AN: Okay, I seem to be writing more for this section of the story than I had intended, but it's all good, it's more story, yeah? The next chapter should consist of three things: Nanoha's next healing session, Christmas itself, as well as discussions regarding Hogwarts, and I guess this'll be where Harry will talk about the heir. I hope this story metts everyone's satisfaction, so please leave a review with any thoughts or comments please.

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Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN

Chapter 21 – Back In Uminari

Later that night, Harry could be found sitting on the roof. Mid-Childa was nicer than London, less pollution, and for a built up place it certainly retained some charm, though that might just be the novelty of the view. It reminded him of Hogwarts a little, the lack of pollution that is, as well as the feeling of magic in the air.

"You really suck at sneaking up on people, you know that, right?" Harry said, looking over his shoulder to see Hayate stood there.

"Heh, so you noticed me?" Hayate mumbled, walking towards Harry until she was stood next him.

Harry looked up at Hayate. "I'm surprised you're not downstairs with Reinforce. It's nice that she can get out and about like this, we can't really do that at Hogwarts, and I would have thought that you'd be taking advantage of her being so close."

Hayate sat down next to Harry, dangling her legs over the side of the roof like Harry was. "It's funny, you know. When Reinforce was supposed to be destroyed, I cried, I cried a lot. I didn't want her to go, but why didn't I want her to go? Was it because she was one of my knights? Was it because I didn't want anyone to die?"

Harry considered the question for a moment. "I'd say that you're a kind-hearted person, you wouldn't want to see anyone suffer." He decided. "It's perfectly natural to wish someone doesn't have to die. Of course, there exists people that do wish pain and death on others, but you are definitely not one of them."

Hayate was silent for a while, before she spoke again. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Harry chuckled. "You just did, but by all means, ask me something else."

Hayate let out a little huff at Harry's reply. "What's it like being an actual orphan?" She asked him. "I mean, I had Aria and Lotte when I was young, then shortly after they left my knights turned up. From what I've heard, your aunt and uncle... didn't like you, so I can't imagine it was pleasant... I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm prying, but-"

Harry shook his head and interrupted her. "It's okay, and I guess I'm not really an orphan, it turns out that my parents are alive after all." Harry sighed. "As for the Dursleys, well, as long as I stayed out of their way, remained quiet, and worked like a slave for them, they were content to ignore the fact that I existed."

"That sounds pretty bad." Hayate leaned lightly against Harry's side. "And what do you mean 'your parents are alive'? I thought the whole reason you went to your aunt and uncle was because they were killed by that Dark Lord guy."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know what happened back then. I found out when I was eleven that I was apparently stillborn, yet here I am. In the Wizarding World, I am hailed as the 'Boy-Who-Lived', and my parents are well-known, and well known to be dead, yet they are apparently living in Canada with my siblings."

"They're... in Canada?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, I actually plan to confront them next summer. If I drop a barrier around the place then they'll be unable to apparate or portkey away, yet I don't know whether I'm ready or not to face them. I mean, until I was eleven, all I knew about them was what Vernon and Petunia told me, that they were drunk layabouts that died in a drunken car accident. Then I find out that my parents are actually alive, and I have a twin brother and a younger sister too. Of course, this is before I find out I'm famous, and just how much reverence and care people speak of my supposedly dead parents with."

Hayate winced at the bitter tone in his voice. "Well you have us now!" She chirped, trying to cheer him up. "If you think any of us are going to just up and leave you, you've got another thing coming! I don't think Nanoha likes the idea of leaving people behind, especially not those she's befriended."

Harry shuddered. He'd seen the 'White Devil's' memories that Reinforce had absorbed during their battle, that girl had a violent streak. It was also crazy the way she turned her enemies into allies with her 'forceful' approach. Seriously, Harry was pretty sure that some would choose to be her friend simply to avoid being blasted.

Harry looked over at Hayate again, seeing a thoughtful look on her face. "Is there any particular reason you sought me out tonight? I can tell by the expression on your face that something is eating away at you, and maybe if you let me know what it is then I might be able to help."

