But For a Stone (A Matou Shinji Series AU)

A Harry Potter / Fate Stay Night Story

Disclaimer: Though I wish it were otherwise, I do not own or in any way, shape or form hold a legal or moral claim to elements of either the Nasuverse, the Potterverse, or other works I may reference in the course of this story.

Summary: What if there had never been a Boy-Who-Lived? What if, at the end of the Wizarding War, young Harry Potter had died alongside his mother and father, killed in the explosion that destroyed the house at Godric's Hollow? What if there was no figure of hope for the British Wizarding Community to rally around, just a knowledge of the high cost of victory? And how will Matou Shinji, fresh come into his status as a wizard, adapt in a Hogwarts with no easy route to fame...or notoriety?With this, Shinji's preparations for heading to Britain are now complete. He has a wand, basic school supplies, and books to study - both of which he has a decent aptitude for, and by the time he receives a Portkey to take him to Kings Cross, he feels ready.


Chapter 28. Clouded Feelings

As it turns out, Tonks has never heard of this Shakespeare fellow whose birthplace the group is going to visit, which makes some of the other tourists quite curious about her, since there aren't many other reasons one would visit Stratford-upon-Avon. Still, that alone doesn't shake the premonition of disaster that Shinji feels, with something dark looming just about the corner.

'Its like I'm being watched...'

That...was probably just paranoia. Maybe because he hadn't slept enough. Or because of the odd topics they had talked about in the car.

It was tempting to say nothing, but…he thought he should probably at least ask for advice. Even if it would probably turn out to be nothing in the end.

Taking a deep breath, the boy steeled his courage…

"...I don't know if I'm just imagining things, but I think someone's been following us for a while," the boy mentioned to Amber. "Ever since we went to get tickets for the Beowulf showing tonight. Or at least, I feel like I'm being watched."

He'd tried to look around a bit himself, but when he did, there wasn't anyone to be seen.

'Maybe I'm just bad with crowds?'

There were a great many people here, after all - more than he had expected from a village like this, though in retrospect, perhaps he should have expected more people to be interested in a place with such history.

'...I used to find history interesting before I came to Hogwarts, too. It's just, with Binns as a teacher...' Nothing was interesting. Not goblin rebellions. Not giant wars. Not the nonsense about the Statute of Secrecy. Everything was just delivered in a bone-dry recitation that put him to sleep without fail, regardless of how often Natsumi chided him. 'If only I could absorb all his knowledge without having to sit through his lectures...'

He thought there might be a ritual for that, but it was likely a bit on the complex side. And then there was the matter of getting the ghost into a position to be drained of all its knowledge...

"Following us?" Phelan asked curiously, interrupting his train of thought. "How exciting!"

Exciting wasn't the word Shinji would have used, but he supposed he had to make allowances for people of...odd beliefs and tastes.

"Exciting?" Shinji echoed. "How is being followed exciting?"

"You never know," the earl's son joked. "What if you have a secret admirer, with those dark, exotic looks of yours?"

"...if you're about to say my hair looks like seaweed, I am going to hit you."

"What? Why would I say that?" Phelan asked, taken aback by the Japanese boy's rather…direct words. "I mean, what does seaweed even look like?"

Shinji sighed and shook his head as Amber giggled, amused at the verbal byplay between the two.

"That aside, why would someone be following you anyway?" Tonks asked aloud.

Only, when the reply came, it was from a most unexpected source.

"It's because he's surrounded by wrackspurts," a voice said dreamily from behind them, with Shinji turning with a start to see a young blonde girl with wide, eternally surprised eyes the color of stormclouds, wearing plums for earrings and a necklace of corks.

"Wrack..spurts?" Shinji echoed. Were those...some kind of magical creature?

The girl nodded, a hum escaping her pale lips.

"They're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy," she confirmed, her words almost musical to his ears.

"Ah." That...would explain why he had been having trouble concentrating in the last few days. Though...did they really make someone's thoughts grow fuzzy or were they just attracted to people whose thoughts were already fuzzy? "And how do I...get rid of them?"

"Thinking positive thoughts" was the not entirely satisfactory reply.

