Yay! Finally, I'm at chapter 20!
I do not own Harry Potter or Hunter x Hunter
Harry still didn't know where this wacky journey was leading him. He'd been put on the ship because he was supposed to become a hunter…or something?
Well…if nothing else, the exam would definitely make him stronger…if he survived it that is.
Their walk was definitely a long one. Two hours was quite a while. Leorio was starting to complain and Harry was growing irritated with the man.
"What the hell is your problem!?" Harry burst out at him.
"My problem?" Leorio shouted back at him, "I'm saying it was two hours two hours ago!"
"For pete's sake! Gon is what? Twelve? And he's acting more mature than you are!" Harry's gaze darkened, "I was trained to control my emotions to a degree but I am not going to put up with this the whole exam. Your anger nearly cost us all the last test."
Leorio drew back, looking angry again.
"See? That's what I'm talking about." Harry drew in a deep breath, "Count backwards from ten. If you feel like you're getting angry, do that. If you want to get far in this exam, learn to control your rage."
"He has a point." Kurapika looked over at them both.
Leorio glared at them both, then huffed and looked away,
"Whatever."
Harry couldn't tell if he'd gotten through to him.
"Another Beware of Magical Beasts sign." Leorio observed, obviously growing tired of these things.
This world was full of magic, it seemed. So far, none of his companions had indicated at having any skill in magic like him though.
It was dark now. They could see a glow coming from up ahead. A log cabin underneath a tree. The cedar tree.
Leorio was the one to knock on the door first.
"Hello? Anyone home?"
No one answered.
"Maybe they're out?" Gon wondered.
Leorio tried again, then attempted to turn the doorknob.
Should they really just walk into someone's house like that? Harry wondered.
"We're coming in." Leorio announced.
They all tensed when they saw the scene inside. A couple, a man and a woman were on the floor. The house was a wreck and a big, furry brown creature with a fox-like face was standing over them both.
It picked up the woman by the throat, pulling her up.
"A magical beast!" Leorio realized.
No, duh, Harry thought.
But there was something off…
"A transforming magical beast. The kiriko! They can take human form! That's an extremely intelligent creature." Kurapika informed them.
"There's a woman in his arms!" Gon said.
"And that man needs medical attention!" Leorio breathed in sharply.
The kirkiko jumped suddenly right through the window, shattering the glass.
The man on the floor reached out towards where they'd disappeared.
"My wife! Please save my wife!"
Leorio was by his side immediately.
Huh, it seemed he was actually good at treating wounds, Harry observed. That was a surprise…
"Leorio!" Kurapika said, "We'll eave the injured man to you!" He jumped out through the front door, Gon was in tow.
Harry stuck around a while longer, looking around the house with suspicion.
The door hadn't been forced…had the creature just walked on in? But the disturbances on the floor…there were objects from the kitchen tossed that way. That certainly wasn't right…
No defenses on the house.
"Harry-kun?" Leorio grabbed his attention, "What are you doing? Help me out!"
"Right." Harry looked over the scratches curiously.
Blood on his leg…that was an odd place for a wound, considering how he'd seen the creature from before move…
"Leorio…don't you think there's something strange about his wounds?" Harry asked him.
"Ha? What are you on about?" Leorio looked over at him momentarily.
"The way that creature moved…" Harry said, "It relies on its legs to hop around. A bipedal species of magical being. But it didn't have any talons or sharp nails that could have caused a wound so low. So, what did he cut his leg on? Further…" Harry looked him over, "Those don't look like defensive wounds, do they? The inner arm has blood on it, but if he was defending…"
"They'd be on his outer arm." Leorio realized.
"Exactly."
The man watched them both, his eyes turned red. Harry grabbed Leorio's shoulder and pulled him away. But he paused a moment.
"So, you've realized my secret." The magical being spoke.
"I think so." Harry said, really hoping he was right about this, "You didn't break into this place…I noticed before…you live here, right?"
"Eh?" Leorio looked confused now.
The magical being started to laugh,
"Ah…you've realized more than I thought you would."
"Wait…" Leorio seemed to be trying to figure it out still, "You're the guide?"
"Yes, indeed…this was a test. And it seems that two of you have passed."
Harry felt his shoulders relax. He really ought to start trusting his instincts more…was everything in this world going to be tricky like that?
"We should tell Kurapika and Gon!" Leorio said.
But Harry held him back,
"Nope. They need to pass on their own." Harry told him with a small smile, "Remember the other tests. If we interfere…it's possible we'll be disqualified. They'll figure it out. Have faith in them."
Leorio relaxed a little bit,
"Ah…" He looked over at the magical being who quickly transformed back into his human form.
"Do you still need those wounds treated?" Leorio asked him.
…..
000000000000000000000
…..
"Hm…how long has it been since someone has been able to tell us apart?" The kiriko turned to the other kiriko.
