Disclaimer: I don't own anything coming from Harry Potter or Ranma 1/2. They belong to JK Rowling and Rumiko Takahashi respectively.
"Italics" Japanese
"-chan" after Harry or Ranma means they are in female form.
AN- Here's the second part of chapter 9 as I promised. Oh and I looked over my story on yesterday and I just noticed that most of my separation hyphens are missing! For some odd reason doesn't accept hyphens as scene separators any clue to why? So now my seperators are going to "r--", just to warn you.
Magic and Martial Arts: Year One
Chapter 10- Of Fashion and Wands
THUMP!
Harry watch as his two friends fell to the ground after the horrendous journey though the fireplace using Floo Powered.
Harry mused that Wizards made traveling uncomfortable on purpose to compensate for how fast it goes, because so far all forms of travel he has been exposed to has either resulted in falling straight onto your back, covered in soot or almost vomiting from the sensations.
Helping Hermione and Ron off the floor, Harry put a nice satisfied smile on because he and Hagrid were the only ones that didn't fall during the transaction. Of course this promptly rewarded him with a playful glare from Hermione and an attempted punch from Ron (which of course missed).
"A'right now ya three, when we get to ta alley, ya stick close now, ya hear?" Hagrid said looking at the three.
The three nodded and followed Hagrid though through an old fashion pub.
"Ah, Hagrid, the usual?" A bright voice questioned.
"Sorry Tom, not today, escorting a couple of students to ta Alley" Hagrid explained and motioned to the kids he overshadowed.
"Good Lord, it's Harry Potter!" Tom the bar tendered exclaimed upon recognizing Harry. Immediately the pub went into an uproar.
The occupants of the place crowded in trying to see the famous Boy-Who-Live, and they weren't disappointed. He looked everything like the papers portrayed him to be, strong, confident, and cute as a puppy. This only fueled their desire to meet the boy.
Harry was startled to say the least. He hadn't expect the pub to go crazy when he arrived, if he had known he would have hightailed it out there before they even had the chance to see him. Harry watched nervously as the crowd got closer to him and his friends. It wasn't that he was scared of theof thepeople, it just unnerved him to be around so manysince he grew up with only two other people in his life.
Ever so slowly he started moving towards the back door, which he assumed that was where Hagrid was taking them. Unfortunately, the crowd acted first and closed in fast, pushing aside his friends roughly.
By the time he had his 10th handshake, he had enough, not to mention he was a bit peeved that the crowd pushed his friends. Harry quickly jumped into the air, flipped over the crowd and picked up his two friends from the floor, set them on their feet and dragged them to what looked like a dead end at the back of the pub.
"Ack, what was that!" Harry exclaimed after he stopped moving.
"Well, I did say you were famous" Hermione explained, dusting some dust from her skirt that she collected when she fell.
Ron just nodded with a stiff look in his eyes.
"They're crazy I tell you" Harry muttered as he waited for Hagrid to come out.
"Ah, there you are!" Hagrid bellowed when he found them. "Quite a show you put on back there, 'Arry, they are still talking about how fast you moved"
Harry just groaned "Can we just get to the alley now? I don't want the people crowding around me again"
Hagrid just smiled and started counting bricks above the trashcan against the wall. Harry was about to ask Hagrid what he was doing when he felt a small tingle, usually one that came when sensing ki. Opening up his senses he noticed that one of the bricks had a yellow glow to it and looked like it was trying to hide from Harry; this of course confused Harry because inanimate objects can't have colored ki; it has neither emotions nor any intent.
Assuming that the glow was magic, Harry started to ask what the colors of magic represented and how it reacts, butwhen Hagrid finally tapped the glowing brick with his umbrella andHarry saw what lay beyond, all questions flew right out of his mind.
"Wow" was all that Harry said before he took off towards the first store he saw.
r--
"Finally… you know… how… hard it is… to catch you Harry?" Hermione panted out, grabbing a hold of Harry so she wouldn't fall over from exhaustion and so he would stop moving.
"But… but… there's so much to see!" Harry exclaimed throwing his hands up and practically skipped to the next shopping window dragging Hermione along.
After Harry got bored with that window he started to go to another window when all of a sudden he lost footing and wasn't touching the ground anymore.
"Hold on there Harry, I told ya not to run off, and now look at what ya did. Ron, 'Ermione, and I just covered half the alley looking for you"
"This place is so awesome, I want to see more!" Harry exclaimed, totally brushing off Hagrid's chide. Harry easily broke Hagrid's hold on him by doing a funky little twist, which surprised the gentle giant, and ran off to the next window.
Hagrid, Hermione and Ron just sighed.
"Where in the world does he get the energy…" Ron muttered, trying to drag his feet to keep up with the happy go lucky boy.
"No idea, but what ever it is I wish he could give me some, it would be great for studying late at night" Hermione said thoughtfully holding her side since a stitch had form there.
Ron just snorted when he heard that. "Only you would think about something like that"
"And what is that suppose to mean?" Hermione said tersely, stopping for a second to glare at the red head and secretly so she could catch her breath.
"For a know-it-all you sure don't understand much…" Ron countered matching her glare.
Hermione was about to retort, when Hagrid finally interrupted their small quarrel.
"A'right ya two, settle down, lets just grab 'Arry and get this over and done with"
The two kids made one last glare at each other then nodded their heads.
"Okay so where is he?" Hermione ask getting straight to business.
"Over there!" Ron pointing at a store called Flourish and Blotts.
Hermione and Hagrid instantly looked over, but it was Hermione that squealed out in delight, scaring the wits out of Ron and Hagrid.
"Harry has good taste!" Hermione yelled before running off towards Harry's direction.
When she got there, she grabbed Harry and practically shoved him inside, where mounds and mounds of books sat on rickety shelves that shouldn't be standing up.
"Hermio…. Whoa! Hang on there!" Harry exclaimed right as Hermione grabbed his arm and pretty much threw him inside the store.
