Hello, I'm back with the latest chapter of The Bloody Ashikabi! Sorry it took so long, had some business IRL so I didn't have as much time to write as I would like to.
Anyway, enjoy!
I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei, only this plot and the original characters.
10
Patronus and thoughts
Harry sighed as he enjoyed his shower. It was finally June, and he had somehow managed to not only regain his control over his magic, allowing him to cast all of his spells properly, again, but he had also been able to study enough so that he didn't doubt he would get his NEWTs on his first try. Then again, that had never been something he had doubted, what with having the memories of a Dark Lord with decades of experience and who had researched magic extensively. Of course, some of the spells required to pass NEWTs in Japan weren't the same that the ones in England, but they were few and far between, and he had had more than enough time to learn them during his studies.
The most difficult part had been managing to actually cast some of the spells. Some of them required more magic that he could handle safely until recently, so he had had to be careful about that. Others were more tricky, like the Patronus charm. It required positive emotions to cast, and they weren't exactly prominent in his life. Sure, he was satisfied with his life, but the number of times he had been truly happy could be counted on one hand, with fingers to spare. In the end, all he had managed was a vaguely humanoid, silvery blob, though that was significantly more than what most wizards and witches could produce. However, he wasn't satisfied with that, he wanted to actually ace his NEWTs, and such a result was too lackluster to get him more than a E, while he firmly intended to get an O.
Deciding to take a little break, he went to the kitchen, as he was already hungry, his new, enhanced body craving food in rather impressive quantities to be satisfied. He was luckily used to cooking a lot, since Karasuba ate enough to feed a little army by herself, while Akitsu somehow managed to eat "only" the equivalent of five people worth of food. He himself was surprised by how much he needed to eat to even feel satiated, and he could easily compare how much he ate before his change to how much he ate after that.
As he prepared himself a sandwich, his thoughts drifted towards his third Sekirei. Homura had indeed reverted to a female body a few days after he had winged her, and things had been very awkward for her at first. From what he had heard, her mood swings during her first period had been epic, and Miya had apparently had to put her foot down or the fire Sekirei would likely have burnt one of the other tenants down for something stupid. Luckily, after her first time she had gotten better at keeping her emotions in check, though Harry knew he would have to teach her the improved Occlumency he had learnt from Akemi, it would help her immensely in both using her powers and keeping her cool in all circumstances.
Homura did not hold him responsible for her circumstances, which he was glad for, but it seemed as if her hatred for Minaka had grown into hatred for MBI, not that he couldn't understand. Discovering you were in fact a female after spending years in a male body would be enough to send most males into a fit of anger, and Homura could be especially volatile given the right circumstances. She was all the more dangerous now that Harry had taken her to get a wand, saying that it might help her control her power, as fire was quite destructive by nature, therefore learning control was quite important for the grey-haired Sekirei. After all, if she wanted to use her powers for something else than battle, she would need to be able to control her power perfectly, or risk setting fire to people or things by mistake. Needless to say, she had taken to the study of magic like a fish in the water, though unfortunately she could only practice with Harry around, since he was the only one she knew with any knowledge about magic. It wouldn't do for her to train and have an accident without him around.
As it was, he unfortunately couldn't hire a tutor, since he was trying to keep the Sekirei a secret for now, at least until he had enough political power to ensure that nothing nefarious happened to them. He didn't care overly much for them, save for his own three Sekirei, but he was well aware of just how bad having the Wizards learn about their existence without proper laws protecting them would be. While he was less familiar with the Japanese magical world than the British one, he knew enough to know that there were still a few people who wouldn't hesitate to force themselves on the Sekirei, and if that happened, then no doubt Miya would react violently to it, as MBI would probably not care overly much. Heck, they might even encourage the bonding between magicals and Sekirei, just to see what would happen!
He had a little idea of what would occur if that happened, and he'd rather not think about it. It would probably end in a slaughter, since the single numbers were far more powerful than any wizard alive, save perhaps him (though he wasn't really human anymore, so he guessed he didn't really count), and the wizards had quite a few ways to kill even them. There was even a chance that the conflict would attract the attention of the Mundanes on the magical world, something that should be avoided at all costs, at least for the moment. The number of purebloods thinking that Mundanes were beneath them was still way too high, and they were bound to cause the non-magicals to see them as dangerous.
Sighing, he finished his sandwich before going back to his room to study. No use to worry for now, he'd have to get his NEWTs before doing anything.