'A feedback loop then? They come to people who are feeling distracted and irritable, and worsen their mood?'

It sounded plausible at least.

"I see. I'm Matou Shinji, by the way," he said, with a bow and a flourish, remembering his manners.

"You're the one of the two who bought lifetime subscriptions to the Quibbler as gifts," the young blonde noted idly. "Luna Lovegood, by the by."

"Ah. Charmed," Shinji replied, smiling slightly.

"I am Amber Noel, eldest daughter of the sixth Earl of Gainsborough," the copper-haired girl by the Japanese boy's side spoke up. "And this is—" she added, gesturing at her wayward brother.

"I am Phelan," the earl's son interrupted. "And I am quite capable of introducing myself, sister."

"I wouldn't know," Amber countered. "You have seemed eager to prove otherwise many a time."

"You bought a lifetime subscription as well," the blonde girl noted, her stormy grey gaze seeming to look right through the earl's son. "For a Miss Granger."

"Um, yes," Phelan frowned. "T-that's right...but how did you know that?" he asked, looking at the new girl owlishly.

"Oh, my father is the editor for the Quibbler. He was very excited. No one has ever bought a lifetime subscription before."

"Ah, no one, you say? Then, you...you're most welcome," Phelan replied, his voice growing soft as he did. "Are you alone today, mi'lady? Do you come here often?"

Amber just shook her head at Phelan's use of that particular line, even if she knew he didn't mean anything bad by it.

"Oh, I'm visiting for the day with dad," came the dreamy response. "We're on our way to the butterfly farm."

"And…where is he?" Shinji asked, not seeing a paternal figure anywhere in sight.

"The loo."

'…well, when you have to go, you have to go, I suppose…'

"...I see," Amber observed, blinking. "Do you...go to Hogwarts by any chance? I don't think I recognize you…"

She didn't look older than their age, after all.

"I start next year," was Luna Lovegood's answer. "Do you?"

"Yes. We're first years," Amber replied.

"Well, I'm not," Tonks interjected, speaking up for the first time in a while, and honestly a bit unnerved by how the young girl had just walked up to them. "Miss Lovegood, it's dangerous to follow strangers around, you know. Who knows who they might be?"

"I do, since you all just told me," Luna replied distantly, a response that rather annoyed the Auror trainee.

"I didn't," Tonks sniffed.

"You didn't need to," the girl murmured, her grey eyes glancing at the young Hogwarts alumna. "Everyone knows who you are, Miss Dora," the young Lovegood girl answered. "Or was it Miss Nymphadora?"

"...Tonks. It's just Tonks," the Auror trainee growled.

The young blonde nodded.

"As you say, Miss Just Tonks."

"…Miss Tonks, if you have to," the metamorphmagus replied tersely. "None of this Dora or Just business, and certainly not Nymphadora."

But the girl just tilted her head.

"Why would you not want to be called the gift of the muses?"

"Because boys have a dirty mind," Tonks mumbled, with Shinji and Phelan both instinctively taking a step back.

"Oh," Luna commented, her eyes wide. "But how can a mind be dirty?"

"...you'll understand when you're older, Miss Lovegood," the Auror trainee replied, giving the standard reply to troublesome youths who asked too many questions. The Hogwarts alumna clearly wanted to say something else, but decided to bite her tongue.

A fortunate thing too, as a most eccentric-looking man came out of a building to join them. He was slightly cross-eyed, with shoulder-length white hair the texture of candyfloss, and was dressed in a suit of an eye-watering shade of egg-yolk yellow.

"Ah, Luna, there you are," the new arrival commented. "I see you found friends."

"Yes. Two of them bought lifetime subscriptions to the Quibbler, too," the girl added, with the man looking astonished as he literally did a doubletake.

"What? Oh, oh I see!" he said animatedly. "Then you two are Phelan Noel and Mako…err…Makar Shinra. And I do see Miss Black as well?"

"...it's Matou Shinji, actually," the Japanese boy corrected, though given that that they'd never met, he was satisfied that this newcomer at least had gotten the first syllables of his first and last name right.

"And as I said before, the name is Tonks," the Auror trainee said with some impatience.