"Books! Oh, there are a couple books I have been dieing to get a hold of. There is a new release on Hogwarts: A History and a Transfiguration book that Professor McGonagall just published. Oh I hope they have it here. Oh no! I don't think I have enough money!" Hermione rambled on at paces poor Harry couldn't keep up with.
By the time she was done, his mind was so jumbled that he didn't even noticed Hagrid waving his hand in front of his face for a couple seconds.
"A'right there Harry?" Hagrid asked, worried for Harry, as it looked like his brain overloaded with that jumble of words Hermione just said.
Harry shook his head a couple of times before responding. "What just happened? All I remember is a big blur of bushy brown hair and the sound of what seemed to be a hundred professors lecturing me"
Ron just laughed at him, "Mate I am so glad that was not me, crazy that one is, those books must have done something to her"
Harry looked at Ron for a bit, still wondering why he just insist on putting down Hermione. He watched Ron for a couple of seconds before Ron walked off heading to some different part of the store, deciding not to follow, Harry turned to Hagrid.
"Umm, Hagrid how am I going to pay for all this, I just realized that I don't have any wizard money."
"Not to worry Harry, you don't think your parents left you anything do you?" Hagrid chuckled out.
Harry looked down at the mention of his parents but he quickly covered the emotion up like he was taught.
"Really? Where at?" Harry asked after a couple of seconds.
"Why at the wizards bank, Gringrotts, of course, most likely the safest place in the world for any of your possessions 'cept maybe Hogwarts."
Harry just nodded. He thought about what was in the vault, it sounds like they keep more than just money at this bank. Maybe his parents left him something.
"Say Hagrid can we go there now, I want to start buying my supplies right away, especially my wand."
"Course, we just have to find Hermione, and Ron."
"Okay, be right back then."
Harry went around the shopped and started looking for Ron and Hermione. He found Ron quickly enough; Ron was right where he thought Ron would be. At the Quidditch section of the bookstore, after telling him the plan, Harry set off to find Hermione. Unfortunately, finding Hermione was going to be a bit harder. The bookstore was huge, though it didn't look like it was from the outside.
'Must be magic' Harry thought after he passed his 30th book self. 'Ah this is going to take forever.'
After passing the 40th shelf Harry decided to just find her by her aura. Quickly opening up his senses, he started 'feeling' different auras around him. Luckily auras are very distinct if you know what you are looking for. Harry quickly sorted out Hermione's aura and found her in the very back of the bookstore. Relaxing his senses, Harry made his way towards where he 'felt' Hermione's aura.
"There you are Hermione-chan! It's time to go, we'll come back later after we visit that Grin place."
"Grin place? Oh, you mean Gringrotts? Okay, a couple more minutes, I am just looking at some of these books." Hermione said
Harry nodded and stood back watching Hermione sort out though the books. After a couple minutes of waiting Harry got bored and asked Hermione if she was done again, but her response was just a few more minutes. This happened a couple more times until Harry finally had enough.
"Okay Hermione-chan that is it, it's time to go!" Harry said sternly.
"Harry, will you be just patient, I just need a couple of minutes" Hermione said annoyed.
"Couple of minutes, Hermione-chan it's been 20 minutes since you first said that to me!" Harry exclaimed, clearly agitated for waiting so long.
"Calm down Harry, I am almost done" Hermione said going back to the book she was holding.
Harry just sighed and decided to take a different approach. He should of known that he would never get Hermione out of a bookstore.
Quickly walking up to the unaware girl, he stood behind her then in one quick motion scooped her up into his arms.
Hermione gave out a small scream of surprise "HARRY!"
"It's time to go, Hermione-chan." Harry said nonchalantly, taking the book out of Hermione's hands and setting it back down on the shelf, then started the long trek back to the front of the store amidst Hermione's protest.
"Harry put my down this instant, I was almost done looking though the book" Hermione angrily said, pushing on Harry's chest trying to get him to put her down.
"No Hermione-chan, it's time to go" Harry said stubbornly.
"Harry! Please just let me go back, it was a very interesting book, it was about the physical benefits of being a wizard." Hermione said trying to persuade Harry to let her go back.
"And why would you be looking at that?" Harry asked curiously, trying to avoid looking down so he doesn't see Hermione's pleading eyes. He knew he would cave in instantly at that look coming from a girl. It was very effective. He used it all the time.
"Why to figure out how you can do all those crazy stunts you do, of course." Hermione said like it was obvious. "Now put me down and let me go back, I want to finish looking at that book"
"Nuh uh, No can do Hermione-chan, it's time to start shopping" Harry said with a stubborn smirk on his face.
"Harry, put me down!" Hermione started flailing around, catching a lot of attention, especially now that they were up at the front of the store.
"Hermione-chan, people are staring!" Harry said quietly as he looked at their audience nervously.
"Not until you put me down and let me get that book!"
"I am sorry but we have to go!"
"Fine then." Hermione pouted and finally settled down into Harry's arms.
"Ah there you are Harry." Hargid said, "And I see you caught a Hermione, she's a good looking one too" Hagrid joked, treating Hermione like some catch of the day.
Playing along with the corny joke Harry responded "Yep, put up quite a fight though. But even she couldn't stand up to my dashing looks and manly charm"
Hermione instantly blushed red, but she did give a 'humph' at Harry when he started talking about himself.
"The only thing dashing about you is how fast you are going to run when I get down." Hermione responded in a mock angry tone.
"Err, you know I was playing around right Hermione-chan" Harry asked a bit nervous, he knew what happened when girls start chasing a guy around in anger. He had seen it happen all the time to his brother. Brother insults girl, girl gets mad, girl smashes brother into LEO.
"Better watch you back Potter" Hermione said once again mocking anger at the fidgeting boy. Inwardly laughing at her sweet revenge at Harry.
"Err, I am going to put you down now"
Harry quickly set her down and practically ran out the door.
Ron and Hagrid we smiling though, they noticed that Hermione was only playing with Harry and it amused them that someone like Harry, who could leap dozens of feet into the air, carry unimaginable amount of weight and move so fast that it was hard to track, would be afraid of ickle Hermione Granger.