-Break-
Akitsu watched as her Ashikabi studied. She had finished her training for the day, so she spent her time watching him as he studied magic. She was actually curious about it, but she would have to wait a little longer before being allowed to get a wand, as Harry wanted her to reach a certain level of proficiency in self-defense and in the use of her power before starting to learn anything else. She felt a warm feeling bubble in her chest at the thought of it. Her Ashikabi had been clear on it, her training was for her own safety, and she couldn't find the words to say just how grateful she was to him for caring enough to want her to be able to defend herself.
It was actually rather ironic, if you thought about it. Without any kind of training she was already deadly, but with the appropriate knowledge and experience, she would be ten times worse. She was quite sure that most humans would have considered her powerful enough and not cared one bit as to have her overcome her own glaring weaknesses, yet Harry had pointed them out. He had been right, she had been far too easy to read, she simply stood there waving her arms and creating ice spears, meaning that anyone would have been able to end her with the proper strategy. Now, at least, she had started to learn how to think on the fly, to adapt to her opponents, and she had started to create her own style of fighting, with help from her Ashikabi, since her older sister didn't seem to want to help her in that area.
She just couldn't get enough of her Ashikabi, yes, her Ashikabi, as he had been extremely clear and had made sure to correct her each time she attempted to say that she wasn't bonded to him. He had told her, time after time, until she believed it herself, that he didn't care if he was bonded with her or not, that she was his Sekirei all the same. She also knew, even if he hid it well, that he had been researching ways to create a bond with her, even if she was broken, and even if he already had his own studies to worry for. There were no words for how grateful she was to him for that, and she doubted he realized just how much he meant to her by doing it. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that there was absolutely nothing, no matter how dangerous, no matter how painful, she would not do for him. Had he ordered her to, she would have carved out her own heart if it meant pleasing him, she would fight against the whole world if it was his wish. She had no doubt that if she had been able to react to someone, it would have been him.
She knew of what he planned, he had told her sister and herself, though Homura had yet to learn about it, since she was still adjusting to her new condition. She knew he planned on taking his revenge against those that had abandoned him, had caused him to grow up unloved, to be tortured because of their stupidity and blind faith in the words of a senile old man.
Feeling the air temperature dropping, she forced herself to calm down, using one of the exercises Harry had taught her, saying it was but the foundation of something called Occlumency. Each time she thought about the people that had wronged him, she felt cold, murderous rage at the thought that his very parents had dared to abandon him, and had not even tried to contact him or at least see if he was alright. She was glad he had become who he was, despite, or because of what he had lived through, she had no idea, but she loved him all the more for it. And she had vowed to herself that the day he would strike against these people, she would be by his side to help him.
-Break-
Homura grimaced as she felt the bra dig slightly into her skin. She looked at her reflect in the mirror in front of her, taking in her new appearance now that she was a woman. Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, she had not changed too much physically, she still had her short, grey hair, though she was now letting it grow a little more than before, she was still quite thin at the hips, even if they had widened a bit to ease childbirth. However, the two most glaring changes were the loss of what defined her as a male, her manhood, and the growth of her breasts. At least they weren't nearly as large as the ones Akitsu, Uzume or Matsu sported, she had no idea how they could move with those things weighting them down, though her own were still a decent size. She had had to learn how to choose underwear, and that had been a challenge in itself, since the one who had taken her to the mall for that was Uzume. At least Matsu was forced to stay at Izumo Inn, or she was sure she would have found away to buy her lacy underwear, the pervert! As it was, since she was still getting used to her new gender, she tended to favor simple panties and bras, made for comfort and usefulness more than for seduction.
Now that was a topic she was distinctly uncomfortable with, as her new body seemed to grow hot each time she thought of her Ashikabi, who was a fucking ten-years old boy! Even if she knew he was far more mature than a child and could therefore be counted as an adult, or at least a teenager, she still knew it was wrong to feel that way, despite the fact it was a natural reaction of her body to her Ashikabi. She just hoped he would grow up fast, at least she would feel less uncomfortable about the way she was she reacted to him.
She was quite surprised by how different he was from what she had imagined, though. When she had realized he was Karasuba's Ashikabi, she had expected an insane, murderous monster, and while Harry had made it clear he didn't really care about killing people, he didn't go around murdering people left and right either. He was an enigma, one she had trouble solving, as she already had little time to interact with him. He was already busy with his exams, those NEWTs, but there was also the fact that Miya was very adamant about not letting him come to Izumo too often, meaning they didn't have that many occasions to meet either. At least he had been able to take her to that Alley to get her a wand.
