Harry Potter and the Heaven's Feel

Chapter 3

Author's notes: Well, I'm still inspired to work on this story, so who am I to deny my muse? It's not like I have deadlines to meet. *snort* The idea of having to respect deadlines after been so long out of school is rather amusing, but I digress. There will be some time skips into this chapter to get to the place where I feel I need to be to advance the story. I'm not sure how I will get the romance started but frankly, I always been horrible at planning far in advance. I also wish to warn everyone that I'm also not good at all at the whole teen drama thing and the popularity contest.

I was a loner at school with one or two true friends, never really hanging out near the popular cliques, so I'll likely skip much of that and make him do his own thing. Oh, in my mind, summer homework is a heresy, so Harry won't do his assigned summer work and is also likely to skip detentions if he feels he had not earned them. Well, that's about it I guess. Let's have a look at the stats now shall we? We have 47 Reviews, 356 Followers, 297 Favourites, 8 C2 Communities and 9 751 Views. Thank you very much for your patronage.

Now let's get this show on the road shall we?

Last Edit: May 21, 2017.

After Harry recovered from his Burn Out, he sat at the low kitchen table in his mother's house, his family seated all around on cushions. While Yūko, Maru and Moro where sitting in Seiza, Sirius, Remus and Harry were sitting in Indian style. The two older males had embraced many things from the country of the Rising Sun, but the Seiza position was not one of them. Harry's knees were much too sharp to endure the position much more than two minutes.

And when he was younger, he tended to lash out with violent Accidental Magic way harder to dispel than usual when the women of the family tried to make the lesson stick. So they gave it up as a bad job and moved on for the sake of not wanting the house to fall on their heads. Harry was very quick to pick up the use of chopsticks though, so it wasn't a total lost cause.

Yūko sat at the head of the table, while it would have been more traditional for a man to be at her place, no one could deny that she was the Head of their strange family. Sirius was only coming around the fact that he was now a father in a sense and Remus frankly admitted that he was not Alpha material. Maybe one day when he found himself a mate and founded his own family that would change, but right now he was all too happy to let his friend with benefits take the headship of their family.

With an unreadable gaze, she fixed her son in all but blood and said after sipping a bit of sake infused tea

"I hope you have learned a valuable lesson from your recent ordeal, my son. You took too much on your shoulders without enough rest and you paid the price for it."

Her voice was calm, for Yūko was not one to raise her voice against a child, but there was also a clear hint of reproach in it that made the boy flinch visibly, avert his eyes and bow his head in shame. Harry loved his mother more than anything in the world and making her proud of him was seemingly ingrained into his very being. That she was openly cross with him hit him rather hard, emotionally speaking. The Far Eastern Witch kept her silence a while longer, waiting to see if her son would speak, but when it was clear he had no intention to say anything, she continued

"I feel that the forced downtime you have experienced while recovering these last few days was enough of a punishment. For now, but if there is a repeat of the incident, my decision will change. Since you clearly obeyed the rules put in place for your Magecraft studies, I will not seal your magic circuits. But something must be done. You have too much on your plate for your age.

You can't keep going like this anymore; I will no longer permit it. We, as a family, will decide what activities to cut from your schedule. Once you are older, we may let you add more but until then, we have a decision to make."

Ichihara Yūko's words were final. Harry had the opportunity to voice his opinions but he would not hold the final say. After a long and lengthy debate, it was decided to keep focusing Harry more on his Eastern style Wizardry since he was very advanced into the Western style for his age, already being almost done with Second Year material. It was no longer urgent since Harry was not planning to attend Hogwarts until he was thirteen years old.

His Karate lessons would now be scheduled for two afternoons a week in place of four and to help him more; he would now be permitted to use magic while doing his chores, which he wasn't permitted to do before. Of course, they would have to go buy the boy a wand first. Well that was the plan until Clow had a better idea. Since Harry was eight years old, the spirit of the greatest Sorcerer of the Modern Age could now directly speak in his descendant's mind. A rather nice consequence of having taken the spiritual place that Voldemort's Horcrux had accidentally created in the boy's mindscape.

"Harry, you should ask your mother to take you to Gringotts Kyoto. In my vault, you will find my magical staff. As my descendant, you can claim and then access the vault legally. My staff in its sealed form takes the form of a key with an elaborate design or if you want, it could also take the shape of a modern wand once you will claim it as your own. I created the Clow Cards with it, since I had it specially attuned to use both Western and Eastern magic. With a bit of your blood, your claim will overwrite mine easily since I'm dead."