Ron and Hagrid shook their heads and walked out of the store with Hermione.
r--
"Yahoo! Faster, faster!" Harry screamed out at the top of his lungs.
The group had made it to Gringrotts eventually and went though all the procedures with the Goblins to access Harry's vault. Harry was still a bit unsure what to expect, especially money wise. Did his parents really leave him money? All his life he never had more than enough yen to survive to a couple of weeks at most. When he arrived at Nermia he had started working at Tofu-sensei's office, but with the paying for his stay at the Dojo (not to mention paying a bit extra for his bro and uncle), repairs that needed to be made and debts that his uncle had accumulated over the years, Harry was always in the red when dealing with money.
This left his mind, however, when he found out the means of transportation to the vault. A cart… going at really, really fast speeds, what could be better! When he first got in the cart, he was curious as to why they were in this, but when the cart shot forward into the depths of enormous tunnel, he had all the answers he needed.
"Weeeeeeee! Come on Griphook-san faster!" Harry screamed out once again after a fast drop. He would have stood up to make it more daring but Hermione was clinging to him as if her life was dependant on it, which it probably was.
The goblin, Griphook, looked back at Harry in surprised. As a goblin that works for a bank, Griphook had to know an absurd amount of languages and Japanese happened to be one of those languages. He knew that having a -san added to his name meant equality and it surprised him that he was considered on equal terms to the boy.
Goblins had always had a great dislike for humans, ever since they started waging war with each other. There were always exceptions, but only a few. Pureblooded wizards generally thought too highly of themselves to mingle with 'lowly' goblins, Muggle born wizards usually never trust goblins because of those fairytale stories of theirs. The few exceptions of those 'people' would be Albus Dumbledore, who Griphook thought was only polite to the goblins because he was a little loose in the head, and those four humans that used to come the Gringrotts, James and Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black. As Griphook could recall, they were the only ones that actually showed kindness to them openly. He had even heard a rumor that the Lily human had started some organization that helped minority groups like the goblins and werewolves, of course that was totally overshadowed by the dark war going on.
'Should have guessed that the Potter's son would be out going and fair like his parents' Griphook thought to himself.
"Faster you say Mister Potter? Well here we go then" Griphook cranked up the speed to cart. One of the benefits of working as a goblin at Gringrotts was the roller costar ride the carts provided. Believe it or not, goblins absolutely loved riding them. This is the reason why they don't find another way to transport themselves to the vaults. Plus it is fun to see the 'pureblood' idiots turn pale at the speed and ask to slow down, usually most goblins responded to these comments by saying "One speed only" or something along those lines. But it never occurred to him or any other goblin that a human would want it to go faster. That cart itself was fast enough, at least going 200 kilometers an hour, after all any slower and it would take forever to reach any of the underground vaults and depending on how far the vault was, goblins could adjust the speed of the cart, of course they never told that to any human. Griphook was already starting to like the Potter boy.
Hermione whimpered at the prospect of going faster. "Oh, God I am going to die. Harry I am so going to kill you when we get off this absurd thing!"
Harry grinned even wider at Hermione's comment and told the goblin to go even faster, and the goblin happily obliged, also grinning.
By the end of the crazy ride Hermione was clinging to Harry so hard that he was sure that some of his ribs were definitely broken.
"Hermione-chan, dear… would you be… so kind to ease… up a bit, Harry needs to breath" Harry squeezed out, turning a lovely shade of blue.
Hermione looked up and noticed the blue face. "Sorry Harry, though you should wear blue more, it suits you"
Harry just rolled his eyes, that sounded like something Nibiki or Akane would say after Akane giving one of her vise grip hugs.
Harry stepped out of the cart first and then helped a slightly trembling Hermione out before she whacked him over the head with her hand. "That's what you get for encouraging Griphook to go faster! And for good measure here's another"
Harry just stuck out his tongue and ducked as Hermione tried to whack him over the head again.
"Boys…" Harry heard Hermione mutter.
Griphook grinned a bit. The two was amusing to say that least. He wondered if Harry Potter's parents acted the same way.
"Wow you guys arrived fast" Harry heard someone say and turned around to find Ron and a slightly green looking Hagrid.
"Yep, told Griphook-san here made the cart go faster, it was so fun!" Harry exclaimed jubilantly. Though Ron and Hagrid were looking confused at Harry. They had taken a different cart down to the vault as a cart could only hold two people and the goblin.
"I thought the carts only had one speed" Hagrid said still looking a bit green.
"For most wizards, yes they do." The goblin that brought the two down said, then he starting speaking with Griphook quietly, most likely asking why he went faster.
"I'm guessing you like the cart ride?" Ron asked Harry.
"It was so much fun! It goes faster then those Roller Coasters I have heard about in America" Harry happily said, still a bit giddy from the ride down.
"Key Please" A voice interrupted.
Harry turned and noticed that Griphook had his hand held out for his key.
"Here you go." Harry handed his key over and watched as the goblin went over to the gigantic door and inserted the key into the small hole.
"How come Harry couldn't do that?" Hermione, the ever-inquisitive one, asked, curious as to why the goblin had to be the one to open the vault.
The other goblin answered this time. "There are more than just tunnels and a big metal door guarding your possessions."
Harry thought the goblin looked a bit irritated and acted if he was talking to little kids.
Harry noticed that Hermione was about to ask another question when Griphook handed back his key.
"Here you are Mr. Potter" Griphook said before waving to door.
All at once the 4 visitors turned and looked at the contents of the vault. Harry, Hermione, and Ron's jaws dropped at the sight, though Hagrid just had a large amused grin on his face.
"Told ya, ya parents left you something" Hagrid commented.
Harry just nodded and absently commented, "You know, I don't think I should let Nabs see this, she might die of sheer happiness"
r--
"So where too first?" Harry asked eager to start shopping with a bag full of Galleons, Sickles, and knuts. Twenty-nine knuts to a sickle, and seventeen sickles to a Galleon.