Hers was, to put it bluntly, strange, though Harry had told her that his own not only had two cores, but that they were almost opposite to each other and yet worked perfectly for him. Her own wand was made of Holly, seventeen inches and a half, and had, as a core, the hair of the tails of a seven-tailed fox, along with a phoenix feather. It was apparently very suited for Fire magic, but also for healing and protecting, which had caused Harry to say it suited her just fine.
With a sigh, she finished changing and went down to eat breakfast. Why had her life become so complicated?
-Break-
Takami groaned as she sipped some of the sake in her glass. She had sworn that she would make Harry experience at least a bit of a normal youth by bringing him with her to meet Minato and Yukari, but now that option had been shot down, and quite spectacularly. Sure, he had already winged Karasuba when she had decided that, but at least she had been the only Sekirei the young wizard had. Now he had three, two of whom were quite visibly unwilling to part with him for too long, one way too dangerous to even consider letting close to her children, and the other following him everywhere with a rather lacking sense of modesty.
She had tried to picture what would have happened if she had tried to ask Harry to come meet her children nonetheless, and she shivered at the thought. Karasuba may very well try to kill them if she deemed they were getting between her and Harry or that they would make him go soft. Of course, there was also the fact that she had tried very hard to keep her children as far away from Sekirei as she could, and bringing one to them would make the whole thing moot.
Harry simply didn't seem to want to be normal, as if the Dursleys, those monsters, had, by trying to "beat the freakishness out of him", had done exactly the opposite, creating someone that relished in knowing he was not normal, and who made every effort to flaunt it. It was as if he was trying to gain a reputation that would make people afraid to get close to him, save for those who had actually had the courage necessary to look beyond the scary exterior.
He was actually one of her major sources of stress, along with Minaka. While the madman was cause of stress because of his unpredictable and childish nature, Harry was source of stress merely by wanting to be left to his own devices. It was the very fact that he wanted to be left alone, at a period of his life where he should be trying to make as much friends as possible, that made her worry about him. She was no psychologist, but even she could tell that there was something seriously wrong with his psyche, and she was extremely worried of how it would influence his personality once he was an adult. She didn't care that he would be legally an adult in the magical world once he passed his NEWTs, to her he would still be a child until he reached his majority.
Then there was this Akemi person. She did not like the idea of someone having access to MBI's databases, even if so far they seemed to be of the same mind about the Sekirei plan, since she had contacted Harry to help the Sekirei. Nonetheless, it irked her that someone managed to avoid detection from MBI, which should not have been possible.
With a grunt and a pinch of her nose, she went back to work.
-Break-
Harry was still studying when he felt something bump into his legs. Looking down, he saw it was Rin and went down to pet her a bit. Now that he had studied a bit more extensively, he had learnt quite a bit about her species. It was actually a bit complicated to follow, but oh well. First, there were Bake-nekos, supernatural cats with little more power than to influence their owner's luck depending on how much they liked them. Once a Bake-neko reached a certain age, most of them died, but a select few grew a second tail, becoming more powerful and gaining several different powers. They could change their size, something he had already seen Rin do, could also speak like humans, something he suspected her to be able to do but hadn't yet proven (since quite frankly he didn't think it was a priority), but also had several other powers.
"Hey there, Rin. Been a while since I've taken care of you, right?"
-Break-
What most wizards and witches did not understand, is that even if a being doesn't look human, that does not mean they aren't as intelligent as their two-legged counterparts. Considering that even beings that did look human were considered Dark Creatures/Almost-Human Sentient depending on the country, a great number of intelligent species were looked upon as little more than beasts. And while most of them didn't like it, there was unfortunately little they could do, since most of these species were not numerous enough to wage a war on wizardkind, and those that did often found themselves losing quite a few of their numbers.
Suffice to say, Rin, as a Bake-neko, was fully sentient, and despite a few differences with the average wizard/witch, she could and should be considered like a young woman. Of course, seeing that she had yet to change from cat to almost-human form in front of her new friend (not owner, despite what people say you can't own a fully sentient being), nobody knew that.
She purred as Harry petted her and scratched her behind her ears. She had taken a liking to observing him, as he was way different from any other human she had ever come across, which was the very reason she had chosen to become his familiar. It was already obvious to any normal human that he was not normal, but for her, a being that was able to read the ambient magic, it was even more obvious than that.
