Harry Potter the Visored

Chapter 29

Thank you all for your continued support. Thanks to all of you, this story has become the second most followed fanfic in its category. Once again, thank you for pushing me onward and inspiring me to keep writing.

Don't forget to vote on the poll for the final decision on Harry's girlfriend in the future of this fic. Voting will end when the book 2 arc does.

Disclaimer: I own neither Harry Potter nor Bleach

As the days till the start of Harry's next term dwindled away, Harry spent his time reading up on the books for the next term and playing with Norbert, who, surprisingly enough, turned out to be a girl. The young dragon enjoyed the wide-open space in the Visored training ground, and, when she wanted a flight over the city, wore a special collar made by Kisuke that made her invisible to the mundane eye.

As for the course booklist, upon reading through the DADA books for the upcoming term, he had to come to the conclusion that Lockhart was a fraud. Not only did the books have no information on the intricacies and theory behind casting the spells mentioned in the books, but several times, the dates of important events clashed and overlapped. For example, there was no way that the man could be fighting a Yeti in the Alps while dealing with Ghouls in Dublin at the same time. Harry ended up tossing the books into his bag and leaving them there until further notice.

Soon though, it was time, and the group prepared to use Urahara's transportation watch to travel to London before they would catch a tram down to King's Cross Station, but as soon as they lowered the barrier around the warehouse, there was a loud pop and a small, disheveled creature wearing a ragged pillowcase appeared in front of them.

"Mister Harry Potter," said the creature in a squeaky voice, "you must not return to Hogwarts!"

"Who the heck are you?" asked Hiyori.

"Many pardons ma'am," said the creatures, "Dobby has been trying to reach Harry Potter for some time."

"Ok, Dobby then," said Shinji, "why is it that Harry shouldn't go back to school?"

"There is a dangerous plot," said Dobby, "Harry Potter is in grave danger if he returns."

"What kind of danger?" asked Harry.

"Dobby cannot say," said Dobby, "but Harry Potter will not be returning to Hogwarts."

"Try and stop me," said Harry, "is it Voldemort? Cause I'm not worried about him."

"No," said Dobby, "it is not He Who Must Not Be Named."

"Then someone else?" asked Love.

Dobby opened his mouth before running to the wall and bashing his head against it, "BAD DOBBY!"

"Rikujōkōrō!" said Hachigen, catching Dobby with a Kidō and keeping him from injuring himself.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry incredulously.

"Dobby must punish himself for almost speaking ill of his masters," said Dobby as he struggled.

"Well don't," said Harry as he walked over and used a basic Healing Kidō spell Hachi had taught him to ease the swelling on Dobby's head, "there, feeling better?"

"Harry Potter is truly a great Wizard," said Dobby in tears.

"Now we can let you down," said Harry, "but you can't punish yourself, agreed?"

Dobby nodded and Hachi canceled his Bakudō, allowing the creature to move again.

"Now," said Harry, "I'm going back to Hogwarts whether you like it or not, and as you've seen, I know a few tricks."

"Harry Potter is making a grave mistake," said Dobby.

"Perhaps," said Harry, "but it's my mistake to make. Now we have to be off."

The Visored pulled out the transport watch and teleported to Diagon Ally, leaving Dobby to vanish with a pop, a disheartened look on his face.

xXsceneXx

The group of Visored soon arrived at King's Cross and made their way to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, and the secret entrance to Platform 9 3/4. They watched several families pass by and, when they were sure nobody was paying much attention, they headed toward the barrier with Harry in the lead, pulling his trolley, but to their surprise, instead of passing through the barrier like normal, they literally bounced off it, feeling like they rammed into a brick wall.

"What just happened?" asked Harry from the bottom of a pile that they created when they crashed, "And can you all please get off me!"

"Sorry about that," said Hiyori as the group got off their young charge, "but why the hell did the stupid thing turn solid?"

"From what I've read, it should always allow students and their families access," said Rose, "Hachi?"

The former Lieutenant of the Kidō Corps closed his eyes for a minute before nodding, "Yes, I do feel an outside power forcibly sealing the barrier, but it isn't anything I can't fix."