"Guess we should get the easy stuff over with first" Hermione commented, thinking things through.
"Okay, so I guess those weird bath robes you wear first?" Harry said strolling down the street.
"Okay, but they are not bath robes, they are wizarding robes" Ron responded following Harry.
"Alrighty then, off to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions" Hagrid said merrily and took up the lead.
r--
"Hi, there kiddos!" A bright young woman greeted. Harry bowed slightly and looked the young woman.
The woman looked like she just got of school, most likely 18 or so. She was also very enthusiastic about her job it seems. She had a genuine full smile on, which is hard to find within shopkeepers these days and she also had a bubbly attitude that just made you smile. Hermione thought that the attendant was just like Harry, always having a happy-go-lucky mood on.
"Hi, I'm Harry!" Harry said cheerfully, taking a slight bow once again to show respect, "How's it going?"
"Hi, I am Elizabeth, but just call me Liz and I am good, very good, in fact. So whatcha need?" The woman asked jubilantly then paused for a spilt second before starting up again. "Oh, silly me, Robes of course, why else would you be here! Alrighty then, who will it be?"
Harry was smiling widely now. The girl was just so full of life. Though everybody else was a bit surprised at the outgoing attendant.
"Wow, she sure can talk fast, all in one breath too" Hermione commented softly to Ron, which Ron thought was ironic coming from Hermione.
"Oh, Oh! Me Liz-san! Me!" Harry said jumping up and down.
"I think we should cut his suger intake" Ron muttered to Hermione. This time it being Hermione that thought the comment was a bit ironic.
"Huh? Liz-san? No, no, no you got it all wrong, it's Liz" Liz corrected, clearly not liking the Japanese formality.
"I said that… Liz-san" Harry said confused, Kasumi had said that is absolutely critical that you address a person with proper title unless a good friend or family.
"No, Harry just Liz, no Liz-san, just Liz, L-I-Z, Liz"
Harry looked skeptical. He hoped this didn't go against Kasumi's teachings. "Okay… Liz" Harry said uncomfortably, but a second later he was smiling again, reasoning that if she didn't mind then it can't be impolite.
Before Liz could say anything though Hagrid spoke up.
"'Arry as much as I want to continue watching this amusing conversation, Ron, 'Ermione and me are going ta pick up something at another shop, so can ya just stay here? We will pick up ya books too, 'Ermione here wanted to look around there again."
"Sure, but where are you going?" Harry said rolling his eyes when he heard the part about the bookstore.
"Oh, 'Ermione here just mention something that caught my interest, we'll be back soon enough, I have some of yer money for yer supplies too, so don't worry"
"Err, okay I'll see you later then" Harry said with a confused look on his face.
"Bye Harry!" Hermione cried out as she left with Hagrid and Ron who were waving good-bye.
After they left Harry turned back to Liz and that was her cue to start talking again.
"Okay now that the name thing is finally fixed, follow me! I'll get you all nice a fitted and you'll be fighting off the girls with a stick, then again, maybe you are already doing that" Liz said cheekily looking at how fit Harry is.
Harry blushed a bit at the complement
"Not you too! I already get it enough from my family" Harry cried out thinking of all the teasing Akane, Nabiki and even Kasumi put him though when he is trying to hide from girls at his old school.
Liz giggled a bit, "Just stating a fact kiddo, Heartthrob of the little ankle biters"
"Ah! You even used the same jokes!" Harry cried out once again
Liz just giggled again and guided Harry to one of the workstations.
"Lets see, Hogwart's uniform right?"
Harry nodded, standing uncomfortably on the stool surrounded by 3 mirrors.
"Okay, lets get your measurements then."
The measurements only took a couple of minutes but it reminded Harry a lot of what McGonagall-Kyoju did to him earlier this week. Harry held in a small shudder as he remembered that incident.
"Here you go, try these on," Liz said handing the standard Hogwarts uniform to Harry and pushing him towards a changing room.
Harry came out later wearing a white button up shirt, along with gray sleeveless vest and tie, which was striped gray and white. He thought that once he got into school the colors would changed to accommodate for his house since he noticed all his housemates had all the same color coordination on their cloths and they couldn't have known what house they were going to be sorted in. The pants were simple black slacks along with a pair of black dress shoes. Covering this all was those bathrobes that all wizards seem to wear. The robe totally covered everything except the very bottom of his pants and shoes. He thought it was pretty redundant to have all the other parts of the uniform there when nobody would ever see it. (Think of a nightgown when thinking of robes)
Harry scratched in a couple places and decided that these uniforms just won't do.
"Uh, Liz" Harry paused here. It was weird trying to undo the teaching that Kasumi had pounded into him.
"I don't think this will work out. There is no way I can move around in this and its ITCHY!" Harry said proving his point when he tried to stretch and have the material go taut all the while scratching in a few places around his body.
Liz of course watched humorously as Harry bent in all directions like a piece of rubber while scratching all over the place, he seriously looked like a monkey and that brought a small fit of giggles Liz. She like this boy, he was something else.
"Well, that's a first. Okay! So no standard uniform, anything in particular you have in mind Harry. You don't mind if I call you Harry right?" Liz said, obviously happy at a challenging customer.
"Err, how bout something like I wore here?" Harry said absentmindedly; concentrating more on relieving all the itchiness he was receiving.
"Hmm, something loose, easy to move in, comfortable, durable and looks good. I am shocked, for once in my life I found a wizard who actually has some taste in what to wear!" Liz exclaimed. "And here I thought all wizards like to be stiff as a board, what with always wearing fancy suits and heavy robes"
"Could you hurry a bit, this is getting frustrating" Harry pleaded out scratching all over his body with both hands. He even brought in his foot on a few occasions to the amusement of Liz.
"You know, you could just take off those clothes if they are bothering you that much" Liz commented, still watching Harry scratch himself, though she was silently impressed at how he could bend and reach certain places.
