The Shattered Shinai
*snap* A broken toothpick drops into a bucket. *snap* Another joins it. In the bucket was an ever growing mountain of broken toothpicks.
Ever so slowly, Harry applied pressure to a new toothpick. *snap* His hand released the splintered wood and reached for a new one. The messy-haired boy had been ordered by Master Yukimura to keep up with this exercise until he could hold a toothpick without breaking it. It wouldn't do to snap his wand in the middle of a spell at school. Let alone destroy a Shinai while sparring.
Harry was rather startled when Master Yukimura had made the comment about his wand. His Master explained that he had been born without magic to a magical family. But instead of wallowing in self-pity, he had trained his body to fight instead. His granddaughter however, was a witch, and had attended Mahoutokoro in Japan.
Before being sent to bed the previous evening, Harry had been told in a no nonsense tone of voice, that he would not be allowed to sit idle and sink into despair. His Master expected him to work his frustrations out in the dojo and not waste a single opportunity to better himself. The evidence of his new control problem was sitting within a large trash can in the back corner of the Dojo. He had been practicing strikes with a Shinai that morning, when he had accidentally shattered it against a training dummy. Said dummy was keeping the Shinai company in the trashcan. Training dummies weren't particularly useful if it looked like it had been run over by a lorry.
*snap* Harry sighed in frustration. He had been at this for 3 hours. It wasn't all bad, honestly. He had managed to go a full 30 seconds before the brittle little stick of wood snapped. This was a vast improvement over the instant destruction upon pulling one from the box, when he started.
It was now 2 hours after closing time, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. The day before, his Master had dragged him out of bed, sat him down with a tray of tea, and had lectured him thoroughly.
/
"Harry." Master Yukimura looked the boy dead in the eyes. "What happened to you last night… No one so young should experience it…"
Harry stared at the low table between them with a thousand yard stare.
The elder took a deep breath and continued. "It will be difficult. Make no mistake. There will be nightmares… You may even find it difficult to look at yourself in a mirror."
The boy's eyes squeezed shut with an anguished twist to his face. "I'm a monster…"
"NO!" The old man snapped causing Harry's head to jerk up to meet his gaze, eyes wide. "You are NOT a monster! That insane wannabe was the monster. And he got exactly what he deserved!"
"But - "
"NO BUTS!" His Master would not be deterred. "Listen to me, and listen /well/. You have been given great power. It may have come at the cost of an innocent life. A life that now resides inside of you…" A finger poked Harry in the chest at this. "It is now your responsibility to use this new power to protect others! Remember your friend! Hold his memory in your heart! It will not be your weakness.. But your strength!"
Harry's eyes were contemplative and filled with hope. Master Yukimura's words flowed into him, giving him a sense of clarity. Purpose even.
"This won't be the first time that you will have to kill to survive. To kill to protect an innocent." The old man picked up the teapot and refilled his cup. "There will be others… others who deserve even less mercy. True monsters." The teapot was returned to its place on the table. "Are you ready to walk this path?"
Focusing on the table pattern, Harry asked himself an important question. 'Would I be able kill one person to protect another? For Hermione? For the Weasleys? Set my principles aside so that someone else won't have to?' Meeting his Master's eyes, he found himself nodding in agreement.
Master Yukimura smiled with pride.
/
Harry regarded the toothpick held between his fingers. He had been holding onto it for a few minutes now, and it hadn't snapped. Eyes widening, he picked up a second with his other hand. A grin spread across his face when it didn't snap either. Breathing a sigh of relief, he dropped them back into the box of unused toothpicks.
Harry stood up, and approached the weapon racks. His right hand extended and snatched up the nearest staff, before twirling it skillfully with a grin.
- DTFA -
With his fine muscle control up to snuff, Harry was given clearance to return to sparring. Today he was up against a man in his 30's with a short staff.
The fight started slow, each gauging each other to determine a vector of attack. After a minute, Harry moved forward spinning the staff in his hand and rushed his opponent. Strike, parry, swipe, parry, on and on it went, until finally he was able to catch the man's lower leg with the staff and sweep him off his feet.
Helping the man to his feet, he turned at the sound of clapping. "Bravo!" Standing next to Master Yukimura was none other than Albus Dumbledore, wearing an outdated muggle pinstripe suit with his beard tucked into the belt.
"Professor?" Harry shook hands with his partner, and moved to greet the Headmaster.
"Hello, Harry." Albus started. "It is good to see you healthy and unharmed. We were quite distressed when it was discovered that you had gone missing!"
Harry looked uncomfortable and floundered to come up with an excuse; he couldn't possibly tell the truth after what his Master had warned him about. /"They'll lock you up and cut you open to see what makes you tick!"/ Luckily, the man was quick to save him the trouble. "That would be my fault, i'm afraid." The Japanese man confessed. "I was in need of Harry's assistance with a project here at the Dojo, and may have hurried him off a little too hastily."