Harry…could not see a single difference at all. They looked identical! But…they were married.
Leorio leaned in towards Kurapika casually,
"Can you tell their faces and voices are different?"
"No. Not at all…"
Harry shook his head when they looked over at him.
"You see?" Gon pointed between then, "The one Kurapika and I beat up is the husband."
"But…which one are you talking about?" they were all thinking it.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves." The Kiriko on the right said, "We are the navigators."
The two magical beings stood behind the humans, er, human-looking beings.
"Our family provides support for the hunter's exam."
"I'm their daughter." The woman said.
"I'm the son." The man smiled.
"Man." Leorio sighed, "You had us all fooled."
"The hunter's exam changes site every year." The kiriko on the right explained, "It's quite difficult to locate it."
"So, we navigators help by guiding the applicants to the site." The one on the left continued on with the explanation.
They were like Fred and George, Harry thought. Then tried to shake himself from that thought, suddenly feeling a bit homesick.
Weird…he hadn't really felt homesick at all…And did he really want to stumble back into the craziness of magical Britain? Oh, look at that, his homesickness was cured. Well, until he really did need to go back.
"Oh. That's how that works." Gon said.
"But we don't help every applicant." The woman said with a smile.
"We test applicants to see if they're ready to take the exam." The man said.
"Kurapika-dono." His sister looked at the blond boy in question.
"Hai?"
"You successfully took the vaguest of hints to deduce that the two of us weren't spouses." She pointed to her wrist, "The hint was these tattoos, which, in this region mark a woman single for life."
Harry made a mental note of that, not knowing much about anything in this world anyways. Any basic scrap of knowledge was useful.
She rubbed the tattoo to reveal that it was only painted on, smudging on her skin.
"Kurapika-dono showed that he was very knowledgeable. Therefore, he passes!"
Kurapika let out a sigh of relief.
"Congratulations, Kurapika." Gon grinned at him.
"Thanks."
"Leorio-dono." The brother spoke, drawing their attention to him, "You didn't notice my identity at first, but, with your knowledge of wounds you did help Harry deduce that I wasn't human. You also treated my wounds both before and after finding out what I was. I give you a pass."
Leorio let out a breath of relief as well.
"Harry-dono." The man continued, "You took in the scene of the house and noticed things were out of place and that the struggle was actually staged. You took hints we hadn't even purposefully left to realize the truth, and you show a very in-depth knowledge of wounds as well and were very observant of the way in which we moved. I also give you a pass."
Harry let out a sigh as well.
"And finally, Gon-dono." The kiriko on the left began. He was the last one, "Your superhuman physical ability and power of observation make you worthy to take the hunter's exam. You pass."
They all smiled at each other. All of them had made it on to the next part of the exam.
They each held onto the legs of one of the kiriko who flew them through the sky and towards the city. It was a little uncomfortable. Although Harry could last long doing this sort of thing, holding on in an awkward position like this, he was still a bit worried without the reassurance of a broom.
They slept in a hotel for the night. Harry had received money and a bank card from Ana once again. When he checked it out, he realized something.
This card…it had over five hundred million yen on it! About five million pounds!
Harry thought back to his last world and did a convergence rate. Could it be? That money…it was about the same amount he had in Gringotts before…and that meant, this money…it was his plus the bounty he'd gotten from killing Koro-sensei.
The money was transferring between worlds?
That was something to ponder on later.
For now, the money was enough that he could probably live a pretty comfortable life without having to work. Of course, he was pretty sure that if he didn't do something, he'd likely go mad though.
After a night in Zaban city, they woke up early in the morning and headed towards the exam area.
The son guided them through Zaban. The place was kind of fishy. A lot of the stuff there looked like knockoffs or something and everyone had a sleezy feel about them. Harry ignored them, but made sure to pay attention to his pockets less someone try to steal from him.
Gon seemed to be the most distracted by all the stalls and fancy objects laying about and being peddled. Harry worried a bit for him. Gon was strong, but he seemed a bit naïve.
They stopped in front of a very tall, somewhat old looking building. It was very nice and elegant in design, not that Harry had ever really cared all that much for architecture to begin with.
"I believe…this is the building." The son said, flipping through his notebook.
"It's so tall!" Gon gasped out happily.
"So this is the exam site…" Leorio said with admiration.
They were all so focused on the building that they didn't notice the son had moved along.
"Hey guys!"
They turned.
"Over here. Over here." He pointed to an old, run-down ramen shop.
Harry thought it was a ramen shop anyways. He couldn't read the symbols on the door. Maybe he could ask Kurapika to teach him to read later…He could say he wasn't from this country, that was kind of true, after all.
"Oy oy, this isn't funny." Leorio said, "Isn't that just an ordinary restaurant? You can't possibly mean to say that all the hunter applicants from around the world are meant to assemble here?"
"I do."