Harry looked at her weirdly for a second before slapping his forehead and running back into the changing room.
Liz shock her head, "I worry about kids these days" she whispered to her self.
Harry came out a bit later with his kung fu pants and a muscle shirt on his Chinese shirt hanging from his arms along with that retched uniform. Liz noticed that Harry was glowing red with all the scratching he had down, everything from his neck down was either red or had red lines running along the skin. Liz cracked up at the sight,
"Harry I think I just found the first actual redneck in the world " Liz laughed out.
"Yeah, yeah, do you have anything else that I could wear that isn't this horrible piece of clothing" Harry said grumpily while glaring at the offending garments though he was trying to figure out what a redneck was.
"You know, for you kiddo, I think I might have something for you, I've been working on something special. Trying to teach these wizards that there are more comfortable things than just robes" Liz gained a thoughtful look for a second then her bright smile came back again.
"Huh?"
"Well, as you can probably tell, I am a Muggle born, not to mention American and well I am simply appalled by wizards fashion sense, so I have a small project that I am working on to combine both Muggle and Wizard clothing, I was thinking of having you as my first tester. I like you, not many people as carefree as you"
Harry rubbed his neck at the complement but nodded his consent to try her project on.
Liz squealed happily and ran to a room at the back of the store. Minutes later she had with her what looked like an exact copy of the standard Hogwarts uniform.
Harry looked confused "Uh, isn't that the same thing I was wearing before" Glaring at the offending robes in his arms for a second.
"Of course not! This is my project, I call it illusionary-wear, it's only a prototype so it can only hold one illusion so far but it is still worth it."
Harry was lost and only managed to get out a small "Huh?"
Liz looked at Harry and giggled a bit, she guess she was a bit overzealous with her work that she forgot that Harry had no clue what she was talking about.
"Sorry, well this is what I call illusionary-wear. Basically, it's a form of clothing that can be set to look like something else. For example this piece of clothing is actually an Auror robe that has an illusion to look like the Hogwarts uniform see?" Liz said something quietly and the Hogwarts uniform she was holding shimmered and all of a sudden was the Auror robes Liz was talking about.
Harry stared in awe.
"You see, it takes all the properties of the original piece of work, in this case, it still holds the protective charms and material but it can be made to look and feel like a different set of cloths to others. So it solves your problem. You can keep wearing your normal cloths but to others it will look and feel like a Hogwarts uniform."
Harry could clearly see that Liz was really excited over this. He swore that she was just an inch away from jumping around in excitement.
"Does that mean I can just use my normal Chinese clothes?" Harry said happily at the prospect of not wearing the Hogwarts uniform.
"Yep! But it is going to take a while to make it. It uses really complicated charms to make the illusion look and feel right to everybody but you. So let me lend you a prototype one, while I take you other cloths. I think I have one you will like, though it maybe a bit strange."
"Okay, that would be great" Harry said
"Okay stay right here then I will get you your new clothes" Liz left quickly after that
'You know this can have some very good advantages, if Liz were ever to get the clothes to have more than one illusion I can have it set to turn into girl clothing when I transform' Harry thought to himself.
"Here we go" Liz said coming back into the room holding a pile of cloths.
Harry took a look at them and then looked at Liz strangely.
"What? I like anime, they are a some what copy of Trunks in that Japanese anime show Dragon Ball Z, but without the purple, wouldn't do good to berunning aroundin purple!"
Harry looked at her confused "What's wrong with purple?"
"You know… guys wearing purple means something…" Liz suggested, but Harry still looked on with a confused look "Oh, never mind I guess it is an American thing."
Harry just nodded, though you could tell that he had no clue what she meant, especially the American part. Though he did understand the choice of clothing, Ranma was particularly fond of that Dragon Ball Z too, but Harry thought it is more due to some of the interesting moves they show.
Harry examined the clothing, he was holding a pair of really dark gray, almost black, baggy pants made from a material similar to his Chinese kung fu pants. Also there was a thick belt that was hanging off it, filled with a bunch of pockets to hold small items. There was a pair of black boots that had metal strap clips instead of shoelaces, the same kind you would most likely find on roller blades or something. The outfit came with a tight white t-shirt, but it was very flexible, it could probably be stretched twice its size and still be comfortable and easy to move it. To cover the white shirt was a forest green jacketmuch like Trunk's jacket but not purple and lacking the capsule corp. insignia.
"Go on try them on!" Liz said shoving Harry into the changing room again.
When Harry came out, Liz catcalled "Looking good! I like that you tucked the bottom of the pants into the boots, just like the anime!"
Harry smiled "Yeah, I like that Dragon Ball Z too"
"Ha, you know anime too! That's great, but then again, I should have guessed with that Asian outfit you wore here. Okay, so to activate the illusion on the clothing just tap the clothing twice, like so" Liz tapped the shirt Harry was wearing "And then say change, it easiest thing I could think of, didn't want to use that complicated Latin stuff that we use for our magic."
Instantly the clothing changed to look exactly like the Hogwarts of uniform. Though to Harry it felt like he was still wearing the comfortable outfit he was wearing before.
"Oh and by the way, you have to keep the pieces of clothing together. They won't change separately, it's just some of the bugs I haven't been able to work out yet." Liz added on as an afterthought.
"Wow this is great! Thanks Liz" Harry excitedly and started testing out the clothes, jumping here and there, doing a short kata.
Liz giggled, "Harry, you are too much. I guess it was appropriate to give you anime character clothes"
"What can I say, I am gifted" Harry joked
"Get out of here you! All right, I will copy your outfit and send it to you at Hogwarts all right? I just need your full name"
"Harry Saotome Potter" Harry said absentmindedly still admiring his new attire clearly not understanding how in the world he can still move so easily in clothes that look so tight and heavy.
"Liz these are great, what do I owe you? Liz?" Harry had turned around to see if he owed anything to Liz but she had not responded to his first call. When he saw her she was just staring at him still as a statue, eyes glued to his forehead.