Harry, surprisingly cunning, asked

"If I do this, will you stop annoying me with your irritating incomplete hints and finally telling me what mysteries are awaiting me in Hogwarts?"

In the boy's mindscape, the spirit of the Sorcerer smirked in a way similar to the Marauders when they were planning a prank and then answered his descendant in a sing-song voice

"Nope! I'm not telling you anything concrete until you are in that castle! I wouldn't want to spoil your surprise! And why would I stop? I have to take my fun somewhere you know. Since you won't let me possess your body so I can prank your father and uncle to an inch of their lives, I'm going to keep teasing you!"

Harry groaned out loud, drowning the trolling spirit's snickers. When everyone looked at him, he then answered

"Uncle Clow is currently in a rather gadfly mood and as usual, I'm the one who have to deal with him. But he asks that we go to Gringotts Kyoto so I can claim his vault there and also claim his magic staff for myself since with it he could use both styles of magic. That would save a trip to a wand maker since he said I can attenuate the staff to me very easily. "

Everyone nodded in understanding at that. Clow was a well known pain in the ass when he was in a trolling mood while he was still alive. There was a rumour that was going around back in the day that he, Zelretch, the Greek Thief God Hermes, The Archangel Gabriel and the Norse Trickster God Loki had a worldwide prank war in a free-for-all style that had lasted for four long years. Said prank war was also rumoured to be the reason of why the Leaning Tower of Pisa was called that way. (Supposedly the divinities had decided to go back in time, but since it was an unconfirmed rumour, you couldn't be really sure.)

And that they were also likely behind many UFOs sightings in the United States, but nothing had been confirmed. It was also an International Law that no magical children could own a magical focus specifically attuned to them until the age of ten.

While Japan was not that big in heeding the ICW's decrees, those that made more sense than others were generally adopted, adjusted and then enforced. True, it could be abused as hell but there had been many years ago an official study that was made public.

The results were saying that they had undeniable and verified proof that letting a child younger than ten years old cast magic with their own focus regularly was rather bad for their health. Something about too much straining while the core was still somewhat unstable. So most reasonable magical parents followed the law, while on the mundane side of the divide, the procedures to contact the eligible candidates for magical schooling and their guardians varied from countries to countries.

Back to Clow's suggestion, it was a rather good idea. While most of the Eastern wizardry spells could be cast in a focus-less manner, possessing one would speed up the learning and make the spells more effective until Harry was old enough to have the mental discipline to cast focus-less without the spell losing too much of its power. And Clow' magical staff was specially made to be able to use both branches of Wizardry as he said. The gold in the vault would likely stay there since no one in the family (well, those who could go outside the propriety's limits) were hurting for money.

Harry had received almost everything from his parents except a few bequeaths to other people here and here and many well wishers willed him things to thank him for defeating Voldemort. Yūko had had centuries to make good investments on her own, Sirius was now the Head of the Black Family, what with his father and grandfather's passing. Even Remus had made enough money to be comfortable, first by working as a Bouncer in various gentlemen clubs. His superhuman strength and stamina were great assets to get rid of those undesirable troublemakers.

Remus had also recently obtained Mastery degrees in DADA, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, so he wasn't hurting for cash either. While it was true that most Western Wizardry using Wizards were living in the western countries and vice versa with those using Eastern Wizardry, there was a few small communities of Westerners living in various rural areas of Japan. A few being ex-pats from Britain, having fled the Civil War when they could before something nasty and permanent could befall them. Those communities were where he was working the most when he was not tutoring his nephew, family first after all. After a stern warning to not go overboard again, the meeting was adjourned.

The next morning, everyone was up early for a trip to Kyoto. By mundane ways it would have taken a long time since both the new and ancient capitals were at the opposed ends of Japan, but with magic? It was the equivalent of walking to the Corner store and back. Everyone gathered around Yūko in the living room and when she was satisfied, she called to her trusty Magical Circle to do its job. Yes, Apparition was indeed faster, but it couldn't take more than two or three people at the same time.

Once the circle was formed, the magic did its work and the family of four were transported away, leaving Maru and Moro to hold down the fort so to speak. The family of four reappeared in an older section of the city of Kyoto, specifically warded by certified Specialists to avoid the regular Humans' gazes and suspicions. It was where the magical beings could come and do their shopping for things you couldn't find in the mundane world. The architecture had a feel of the Edo period mixed with some more recent things.

There was an open aired Market, a few stands from Farmers and also more modern stores, like a Quidditch Quality Supply and multiples books stores. But Gringotts Wizarding Bank was always the same, no matter which country you went to, well in exterior appearance. The bank was an imposing snow-white multi storied marble building that towered over the neighbouring shops. It was the place where Witches and Wizards stored their money and other valuables, in heavily-guarded vaults kilometres below ground.