Hayate gave Harry a wry smile at being seen through like that. "I'm wondering if any of this 'Terran' magic can help me with my control. I don't really like being known for my lack of ability to be anything but an undirected magical nuke. No matter how much I practise, my aim is still really bad, and my control is atrocious. The Unison Device that we were making based off Reinforce was being created primarily to regulate and control my mana."

Harry cocked his head to one side and thought about it for a moment. "I think I understand what your problem might be. Normally a mage starts out with less power, and as they practise and improve their control, their power grows as they do. You, however, had absolutely no training or practise or anything, and you had a truly massive amount of power thrust upon you, leaving you flailing around looking for a way to use that power efficiently and effectively."

Hayate nodded her head.

"Well, I can think of a few ways to try and sort that out, though I couldn't tell you how effective they'd be. The first idea is to wear a magical limiter, and bind most of your magic. Once you can use that reduced amount of magic properly, loosen the bindings a bit, then work on the next level of power until you're back at full strength." Harry suggested.

"Another idea is to exhaust yourself, casting spells until you've only got so much mana left, then practise with that little amount. There's also the possibility of starting big and working downwards from there; use the most powerful spell you know, then try and focus it. When you've managed to hit your target with a large area of effect spell, choose a weaker one with a small radius of damage, until you can cast that with a fair amount of accuracy, and then keep working downwards until you can control the smallest spells." Harry continued, giving the ideas he'd just thought up off the top of his head.

"So no quick fix with Terran magic then?" Hayate asked, shoulders slumping.

Harry thought about things for a moment, before withdrawing his wand and handing it to Hayate. "Try casting a spell with my wand, let's see what happens. Hmm, which spell to attempt though..." Harry considered it for a moment. "Okay, I'm going to put my hand over yours, so try and remember these wand movements."

Harry got up and sat behind Hayate, before putting his arm around her and resting his hand on top of hers. Gently, he began to guide her hand into the required movements, increasing his speed after every three repetitions until it was up to a moderate casting rate.

"Okay, now for the incant- Hayate, are you okay? Your face is rather red, do you need to see Shamal for a check up?" Harry stopped and looked at Hayate for a moment.

"N-No, I'm perfectly fine. Now, what was that incantation?" Hayate quickly replied.

"If you say so." Harry muttered. "As for the incantation, it is Stupefy, Stu–pe-fy." Harry took the wand from her hand and asked her to repeat the incantation several times until her pronunciation was correct.

"Now, spells in Terran magic aren't the same as Belkan and Mid-Childan ones. A large part of wizard magic is intent, actually wanting something to happen, commanding it to do so, bending it to your will, an- Hayate, are you sure you're okay, your face has gotten even redder?"

"I'm good, I'm good!" She flailed her arms for a moment, trying to not think about what Harry or just said, or how he sounded when he was saying it. "So what were you saying?"

Harry shook his head, thinking that he should probably tell Shamal to get Hayate checked out tomorrow as well. "Intent is important in magic, and sometimes so is emotion. What I'm teaching you is a stunning spell. It's commonly used by Aurors, law enforcement, despite how easy it is to awaken someone with a simple 'Rennervate' spell. Therefore, when casting this spell, I want you to clearly picture someone or something being knocked unconscious temporarily. Imagine how their vision will instantly darken, how they'll loose control of their limbs and flop to the ground, the loss of control and of consciousness."

When it seemed she had it, Harry handed his wand back to her. "Now, combine those three things together, incantation, wand movements, and imagery. Cast the spell into the sky, let it emerge from the tip of the wand."

"Stupefy!" Hayate yelled, pointing Harry's wand off into the distance. However, instead of a red light jumping from the tip and flying off, an almost solid looking beam of red erupted with all of the force of a volcano. Harry actually felt Hayate's body get thrown backwards into him from the force of it.

Harry wrapped his arms around her to prevent her falling off the roof. "Okay, that's a fair bit more powerful than I was expecting." He muttered. "I wonder... would Occlumency help you learn some control. It's a possibility if nothing else, and it couldn't hurt anyway." Harry's thoughts paused for a second, and he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.