The large Visored's Reiatsu spiked as he extended his power toward the barrier, using his knowledge and experience as a Kidō Master to understand and dismantle the magic holding the barrier closed. There was a quick yelp and a pop and the Visored nodded.

"It is done," he said, "let us be on our way."

"What was that?" asked Harry as the group made their way onto the magical platform.

"It seems that the elf that visited us earlier is still meddling," said Hachi, "he seems determined to keep you from returning to school."

"I wonder what could be so terrible that the little one would be so driven to keep you away?" mused Rose.

"Well you might want to hurry if you want a good spot on the train, kiddo," said Shinji as he tousled Harry's perpetually messy hair.

"Right," said Harry, "Ittekimasu."

"Itterasshai," said Lisa as she hugged their young charge.

With a smile, Harry climbed onto the Hogwarts Express with his bags, leaving his adopted family on the platform.

xXsceneXx

On the Express, Harry found an empty compartment quickly and put his things in the baggage rack before sitting on a seat with a volume of a Shounen manga he was following in his hands. As he opened the book to the page he was on, the compartment door opened and a girl that looked to be the age of a First Year walked inside and looked around.

"Excuse me," she said airily but with a polite tone, "but may I sit here during the ride?"

"Go ahead," said Harry, "I won't stop you."

"Why thank you," said the girl as she struggled to put her bags away.

Seeing that she was having some problems, Harry got up and helped the girl to place her bags on the rack safely before sitting back down with his manga. The girl sat opposite from him and watched him with a slightly vacant expression before speaking up.

"So you're Harry Potter," she said.

"You know," noted Harry, "it's usually polite to introduce yourself before asking another's name."

"Quite true," nodded the girl, "I guess it slipped my mind. My name's Luna Lovegood, or Lovegood Luna if you'd prefer."

Harry looked up from his book at that, "Why would I prefer that?"

"Well," said Luna, "you did grow up in Japan, didn't you?"

"You seem well informed," noted Harry before smiling, "Yes, I'm Harry Potter, or Potter Harry back home."

"It's nice to meet you," said Luna before bowing slightly in her seat as the train began to move, "Dōzo yoroshiku."

Harry's eyes widened at the usage of the traditional Japanese phrase and regarded the blond girl curiously, "You speak Japanese?"

"Only a bit," said Luna, "It's a fun language so I studied a few books."

"You have the accent down," noted Harry with a nod.

"Why thank you," said Luna before she looked at Harry with an inquisitive gaze, "so what's it like to be dead?"

Of all the things she could have said, Harry never would have expected her to ask that.

"What are you talking about?" he asked warily as he put down his manga and cast a Kidō spell to soundproof and seal the compartment.

"You have an unusual aura," said Luna, "it's like you're here…but not. Like you're only anchored to this world."

"That's…quite the observation," mused the young Visored.

"I've always had a talent for seeing things others can't," said Luna cheerily, "like the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

"The what?" asked Harry in confusion.

"It's something my father and I saw when I was a child," said Luna, "it was a large purple creature with scales and claws. Oh, and a bone-white mask with a large horn."

Harry froze when he heard the description of the supposed creature, for what she was describing sounded frighteningly similar, to a Hollow.

"Luna," said Harry, "when you saw the creature, did it let out an ethereal howl or roar and did you feel a great pressure on you?"

"Why yes," said Luna happily, "were you able to see one too?"

"Yeah," sighed Harry, "but they're not called Crumble-Honed…err, Crinkle-Horned…ano…"

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack," supplied Luna helpfully.

"Right," said Harry, "I've seen those creatures, and that's not their name."

"Then what are they?" asked Luna.

Harry took a breath and sighed, "They're what Muggle Ghosts become if they aren't allowed to move on to the next life soon enough. They're what happens when a lingering Ghost is devoured by emptiness and becomes an empty beast. What you saw was called a Hollow."

"So it was a spirit that got stuck?" said Luna, "That's too bad. I was hoping father had discovered a new type of magical creature."

"They can be quite dangerous," said Harry.

"Well," said Luna, "I'm sure you can defend me then. That is your job, right?"

"Why do you say that?" asked Harry.

"I don't know," said Luna, "but it feels right."

"You're interesting y'know," chuckled Harry as he picked up his manga and waited for the snack trolley to arrive.