Harry waved a hand in front of her face "Liz. Hello, Liz! Liz are you there?" Harry was about to shake to see if that would snap her out of her trance but before he could she shrieked and Harry went sky high in surprise.
"YOU'RE HARRY POTTER, OH MY GOD, IT'S A DREAM COME TRUE! WILL YOU SIGN… Harry?" Liz took a quick looked around, trying to find Harry, but he wasn't there and she couldn't figure out why. That is until she looked up. And low and behold, there was a Harry shaped hole in the ceiling of the store. (Is it me or is that the only way Harry knows how to exit a conversation)
r--
"Harry!"
Harry turned around at the call of his name and spotted Ron waving at him with Hermione and Hagrid behind him carrying an assortment of packages.
After the scare Harry went though, Liz had dragged him back inside to clean him up. She had apologized profusely for scaring him and even gave him the Dragon Ball Z clothes for no charge, which he was grateful, as he had given his money sack to Hagrid. He had been only sitting outside for a couple of minutes before Ron had called him.
"Took you long enough Harry. We came back to the store two times before this. What in Merlin name were you doing? And what are you wearing?" Ron questioned
"What's wrong with what I am wearing? I thought it looked nice, it's from the Anime show Dragon Ball Z" Harry said, lifting his arms up a little and examining his new cloths.
"They look… different. Ah well whatever suits you. So what took so long?"
"Well, Liz was just being a little crazy, especially when she found out my full name. She's really fun to be with though, even though she is a bit random"
Once again Ron started to laugh at the irony of the statement just like he did to Hermione's comment before.
Ron was about to comment when the other two finally caught up.
"Wow, nice outfit Harry! You look like someone right out of the Japanese mangaDragon Ball Z" Hermione complemented when she saw Harry's new clothes.
Harry shook his head, "I like them too, but I should have known that you had read Japanese manga, Hermione-chan"
"What? They are really fun to read" Hermione defended herself and her Anime.
"So 'Arry, got everything?" Hagrid interrupted when he saw that Harry was about to comment again.
"Yep, got everything, though Liz will send the rest of the uniforms to me at Hogwarts" Harry answered.
"Liz?" Hermione asked with one of her brows raised "But you have only known her for an hour or so"
"Huh? You were there Hermione remember? She said just to call her Liz, nothing else" Ron said confused.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's just…" Hermione trailed off, she knew that in Japan, when people speak of others and leave out their proper titles, it means that the two people are very close, even closer then what Harry called her, the only closer endearments would be the shortening of the name (What Harry called Nibiki, Nabs) and a pet name with an added chan (Harry's pet name is Ry-chan from the 2nd chapter).
"She just told me to call her that and well I figured that since she isn't Japanese I will let it slide. The only reason why I continue with the titles is because of Kas-chan, she would have my hide if I stopped using proper titles, plus some people like the titles a lot" Harry explained.
"I still don't get it, why is it such a big deal that Harry calls Liz without the proper title?" Ron asked still confused.
Hermione ignored Ron and sighed. "Who is Kas-chan?"
"Oh she's my surrogate sister back in Japan"
Hermione nodded and started to walk down the ally "Come on we need to get your wand"
Harry looked towards Ron questioningly, but all Ron did was shrug his shoulders, mouthed 'girls' and started a casual pace towards the direction Hermione headed too.
Harry shook his head. 'I'll never understand girls, so glad I don't have Ranma's girl problems'
"Lets catch up with them Hagrid-san" Harry said and ran to catch up with Hermione.
Hagrid watched the three head off, thinking that those three are definitely not your average which and wizards.
r--
"Are we there yet?" Harry asked in a childish voice not unlike a child who had been cooped up in a car for a long time.
"For the third time Harry, no! Just a bit more, okay?" Hermione said frustrated.
"Okay" Harry said bored to tears. They have been walking for 15 minutes already and still haven't done anything.
"Oh hey look Ron-san, its Quality Quidditch" Harry said absentmindedly still sulking at having done nothing for the last 15 minutes.
But that all changed when, once again, Harry was all of a sudden dragged off his feet and rushed towards a store. This time the store was Quality Quidditch and it was Ron that was doing the dragging.
"Ron-san slow down! I am going to hit someth… URK!" Harry had tried to warn Ron that he was going to hit something, but he should learned after his first drag though a store that his pleas always fall to deaf ears.
Harry slowly peeled himself off of the wall that he had pleasure of getting acquainted with, and after saying a quick good-bye to the wall, he groggily made he way though the doorway that he had miss the first time when Ron dragged him through.
Finding Ron was easy enough thankfully, as Harry didn't think he was really up for searching for his friend with all the swirling that his vision was doing. Walking up to the Nimbus 2000 display Harry grabbed Ron and pulled him away from the display.
"Ron-san, why did you decide that it was okay to ram me into a wall?" Harry said after a couple of minutes to stop the swirling Ron's from moving.
"Oh, sorry Harry didn't mean to do that, Quidditch and all you know?" Ron said embarrassingly. He had just pulled a Hermione and that was embarrassing enough in his mind.
Shaking his head Harry sighed "Alright, Ron-san go ahead, I'll go find Hermione-chan and Hagrid-san now"
Ron smiled thankfully at Harry and ran off to that Nimbus 2000 display again while Harry went back outside to wave a confused Hagrid and Hermione over.
"'Ey, 'Arry, where did ya run off ta?" Hagrid asked
"Ron-san decided he needed to check something out and dragged me along just so I can keep his friend, the wall, company" Harry said annoyed, poking a few pressure points on his face so he didn't swell up.
Hermione giggled, obviously connecting Harry's comment and him poking at his red face. "So Harry, how was the visit with Mr. Wall?" Hermione asked teasingly.
"Smashing…" Harry said tersely and walked back into the store to see what was taking Ron so long.
"Harry, Harry look! The new Numbus 2000, suppose to be the fastest broom out there." Ron said excitedly,
Harry, even though he was a bit annoyed with Ron for smashing him into a wall, was very interested in Quidditch. It had always been his dream to fly, especially since he learned The Saotome Branch of Anything Goes. His style of martial arts focused on mid air battle, and it would be a wish come true to be able to fly.
