor." Voldemort continued leisurely, "So you can become a Death Eater, if you wish. You can escape from all this pain."
Then Manta, in his own opinion, did what he thought was probably one of the bravest but stupidest act he'd ever done in his life.
He promptly raised his head, glared at his captor, and then gave him the rudest hand gesture he could think of.
Voldemort instantly snarled. He raised his wand, and Manta flinched inwardly.
"Crucio!"
Wands flew up instantly to point at the newcomers.
Yoh ignored them, but Horohoro, despite the tense situation, pointed and sniggered, "They really do fight with sticks!"
Having spoken in Japanese, none of the Order knew what he had said, but they all caught the mocking tone.
"Why you- !" One of them yelled, indignant, but Dumbledore held up a hand. The old man was one of the few wizards who didn't raise their wand when the Shamans came in.
He now said sternly to those that did, "Lower your wands. They are not the enemy." The Order reluctantly obeyed, and the headmaster turned back to Yoh.
Surprising his fellow wizards, Dumbledore gave a deep bow to Yoh, "My apologies, Shaman King."
When Yoh answered in a different tongue, Dumbledore arched an eyebrow quizzically. Anna elbowed him in the side sharply, "Dumbass! They don't speak Japanese!"
Her fiancée flushed slightly, and cleared his throat before speaking in English, with a light accent. "Sorry, I forgot you don't speak Japanese. Now, back to Manta: do you know where he is?"
Kingsley asked, "What is Manta to you? Why do you want to rescue him so badly?"
Ren came forward from the back of the Shaman group, "I thought you wizards gave up on him." He said stiffly, expression twisted in a permanent scowl.
"Just give us a location and we'll be on our way." Ryu said grumpily.
"He's surrounded by an entire army!" Moody growled, "What makes you think you can break though all manners of dark creatures?"
Ryu and Horohoro paled slightly, but Yoh remained unfazed. "I don't care." He said.
"I'll help!" Harry leapt up, "Even if the Order doesn't!" Ron and Hermione stood with him, and nodded their agreement.
Arthur looked slightly exasperated, "You can't! You're all underage!"
Dumbledore finally sighed in resignation, "Only the Order members will go." He smiled sadly at Yoh, "It is the least we can do for our inaction."
Anna nodded curtly, "Good. Can we go now?"
While the Shamans waited for the wizards to prepare themselves, Harry tentatively made his way up to Yoh and asked, "Er, if you don't mind me asking, but how do you know Manta? Why would you go through an army for him?"
Simultaneously, the Shamans glanced at each other and smiled, smirked in Anna's and Ren's cases.
Yoh answered Harry simply, "Because Manta is my friend."
Manta was sure he was being delusional. He thought he heard explosions in the distance, and Yoh's voice.
I'm delirious, he thought weakly, not allowing himself to hope, that must be it!
That train of thought definitely didn't prepare him for a huge group of Shamans, ghosts, and wizards alike breaking into Voldemort's throne room.
Behind Manta, Voldemort stood, bellowing orders to his Death Eaters.
"I want them dead!" The Dark Lord growled.
Anna knew Yoh wouldn't be happy at the sight of his friend. She herself was so appalled that her normal apathetic expression shifted into an outraged one briefly. This isn't right, she thought, frowning; Manta was only held captive for two days, right?
When Yoh came into the room after her, she examined his reaction.
Well, he certainly wasn't joyful. The sight of Manta's beaten, mal-nourished body absolutely scandalised him. After mentally absorbing the image, Yoh's expression went dark. Anna didn't think Voldemort would be in one piece by the end of the day.
It really didn't help, for the Dark Lord, when Manta seemed to wake up briefly enough to see Yoh, and quietly exclaim his friend's name in a weak voice. Then dramatically slump back down with a sigh that sounded like that of a dying old man.
Anna knew Manta wasn't dead, but Yoh seemed to think he was, because the Shaman King really flew into a rage. The others, Shamans and wizards alike, stood back. The former thought that Yoh deserved to beat the crap out of the person who beat the crap out of their friend, even though they were all itching to obliterate this Voldemort guy themselves. And the wizards… they were just too stupefied with awe and terror as they watched Yoh fight.
Anna didn't think blind rage was the answer, but after seeing what Voldemort did to Manta… she decided not to inform Yoh of Manta's liveliness until well after Voldemort's utter annihilation. A… monster that horrid deserved no less, having tortured a mere child.
And the fact that Manta was, after all, their first human friend.
Dumbledore was stunned, but not that stunned, really. A Shaman King was known to have a lot of powers, but he was amazed at the sheer simplicity of how easily Yoh demolished one of the most powerful Dark wizards of all time.
