Disclaimer: Usually I write out this very specific disclaimer explaining exactly what it is I don't own but I find myself not really interested in doing so as it is very tedious. Suffice it to say I own nothing that was created by anyone else and I am making no money whatsoever from the writing of this FanFiction.
Warnings: Mild to moderate violence, character death, foul language, alternate universe (i.e. kiss HP canon goodbye), angst, drama, starts pre-Hogwarts Era, and who knows what else.
AN: This story is self-beta'd; so there may be occasional grammatical or spelling errors that crop up every now and then and for those I apologize in advance.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Reunion
Saturday, June 21, 2025 9:54 AM
"Magorian, I'm going to have to apologize to you for skipping out on my herd duties indefinitely," Harry rasped once he got his emotions under control. "I'm leaving the castle."
"The stars told us that this day would come," Ronan stated as he, Firenze, and Bane trotted up to join the group gathered around Magorian.
"Be warned, young Bellator; Dumbledore will not so easily let you sever ties with his house of stone," Bane warned as he gently tugged on Harry's family braid (a gesture of affection amongst centaurs).
"Today's parting is not a goodbye; we shall see one another again," Firenze assured Harry as he clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder before passing the diminutive wizard a heavy bag filled with fresh fruits and grains for Mendoukusei and more of the healing poultice for Hedwig's injuries.
"Walk with care, young hunter; Mars still speaks of wars yet to come," Magorian intoned solemnly. "We shall meet again when our lands are invaded once again by the foals of man and the herd shall receive you with open arms for you are one of our warriors no matter what face you wear."
"Thank you," Harry replied as he bowed to the four adults before turning to face his brothers. "Don't let the foals forget me while I'm gone and tell them they'd better practice if they ever hope to catch me the next time we play tag."
After he finished saying his goodbyes, Harry darted back towards the shelter he shared with his brothers whenever he stayed within the village so he could collect Hedwig and Mendoukusei. He then hesitated a moment as he tried to decide whether he should jump straight to Hermione's side or if he should tell Sirius and Remus where he was going. After a short mental debate, he Teleported himself, Hedwig, and Mendou to the underground garden so that he could let his godfather and Remus know what was going on so they wouldn't worry about him. He found the two men lounging about beside the pond sipping iced lemonade and playing a game of Wizard's Chess.
"Why are you back here so early?" Remus asked as he glanced up at Harry in surprise. "We weren't expecting to see you for at least a week or two. Did something happen last night?"
"There's been a change of plans; I'm leaving."
"What do you mean you're leaving? Are you heading off deeper into the mountains to go hunting for trolls or something equally dangerous?" Sirius demanded with a frown of confusion.
"Agil came for me," Harry replied as he smiled a smile filled with so much joy and hope that it made his emerald eyes sparkle and shine like the gemstones they resembled. "He never gave up on me, even after all this time."
"You think maybe I can tagalong for the ride?" Sirius requested hopefully after noticing the abrupt change in his godson's demeanor. "I'd like to meet the man that earned your unwavering loyalty, inspired your unflinching dedication, and helped make you the fine young man you are."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"Okay," Harry agreed as his grin grew even bigger. "Moony, you can come too if you want; someone will need to keep Padfoot in line."
Both older wizards laughed at the teasing quip as they cleaned up their game and headed upstairs to grab their things on the off chance that they didn't return to the Garden Chamber any time soon. As he waited for the two wizards to join him, Harry opened his menu in order to reply to Agil's message and to ask Hermione another question (writing Agil's in romaji out of habit and unconsciously addressing him as father due to that being how he'd thought of the man for so long).
I have no clue where I am, tousan; aside from knowing that I'm in Scotland somewhere.
They've kept me locked up here for the past four years and have only let me out once a
year with an escort to buy my school things bar the time the headmaster took me to the
Ministry to testify against a man that tried to shatter me a few years ago.
Anyway, don't go anywhere. I'll come to you this time. I just have to sneak out first.
Hermione, can I ask you to do me a really, really big favor? Can you go stand in the
middle of a large empty room or out in the middle of a small field? I have a way to
Teleport myself and others to your location but I don't want to crash into anything
irreplaceable because I'll be bringing Hedwig and Mendou with me since I don't know
how long I'll be away from the forest and Padfoot and Moony are coming with me too.
So if you can do that for me, I'd be forever grateful.