Taking a look at the broom Harry noticed it's long, sleek, deep mahogany body and its finely shaped bushels at the end. The handle looked comfortable, yet firm enough to grip securely. There were also the words Numbus 2000 engraved in fancy lettering upon the side of the broom. Over all it was quite impressive.
'Wow, who would of ever though a simple broom would look so nice' Harry thought
Shaking his head to clear thoughts, Harry turned to Ron "Come on Ron-san, we need to go, I want to get my wand now!" Harry said excitedly, his bad mood disappearing almost instantly.
"Hang on Harry, just a few more minutes" Ron responded absentmindedly.
'Oh, no not this again' Harry slapped a hand to his face.
"Lets go Ron-san" Harry said forcefully and then walked up to Ron and slung Ron over his shoulder. "It's time to go"
"What are you doing, Harry! Put me down" Ron complained.
"Time to go Ron-san, I want to get my wand" Harry said stubbornly and marched right out the door with everybody else in the shop producing sweat drops at the sight.
r--
Harry walked in amazement at the feeling he was picking up. I had to be the largest concentration of ki he had ever felt! And he wasn't even trying to sense it! He and his group had been heading towards Ollivander's which supposedly a place where he could get a wand. But when he had cross the property line of the building his ki senses had flared to unimaginable heights. It was almost impossible to comprehend how much ki was being emitted from the building. He was actually scared to turn on his aura reading senses just because he was afraid he might go blind.
"Uh, Harry you think you can put me down now, Hagrid and Hermione here are giving us strange looks?" Ron interrupted.
Harry turned his head and turned red a bit, "Sorry, Ron-san, I kind of forgot you were only my shoulder" Harry said easing Ron down from his position on Harry's shoulder.
"Harry, how can you forget about something on your shoulder that weighs at least 100 lbs?" Hermione asked sweet dropping at the idea that Harry didn't notice and extra 100 lbs. added to his weight.
"Only a 100 lbs? Wow Ron-san where do you put all that food you eat?" Harry asked in amazement.
Harry's friends just gaped at him.
"Come on lets go in, I want to find out what is creating all this energy" Harry said excitedly.
Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid looked at each other shrugged and followed Harry in.
Harry looked around, other than the huge power surround this place. It particularly wasn't very grand at all. It was dark and un-colorful, but it felt old, very old. The room itself was quite big and it was filled to the brim with shelves. The shelves themselves where filled completely with small rectangular boxes which Harry assume held wands. In the middle of the waiting area, where Harry and his friends were standing stood a rickety old stool and a cashier counter currently unoccupied.
"This place always gives me the creeps" Ron murmured "Plus Mr. Ollivander always surprises you, no matter how prepared you are to see him."
"Uh huh, the first time I met him, he scared me half to death, I was practically hyperventilating" Hermione said clearly remembering the incident when Harry saw a flicker of embarrassment flashed in her eyes.
"Yep, he likes ta do that ta ya, dunno why though" Hagrid quipped taking a seat on the rickety stool.
"That my friend is a secret" A creepy voice said out loud from behind them.
Instantly Ron, Hermione and Hagrid jumped, hands clutching their chest where the heart would be. Hagrid himself actually let out a startled yelp and almost flattened the stool he was resting upon.
Harry watched this with a smirk on his face. He had caught Mr. Ollivander right before he had spoken up. The man was very good at masking his signature, almost as good as Tofu-sensei. Luckily Harry was able to sense that Mr. Ollivander was behind them when he felt a shift in the immense blanket of power surrounding him. He would have warned the others but his little mischievous side decided not to. Guess it was probably from being surprised to many times in the last week, especially with his latest encounters with Ron and Liz.
"Anyways, welcome, welcome" Mr. Ollivander greeted, not batting an eye at the surprised customers, though he did show a bit of surprise when he saw that Harry noticed him. Very few, if any, ever notice Mr. Ollivander when he is sneaking up on somebody.
"Not very often I get such a large group after school has started." Mr. Ollivander said in what Harry considered a joyful monotone voice, of course that really didn't make any sense to him, but it described it perfectly.
"Hello, Ollivander-san, I am in need of a wand" Harry said with a bow "My friends, though, are just here to accompany me."
"Ah, Harry Potter, I was actually expecting you much sooner" Mr. Ollivander replied once again in the joyful monotone voice.
"Harry Saotome Potter" Harry corrected still smiling, not really noticing that Mr. Ollivander had known who Harry was without introduction.
Mr. Ollivander nodded then turned to his other guests, who had just finally calmed down from his scare, and motioned them to a couple of chairs they hadn't noticed before.
"You may want to take a seat, you might be here for a bit. I believe Mr. Potter here is going to be an interesting customer " Mr. Ollivander said with mirth.
Turning back to the raven-haired boy Mr. Ollivander pulled out a long measuring tape. "Now, Mr. Potter, which is your wand arm?"
"Wand arm? What do you mean?" Harry asked confused
"You're most prominent arm Mr. Potter, are you left handed or right handed?" Mr. Ollivander said patiently.
"Err, I am both" Harry said a bit uncertain.
"Is that so?" Mr. Ollivander said with obvious surprise "Rare to find a wizard that is ambidextrous"
"Why is that Ollivander-san? I am sure there is plenty of people who are ambidextrous"
"Of course there are, just they are not wizards. As for why, I am sure Ms. Granger here could answer that later. As I have heard she is a plethora of knowledge even if it's only been a week into the new term"
Harry turned and looked at Hermione in surprised and Hermione returned the gesture. 'How did he know Hermione-chan's name, plus that fact that she is very smart?' Harry thought to himself.
"Come now Mr. Potter, take a seat and lets find you a wand."
Taking a seat on the antique stool Harry sat a still as possible as Mr. Ollivander started taking his measurements.