Hayate let out a small huff of laughter. "The sad thing is, that spell was probably the most controlled and low-powered one I've ever cast." She handed Harry's wand back to him. "Do you think, if we do get approval for a mission, that I'll be one of those that come along for it?"

Harry considered things for a moment. "While the TSAB does employ rather... young individuals, it's not too common, is it?"

Hayate hesitated for a moment. "Age doesn't matter to the TSAB, skill does. If a six year old was mature enough and had desirable skills, the TSAB would employ them. Obviously that's an extreme example, but it is nevertheless true. I mean, look at us, Nanoha, Fate, and I enlisted as cadets when we were ten."

Harry sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Okay then, instead of age, let's think of who would be able to fit in easiest. You three are the ones most familiar with Earth, and that's where the mission would take place, so it's likely that the mission would fall to you guys, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we are native to Earth, so it would be easier for us to infiltrate it, wouldn't it?" Hayate asked.

Harry nodded. "Now, why don't you get back inside. From my mental connection with Reinforce, it seems she drank too much alcohol and is currently out of it. She would make a good teddy bear, no?"

Hayate chuckled a little, before giving Harry a hug. "I don't know, you seem pretty comfy yourself." She released Harry and hopped down and back inside the house, no doubt to mole- I mean, 'sleep' next to Reinforce.

"You can come out now, I already know you're there." Harry said, apparently to thin air.

Two heads peeked over the edge of the roof, one blonde-haired and the other raven-haired, as Shamal and Loki stopped hiding and climbed onto the roof properly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Isis not with you?" He asked, surprised. Isis was usually all over him, so it was expected that she would be one of those eavesdropping on him. Then again, Loki was the more responsible and mature one, so he might have been doing so in order to keep a protective eye on Harry.

"No." Loki shook his head. "It seems our dear unicorn has little tolerance for alcohol, and she was out of it after only a little bit."

Shamal gave Harry a look. "Hypocrite." She muttered. "Never mind sending Hayate to bed, you need sleep as well. Go on, get down there and get some sleep, and stop flirting with everything in a skirt. Jeez, as if that 'healing' with Nanoha wasn't bad enough, you've not got Hayate blushing like a- Okay, maybe she is a schoolgirl, but that's not the point."

Harry's brow creased in confusion. "What are you talking about? All Hayate was asking for was some help with learning control, it wasn't like she was trying to seduce me like Isis is always doing."

There was silence for a moment, before Loki burst out laughing and Shamal palmed her face. The raven familiar reached over and patted Harry on the back. "I knew you needed a clue for Reinforce, and you're normally not dense, but I guess even you are oblivious to some things. Ah, I knew there was a reason I chose you."

"You chose me? If you recall, Loki, I was the one who purchased you when you were still a raven, and I am also the one who turned you into my familiar." Harry replied.

Shamal grabbed both Harry and Loki by the shoulders and dragged them both into the house. "It doesn't matter who chose who, let's just all get inside and get some sleep."

xxxxx

The next morning, Harry was one of the first awake. He was not the first one up though, as evidenced when he came across Lindy looking something up, holographic screens with various files open all around her and a mug of tea on the table next to her.

"Good morning." Harry greeted her.

"Good morning, Harry." Lindy replied with a yawn. "You, Reinforce, Loki, and Isis are getting your check-ups this morning, I've already booked an appointment in for you all at ten forty-five. It won't be an in-depth scan, just enough to make sure nothing is seriously wrong with any of you."

Harry nodded his head "Thank you." He then gestured at all of the screens. "What's all this?" He asked.

"It's everything I've been able to dig up on the Book of Darkness incidents and the higher ups of the TSAB. Having Reinforce out and about is going to cause an explosion sooner or later, and the better handle we can get on it, the easier it will be to get through everything. Her check up this morning should tell us if she's dangerous, well, dangerous aside from the massive amount of mana and the extensive list of spells she has available to her." Lindy told him.

Harry nodded his head, and decided to help her out. While Lindy used her access to gather as much information as possible, Harry began to sort it appropriately, making notes of files that were connected together, any inconsistencies there were, and anything else noteworthy.