Make no mistake; this wasn't the end of Voldemort, so Dumbledore had to inform the Order this unfortunate piece of news.
Still, he let the wizards have their moment. There was nothing more amusing than Voldemort getting bodily kicked through the roof and over 30 miles of land.
Manta was rushed into St. Mungo's immediately. Yoh was so deadest on getting him treatment he literally kicked a few of the awe-filled wizards out of the way.
Actually, this all happened after Yoh learned Manta was still alive. Before, he was clutching the small body tightly to him and crying his heart out.
He only came to his senses when Anna slapped him.
"He's alive, dumbass! I refuse to allow our human friend to die due to your inattentiveness!" She snapped, glaring at him.
Ren and Jun were probably the only other Shamans that had known Manta was alive. However, their expressions were still strained with worry, the former rather unaware of how much he letting go of his 'badass' attitude.
Ryu and Horohoro were too busy bawling in the corner to hear Anna's little speech.
After a day, Manta was fully stabilized and resting in his room. All the Shamans, except one of them were gathered around his bed.
Meanwhile, Anna told Dumbledore to gather the Order for a quick meeting.
When the headmaster announced that Anna had called the meeting, an unknown Order member newbie said, "How come we gathered here only for her?"
Anna promptly slapped him, giving him her Ultimate Anna Death Glare™. "The orders of the future wife of the Shaman King will always be obeyed." She said frostily.
The other members wisely kept their mouths shut.
From there, Anna flatly informed the wizards of Voldemort's survival.
Even Dumbledore had a vague hope that Voldemort had died, despite the existence of his horcruxes.
The other members were floored.
"Are you kidding?"
"You-Know-Who couldn't have survived!"
"No way! Even after that bloody awesome kick?"
Anna shut the protesting wizards up with her glare, "I am an itako. I call spirits from the afterlife, where not even normal Shamans can reach. I know Voldemort isn't dead." Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the Potter boy freeze.
"That is all." She said crisply, and turned to head for the front door.
However, she hung around the entrance way of Grimmauld Place, waiting for something, or, rather, someone.
Harry, having dug up the courage to see her, came into the hallway. He stopped when he spotted her, surprised that Anna was still there. He had expected her to have left by then.
"Why…?" He started.
She said briskly, "I saw your expression when you learnt of what I could do." She clutched her rosary beads.
"You have twenty minutes; only one person. Now, who will it be?"
Manta finally woke up after one week. Yoh, who had been watching his form vigilantly ever since Manta was hospitalised, noticed first, and instantly rushed the boy, "Manta!"
Then, poor Manta was so confused and shocked that he fainted.
Yoh was extra careful the next time Manta woke. It was three hours after when everyone else went outside for food that Manta gained consciousness once again.
"Manta!" Yoh yelled in joy when he saw Manta's eyes crack open.
The smaller boy smiled, "Yoh! What are you doing here?"
The Shaman rolled his eyes, "Why wouldn't I be here? Besides, how are you feeling?"
"Fine, actually." Manta frowned, "How long was I… you know?"
Yoh winced, "Two days."
"Two days? That isn't that bad!"
"But you almost died! From now on, I forbid you to ever go back to that Hogwarts place! You might get captured and die again!"
Manta gawked, "Forbid me? I- I can make my own decisions, thank you! Besides, my dad was the one who sent me there."
Yoh folded his arms stubbornly, "I'll knock your dad out if he doesn't allow you to quit."
"How about a compromise?" Manta sighed, "You attend the school with me. That way, we both win."
"But my duties as the Shaman King…!" Yoh whined, inwardly groaning at the thought of school.
Manta gave his friend a sceptical look, "You? The guy with the lazy bum attitude?"
Yoh pouted, "Fine! You got me. I'll go."
Manta smiled. Then frowned.
"Yoh… why did you come rescue me? You could have gotten hurt!"
"Are you serious? I couldn't leave you there. Besides," Yoh smiled, "You're my friend."
After a brief moment, Manta grinned back, "Thanks… Yoh-kun."
"Anytime, Manta."
A/N: I thought there wasn't enough SkxHP crossovers, so I just made one myself. And, uh, sorry if any information about Shaman King is incorrect, because, well, to put it bluntly, my information on Shaman King is pathetically low. I've only read around 30 chapters of the manga, then watched 2 episodes of the anime. Hehe, not much to go on, and I usually don't write a fanfic about a category I don't know much about, but I really felt inspired to write this.
I hope you all enjoyed this, and please review! =)
Oh, and sorry if the wizards seem a bit snobbish. =P