"Ah, details, details." The man glossed over their rebukes, as if they didn't bother him at all. Perhaps that was something one needed to be an effective member of the press? "Still, this is marvelous. Just marvelous," the man said rubbing his hands together. "It's been so long since my daughter introduced me to her friends."

"Err…"

"You are her friends, yes?" the editor of the Quibbler asked. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Xenophilius Lovegood, and I must treat you all to lunch!"

He glanced around.

"...if you know a good place, that is."

The twins – and Shinji – looked at one another. The man before them was so earnest that it hurt, and he seemed so hopeful that they were all Luna's friends that it would be very awkward to beg off.

A wordless moment passed, before Phelan stepped forward, offering the man and his lovely daughter a dashing smile.

"Well, if you're offering, I see no reason not to accept," Phelan spoke up. "It's not every day that I get to accompany such a charming young lady and her father for a meal, after all." Then he turned to his sister. "Sister, I don't suppose you would know a place? You were the one who suggested coming out here today, after all."

"Perhaps one or two," Amber admitted, as the trip hadn't been completely spontaneous. She had found that a bit of research and other preparation often helped to ensure success in her endeavours, no matter how seemingly spontaneous they were. "Of those, for a group like this, I think Moons would be best."

"Moons?" Luna echoed, her eyes lighting up a hint at the name. "I didn't see such a sign, though it's a lovely name."

"Well, I can see why you'd think so," the copper-haired girl quipped, shaking her head. "It's actually called Edward Moon, after a famous traveling chef who was famous among governors and ambassadors of the Empire."

"The...Empire?" Tonks asked, looking somewhat puzzled. "What Empire?"

"The British Empire, of course, upon which the sun never sets," Amber replied, raising a slim eyebrow as she noted that Tonks didn't seem to recognize her terms. What did witches and wizards learn in history, she wondered, that they didn't even recognize the name of what was once the greatest empire in the world? "Admittedly, the saying was first coined for the Spanish Empire, but our Empire surpassed theirs several hundred years ago." She harrumphed mildly. "In any case, Edward Moon was well known for creating a culinary 'England' wherever he was posted, with his banquets becoming legend in certain circles."

"...I thought Britain was so bent on conquering most of the world because it wanted better food?" Shinji remarked, offering his – admittedly limited – view on the matter. "So why are we going to a place which serves English food?"

"Because what we accept as part of English fare now is a bit broader than it once was, thanks to those conquests and interactions," Amber commented, shaking her head. "We eat spaghetti carbonara or curry as often as a traditional roast, we have tea and sandwiches where hundreds of years ago the concept of a sandwich did not exist, and more! We borrow from other traditions to enrich ours. Edward Moon was famed for doing much the same, unlike the chefs of Hogwarts, whose fare is too traditional for my tastes."

"I don't think pumpkin juice is traditional, sister," Phelan pointed out.

"And so it isn't, as pumpkins are hardly traditional in our cuisine, having come from the Americas!" the earl's daughter exclaimed. "Which makes it all the more curious why it is served at school."

Perhaps pumpkins had been adopted as a part of wizarding cuisine because they were hardy crops which could grow on every continent except Antarctica?

'Not that I've ever heard of a practitioner of witchcraft who farms...' Shinji thought to himself. 'Speaking of which, where do they get their food?' Walking around Hogwarts, he'd seen a small vegetable patch and a few chickens, but he didn't imagine that paltry amount to be sufficient for the entire student body, unless... 'Are they just duplicating everything with Gemino?'

Come to think of it, this would explain the rather repetitious menu, as well as the nigh endless quantities of food that were served at each meal.

'Maybe even the pumpkin juice, if few others wanted pumpkins except for practitioners of witchcraft, perhaps they just made a virtue of necessity, liking it because it was what they had.'

"Pumpkins are from America? I...did not know that," Tonks replied, taken aback by the notion that one of her favorite drinks as a student had a...foreign origin.

"I hate to admit it, but my sister is usually right about these things," Phelan admitted, turning to the girl in question. "So...this Moons is good then, sister of mine?"