When the family reached the lobby between both set of doors, Harry remarked that the first set outside were in Bronze and the set inside were in Silver. Engraved in English on these Silver doors were the words

Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.

It was Sirius who spoke after Harry recited in a low voice the poem, with a very serious tone of voice, pun non intended

"Harry, whatever you do, never, never and I repeat myself, never, try to swindle, cheat or steal from the Goblins. You will get caught and trust me, your death won't be swift and painless. They are now Bankers and took their jobs very seriously but before the Treaty giving them the exclusive rights to Wizarding banking in Britain and a few European countries, they were outstanding warriors. They still are, in a way.

Forget what the books said about the Goblin Rebellions, there was bad decisions and bad people on both sides of the conflict. It's my opinion that our forefathers only sat at the negotiation table because both sides were too tired and too few in numbers to keep the wars going.

Now, how to deal with the Goblins. You have to be polite, direct and make sure to not waste their time. Do not thank them more than needed and also do not forget to add their work title to their names. In case you don't know, "Sir" is acceptable. They worked hard to obtain their positions, to not call them by their work title is seen as disrespect. Don't panic. Since you are a child, they will no doubt be more lenient about little mistakes, you are still learning after all.

Oh, just one last piece of advice, if a Goblin is offering you his hand to shake, he will take your wrist in his hand and you are expected to do the same in return. It is the warrior handshake. Usually the regular handshake is reserved for muggle customers in the know since they can't be held to the same standards of Wizards, since they are newcomers in the magical society. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded at that and was then given Clow's Gringotts key by his mother once Sirius was satisfied his son was on the level; his ancestor had left it in Yūko's care shortly before his passing. Sirius and Remus each took a place in a line for a different teller, wanting to withdraw money from their accounts, while Yūko went in line with Harry in another row. After waiting their turns, they got down to business rather quickly.

They hit a snag by the fact that nobody was in the possession of Harry's Trust Vault key, (The family Vault could only be opened by a Potter by blood or by marriage after been keyed in so to speak, so no need of a physical key.) but with a few drops of blood willingly given, Harry's identity was confirmed and the blood was destroyed quickly afterwards much to his satisfaction. While he was still a novice in many things, Harry knew that it wouldn't do to let some of his blood out of his sight.

Blood Magic could be used for good things and bad things alike. It was one of the many reasons that the Wizards-born were very suspicious of Muggle medicine, what with the common practice to draw blood for analysis.

His old key was remotely destroyed and a new one was issued. With the new access to his account, he could now pay the fee for the new key and withdraw money for his shopping. In fact, Harry's account hadn't left his vault in Gringotts London, but with some magic accessible only to the Goblin race; they could access his vault from overseas. The money pouch would await them in the lobby at their return. Once that business was taken care of, it was easy to claim Clow's vault with his Gringotts key, since the previous blood identification had given a list of ancestors on both sides of his family for about ten generations.

After a Roller Coaster ride in a mine cart tumbling down the bowels of the Earth with a yelling in glee and whooping eleven years old boy, a smirking Goblin who seemed to only just have entered adulthood and a apparently young woman who didn't like her experience, if the way her face turning green was any indication, on board, they finally stopped at Clow Reed's vault. His sun on a half moon emblem was on the lock, so it wasn't hard to differentiate from the others. After the procedure of unlocking the high security vault, Yūko accompanied her son into it.

She was an independent woman and even when she was married, she had kept her maiden name and her own vault, but Clow had given her access to his anyway. Even after their divorce, he never got around to remove her access to it when he was living. Maybe he hoped to rekindle their relationship? Only the spirit of Yūko's now deceased ex-husband knew and he wasn't very talkative about the subject. Once inside, they didn't pay much attention to the books and the money. They were here for one thing only and Harry could come take a look at the books another time.

There was much more of the former than the latter though. Clow hadn't been very rich personally in his life. Well-to-do, yes. He had had several properties to his name after all, but not filthy rich like many old pure-blood families.

Their goal for today was resting on a shelf nearly at the bottom end on the vault. It was a rather elaborate key but small enough to wear as a pendant. The head had an extravagant design of a sun covering a half moon. It was mostly golden in colour with some grey on the "teeth" of the key and also between the sections. Harry had been totally entranced since his emerald green eyes saw it completely for the first time.