First, even from the start he had a fair bigger amount of power than even most adult magic users, something that was magnified when he changed. Now she was happy to have never seen him furious, because she was quite sure she would have peed herself if she did. Judging by the amount of power he had, she was certain he would be able to destroy half of the city if he so wished, and quite easily at that. At least there were very few spells that existed that would allow him to fully exploit his reserves, otherwise he would be the equivalent of a walking bomb with how powerful and how damaged he was.
And damaged, he was. Magic allowed for those that knew how to read its' flow to know how a being felt, and even now, Rin was utterly terrified by what Harry's magic gave off, yet she forced herself to bear with it, as she knew that he needed some company, be it human, Sekirei, or even a pet. His magic was literally screaming, begging for love and at the same time threatening all those that would dare get close to him. He may now look fine, but it was merely a mask he put on for the sake of living in society, and to not betray his true feelings. Faces, behavior could lie, not Magic. It was probably why he went along so well with his Sekirei, Karasuba's own magic was eerily similar in feeling to his own, while Akitsu's would follow anyone willing to take her in to the ends of the Earth.
His magic spoke of hatred, sadness and misery, it was easy to see that despite his polite behavior, he did not, by any stretch of the imagination, like people save for a select few. Rin was honestly quite afraid of what he would become if someone didn't stop him, because while he was not a senseless murderer, he was obviously very willing to kill people given a good reason. And that in itself spoke of a psyche damaged beyond repair. She knew he wouldn't go around murdering people left and right with no reason, but it was so easy to find a reason to kill people. Wars had been started for mere differences of opinion, and she doubted Harry would need even that much to kill someone. And she doubted his Sekirei would disagree with him, Karasuba loved the idea of murdering people, while Akitsu would follow Harry to the depths of Hell itself if need be. There was still his third Sekirei, but considering the two first, she wasn't sure she would be better at making him "normal".
It terrified her and broke her heart to see what should have been a child full of life and joy spending most of his days studying, sparring, and training. He simply acted like someone twice his age, and even then, that someone would have been pretty damaged to be like that. He didn't seem to understand basic emotions such as joy, or even the simple happiness of being alive.
However, for now, she didn't want to act, as she wanted to wait at least until his NEWTs to see what his future plans were, only then would she choose to intervene directly in his life or not. And if she did, she would need to be subtle about it. Harry didn't like being manipulated, even if it was by someone who had his own good in mind, and if Karasuba ever judged her a threat to Harry's vicious and battle-happy personality, she had no doubt she would kill her.
-Break-
Harry groaned as he once again failed to produce more than a vaguely humanoid shape as a Patronus. He knew he could do it, but he simply lacked the happy memories to make it work. He had been using memories of Karasuba praising him after their spars, which had been some of his happiest memories to date, but it seemed that even that was not enough. What was he doing wrong? What memory could be happier than those?
"Harry-sama." called Akitsu, causing him to start.
Akitsu was so silent in everything she did that it was easy to forget she was there, as she spent most of her time watching him study once she herself finished her daily training and studies. He was actually impressed by her progress, as he had for a moment held the illusion that she was a little thick, yet he had found out that she was, in fact, astoundingly intelligent and had impressive learning skills. She was already quite ahead of what he had expected her to learn in studies of magic, and was doing especially well in History, Runes and Arithmancy, the two last being amongst the most difficult branches of magic to learn, since it required logic and memory, something most magic users sorely lacked.
"Harry-sama..." she started, sounding a bit unsure of herself.
Despite the time they had spent together, Akitsu was still having a lot of difficulties with doing anything but following his orders. While she had finally started taking initiatives, they were few and far between, and were always things she did for herself. She had never tried to give him suggestions, as it was obvious she still near-revered him, and would not even dream of giving him the slightest impression that he could have forgotten something or was doing something wrong.
"Yes, Akitsu?" he asked, as he knew that she would probably not continue if he did not push her a little.
"Ah..." she reddened slightly, though her impassive expression did not change."A bath?" she whispered.
While most people would be quite lost as to why she would be talking about a bath, he knew the Ice Sekirei enough to know what she meant. She was actually suggesting him to take a bath, which would hopefully help him relax and approach the problem differently.
"Thank you, Akitsu. That's an excellent suggestion, I'll be doing exactly that."