Shoulder to fingertip. Shoulder to elbow. Elbow to pointer finger. Elbow to wrist. Harry watched on with curiosity. That is until he noticed that Mr. Ollivander was shifting around in the selves in front of him. 'Nani?' Harry thought, 'Then who is taking my measurements?' Looked at the measuring tape again and found to his surprise that it was doing it on its own!
But before Harry could say anything about this Mr. Ollivander finally spoke up.
(1)"Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."
"That will do" Mr. Ollivander said to the tape measure. "Try this one, Beachwood and… This continued for a quite a while. To the point where Ron and Hermione was practically sleeping on Hagrid shoulder.
"You Mr. Potter are a tricky customer, I haven't even gotten close, it's like these wands are just sticks. Well, lets try one more and see where it gets us. Holly and Phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple"
This time it did do something but it wasn't what everybody expected. The minute the wand touched Harry's hand it started glowing but not the warm glow that almost all wands do when they meet their partner in life, I mean a deep red glow that was almost blinding. It even awoke Ron and Hermione who just stared when they cleared the fog from their eyes.
Before anybody could ask what was going on, another blinding light, this time deep blue, shone from the very back of the store. Everybody looked at the new source of light in confusion. Even Mr. Ollivander had a look of pure surprise on his face.
Quickly moving down the isle, Mr. Ollivander found the other wand that as glowing, and looked at it with surprise then walked back to Harry.
"Holly and… ice phoenix feather… eleven inches"
Harry looked at the wand in Mr. Ollivander's hands. Other than it glowing blue it was no different than the first wand. They both had a deep honey brown color with a darker brown handle that slightly glistened, most likely due to polish or wax. Both wands were smooth, flawless even and Harry was hard press not to just stare in awe at the craftsmanship of the wands.
Picking it up with his left hand a cold sensation ran through him, opposite to the warm sensation he got from the other one, though the cold sensation was anything but uncomfortable, it felt more like the cool embrace you feel when you jump into a pool on a hot summer day. When the two sensations mixed Harry was filled a feeling of completeness, like a part of him that he didn't know was missing came back.
Harry stared intently at the two wands as their glow dimmed to a barely noticeable light and looked up to Mr. Ollivander, "Does that… Does that always happen?" He whispered not specifying whether he meant the feelings he was receiving or the unusual light show the two wands produced.
Mr. Ollivander looked at him piercingly. "No, Mr. Potter, it isn't a normal occurrence, having two wands react to each other usually only happens when twins, who are almost perfectly identical, both in body and soul, get their first wands. The most recent pair of twins would be Fred and George Weasley. But I must say the nearly blinding light is a new one to me"
"What does that actually mean, Mr. Ollivander?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Ms. Granger, the most notable aspect would be the connection between the wands themselves. Unlike other wizards, the twins are able to use each other's wands without problems. They could even combine their spells to make a more powerful one." Mr. Ollivander explained.
Hermione looked confused. "Okay… but then how does this effect Harry?"
"That, my dear is a good question. Maybe the fact that he is ambidextrous has something to do with it or maybe it is something else. I don't know, nor do I know what does it mean for our young Mr. Potter here."
Hermione looked pointedly at Harry when Mr. Ollivander said "maybe it is something else" and Harry picked up that Hermione was thinking about his curse. Maybe it did mean something, he was sure that Hermione was going to look into this, he himself was curious about it.
"How very curious though" Mr. Ollivander
"What's curious?" Harry asked
"You see Mr. Potter, each and every one of these wands are hand made by either me or one of my ancestors. It just so happens that the Phoenix that gave the feather of your first wand also had a twin sister and that phoenix, an ice phoenix mind you, supplied the core for your second wand. What it means to have twin wands, I do not know however. It has never been seen before."
"An ice phoenix?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter an ice phoenix, which is considered extinct these days, the last one ever seen was when an ice phoenix donated that feather within the wand you are holding."
"Oh"
No one knew what to say, already there have been so many impossibilities so far, between Harry being ambidextrous to finding out that he was destine to hold dual wands, not to mention the two cores of the wands were twins.
"So how do I get the wand to stop glowing, I really don't need a night light…" Harry said offhandedly, trying to end the awkward silence of Mr. Ollivander's pondering to his group's bewilderment at the situation.
"Oh, my apologies, seems our little incident had distracted me from our original purpose. Lets see, ah yes, the glowing. Well just give each wand a flick, it should connect your wands it to your magic and cease the glowing.
Harry shrugged as everybody else tensed up in anticipation; even Mr. Ollivander wanted to see what would happen.
"Here goes nothing" Harry mumbled, and gave each wand a wave.
At first nothing happened but right when everybody was about to sigh in disappointment Harry exploded in power. He felt his ki reserves skyrocket, even past the power boost from his little burnout a couple week earlier. Harry finally understood where all the power in this little shop was coming from. It was coming from the wands themselves.
As if by instinct Harry raised the both wands and brought them both down pointed at the sidewall. The first wand let loose a huge ball of red light that created a huge explosion on impact taking away half the wall. It was quickly followed by the second wand, erupting a shower of blue sparks that sprinkled over the debris of the fallen wall, instantly the wall recreated it self, almost as if the destruction of the wall was played in rewind.
Each one of Harry's friends face faulted at the show of power by Harry's wands, Mr. Ollivander's eyes were twinkling madly in an uncanny resemblance to Albus Dumbledore.
"Bloody Hell…"
"Wow…"
"Blimey, 'Arry"
"Quite impressive"
Harry looked at in the eyes, then back to his wands, then to the wall where there used to be a hole.
In words of a true Hero, Harry exclaimed
"AWSOME! LETS DO IT AGAIN!"
(1) Mr.Ollivander's speech is taken straight out of the novel Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone I take no credit in creating it.
AN- Good? Bad? Anybody have guesses about the wands? Sorry for the lack of humor, just trying to get all this stuff out of the way. Glad people like the translations I put up, its going to be moved to the beginning of the story though so don't fret when it disappears.