With a decisive gait, he walked over to the key that was in fact the staff's sealed form and once he took it in his hand, a reaction occurred once the boy had prickled a finger on the teeth of the key and let some blood fall on it before the ambient magic healed the wound quickly. Clow's golden Magic Circle appeared on the ground and a green fire like aura escaped from the boy. Slowly but surely, while Harry's eyes started to glow from the inside, the golden circle changed to emerald green, just like Harry's eyes and his fire like aura!

The order of the symbols changed in the circle and on the key, the half moon now covering the sun. The key was then engulfed in an orb of silvery white light and with a double voice effect, Harry and Clow then said together in English

"I call upon the power of the day and the night. Sun and darkness unleash your might. Release! "

With an unseen wind of clearly magical origins, the key began to change shape until it became an emerald green staff with a golden sun covered by a silvery white half moon on the top of the pole. Said staff was clearly made for an adult in mind and was way too big for Harry, until it began to shrink until it was on a size where an eleven years old child could manipulate it with ease. After a bit of childish posing, Clow showed Harry how to put the staff back into its sealed state for transport.

The key/staff was now his and would be answering only Harry's commands, but the process to give it the ability to turn into a faux wooden wand that would pass detection from everyone but the most experienced Wands Makers was not something done quickly, thus a Gringotts vault was not at all the ideal place for launching the process.

After another roller coaster ride back to the surface, everyone was done with their business at the bank. After a bit of shopping for various things, everyone was ready to go home. They had other things to do after all and couldn't afford to shop all day.

With the entire hubbub that had accompanied Harry's burn out, they had forgotten to answer to his Hogwarts letter. They would have to remedy to that quickly, it was very impolite to make an institution of learning wait too much for an answer when it was your attendance on the line.

Usually a non-answer would be considered as a proof of non-attendance and the name of the prospective student would be stricken out of the Students' Register, but with some high profile would be students, like Heirs of Ancient Houses and Celebrities; a more hands-on approach could be employed. After all, the reputation of the school could be on the line.

Back in Scotland, a few days before Harry was deemed recovered and fit enough to resume his daily activities, if anyone had been with Minerva McGonagall in her Office while the Quill of Acceptance wrote young Harry Potter's address on his Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, they would have either be very concerned for her health seeing how she had grown pale so quickly or ran for the hills without looking back when the signs of an explosion of her infamous temper made themselves known.

Making a copy of the Potter boy's letter for her purposes and sending the original by owl, she then made her way to the Headmaster's office while using what her fellow professor and Head of House Pomona Sprout had dubbed as "The Walk". Eyes narrowed in anger, jaw clenched shut, determinate and long stride, her arms at waist level, her fists clenching then unclenching and also shaking, everyone without a death wish would not get in her way. Once she was in front of the Gargoyle guarding the entry to the office of the Headmaster, she spoke the password

"Mars Bar."

Said gargoyle couldn't leap out of the way faster even if it had wanted to when it heard her tone of voice. Still mad, she didn't let the escalator effect took her up, rather she climbed the stairs two by two. Once arrived at the door, she only stopped to knock rapidly three times and entered before receiving the permission and once inside, she had the presence of mind to close the door before resuming "The Walk" up to Albus' desk. The older man had just the time to look at his co-worker to knew that things were about to go very bad.

He just didn't know for whom yet. Poor, poor Albus, he was so knowledgeable in so many things but almost like every other man, he was still clueless on the mysteries of the female mind. The Deputy Headmistress slammed her now opened hand that was previously holding the letter on the desk and then said in a low and dangerous voice

"Would you like to tell me Albus, exactly HOW Harry Potter, James and Lily's little boy, ended up all the way in Japan of all places? I was there when we left the wee lad on the Dursleys' door step. If my memory is correct, you were the last to leave. Please tell me that you weren't irresponsible enough to NOT take precautions so the boy wouldn't be picked up by anyone that could have passed by and seen him? LOOK at the address on Harry Potter's Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, Albus!

It is written right here, Ichihara's Magical Wish Granting Shop, Tokyo, Japan! It's a far cry from # 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, in Surrey! In the name of God Almighty, Dumbledore! It's on the other side of the bloody world!"

Albus was now in a real bind. With everything going on and the fact that he had been stonewalled out of anything to do with the Potter boy, it had completely slipped his mind to inform her about the changes in the case of the son of two of her favourites students. But telling that to Minerva would not save him from a severe tongue lashing. Maybe he could tell her that he got fined and reprimanded for his unsanctioned actions? It would maybe save him from getting cursed at in brogue and Scottish Gaelic. Not.