Sirius and Remus returned just a few seconds after he sent off the message; Gaki riding on Sirius's shoulder. Once the two men reached the bottom of the stairs, the trio headed for the escalator and the exit (Mendoukusei trailing after Harry out of habit despite the fact that Harry hadn't bothered to clip his lead line in place). Once they reached the second floor, Sirius began leading the way towards a secret passage on the third floor that led out of the castle and into Hogsmeade so they could sneak out of the castle.
Unfortunately, they were waylaid within inches of their destination by Professor McGonagall who informed Harry that Headmaster Dumbledore was looking for him. Frustrated by the summons, Harry half considered just teleporting directly out of the castle but decided against it in the end because he knew that he had to wait for Hermione's confirmation first. Growling silently beneath his breath, Harry grudgingly followed his Head of House down to the Great Hall where Dumbledore was waiting for him after he passed Hedwig to Remus to hold (so that he didn't jostle his familiar in his irritation).
"Mr. Potter, I thought I had made it perfectly clear to you that you were to cease your illicit forays into the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore began the moment he saw Harry enter the room.
"I will not stay out of my rightful home; as an acknowledged hunter and member of the forest's centaur herd, I have every right to travel freely beneath the trees," Harry replied as he stopped just inside the door and crossed his arms over his chest in irritation due to the abrupt reminder that someone had placed some kind of tracking device or spell on his person or on something he owned and he'd still not figured out what had been tagged. "It won't be an issue after today, however, as I have no plans to venture into the forest for the remainder of the summer."
"I seriously doubt that the centaurs adopted a human into herd due to their dislike of humans in general," Dumbledore countered as he frowned at Harry over the top of his glasses. "I am, however, pleased to hear that you've finally decided to listen to reason and intend to remain here inside of the castle for the remainder of the holidays though."
"First of all, I am not a liar; I've been a full-fledged member of the herd for over a year now and I'm afraid that you completely misunderstood me, Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry fired back without missing a beat. "I only stated that I will not be venturing back into the forest for the duration of this summer. I never said anything about staying in this glorified prison for another minute and was in fact on my way out the door when Professor McGonagall told me that you wished to speak with me and since I dislike rude people in general, I came to see what you wished to see me about."
"You do not have my permission to leave the school, Mr. Potter."
"I wasn't asking for your permission. I am leaving and there is nothing you can do to stop me. I have played nice and followed your rules for four years now and you have yet to make good on your promise to find me alternate housing for the holidays that you gave to me when I first woke up."
"You have not 'played nice' during the last four years and you have not followed all of the school rules or orders you have been given. You've needlessly taken the lives of numerous creatures that live upon the grounds, repeatedly ventured into the Forbidden Forest even after you were told that students are not allowed in the forest, and you have refused to give up on your delusional belief that you have been trapped here in some kind of perverse game. You will remain here in the castle until you are no longer a danger to yourself or to our world."
Under normal circumstances, Harry was a very reasonable person. However, Harry had been pushed to the breaking point time and time again over the past four years (most especially during the past two) due to his inner turmoil and the constant pressure to give in and conform to the beliefs of those who chose not to see past the tip of their noses. Now, as he stood on the brink of finally finding what he'd been looking for since the day he'd woken up in this castle; Albus Dumbledore was trying to keep him from his family. By the time Dumbledore finished speaking, Harry was seeing red and his magic was swirling around him in response to the maelstrom of his emotions.
"I will not allow you to keep me from my father any longer," Harry hissed in pure fury through clenched teeth. "I have been in far more danger residing inside of your precious castle than I ever was out in the forest amongst the monsters. I'm beginning to believe that the ultimate monster in this world is you, Headmaster Dumbledore."
"I am sorry you feel that way, Harry, but I can not and will not let you leave. One day you will thank me for protecting you from yourself."
"I told you not to call me that; my name is James and I will defend myself if you attempt to stop me from leaving," Harry declared tightly as he continued to glare at the headmaster.
Suiting actions to words, Harry opened his menu and began equipping himself with the battle armor he'd not worn since the day he faced the Skull Reaper with the others almost four years earlier, his silk rope (because he didn't want to kill Dumbledore even if he was forced to fight the man), and his scarred dragon scale shield. He didn't bother taking out his wand or his dirk; he'd fight this battle on his terms to his full capabilities.