"So our brother says, at least, and whatever else I think about him, I trust his taste in fine restaurants," Amber noted. "As Viscount Campden, he's dined at enough of them, after all."

"...well, that's fair," the earl's son allowed. "Henry does have good taste, even if he's a few years older than us. So, Moons then?"

There were no objections, so to Edward Moon they went, with an odd look suddenly coming over Xenophilius' face, as if he'd forgotten something.


...that something turned out to be enough muggle money to pay for such a large group, once they were seated and looking at the menu, as the editor of the Quibbler remembered belatedly that he'd only expected to be spending the day with his daughter and had budgeted accordingly.

"That's fine," Amber said quietly, looking at the eccentric older man compassionately. "I made sure to bring more than enough, just in case of any surprises."

"You're a thoughtful one, hm?" Xenophilius noted, shaking his head. "But I offered to treat, so it would be most inconsiderate of me to make one of my guests treat me instead..." Beyond being inconsiderate, it would make him something of a failure as a man in society. "Could I offer you all subscriptions to the Quibbler for your trouble?"

"There's no need to go that far," Amber replied with a slight smile, thinking the man's earnestness, while awkward, was at least well-meaning. It was clear he cared deeply about his daughter, after all, and there were plenty of men who couldn't claim even that much. "Such mistakes can happen to anyone."

Even so, to let a young girl pay for everyone's meals...

A small pouch landed on the table in front of Amber with a heavy clank, with Xenophilius silently nodding for the girl to take it and open it.

Inside...was a considerable number of galleons, gleaming gold.

"This is..."

"About fifty galleons," the man explained. "I think that should be enough."

"It's too much!" Over three times what this meal would cost, given the special lunch price of £13.50 for all involved. "I couldn't possibly..." Shaking her head, Amber counted out eleven of the golden coins for herself and pocketed them, while passing the rest back to the rather surprised man.

"...you're an honest sort, aren't you?" Xenophilius observed, his expression thoughtful. "Though not sparing of an old man's feelings, I'll note."

"Feelings are one thing, and often at odds with honor," Amber replied calmly.

The editor of the Quibbler was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"My late wife would have agreed with that," the man acknowledged with a sigh. "Shall we all order then?"

And so they did, with Shinji ordering a first course of smoked salmon, and a second of asparagus, pea and mushroom tagliatelle, figuring that a bit of fish and pasta wouldn't be too bad. He was pleasantly surprised when the salmon arrived, fragrant with the scent of oak, covered with pickled capers and dill dressed rocket (arugula) leaves, and garnished with lemon, with fluffy brown bread on the side. The tagliatelle, which arrived afterwards, was just as delicious, with the porous, rough texture of the pasta making an excellent combination with the smoothness of basil cream sauce it was mixed with. The asparagus, peas, and wild mushrooms - all local ingredients - were excellent as well, with the boy almost moaning as he savored the rich, earthy flavors of the dish.

Phelan, being a simpler sort of fellow who preferred country food as opposed to anything too exotic, ordered oven-baked field mushrooms and something called sirloin of bacon. Yet even he was surprised by the taste and presentation of his dishes. The earthy flavor of the roasted field mushrooms, blended excellently with the fragrant bacon and parmesan glaze that had been applied to them. The sirloin of bacon - a cut of beef wrapped in bacon for flavor, was tender and juicy, with the brandy and green peppercorn sauce drizzled over it complementing it perfectly, and going quite well with the creamy mashed potato and seasonal vegetables it was served alongside.

Amber, being of somewhat more refined tastes, ordered a cauliflower cheese tart, consisting pieces of cauliflower lightly boiled and covered with a cheddar cheese and egg sauce flavoured with English mustard and nutmeg, mixed with lightly sautéed onions and bacon bits, and baked until golden in a light shortcrust pastry. The resultant tart, creamy and rich with flavour, with a warm, flaky crust, was accompanied by a crisply dressed salad, alongside minted new potatoes, the textures and tastes of which offset it perfectly. And in lieu of another primary course, she'd ordered a dessert, a deliciously decadent blackcurrant and vanilla creme brulee that needed no words.