The fact that if he was constantly stonewalled from any info concerning the Potter boy, it then meant that everybody else was also similarly affected, no matter how "generous" the "donations" to the cause would be, was the only reason he hadn't moved Heaven and Earth to find him. If there was a department inside the Ministry of Magic that wasn't corrupted in the least, it was Child Welfare. Heck, the address on the letter was the first hint of Potter's location he got in a decade! The last was when Sirius and Remus moved abroad shortly after the former's exoneration and the Potters' funerals.

He was brought out of his musings by the temperamental witch before him whose temper hadn't yet stopped to climb to new reaches during his time in the mists of memories.

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore! Answer me when I'm talking to you!"

Albus had the decency of looking sheepish once he came out of his thoughts and after a sigh; he told her the complete unvarnished truth

"A Witch must have somehow accidentally stumbled upon the boy not long after we left Privet Drive, I speculate. I did put a warming charm around the crib basket and a sleeping charm on the boy so he wouldn't wake up, get up and wander away. I had also put some protective Wards around the child, but it seems to not have been enough. The more elaborate wards I had forged over the Dursleys' residence never took hold and a week after Halloween; I received a fine and an official reprimand from the Magical Children Welfare Department by Owl post about my unsanctioned actions with young Harry.

I've also been completely stonewalled and buried under red tape at every turn when I tried to find who took him and here he was through various legal life monitor I made prior the boy's disappearance was the only thing that indicated me that Harry was still alive and well. When I went to the Department in person to ask for more information, I was quickly assured that the woman who took the boy in was as neutral as it could possibly be about our politics, the dark/light spectrum and the blood purity arguments and finally that she had an excellent reputation but could not learn anything more than that, no matter how much I pushed.

I tried, a few years later, to have him found through other more subtle means since the dust had enough time to settle so to speak, but the only things my contact could find was that the boy was nowhere in the United Kingdom and was protected from any means to find him magically. I can only take a guess that the magic of the Quill of Acceptance likely bypassed whatever protections young Harry must be under since it's a piece of magic left over from the Founders."

The fact that Albus told her the unvarnished truth did take some wind out of her sails, but not everything was gone. Hurricane Minerva's temper would not be so easily calmed when roused so spectacularly.

"You old stubborn fool! I told you that it wasn't the best place for him, but did you listen? No! The great Albus Dumbledore doesn't need the advice of us lowly peons! Now we have a foreigner raising that poor child after he was taken away from his mother's family! Now what are we going to do? We never had to go this far for a meeting with a prospective student and to take them shopping! I know we only usually do this for Muggleborns, but by Merlin, it's Harry Potter we are talking about here!"

Albus had to admit, he was expecting a harsher conversation with his Deputy. He was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth though. But the situation was indeed very irregular. What with the Asian countries practising a mostly different way of doing magic than what was taught in Europe and in North America. (Oceania, Central and South America and lastly Africa's magical styles are mostly a mishmash of Western Wizardry brought over by the Settlers, local native tribes' shamanism and in certain cases, Pagan magic.) How were they supposed to send a representative all the way to Tokyo and back?

International Portkey travel to and from Japan was still banned and even he couldn't apparate that far without being utterly exhausted. And that doesn't even cover the multiples jumps since it was impossible to apparate that far in a single leap and that any Ministries of Magic or their equivalents worth their salt would ward their countries of residence' borders against unauthorized magical entries and exits. His loyal companion Fawkes wouldn't be of any help since he was due for a burning day very soon. Their only choice would be to send someone able to blend in with the Muggles via non magical transport. But who could they send?

Minerva had apparently followed a similar thread for she was now marching back and forth in front of Albus' desk, mumbling in Scottish Gaelic. They had nobody on staff able or willing to go that far with so little preparation time. And who should cover the travel's costs? After a lengthy discussion, they both decided to wait to have a reply before doing anything concrete. While it was almost inconsiderable in their minds that Harry Potter of all people wouldn't wish to attend his parents' Alma mater, it was still a possibility.

And a round trip to Japan couldn't be organized on a dime, so they had to be sure it would be worth it to go all the way there, especially since they would likely have to get the Ministry involved and that was a nightmare and a half in the best day when it was only the bureaucracy. If the politics got also involved, it would likely be even worse. In the end, they got a reply back a few days after the deadline. It was kind of understandable, what with the distance the poor owl had to cover for the round trip.

Minerva was alone in her office, scheduling her visits to Muggleborns' homes to give them the "magic is real" speech and arranging to take them to Diagon Alley when an exhausted owl dropped his burden on her desk after entering through the open window before flying tiredly back to the Owlery for a very well deserved rest. It was obvious that this particular owl was on his last legs, energy wise speaking. The Deputy Headmistress let her current work aside to open the letter. Inside the envelope she took a thin white sheet of paper with blue lines.