"I am sorry it has come down to this, my boy, but if you will not see reason then you leave me no choice," Dumbledore intoned with a regretful tone that grated on Harry's ears as the bearded wizard drew his wand.
The moment the headmaster palmed his wand, Sirius stepped forward and growled, "If you raise your wand against my godson, House Black will declare war upon House Dumbledore for threatening the legal heir of House Black and then take you to court for attempting to steal my heir from me by claiming guardianship of my godson while I was wrongly imprisoned for a crime I did not commit. If that isn't incentive enough to allow my godson to leave with me, his rightful guardian, then as the rightful Regent of House Potter through blood adoption, I will renounce you and sue House Dumbledore for Line Theft under the charter of sixteen-fifty-three and see that you rot in Azkaban for imprisoning the last remaining heir of House Potter against his will."
"Sirius, be reasonable…"
"You're telling me to be reasonable?" Sirius demanded as he cut the older wizard off. "I'm not the one currently pointing my wand at the fourteen year old heir to two Ancient and Noble Houses in an attempt to keep said heir imprisoned against his will."
"I am trying to protect the child from himself…"
"It is not your job to protect him! I am his legal and magically bonded godfather!"
Dumbledore's response was to silently stun Sirius when the canine animagus was least expecting it; causing Gaki to let out a startled screech and take to the air when Sirius dropped like a rock before he settled on Remus's shoulder even as the former werewolf cast the counter spell to wake up the downed wizard.
That was Harry's signal to start the battle as a blanket of calmness descended over him and cut him off from the rage he felt over Dumbledore's under handed attack on his godfather. A wave of his left hand had a transparent gold shield that would prevent anyone else from interfering in their fight shimmering into place around both Harry and Dumbledore. The rest of the adults in the room were left shifting uncomfortably as they watched the battle that many of them felt was four long years in the making.
Now, while most people would think that Harry wouldn't stand a chance up against a wizard of Dumbledore's caliber, they'd be mistaken. For while Dumbledore was a powerful wizard in his own right, his repertoire of spells was limited to the structured spells that he had learned through the years and his power shackled by the inflexible mindset he'd fallen into in his old age. Harry, on the other hand, was limited only by his own beliefs and his beliefs had been shaped in an environment that had allowed him to do the impossible without ever knowing that it was impossible.
Harry had also been powerful in his SAO skills four years ago when he'd reached level eighty-two within the game and he'd continued to grow over the past four years. And while he hadn't specifically worked with his SAO skills, he had exercised his core and body continuously during that time and increased his reactions times, his accuracy, and his stamina. The only true difference between Harry's skills and Dumbledore's skills at this point was that Dumbledore had years of experience on Harry.
The fight, once it started, lasted five minutes.
Four and a half minutes of which Dumbledore fired a wide assortment of spells that never connected with their target as Harry dodged the spells using Sprint and Teleport, deflected them with his shield, or blocked them with an assortment of wandless elemental attacks. When Harry finally bothered to counter attack, he used four simple traps to capture Dumbledore and disarm him; a flying lasso to snag the man by his beard and yank him off his feet, a net trap to prevent him from moving or casting another spell, a Lip Trap to keep him from speaking, and a second flying lasso to snag the wizard's wand right out of his hand. The golden shield dropped the instant Harry's hand untangled Dumbledore's wand from the trap.
"I am leaving, now," Harry declared in a voice laced with power as his magic continued to swirl around him. "If you are a smart man you will leave me alone for the rest of the summer and I will return on the first with the rest of the students. If you send me so much as a single letter or dare hunt me down using the tracking spell that I know you placed on me or something I own, I will lay waste to this castle. I am through playing games. I am not your little personal pet celebrity that you can lock up in this wretched castle until you feel the need to place me on a leash and trot me out for the public to see once or twice a year."
Harry paused for a moment and drew himself up straighter as he proclaimed, "I am Hunter Bellator; adopted two-legged colt of Firenze and Willow and Dragon Slayer James the Reckless; the self-adopted son of Agil the Merchant. And I will not be kept a prisoner inside of this castle for even one minute longer."
At that moment, Hedwig let out a loud screech in response to Harry's anger and the teen quickly got rid of his shield and armor before he turned away from the fallen headmaster so he could retrieve the now irritated occamy from Remus and settled her half in his arms and half on his left shoulder as the message icon popped up to indicate that he'd just received a reply from Hermione. Harry took a minute to sooth his familiar before he opened Hermione's message.