Tonks, curious about this menu filled with things she'd never seen before, ordered something called Thai-spiced fishcakes, which required an explanation of both what Thailand was, as well as what fishcakes were - with the latter part of the discussion prompting a bit of debate, as Japanese fishcakes were not at all like British fishcakes.

Shinji, for one, took exception to Amber's description of the fishcake as being like a croquette, while Amber was startled to find that kamaboko came in cylinders and was what others would call imitation crab (or when sliced up and put into ramen, naruto, after the whirlpool like design that resulted from the rolling). Phelan had always thought of a fishcake as consisting of leftover fish ground up and mixed with mashed potatoes, before being baked or fried. And well, none of them were aware of fishcakes were prepared in Thai cuisine, where fish was mashed up and mixed with yardlong beans, fresh coriander, fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, and red curry paste, before being deep fried and served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

As it turned out, what Tonks received was some mix of British and Thai traditions, with a mixture of minced salmon and cod with potato flour, lime, curry and coriander dipped in breadcrumbs and deep fried, with these cakes served alongside a seasonal dressed salad, a sweet chilli dipping sauce, and chips - or as American might call them - fries.

"So, it's just a fancy version of fish and chips then?" Phelan exclaimed, on seeing it. "Huh."

"A simple way of putting it, but not completely incorrect," Amber allowed.

"You're also so pedantic about these things sister," the earl's son groaned. "Though if you know so much, why haven't we seen fish and chips at Hogwarts?"

"...because fish and chips as a dish first appeared in the 1860s, and the Statute was signed almost two hundred years before that?" Amber asked dryly.

"...oh. I suppose that explains it," the boy admitted, blinking. "Come to think of it, we don't really have much fish at Hogwarts, even if there's a lake there. Though we do manage just about every other sort of meat."

'Huh. He's right – but where do they get the beef, pork, or lamb?' Shinji wondered to himself. They didn't have those at Hogwarts after all.

Thankfully, Tonks' dessert, a pie made from a combination of caramel and bananas on a base of crumbled biscuits and butter, finished with freshly whipped cream and vanilla ice cream, inspired rather less in the way of debate.

Xenophilius' choices were also rather modest, with his choice of two salads seeming rather at odds with his flamboyant appearance.

The first of these was a simple affair, with leafy greens mixed with grilled Welsh goat's cheese, marinated beetroot, and herb croutons, topped with a balsamic drizzle, while the second was something called a chicken Caesar salad, featuring of strips of succulent chicken breast chargrilled to perfection, served over cos lettuce leaves with herb croutons and mixed with a classic Caesar dressing,served alongside a helping of golden gourmet chips.

"This is plenty unusual," the man said, when asked about his rather tame choice in foodstuffs. "I've never seen such salads before at the…more traditional places I often eat at. Cheeses, and sauces, and these…crunchy bread things. It's all rather exotic, wouldn't you say?"

Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a surprise, but it was, at least to youths who did not know of the history of Caesar salad.

Contrary to what some rumors said, it was not a dish that the Caesars of Rome would have eaten, as it had only been invented in 1924 by Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who operated restaurants in Mexico and the United States during the Prohibition Era. This more recent Caesar had come up with it as a "special" when a Fourth of July rush had depleted the kitchen's supplies, with this act of culinary improvisation taking America by storm, with high class steakhouses rushing to adopt it as a menu item, and Caesar dressings becoming quite popular on market shelves.

There was less of an excuse for the other, but then, leafy greens were not often consumed at Hogwarts, and cheese (whether cow or goat) was hardly to be found on the menu at all.

Thus, for Xenophilius, what seemed a tame order where muggles and those accustomed to their fare might be concerned, was actually an exotic culinary adventure, full of tastes and textures he'd never experienced in his life.

As such, the man ate with gusto and enthusiasm.

His daughter didn't seem quite as inclined towards his variety of culinary adventurism, choosing instead the more traditional cauliflower cheese tart, much like Amber. Her choice for desert, a caramelized lemon tart, was also not quite as exotic for wizarding tastes, though it was still delicious, with the shortbread pastry crust and baked lemon custard filling proving the perfect blend of crunchy, sweet, and tangy to offset the heavy creaminess of the cauliflower cheese.