Said paper sheet was clearly of muggle origins since it lacked the texture, colour and thickness of regular parchment. Written in with a lead pencil since it was clearly not in any type of ink she knew of and a quill was not the neatest writing instrument in inexperienced hands, was a letter written by a child likely coached by an adult, what with the text in clear print characters but with certain professionalism in the tone. Adults tended to write back in cursive generally and children were not usually known to be that courteous.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I wanted to thank you for the time you have taken from your busy schedule to send me an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry all the way to Japan. I apologize for the time it took for me to write back but with the distance between our countries, the messenger owl was exhausted and was not up to travelling until a few days ago.

I must respectfully and regrettably decline attendance to your fine school, for my family and I wish for me to keep up with my Muggle schooling, which would be impossible in Hogwarts. Since I already have tutors for my Magical studies, we feel that the current arrangement is good enough to not worry about the headache of sending me alone while so young through the Muggle transports without a chaperone and that's not even taking in account how to deal with my housing in England until the start of the term.

My guardian did say that her decision could likely change when I am older and able to travel alone legally. (Muggles have multiple sets of laws/rules in place for a child/teenager travelling unattended depending of their age brackets.) So, I might attend your school in a few years down the line. So it is more of a "not right now" than a "Not interested".

On this, I bid you a good day and maybe see you in a few years,

Harry James Potter.

Minerva couldn't believe her own eyes. To make sure she wasn't hallucinating, she re-read the letter after cleaning her glasses and found it the same. She even cast a few very powerful revealing spells in case it was a very inventive prank from those Weasley Twins! She would have really preferred that it was a prank but no, it was the sad reality. Harry Potter would not attend Hogwarts this year. It was preposterous, unthinkable even! Since the school's founding, every member of the Potter Family had been schooled at Hogwarts without fault!

But what could she do? While she was able to blend in the Muggle world easily enough for her purposes, she had never boarded a plane before and did not have the proper Muggle identifications required for international travel. Left without any other choice, she simply traced a line across young Harry's name in the students' register with a heavy heart.

That September 1st of the year 1991, there was no boy with a crow nest for hair and luminous green eyes that boarded the Hogwarts Express at eleven A.M on Platform 9 ¾. Molly Weasley's well thought idea by speaking of magical terms in King's Cross did not catch the attention of the last Potter, but it did caught the attention of a few latecomers Muggleborns. Mrs. Weasley helped them heartily anyway since that was why she took the time to make a scene near the entrance of the platform.

Aboard the scarlet train that was currently making its way up to Scotland, the youngest Weasley boy did sit alone in a compartment for a while before being joined by Seamus Finnigan, from Ireland and Dean Thomas, directly from London. Hermione Granger finally managed to find Trevor, her new friend Neville Longbottom's pet toad after wandering along the train for a while and returned it to him. Neville was rather shy and Hermione rather bossy, but they did seem to fit well together. It was the tentative first steps of a friendship that would last a lifetime.

For many would be students, things were not really different, but the stone had been thrown into the lake and the ripples would carry the changes further and further. One of many of such changes was felt that very night when Harry Potter's name was not called during the Sorting Ceremony. That night, many pure-blood heirs wrote to their parents that the Boy-Who-Lived was not present at the Sorting Ceremony. Many owls were seen leaving into the night. The most troubled of them all though, was Severus Snape, Potion Master and Head of Slytherin House.

He was pondering, alone in his quarters once the feast was over and the students dismissed. He was prepared to hate a James Potter clone. He was prepared to hate the living reminder of his youthful stupidity that cost him his best friend and what would have likely been the love of his life. But now, he didn't have any focus for said hatred. The boy was living abroad and had chosen to not attend Hogwarts School. He was of two minds about that.

A part of him was happy to not have a Potter strutting around like he owned the place but the other, the one who wanted to make amends for his wrong choices that made Lily Evans targeted by the madman that was his former master, was frustrated to not being able to protect her son and repay back the life debt he owed to Potter. Albus had finally come clean with him, on how he had left the boy on Petunia's door step of all places, only for him to be picked and taken away from where the Old Goat had stashed him by a visiting Japanese Witch!