James,
Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you but it took us a while to make room in the
middle of our sitting room so that you can teleport into the house where the neighbors
won't be able to see you arrive. I'm standing right in the middle of the room right now, so
I'm ready for you whenever you're ready to do whatever it is you're going to do.
Hermione
"Sirius, if you and Remus are still going with me, you'd better get over here; they are ready and waiting for us," Harry stated as he hit the reply button and typed out his reply.
Both wizards scampered across the room and latched onto Harry's unoccupied shoulder as he sent off his reply and toggled his menu to his Friend List so that he could use the map function to set his coordinates for the Teleportation in order to get away from Dumbledore as quickly as possible. He then dropped Dumbledore's wand on the floor as he glanced over the downed wizard towards the staff table and offered a polite, "Good day, professors; I hope you have a pleasant summer."
So saying, Harry wrapped their small group in the liquid blue magic of the Teleport Spell and just mere seconds later they vanished from the castle and reappeared hundreds of miles to the south in the center of an unfamiliar room in a second pillar of liquid blue magic. Harry immediately fell to his knees, pressed his free hand to his face, and curled himself around Hedwig as his anger over the Headmaster's audacity returned full force alongside mild case of magical exhaustion as he'd almost completely drained his MP Bar after Teleporting three people and an additional three animals across such a large distance to an unfamiliar destination. As he tried not to pass out or throw up, Harry let loose a steady stream of foul curses in Japanese.
Unseen by the teen, Remus approached Hermione and was quietly introduced to her parents before he slipped outside to cast an assortment of privacy spells and defensive wards around the property (after securing permission from the elder Grangers) in order to prevent anyone from eavesdropping on them and to thwart the Ministry from raising a stink about any magic that was being used in the area. It didn't take him very long as the spells were simple and straight forward (which meant they were easy to cast) and because the size of the property was rather modest he didn't have to cast each spell more than four times total. He would return just shortly after Harry finally noticed how much his friends had aged since he last saw them.
"I don't know where you learned such language but if you don't stop spouting trash, I am going to wash your mouth out with soap, gaki," a familiar and much missed voice dryly promised in Japanese effectively cutting Harry off mid-rant.
"It was Klein, tousan, he said it was important for every kid to know how to thoroughly curse out his enemies," Harry automatically tattled as he jerked upright and twisted around to stare up at an achingly familiar man that he hadn't seen in four years. Harry's eyes began to shimmer as he struggled to hold back the tears that filled them and clenched his jaw as a wealth of emotion washed through him as he simply stared at the man that had helped him to survive and taught him how to live. "Is that really you, Agil?"
"I can't believe you just ratted me out, you snot-nosed brat," another familiar voice whined causing Harry to jerk his eyes away from Agil to stare at Klein.
"Serves you right for teaching him that kind of language in the first place," yet another familiar voice retorted and Harry felt his heart plummet as he dropped his eyes back to the floor (unable to bring himself to look at the one who'd spoken) as he knew the person that voice belonged to was dead; he'd seen Asuna shatter with his own eyes.
Harry's tears spilled over as his face crumpled in despair over the realization that he should have known that finding Agil and the others after all this time had been too good to be true. If he had been able to think clearly in that moment, he might have teleported himself right back out of there so he could find some place to curl up and beg for death. Instead he buried his face against Hedwig's feathery scales and tried not to get sick all over the floor while his heart felt like it was shattering under the harsh blow.
"James?"
"I had thought you were real," Harry whispered hoarsely in a voice that cracked with emotion as he unconsciously switched to English (he had grown rather used to speaking his native language during the past four years). "You can't be real though because I saw Asuna shatter. I saw her and Kirito both die just before they took you all away and the world exploded all around me. I should have known better. I should have never gotten my hopes up. I can't do this any more. No, I refuse to do this anymore; it hurts too damn much. I'd rather die. I'd shatter myself if I could because I can't live like this any more."
"James, look at me, please," Agil commanded gently but firmly as he crouched down in front of Harry. "Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever not told you the truth when you asked me a question?"
"No, you promised me you would never lie to me and that you'd never withhold the truth from me," Harry slowly replied as he looked up as instructed and the man nodded in agreement.