They stayed like that for almost an hour. In that time, everyone else in the house had woken up and gotten ready for the day. A few of them were watching Harry and Lindy with amused smiles on their faces, something about the sight just making mirth bubble just below the surface.

When those who lived elsewhere also arrived, Lindy stopped her search and cracked her neck and fingers. She sighed. "Ah, Harry, you'd make someone a very good secretary. Tell me, are you looking for anything with the TSAB? I'd snap you up in an instant, I hate paperwork."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "At school, I kind of accidentally created a homework and study group of sorts. Most of my year and below come along and everyone helps each other out, and even a few upper years turn up to it. Someone had to keep it organised, and that task fell to me."

"Hmm. Well, whatever it is, you've just made this so much easier, even if it is your fault I'm doing it in the first place." Lindy gave Harry a mock glare, before smiling and looking around. "Everyone's here, I see. Well, let's head off to get these four checked out then, we've a little time until the appointment." She gestured at Harry, Reinforce, Loki, and Isis.

"Well then, let's get going." Harry said, getting nods of agreement from Reinforce and his familiars.

xxxxx

The examinations weren't as bad as Harry was expecting them to be, though he still felt mildly uncomfortable during them. The process was different for Loki and Isis, just as it was different for Harry and Reinforce. The familiars had their basic health checked out, what one would expect of a normal human examination on Earth, but with a few additions dependant on which animal they had been converted from.

Both Loki and Isis were a bit unusual as far as familiars went. Most chose cats, dogs, and those sorts of animals for familiars. Loki, being a bird, required a slightly different examination, and they had called in a vet to check over his raven form.

Isis was even stranger. Horses, while rather rare, still existed as familiars, but on top of being equine in nature, Isis went one step further because she wasn't a horse, she was a unicorn. She gave the vet a rather big shock when she showed him her animal form, the man had obviously not expected the horn on her head to be there.

Harry and Reinforce had to be examined together, side by side. It turned out that, yes, their Linker Cores were closely tied together, so closely in fact that it was virtually impossible to tell one from the other, as they seemed to be pretty much fused together, like two sides of a coin. Tails and Heads might be different, but you couldn't separate the two without destroying the coin. However, whether this meant Reinforce would live a mortal life with Harry, or Harry would live a theoretically endless one with Reinforce, none could tell.

They did find that the corrupted programs that had initially caused The Tome of the Night Sky to become The Book of Darkness had almost completely been wiped out. There were remnants left, scraps, but for some reason they all clung to Harry, where they would have no noticeable effect on either of them.

The one checking them up did say that Reinforce was in rather dire need of a calibration soon, and there were a few things missing or damaged that needed replacing. The most affected was her memory, a chunk of the spells that were stored within her were missing, mostly medical ones it seemed.

Shamal agreed to transfer all the spells she had to Reinforce when she was fully repaired, to see if any of them were amongst the missing ones, and they got in contact with Yuuno as well, who said that he'd collaborate a list of all the spells he came across while working in the Infinite Library that they could browse through whenever they needed it.

xxxxx

"I'm glad that's over and done with." Harry sighed as they left the hospital.

"Yes, and it'll help my report that Reinforce is no longer directly connected to the corrupted programs." Lindy added. Harry noticed the play on words she had used. While tiny little fragments of the corrupted programs were embedded into himself, none of them were in direct contact with Reinforce, meaning she was technically being truthful, even if she was missing something out. Harry was grateful for that.

"Does that mean it's time to go see Nanoha?" Fate asked.

Harry checked the time. "Madam Pomfrey did say she'd have her ready by about now, so I guess so. I'll be taking her to her parents straight away though, so it might be better to drop you lot off in Uminari, and then go retrieve Nanoha myself with maybe one or two others, we don't want to overwhelm either Nanoha or Poppy."

"I'm coming." Fate stated firmly, not backing down.

Shamal let out a little giggle, making everyone give her a curious look. She waved them off. "Oh, I'm just remembering Nanoha's first healing session, it was... far more 'intense' than I was expecting, more so than any healing I've ever seen before."

"Intense?" Lindy asked with a raised eyebrow, taking note of how Shamal had stressed that word.

