I don't own anything!

For the record, I watched the English dub so I'm going to use the English terms. I'm sorry; I just can't watch a comedy with subtitles!

Prologue One- A Boy and His Fish

Step after step, Ryo walked on. The extra weight from his backpack made the heels of his feet leave imprints in the soft ground. Ryo liked Germany. It was open and spacious, green enough, at least where his dad lived. A glittering lake stretched before him and he thought about the river behind his mother's house in Japan. It wasn't nearly as glamorous or as big as the one in the small valley near his father's house, but it had its perks.

The blond boy sighed and settled down in the grass, carefully swinging the bag from his shoulder and putting it directly in front of him. His fingers fumbled around with the flap and he flipped it open. Inside was water, calm and murky. Ryo called out "Little Kappa!" and soon a small figure came to the surface of the water. It had scaly blue skin and a bowl indented into its snake-like head. The creature gave the boy a child-like grin and stuck out its webbed hand, which was eagerly shaken by the smiling 10-year-old.

About a month before, the young Ryo Kaiser had been looking into the water in the river in Japan. He had felt the underlying power of the old river pulsating under his hand. A tugging sensation had moved him closer to the water's edge. Every splash, ripple or current seemed to call to him, the noises were forming some language didn't quite understand. His body began gradually gravitating towards the river, his hands opened wide, his nose a millimeter from the surface. Suddenly a hydrated eruption occurred, soaking Ryo's face and revealing a small thing that could only be described as a fish-boy. Ryo knew enough mythology to recognize the creature.

"A kappa!" he exclaimed in delight. Ryo coaxed the kappa into his school bag, but he felt it was to dry. Scooping water with his hands, he dumped ounce after ounce of water into the bag, waiting for it to fill, but it never did. He quickly found out that the bag had somehow been transformed into a portal to the river.

In Germany, Ryo sat with his new friend.

"What should I name you? You don't look like a Momo, or a Tama. Maybe Chibi?"

The creature's eyes suddenly became very focused, it craned its neck and then suck back into the backpack and swam away. Ryo looked around in confusion, trying to find the source of the kappa's fear. A loud screech sounded from behind him.

A snowy white owl descended from the sky, holding a letter in its beak. Ryo stared. He had never seen an owl before and especially had never expected to see one during the day.

It landed on a patch of grass in front of him and he carefully removed the fancy envelope from its grip.

Dear Mr. Kaiser

We are pleased to inform you-

...

The flight to London had been dreadful and Ryo didn't like the city one bit. It was cramped compared to the wide open spaces of both of his homes, and he thought it smelled a bit…off.

The family was not at all surprised to find that its youngest member had received a letter. In fact, Ryo's paternal grandmother was an English witch who attended Hogwarts. His father was a half-German wizard who also schooled in Great Britain. Apparently the magical origin had shocked and terrified his mother, causing them to separate. She wouldn't allow her son to be around such a freak of a father… at least not until his eighth birthday, when somehow the cake exploded and the children somehow levitated. At this point, she thought some experienced elder might do him some good.

His father was a strong believer in "let the child learn for himself" so he set the boy free with his shopping list in the oh-so-familiar shopping alley. Ryo wandered down the rows of magic items and cloaked figures, wondering only if his kappa could be considered a toad so he could bring it to school. Suddenly, something caught his ear.

Ryo had always been good with language. It was his only real passion. He had the unique ability to listen to a few minutes of a conversation in a foreign tongue and pick out the basic parts of speech, patterns, and roots allowing him to accurately predict unknown vocabulary and become almost fluent after a month of study. It had helped that most languages on Earth had diffused and melded becoming very similar and predictable in structure. However, this language was completely different than any other that he had encountered. There were definite words, definite repetition, but it still seemed…alien.

The words had come from two eleven-year-old boys standing next to a sign that read: 'Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions'. Ryo inched closer to them, fascinated with their argument. He fumbled around his jacket pocket, trying desperately to get his tape recorder out.

"Can we help you?" an annoyed and angry voice called out. Ryo looked up to find one of the boys, a blond, glaring at him, hands on hips.

"Uh… Well-"

"Wolf! Maybe he could help us…"

Ryo smiled, recognizing the slight accent in the other boy's voice.

"What do you need help with?" He asked in Japanese. The black-haired boy blinked in shock, then returned the smile.

"Oh! You're Japanese!" he answered in the same language. "Wait." He frowned. "Then you probably can't read English either…"

"Ah…" Ryo responded with a grin, "I wouldn't say that."

At this moment, the blond child-Wolf?- leapt at Ryo, clawing wildly, shouting something in that language of his. The Japanese boy held him back the best he could, but it was obvious that he was fighting a losing battle.

"Okay." Ryo said, switching to English mode, "I'm guessing neither of you can read in English? I can render my services and translate the signs on the shop…"

"You can? That'd be great!"

"If-"

"If? If what? You want Yuuri? Well, you're not gonna-" the blond was cut off by a quick covering of the mouth by his companion.

"What do you want?" he asked nicely.

"Well…" Ryo started. He gave them an awkward smile and held out his tape recorder. "I want to learn."

So… that was my first chapter. The next one will focus more on why Yuuri and Wolfram are in England and why they are 11. Also I can explain more on how Ryo befriended the kappa. (If you care.) So do you guys want Harry and Ron and Hermione to be in this? (Even though their story took place in the '90s, I can work around that.) And do you want Yuuram? I haven't really decided about that either. (For the record, this is not a Mary Sue fic, the only thing Ryo is good at is language)

Please review: they're my bread and butter!