"Hasty, indeed." Dumbledore intoned with a reproachful eyebrow raise. "His trunk was left behind, and friends nary the wiser." *ahem* "But fear not! I have brought your things along with me today. I'm sure Hedwig wouldn't mind seeing you." The headmaster smiled reassuringly, and then looked at the boy over his glasses. "I would also suggest young man, that you send a letter to his most concerned friends to let them know you are safe. Yes?"
Smiling, Harry responded. "Of course, Professor. I'd like to avoid Hermione's lecture that's sure to come."
"Excellent! Well, now that we have everything in order, I must be going." Albus appraised the Dojo around himself, clearly impressed and turned to leave. "Ah! One more thing." He raised a finger with a far away look. "I seem to recall a certain red-headed family looking forward to your joining them at their home and that the Irish National Team is competing against Bulgaria for the World Cup. Good day." With a wink, he wandered off into the Mall proper and disappeared.
Near the front desk, a snowy owl in a cage and a school trunk sat discreetly out of the way of foot traffic. "Oooh! Aren't you beautiful!" Kira cooed over Hedwig, as Harry and his Master exchanged a look.
- DTFA -
"FASTER!" Master Yukimura barked.
Harry's hands were held at his sides as his claws extended and retracted rapidly. Sweat trickled down his face as he forced himself to shift at will as fast as he could. This was the second round of rapid shifting he had been ordered to do. While he didn't seem to have an issue staying human yet, his Master wanted him to be able to shift as easily as breathing. No thinking or concentration should be needed when you're life could be in danger. So long as he avoided stressful situations, no one else's life would be in danger.. from him.
Vision blurring from exhaustion, Harry finally collapsed to the ground. He was panting and sweating heavily from the extreme exertion and calorie burn. A cool bottle of water was pressed into his hands, and was drained within seconds. "Thanks."
Master Yukimura was nodding approvingly as he gazed upon his student. "When you return to school, I expect you to keep up with your practice and exercises. If I do not receive letters from you on a regular basis, I /will/ come looking for you. And if I do not like what I see, Harry… You will regret it. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Master." Harry had regained his composure and rose to his feet to bow his head respectfully.
"Good!" The old man smiled warmly at the boy. "Shower and prepare yourself. Arthur Weasley will be arriving to pick you up in an hour. Do me proud, Harry."
With a bright grin, Harry picked up his towel and trotted to the locker room. The weeks of practice had served him well. His newly acquired agility and reflexes had enabled him to progress at an absurd pace. Harry just hoped it would be enough.
- DTFA -
The stars were out, and the air was pleasantly warm and calm. Crickets chirped, and garden gnomes jabbered at each other. A sign attached to a rickety looking mailbox designated the weird ramshackle monstrosity of a house as: /The Burrow/.
*crack*
A distortion of warping air and matter exploded into existence marking the arrival of Arthur Weasley, and Harry Potter. With a mere shake of his head, Harry steadied himself, and appeared to all the world as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred.
"Alright there, Harry?" Arthur asked with a vaguely impressed expression.
"Yep."
"The first time I took Ron through side-along, he promptly vomited."
"Can't imagine why."
Arthur chuckled and held up his hand. "Before we go in.. there's something I need to tell you."
At Harry's questioning look, Arthur bit his lip pensively. "We found Remus Lupin." Dithering a moment, he finally continued. *sigh* "Molly didn't want me to say anything, but I felt you had a right know. If what my children told me is accurate, you had gotten fairly close to the man over the course of the year."
The boy had stopped breathing and was staring at Arthur in shock. 'Oh, fuck… what did they find?'
"No one knows what really happened, or what he was doing in that warehouse when it burned down. Nothing left but embers. The Aurors were amazed they found him at all…" The man kicked a rock in frustration. "They wouldn't even give the man the dignity of a proper burial! The ministry just swept it under the rug, as if he were just some.. some… embarrassing bit of trash!"
While Arthur continued to rant about the injustice of Remus' posthumous treatment, Harry was trying to control his breathing. His eyes squeezed shut and fists clenched, digging his emerging claws into the palms of his hands. Blood began to drip to the ground.
"Harry?" A hand landed on his shoulder. His snapped open and his breathing had evened out. Harry looked down at the very human fingernails on the tips of his fingers.
"I'm ok..." Harry nodded and took a deep breath. 'That was close.'
"Alright, then." Arthur squeezed the shoulder under his hand a moment and then put his arm around Harry's shoulder. Guiding Harry towards the house, Arthur leaned in. "Let's see what Molly has cooking, eh?"