With that, he walked out of the room, but not before patting his Sekirei's head affectionately, causing said Sekirei's lips to form an almost imperceptible smile, as she stood up to follow him. While he had made it clear that he could bathe by himself, thank you very much, Akitsu still insisted in standing guard in front of the bathroom while he relaxed, something he had tried to talk her out of, but had failed to do. Either she was in the bath, with him, or she was standing outside the bathroom, those were the choices he had. And seeing that he didn't feel old enough to enjoy taking a bath with a naked woman, he let her stand guard.
-Break-
It was a very refreshed Harry that went back to studying the Patronus, and he had to give it to Akitsu, he certainly felt better and less frustrated. Now that he was no longer focused on creating a Patronus, he could think about his troubles clearly. There were several possible reasons for his lack of success.
First, he lacked the necessary power. While it would have been obvious that a ten years old should not have enough power to cast the Patronus, he was not most children his age, as he had already confirmed that in terms of pure power he was already more powerful than most seventeen-years old wizards and witches. To do so he had merely cast the most powerful spell he could use, Fiendfyre, and while it had drained him, it was still more powerful than the Patronus, as such he knew he had enough power to cast it.
Second, he could be lacking the focus on his happy memory. Again, he had checked, and he was almost certain it wasn't that either, as he had managed to use his advanced Occlumency to focus his thoughts on a single memory, until said memory took over most of his mind. While it wasn't a foolproof way to test his focus, he felt it was enough to know he did not lack the focus.
Third was, as he suspected, the lack of sheer happiness in the memory he used. For someone such as him, which had never known what happiness meant, focusing on a happy memory was not simple, so he had tried with the memory he felt was the closest to a happy memory for him: being praised by Karasuba after a spar. He was quite sure he was happy in that memory, but it seemed to not be enough to create a corporeal Patronus, which was exactly what he was trying to do.
With a sigh, he tried to see what memory he could use that would be happier than that one. It had been, after all, the first time he had been praised in his life, and if that was not happy, he didn't quite know what would be. That is, until he found a memory he had hidden, buried deeply in his psyche. It was well-hidden, put in a virtual dark corner of his mind, but it was there.
Oh, it was a happy memory, no doubt about that, but it was also a very painful reminder of what he had been, of the scared child that couldn't stand up for himself, of the weak Freak that had spent years at the Dursleys. It was the very reason he hadn't used it so far, while it was a happy memory, it was also something that filled him with rage, self-disgust and hatred. He felt that it was a good reason to not use it, but now he had nothing to lose simply trying to use it, and he was also quite curious about how a Patronus would react to the mixed emotions.
Taking a deep breath, he whispered:
"Expecto patronum."
-Break-
Akitsu was currently sitting in an armchair set in her Ashikabi's room, her knees under her chin and her hands on them as she peered as the center of her universe once again attempted to cast the spell that had been giving him trouble. She sincerely hoped he would manage it, as failing to cast it made him angry and displeased, and she only ever wanted him to be happy. She was wearing her usual clothing, though she had foregone to make sure the biggest part of her cleavage wasn't seen, not that she cared, she only ever did so in public because Harry had asked her to do so.
She felt her hair stand up on her neck as the teen whispered the incantation. Unlike before, it seemed that this time he was actually succeeding, as a blinding light erupted from his wand. Closing her eyes to avoid being temporarily blinded, she waited until the light had dimmed to open them again, only for them to widen slightly.
Standing in the middle of the room were two figures she knew very well, made of silvery light. Said figures had what seemed to be slight electric arcs fizzling around them, and she felt the comforting emotions they radiated.
In front of her were constructs looking exactly like Karasuba and herself, their wings of light out, as they floated slightly above the ground. She was not religious, as a Sekirei she had never been inclined to be so, however she had indeed read a few books about mythology and she could tell that anyone even faintly religious would have christened the apparitions as angels.
She was distracted when she heard Harry start to laugh, something between a mad cackle and a honest, heartfelt laugh at the fact that he had finally succeeded in casting the spell that had been troubling him for a long while. It was actually the first time that he did laugh since she knew him, and she liked the sound. It made him sound, for a very short moment, like the child he should be.
"Well, it seems that it works. Of course, I'd need to cast it in front of a Dementor to actually test it, but for now it'll do."
With that, the silvery figures vanished without a noise, leaving the two of them once again alone in the room. She fully expected her Ashikabi to go back to studying, but she was surprised to see him stretch and look at her with one the most sincere smiles she had seen from him in their time together.
"Thank you, Akitsu. Without that bath and the time off, I'd still be stuck."
She felt her cheeks redden slightly at the praise. While he had not winged her, he was her Ashikabi, and there was little she loved more than to see him happy, having him praise her was just the icing on the cake.