Said Witch seemed to have a famous reputation since the adoption through Gringotts was finalized the same night he was placed on that doorstep. What was that Old Goat thinking? Petunia hated magic! The boy would have been miserable in her care. He might not like what the child represented but he would have at least taken him to an Orphanage. He was no Saint, far from it, but leaving a child on a doorstep in autumn, you had to have a few screws loose. In a sense it was a good thing that Albus' plan for the boy had failed, since Petunia hated everything that had to do with the supernatural.

The kid would have been neglected at the very least and abused at worse. Did Dumbledore wanted to recreate that orphan Oliver Twist from one of Charles Dickens' novels or what?

Severus shook his head to chase the thoughts away; it wouldn't do any good to linger on this. Potter was not here and he had to keep an eye on Quirrell. The ex Muggle Studies Professor was very different than before he came back from his sabbatical. While Severus was always making noises to make believe to everyone that he wanted the Defence Teacher position, he knew full well that the job was cursed, so while teaching snot nosed brats was far from enjoyable, he preferred it than being driven away by the curse or being killed.

Add to the fact that his boss wanted to bait the Dark Lord with a convincing replica of the Philosopher's Stone and he was asked to come up with a part of the defences before term begun. In his opinion, baiting the Dark Lord in a school full of children was the paramount of idiocy, but his boss was adamant to it. There was no changing his mind. Serving himself two fingers of single malt whisky, he took to sip it slowly, while permitting himself to think about the future. He hated teaching all those snot nosed brats.

Oh, give him a NEWT level class any day over the beginners! But no, the budget wasn't permitting the hiring of another Potions Professor to take from First to Fifth Years. At least those in Sixth and Seventh weren't dunderheads to teach! May Hecate give him the patience, for if he was given the strength, he would strangle them all in sheer annoyance!

In the end, Quirrell turned out to be hosting Voldemort's wraith on the back of his head. The possessed teacher managed to bypass every security measure but was stuck before the Mirror of Erised, unable to understand how to attain the Stone. Quirrell was then confronted by a rather upset Albus Dumbledore. He had been hoodwinked into a false meeting at the Ministry and when he realized the deception, he hurried back to his school. Needless to say, even for his advancing age, Albus was still one of the most powerful wizards of the Modern Era.

He did allow himself to vent some frustrations on his wayward instructor. In the end, Dumbledore was clearly the winner, but Voldemort had abandoned Quirrell to his death, promising retribution, before fleeing.

In the 1992-1993 school terms, which would have been Harry Potter's Second Year, Lucius Malfoy slipped an enchanted diary into young Ginerva Weasley's Cauldron, Arthur and Molly's youngest of seven children and their only daughter. It would have caused untold amount of chaos, but her older twin brothers had decided to be her mentors, since she had trouble to break out of her shell, what with her friend Luna Lovegood sorted in Ravenclaw and her, sorted into Gryffindor.

When Fred and George saw that their baby sister was becoming pale, tired and withdrawn, they started to observe her carefully. It wasn't normal. It turned out that the Twins weren't the only ones watching for their baby sister. Arthur, one day when Molly was out shopping with Ginny, asked his sons into the living room and asked them to look out for their sister at school. Usually, he left the running of the household to his wife, but sometimes you would see the steel core inside the Weasley Patriarch, the one that showed itself if you had the misfortune to threaten his family.

It was with that same steel that Arthur asked for his boys to look and take care of his baby girl in his stead. He approached Percy first and said to him with a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it with paternal affection

"I know that you have ambitions, but remember that family come first before everything else, Percy. Your elder brothers no longer live with us, so in my absence, you are the man of the house now, son. Be the good man I know you are becoming and even if the Twins try to drive you up the wall, look out for your siblings okay? I'm not asking you to coddle or babysat them, no. Let them learn by their mistakes, but offer your wisdom and knowledge if they seek it. Also, tones down the pompous air will you?

No son of mine will act like a Malfoy of all people. Oh, one last thing. I know that you are a growing boy and that the feminine body is really attractive at your age, but you should find a better hiding place for your stash of porn magazines. If your mother finds them, I will not cover you if or rather when she decides to tan your hide. That warning goes for everyone. If I don't see them, I can't punish you for it."

Percy had turned a bright red colour, highly embarrassed. When the Twins started to mock him, Arthur turned toward them and then said

"Fred and George, I know you two love having fun. Your rather ingenious pranks are the proof of that. I will not ask you to stop it since it would be pointless, just like asking Ron to stop following the Chudley Cannons. I'm only asking you both to tone it down a bit. I'm really tired of always hearing your mother rant for hours at end about your behaviour after reading letters that Professor McGonagall sends us as a result of your mischief. So, as an incentive to do better, if you do not get caught more than five times till Christmas, when you get home for the Holidays, we will go out for a family outing of your choice."