"Eh?"
"No one would ever expect the hunter exam with its millions of applicants to be located here, right?"
"Well…that's true." Leorio conceded.
He smiled at them with a knowing smirk, then entered through the door.
"Irashai!" The cook greeted them.
It smelled good in here, Harry thought.
"Is the backroom open?" The son asked.
The chef's eyes gained a momentary sharp edge to it.
"What will you have?" he asked, the sharp edge gone as soon as it came.
"The steak combo that opens your eyes to the light…for four."
"For four." The glint was back full force, "How would you like them?"
"Grilled over a low flame until cooked." He answered.
"Got it." The chef said with a smile, "Let yourself in the back room."
They walked on through into the back room. A single, large, round table was there with exactly four seats.
"Wait right here." He told them.
"Wait?" Leorio repeated, "Where are the others?"
"I can't wait for the steak combo!" Gon said excitedly.
Leorio nearly fell over.
"Gon," Kurapika said slowly, "That was just the password to get us inside."
"Oh." Gon said disappointedly, "We don't get to eat?"
"One in ten thousand."
"Eh?"
They all turned to the son who had spoken.
"The number of applicants who make it this far." He told them, "You've done extremely well for first timers." He gave them a not of respect, "Well, good luck."
Gon held out his hand to him.
"Thank you." He said.
The man looked surprised, but gave Gon's hand a shake.
"I would be happy to serve you as a navigator again next year as well."
The door closed. There a 'Ca-thunk!' sound. The room started moving. Harry could sense that they were going down.
"It appears this room is an elevator." Kurapika observed.
"Makes sense." Harry said, "How would you fit a million applicants into one spot? But if there was a secret underground room…"
Leorio sat down in one of the chairs,
"Bastard." He mumbled, "That means he expects us to fail this year."
"Once every three years." Kurapika said out of the blue.
"What's that?" Leorio asked him.
"The frequency in which a rookie passes the exam." Kurapika answered him.
"Yikes." Harry said, "That tough, huh?"
Well, at least he was allowed to try again…he could train himself up next year if he had no clue was to what he was doing this year and found things too difficult…
"It's that unusual?" Gon looked over at him.
"Some applicants can't handle the physical and mental strain. It's also not uncommon for the veterans to break the rookies who subsequently never retake the test."
"So I guess people are willing to risk anything to become hunters…" Gon thought out loud.
Leorio suddenly got up, slamming his hands on the table,
"Well, of course, my friend!" A toothy smile decorated his face, "Hunters make the most money in the world!"
"No!" Kurapika stood up as well, leaning over the table, "Hunters are the most noble in the world!"
"Glory hog!" Leorio accused.
"Money grubber!"
"Gon!" Leorio leaned over towards the boy, "Listen closely. Every year, hunters make the list of the worlds hundred most richest people!"
Kurapika spun the spinning table top around to catch him off balance.
"Hunters are associated with hunting wild game and treasure, but they are all second rate! True hunters work to protect people and the natural order." Kurapika said seriously.
"Now look!" Leorio had the floor again, "Once you're a hunter, most countries will give you a free pass! And no charge to use public facilities. How are those benefits?"
Kurapika turned the table again.
"How long is this elevator ride?" Harry wondered, mostly just wanting to get away from the two bickering companions now.
"Hunters have many difficult and important responsibilities!" Kurapika declared righteously, "Such as preserving cultural artifacts and endangered species. As well as capturing wanted criminals and unscrupulous hunters."
"The fame and money! That's why people become hunters!" Leorio declared.
"Profound knowledge, a healthy mind and body and undying conviction! Those are the qualities on which hunters pride themselves!"
Kurapika and Leorio were at each other's throats now. They finally turned.
"Gon! What do you think? What kind of hunter do you want to become?"
Wow. Their synchronicity was impressive for two people who could barely stand each other.
Gon looked like he was put on the spot.
Thankfully, the ding of the elevator, indicating they'd reached their floor saved him from having to answer.
Leorio and Kurapika sent each other a glare.
"We'll finish this later." Leorio decided.
…
Here's an update on the Animetopoeia versions that have been suggested to me thus far:
Hayao Miyazaki Animetopoeia starring Draco Malfoy
Sports Animetopoeia starring Draco Malfoy
Harem Animetopoeia starring Luna Lovegood
Harem Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter
Mecha Animetopoeia starring Hermione Granger
Dark Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter (currently available on fanfiction)
Magical Girl Animetopoeia starring Lavender Brown (currently available on fanfiction)
Magical Girl Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter
Magical Girl Animetopoeia starring Luna Lovegood
Comedy Animetopoeia starring Sirius Black (wait, who suggested this one again?)
Ninja Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter
Magical Boy Animetopoeia starring Draco Malfoy (What?)
Phantom Thief Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter
Horror Animetopoeia starring Harry Potter