"Asuna didn't die and neither did Kirito," Agil stated simply as he held Harry's gaze. "Asuna got shunted over to another server when Aincrad crumbled. The person responsible didn't have the best of intentions in mind when he saved her life but in the end, he did save her. Kirito's case was very similar; in that the server crashed before his Nerve Gear could give the command to destroy his brain. There were many other players that shattered on the lower floors at the same time as you saw Kirito shatter and they too were saved by the same stroke of luck."
Harry swallowed with some difficulty around the lump of emotion that had grown at the back of his throat as he reluctantly tore his eyes away from Agil and glanced at the other individuals standing around the room watching him with tearful smiles (both girls) or relieved smiles (the two younger men). As he stared at them, he finally began noticing the little changes to their appearance that hadn't been there when he'd last seen them; their hair slightly different (longer, shorter, or a different color), new stress and laugh lines that hadn't been there before, and a depth of emotion in their eyes that couldn't be conveyed through the Nerve Gear.
It was evidence that they'd grown older since the day Aincrad had fallen. Kirito even looked taller; he was still shorter than Klein but taller none-the-less.
After studying the others, Harry glanced back at Agil and noted the same changes in the older man before his eyes flicked up to take in the green diamond above Agil's head and the pair of bars (one gold and one green) sitting off to the side (indicating that Agil was classified as a human player without Harry needing to initiate the change from NPC to human player). He then opened up his Player Menu and toggled over to his Friend List a second time to stare at the top five names on his list; his eyes not so much reading their names as taking in the fact that they were no longer grayed out and that each of them had a green dot beside them indicating that they were 'online'.
Closing his eyes, Harry took a deep breath to center his emotions as he closed out his Menu and gently untangled himself from Hedwig so that he could set her down on the ground before he catapulted himself at Agil; knocking the man back onto his butt as he wrapped his arms around his neck and buried his face against his shoulder. Seconds later, tears were pouring down his face again; though this time they were tears of sheer relief and pure joy. It didn't take long before words were flowing just as freely from his lips.
"Everything's been all messed up since SAO ended. I woke up all alone in an unfamiliar room without my Nerve Gear, still looking as if I'd never left Aincrad, with my Player's Menu still working, and my Inventory still carrying everything I had when the game ended. Then perfect strangers began showing up and trying to tell me that I was a wizard with magical powers and that my parents had been murdered by an evil wizard when I was a baby but that when the wizard tried to kill me, I defeated him instead…"
Everyone listened with mixed emotions as Harry continued to pour out his entire story to Agil. He spoke in depth of his insecurities and frustrations, of pushing everyone away, and of pushing himself in order to clear the 'game' and how he never seemed to get any closer to winning the 'game' or winning his way free so he could find them. Sirius, Remus, and Hermione were just as caught up in the story, as while the two men had learned much about the two years Harry had lived inside of Aincrad and Hermione had learned a few small tidbits of that time as well, they had not heard all of the things that James had gotten up to in and around Hogwarts over the past four years (though Sirius had known far more than the other two since he'd spent the most time with the teen).
By the time he reached the confrontation with Dumbledore that had taken place just before they arrived, Harry was worn out emotionally as well as still slightly exhausted magically. He hadn't once relinquished his hold on Agil throughout the entire tale; though he would still refuse to admit that there was any snuggling involved if it was brought up within his hearing.
"…I was just so angry. He wasn't going to let me leave so that I could come here to find out whether or not you were real and I just snapped. After he stunned Sirius because Sirius was trying to make him let me leave, it was like I was standing in front of the Frost Dragon or the Mossy Wyvern again and I felt cut off from everything as I stopped holding back. The battle seemed to drag on forever even though it was over in five minutes tops; I was just so desperate and determined to win no matter what though and then it was over. The last thing I told him was that I was through playing games and that if… if he didn't leave me alone… I'd raze the castle. Told him I wasn't his pet too… and that I wouldn't be… his prisoner… anymore."
Harry drifted off to sleep at that point; the not quite fifteen year old no longer able to force himself to remain awake when he was feeling safe and content at last now that he'd finally found Agil after all this time.
Translations: Japanese to English
Gaki – brat
Otousan/tousan – father
Game Terminology:
Aincrad – An Incarnating Radius (the name of the Castle that is SAO)
SAO – Sword Art Online
10-11-15: Minor edits made to chapter to fix spelling/grammar mistakes and removed unnecessary author's notes.