Fred and George, excited, asked in the same voice

"You really mean it Dad? We will be the ones to choose?"

Arthur chuckled and a smile lit his weary face before he answered

"Of course I mean it, my sons. When have I ever lied to you? I give you my word."

Arthur didn't believe into lying to his children. If he didn't want or couldn't answer a question, he would tell them directly. The Twins debated silently for a minute, using facial expressions and their own sign language before answering together

"Deal!"

Then, Arthur took a harder look and turn toward his youngest son who automatically cringed at the hard look given to him

"Now it's your turn, Ron. I love you with all my heart, but for Merlin's sake; stop eating like a pig and start taking care of your appearance! Your mother and I raised you better than that! I received ten written complaints from the school about your hygiene or rather the lack of, just this last term! Starting from today, you will take a shower every night and you will start to eat like a Human being or so help me, you will be Aunt Muriel's Domestic for the rest of the summer and at each holiday until you clean up your act!

You have a younger sister to give example to! Do you want her to be treated like a pariah? Do you want our family to be ridiculed? No? Then clean up your act and grow up! You're no longer a little kid Ron; you are now twelve years old, so you better start to act like it! Am I understood?"

All four kids said in unison

"Yes dad."

Ron was also quick to nod his head after his vocal answer. Their father rarely if ever raised his voice, but when he did, the boys listened. It was the result of this talk between father and sons that permitted the Weasley boys to realize that something was very wrong with their baby sister. So as a family, they all took her and the strange diary that wrote back, to the Hospital Wing by force all the while ignoring her pleas, curses and promises of bloody retribution alike.

Fortunately, a much cleaner Ron (The talk with his father during the summer had stuck into his mind. He was still a bit short tempered, but now he was clean and while still prompt to eat larger portions, he at least now took the time to chew correctly and swallow before speaking) had the brilliant foresight to confiscate Ginny's wand, the she-devil was quite adept at the bat bogey hex!

The actions taken by the Weasley boys so soon in the term had permitted to avoid what would have been known in another timeline as the Chamber of Secrets fiasco and Dumbledore had finally gotten a clue on how Riddle survived that fateful night twelve years ago earlier than in that timeline also.

Now it was the 1993-1994 scholastic year and surprise! After two years of refusing the invitation, this year, Harry Potter would attend Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Albus and those who knew the Potters were overjoyed, but a small problem had become glaringly evident. Where was the boy? He had not boarded the Hogwarts Express and was not in the Antechamber with the new batch of First Years waiting to be sorted. The Sorting Ceremony was all but over and the Headmaster was worried. Where was the Potter boy?

He was about to get up and to open the Feast, when a flash of emerald green light appeared from nowhere on the floor just in front of the Staff table! The light traced a circle of about two metres by two metres and inside it was a drawn emblem of an artistic rendition of a half moon covering an equally artistic rendition of the sun. Then from the middle of the circle, a figure slowly but surely started to rise out of the design.

It was that of a boy of about thirteen years old, with shoulder length black hair hold in a lazy ponytail, glowing emerald green eyes without glasses and a heart shaped face with a button nose and a sharp chin. His forehead was free of any blemishes; the famous lightning bolt scar that had adorned his brow had healed and disappeared years ago, no traces of it remained.

Harry, for it was Harry Potter, was clad into the Hogwarts uniform minus the hat. His school trunk and the bird cage containing a snowy white owl with amber eyes were behind him but still in the Transportation Circle. Wanting to break the silence, he said politely

"I apologize for my lateness. It is quite the trip from Tokyo to the Scottish Highlands you know. I had to take in account the time differences of the various time zones. So what's next now?"

At the staff table, Remus Lupin, the chosen teacher for DADA this year, just palmed his face into his hand. The lad just had to make an entrance! Now he wouldn't hear the end of it from Severus! The rest of the staff's reactions were a mixed bag, some good and some bad. Albus had to tip his wizard hat to the boy. It was a magnificent show and a brilliant display of Eastern Wizardry. Hogwarts' Wards did not take in account Eastern type of magical travels, so that's why he could teleport right inside the Castle and not at the gates of the Grounds. So after a quick sorting, the Hat called out loud

"RAVENCLAW!"

After the boy's robes were changed to the colours of his new House, he went to sit with his new classmates while House Elves took his trunk and pet away. Albus then rose from his seat and after extending his arms, he said

"Let the Feast begin!"

Then the tables, previously empty, were suddenly fully loaded with all sorts of food. It was called the Welcoming Feast for a reason after all.