"I'm sure you'll see what I mean when the next treatment comes along, it's quite a sight to see, and this time Nanoha will be awake for it." Shamal continued to grin, or was that a smirk on her face?

"I'll go with Fate and Harry to pick up Nanoha, having an adult there might be a better idea than letting just children, or those that appear to be children, go by themselves." Lindy said.

"You up for that, Fawkes? One large group to Uminari, then three people to the Hospital Wing, four back?" Harry asked the phoenix, rather glad that he'd decided to spend the Christmas holidays with him, his aid was invaluable.

Fawkes ducked his head and sang a few notes that Harry decided to interpret as a 'yes'.

"Alright then. Everyone get in close and make sure you're touching a part of our wonderful helper Fawkes here." Hey, a little flattery didn't hurt anyone. "Everyone touching him? Right, when you're ready, Fawkes."

A burst of fire engulfed them and, a moment later, they were standing in an empty alley in Uminari City on Earth.

Lindy blinked for a moment. "If we could find out how to replicate that, interplanetary transport problems would be a thing of the past. It normally takes at least a few days, if not a week to go between here and Mid-Childa. To just travel between them in a second... it boggles the mind."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Fawkes can go anywhere he has been before, and he can be called by those he has put his trust in. I'm someone he has decided to trust, though I have absolutely no idea why, so I am rather lucky that way. Now, are we going to Hogwarts to pick Nanoha up?"

Everyone bar Harry, Fate, and Lindy let go of Fawkes and began to make their way to their own homes. They would all meet up again for supper though, considering the time difference it was now almost eight in the afternoon in Japan, whereas it was midday in the UK and where they had been on Mid-Childa.

With another burst of fire, Fawkes was off to the Hospital Wing once more.

xxxxx

Poppy Pomfrey barely looked up from what she was doing when she heard the crackle of flames and felt the wave of warm air flow over her. Instead, she continued to mark down this Nanoha Takamachi girl's current health. She did look up when she heard three sets of footsteps approaching her.

She raised an eyebrow at the oddities of her visitors. "Red eyes? Green hair? It seems natural too." She shook her head. "I'm not going to bother asking, Harry, just remember to be careful, okay?"

Nanoha, hearing Madam Pomfrey's words, turned around to see who was behind her. "Fate! Lindy!" She waved at them. "Look at me, I'm all better now." She smiled widely while gesturing down at her body. Her physical condition was indeed back as it was before, but a simple glance wouldn't be able to tell you anything about her Linker Core.

"Oh, no, you are not back in top shape, young lady." Poppy admonished her. "Have you any idea just how much damage you did to your core? Honestly, I can't imagine what would push someone with as much mana as you have to push your limits even further." She then eyed Harry. "Then again, I think I can name at least one more person who is... curious about their own limits, and is always pushing himself to learn something new."

Lindy chuckled and patted Harry on the head patronisingly. "Just how much have you picked up from Reinforce? She has her Collect and Use skill to learn new things rapidly, were you trying to emulate that, or are you just naturally curious?"

Harry growled low in his throat and gave Lindy a small glare, before turning back to Nanoha who was smiling at him. He cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ah, Madam Pomfrey said it's thanks to you that I'm getting healed up as well as I am, and that you were directly involved in the healing itself, so thank you, Harry." As Nanoha gave him a small bow, Harry idly wondered if he should invest in some shades, that girl's smile was blinding in its brilliance.

"It's not a problem, Nanoha, I was just helping out where I could. It would have been terrible if you were unable to wield magic ever again." He didn't mention how she may not have been able to even walk if he hadn't interfered. "It'd also be rather sad if your smile dimmed, it's rather beautiful and you're not the sort of girl who should be sad."

Lindy sighed as Nanoha's cheeks got a faint dusting of pink on them, and Fate gave Harry an odd look, somewhere between 'thank you' and 'mine!', which he didn't quite understand, but he shrugged it off. He was only being honestly after all, from the memories Reinforce had absorbed and Harry had seen, Nanoha really was a cheery girl, and it would be sad if she stopped smiling.