"Mother made something like this once," she commented, with Xenophilius freezing, seeming stricken for a moment, before his expression returned to something more enthusiastic.

"So, she did," the man said softly. "Aren't you glad to enjoy something like it with friends? She'd be happy to know you made some, you know."

"Mm."

"I hope you'll treat my Luna right when she goes to Hogwarts? Look out for her?" Xenophilius implored, looking at Amber and Phelan, who were obviously the leaders of this little excursion.

"I'll be alright, Dad. Really."

"Of course, we will," Phelan declared. "That's what Gryffindors—"

"—and Hufflepuffs—"

"—do, after all."

"And you really shouldn't forget Selina, who is in Slytherin, either," Amber spoke up, undercutting her brother's bold declaration. "Or Sokaris in Ravenclaw."

"Selina…Selina Moore?" Luna questioned, seeming to recognize the name. "The one that you bought a lifetime subscription for?"

"Yeah…she's an…adventurer," Phelan said, more gently than most would credit him being capable of. "Someone curious about the world and all its hidden truths. Speaking of which, Matou, you remember the question Lady Selina asked us at the gathering?"

Shinji was silent for a moment as he thought back to the event organized by Quirrell.

"You mean about the attributes? Strength, Charisma, and all that?"

"Yes. What you value most and what you value least. I think they'd be good questions to ask of those with us at the table, don't you?" Phelan exclaimed, with the Japanese boy feeling the premonition of an oncoming headache.

"She had some other questions too," Amber noted mildly. "Something about whether one liked to take taking risks for the possibility of better rewards, or whether one preferred caution and a guaranteed, if smaller, reward."

"Is this some kind of divination?" Tonks asked, slightly intrigued.

Shinji and Amber looked at one another, exchanging volumes with a glance.

"Well, she seemed to be able to determine I could sing, among other things – I merely said I prioritized Charisma and Dexterity, and she called me a bard!" Amber note, with Tonks seeming rather surprised.

"She called me a warlock, though I don't know why," Shinji commented wryly, though privately he wondered if she had special eyes that could see people's potential or something, like those of the owner of the bookstore in Mahoutokoro, or somehow could detect his affinity for curses and darker powers.

"A warlock…" Tonks repeated, glancing at the Japanese boy with some skepticism.

Her confusion was only natural, as Matou Shinji was but a first year at Hogwarts, and the title of Warlock was only granted in antiquity to someone learned in duelling and martial magics – though in its modern usage, it was also bestowed upon someone who had performed some great feat of bravery.

"Was this before or after the Chamber of Secrets incident...?" the Auror trainee asked sharply. If it was after, then that meant little. If it was before…

"Uh, before. Why?"

Then perhaps the one who had done the divination was a true Seer, the like of which was quite rare in the modern world.

"Just a bit of curiosity," Tonks deflected. "What were the questions she asked, out of curiosity?"

"Of strength, intelligence, dexterity, wisdom, constitution, and charisma, which two do you value the most, and which do you value least?" Amber replied, recalling the question as best as she could.

"Interesting attributes," the Auror trainee mused aloud, giving some thought as to how to answer. "I suppose I like dexterity and intelligence most. You don't have to be strong to get what you want, as long as you are quick and resourceful." She glanced over at the young blonde looking at her intently. "And you, Miss Lovegood?"

"Wisdom and Constitution," Luna murmured, a trace of melancholy flickering over her otherwise serene expression. "I don't think charisma in and of itself means much. Or intelligence without wisdom."

"Well said," Xenophilius said approvingly. "That's why my picks would be wisdom and intelligence. I could do without strength, as long as I can think. And the rest of you?"

"Strength and Charisma," Phelan replied confidently. "Everything else is negotiable, but without the ability to persuade people to do what you want, and the strength to accomplish your goals, it's all meaningless." He chuckled. "That's why I don't think highly of intelligence on its own."

"And I favor Wisdom and Charisma," Shinji concluded, shooting Phelan a bit of a smirk. "After all, what use is strength without the wisdom to know when not to use it?"

"Hey! I resemble that remark!"

"I know."