"Ah..." she whispered, a little bashfully, "It was nothing, Harry-sama."
"It was not nothing, Akitsu. I want to thank you, so if there is anything you want, feel free to ask me for it."
She felt her heart almost skip a beat at that. While she wanted nothing more than to be winged by him, she knew that for now that was impossible as he lacked the information necessary to create a bond between them. However, that did not mean she couldn't ask for anything else. There was one thing she wanted, other than being winged by him, actually. Something that had been bothering her for a while.
"Ah...A...kiss?" she very softly asked, her voice so low that had Harry not had enhanced hearing, he would have missed it.
Indeed, she was the only one of his Sekirei he had not yet kissed at least once on the lips, since Karasuba and Homura needed to have been kissed to become his Sekirei. It was what she wanted, as while she knew she was not bonded to him, she did want to be as close to him as possible, and she did not want to be behind her sisters when it came to kisses. She knew that human taboos would have counted a kiss between her Ashikabi and herself as wrong, since he was supposed to be a child, but she did not care one bit. She craved Harry, even if he was physically a child. He had been the one person to want her, the one to give her a place to call home, the one who had given her a new reason to live.
Once she felt his lips on hers, she blushed beet red at the feeling. It was her first kiss, after all, and it was from the one person she loved more than anything else, the one person she held in higher regard than any kind of God, the one she would follow to the ends of Hell itself.
A few tears escaped her eyes, as she relished in the feeling of knowing that someone was there for her, even if they weren't bonded. They were bittersweet tears, as while she had finally gotten what she had wanted ever since he had convinced her to be his Sekirei, there were no light wings erupting from her back, no creation of bond.
As if feeling her emotions, Harry pulled back, and softly caressed her cheek.
"Don't worry, Akitsu. One day you'll be my Sekirei, even if I have to spend the next decade to search for a way to create a bond with you."
-Break-
Harry cracked his neck, happy that he had finally finished studying for his NEWTs. He had tried the Patronus charm over a dozen times, and it had worked each time. It seemed that he had finally found the memory he needed to actually pull it off, and while there were a few effects of his conflicting emotions on the created Patroni, they still seemed to work. Even then, he was not exactly sure what aftereffects they suffered from, since he would need to pit them against a Dementor to test them, and fortunately, the only colony of the foul beings happened to be on the island of Azkaban, on the other side of the world.
Well, at least he was now ready for his exams, so he could go back to studying advanced magic and to his physical training. He would also need to swing by the Ministry, since once he was of age he fully intended to apply for the Hit-Wizard training program. That and he needed to make some political allies there, in the off case the British Ministry ever discovered where he was and tried to force him back.
Thanks to Tom's memories, he knew that politics were not always about boring meetings between old men only interested in their own gains. Some people, few as they were, actually belonged to the dying breed of politicians that firmly believed in helping others, and had honor. It was those he was going to seek to make friends with. Once he got his NEWTs, his reputation alone should be enough to gain a meeting with any politician, and if not, well he could always tell them his birth name, only if they made an oath to keep his presence in Japan a secret.
At least Japan was better than Britain when it came to politics. Britain was governed by the Wizenmagot, which, while at one point might have been a good thing, had now become little more than a playground for overgrown children, the Lords and Ladies bickering back and forth until they were given what they wanted. Japan, on the other side, did have something similar to the Wizenmagot, called the Assembly, where the laws were made and who judged the criminals. However, unlike in Britain, there was about half of the people that belonged to the Assembly that were muggleborns and half-bloods. That made the debates far less likely to favor a party over another, and while it was certainly more likely that sessions ended up in bickering, the Japanese reservation made it so that procedures almost always went smoothly.
There was also the fact that the Lords who were proven to be somehow linked to criminal activities could see themselves lose their title, which would be passed onto the closest living relative not already in the Assembly. And seeing as Japan's Ministry regularly conducted purges to eliminate any kind of corruption, cases like the one of Lucius Malfoy were far less likely to happen there.
Yawning, he went to take another bath. He would need to be in top shape for his NEWTs, after all.
So, I hope I showed each character's thought process well enough to give a glimpse to what they are thinking of the actual situation. Next chapter will finally be the NEWTs, though I don't know exactly when I'll be posting it.
Anyway, for those of you motivated enough to read the ANs, I want to thank you all for your reviews and for favoriting,following, or simply reading this story. Means a lot to see how much people like it, so really, thanks.
Reviews (not flames) are welcome!