"Right, are you ready to go?" Harry asked, before looking at Poppy. "Is there any more tests she needs?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "No, she's good to go. Bring her back tomorrow morning though, so I can take another look at her. From what I can tell, however, she's healing fast, like children tend to. I'm thinking that we might be able to fully sort her out with with another three or four treatments over the next two weeks. Remember, she's banned from casting any spells at all until I give her the go ahead."

"Understood." Lindy said to Pomfrey. "Rest assured that we will not let her cast at all, and she will be taking the holidays easy, no studying until you collapse, got that, Nanoha?"

Nanoha rubbed the back of her head and ducked her head in embarrassment, maybe she had been pushing herself too hard. Look where that had gotten her, critically injured and relying on healers to make sure she was even able to use magic again. Without magic, what could she do? She wouldn't be who she was today without her Linker Core, and the prospect of loosing it really frightened her.

Pomfrey handed Harry Nanoha's medical record, as the other three clustered around Fawkes. A burst of fire and, once again, they were in Uminari City. Harry idly hummed to himself as he read the report, looking for any issues before they became problems.

Nanoha and Fate shared amused looks at the sight of Lindy keeping a hand on his shoulder and guiding him to the Midori-ya, where Loki and Isis were waiting for him, and where he was supposed to be taking Nanoha, to see her parents. It didn't take long to get there, and Harry instantly knew when they arrived, due to Isis glomping him if nothing else.

Isis dragged them all over to a table in the corner, where Loki was sitting. Harry continued to read through the medical report, comparing Nanoha's condition when she'd first arrived in the hospital, to what treatment she'd received on Mid-Childa, and then onto what Madam Pomfrey had added to it.

When a shadow fell over them, Harry was broken from his reading, and looked up to see Shiro and Momoko Takamachi taking a seat across from a suddenly nervous Nanoha. Momoko and Shiro both looked like this was a conversation that was going to be awkward, and Harry was thinking about giving them some space. That was until Momoko asked him to tell them exactly what was in the medical report he was reading.

Harry sighed. "In basic terms, Nanoha pushed herself past her limits. Due to overuse of the Cartridge system and Excellion mode, her bones, muscles, ligaments, cartilage, everything really, had become stressed and damaged. The incident with the Gadget Drone simply pushed her over the edge, resulting in her body, for lack of a better term, to break down. Her Linker Core was also stressed badly, and it was in the process of collapsing when I got involved."

Nanoha winced as her injuries were listed off like that. "The physical injuries, for wizards, are dead easy to heal. You can see that Nanoha is, physically at least, completely healthy. Right now, her Linker Core is what's damaged. Madam Pomfrey is quietly confident that we may be able to fully heal that in perhaps two weeks, with another three or four... treatments."

Fate, Nanoha, and Lindy all wondered why Harry blushed at that, though Shiro and Momoko seemed well aware of what he was referring to. Shiro's knuckles tightened slightly, and Momoko twitched a little as well as blushing slightly, but both were aware that what was done was all in the name of helping their daughter to recover, though perhaps they should have a... talk with this boy.

Momoko sighed. "Thank you for being honest with us." She said. "Now, we... we really want to talk to you about what you are doing, Nanoha. We have always supported you, but this magic, we don't know anything about it, and we worry about you, especially when we suddenly find out you're critically injured. We are wondering whether what you're doing is safe for you, we don't to lose you, my dear daughter."

Nanoha stiffened up at that, but Shiro was already speaking. "Now, don't get us wrong, Law Enforcement is a wonderful thing to be involved in. It would also be rather hypocritical of me to tell you to just leave it because of danger, but we still want you to be safe all the same, and maybe you can wait until you are older to go out on more dangerous assignments."

Lindy interjected at that point. "Currently, I'm writing up a proposal for a small group of Mages to try and learn about the Wizarding World of Earth from within. Now, if this proposal goes through, though I haven't submitted it yet, Mages from Earth would probably be the best operatives we could have, and seeing as the easiest point of access is a school..."

Harry let his thoughts drift off as all of the adults talked. His eyes landed on Nanoha and he grimaced as one thought danced across his mind.

He was so not looking forward to her next treatment, where she would be awake for the whole thing.