A/N: In case you are unfamiliar with wizarding grading, here is a key.

Passing Grades

O: Outstanding

E: Exceeds Expectation

A: Acceptable

Failing Grades

P: Poor

D: Dreadful

T: Troll

A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands

Chapter 38: Birth of a Prodigy

New Year's Day, 1995

Minerva McGonagall began to read the paper on top of the stack on her desk. She had managed almost 2 hours of paperwork with the assistance of Akira, but then Akira had remembered that Remus had given him all of Harry's tests before the werewolf he went to join Sirius in France at the Delacour estate. Paperwork had put aside and now it was time to see if Harry had continued to apply himself despite his less than stellar attendance.

Her grandson had always been a powerful and talented wizard. When it came to performing spells and putting power behind them, Harry was possibly the most talented in his year even before this year. His transfiguration and charms were great, but not as good as his attack and defense spells, the things that most students should be taught in Defense Against the Arts. His issues with potions was well documented and Minerva had always wondered if it might be best for Harry to learn potions from someone else.

While Harry was legally an adult, many would not treat him as such, not until he took his seat on the Wizengamot which he could not do until taking his O.W.L.s. It would be ideal for many reasons if Sirius was cleared of all charges, assuming he was truly innocent. If Sirius could not return, Minerva would step in as Harry's Guardian and look into getting him private instruction in potions.

Harry's skill at Care of Magical Creatures was something Minnie was familiar with, and the arrival of Charlie and Harry's presence and performance in his dragon elective confirmed that Harry's grades there was not just Hagrid's favoritism. Other classes such as Astronomy, Divination which had been replaced by Runes, History of Magic, and Herbology were usually acceptable, but not much better.

The test she was now looking at, his transfiguration test was important because it dealt mainly with theory and non-concrete concepts, something Harry had usually skimmed, and it kept him from getting an Outstanding in spell-based classes, sometimes even dragging him down below Exceeds Expectations towards Acceptable. To truly become a world-class wizard, something that was within his reach, he needed to improve his theoretical work.

Harry's attendance record did not mean he was randomly skipping classes, using his champion's free time to do nothing. He was often training and practicing, both his magic and his physical skills. But with less class time there was a chance that Harry continued to let his theoretical work slide. Every year he let that work slide would make it all the harder for him to catch up. So every answer was read with care.

It took a half hour to evaluate the transfiguration test due to her mastery of the subject and ability to dissect every sentence to maximize her ability to give points, while also making sure to take away points when necessary. As she looked the paper over, she saw Akira set down the test he was working on as well.

"How is he doing?" McGonagall asked.

"His Japanese was great, an easy O," Akira said. "His Runes was probably an E. How was his transfiguration."

"Some of his best work," Minerva said. "Probably an O, and that's not being generous. Have you been working on it with him?"

"Not too much," Akira said. "I'd be able to hazard a suggestion as to why he has improved."

"I'm listening."

"Different perspectives," Akira asserted. "In the past he has worked with Hermione… and that's the end of the list. This year he has worked with multiple upper year students, Hufflepuff, and a Slytherin. Interesting that the only Ravenclaw in his circle of friends in the Lovegood girl even though they don't have a true rivalry with Gryffindor." Minerva nodded. "That doesn't even include the international students. With all those different people Harry is learning to approach problems in more ways. It's not a surprise that he has improved as a student."

"That's true," Harry's grandmother agreed. "Ok, what's next?"

"I'll take Charms, History and Herbology." Akira said, picking up the respective tests. Can you take Magical Creatures, Astronomy, and Potions?" Minerva nodded and they both bent to their tasks. The only sound heard in the deputy headmaster's office were the respective quill and pen working over Harry's tests.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O-

Almost every student in the school were sleeping in, relaxing, and generally doing everything possible to destress. There was one student who despite the best efforts of those around him simply couldn't sit still and unwind. He was pacing his common room like a caged beast, and eventually dragged some friends to the room of requirement.

"I was really looking forward to a nap," Susan said as the door opened. "What did you even ask for?"

"An open space with targets," the boy said.

"Ok," Susan said, settling across from the boy and drawing her wand. "What are we doing?"

"Do you know what trigonometry is?" Susan shook her head. "It's the idea that in a three sided object you can calculate angles and determine how long something is."

"You mean triangles," Susan clarified.

"That's right. But what if we took the principles of that and assumed something wouldn't have a limited length." Susan looked baffled. The boy was making no sense. "Perhaps I should just show you. Fire a spell at me. Nothing too powerful, maybe a stinging hex or tripping hex."

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," the boy confirmed. "Do you have so little trust in me?"

"It's New Year's day. I don't want to bother Madam Pomfrey when you get knocked over for the 20th time."

"Just fire!" The boy snapped and on command Susan's wand fixed on him.

"Pungo!" Susan watched in surprise as the boy flicked his wand and without saying a word the white bolt flew past him. It crashed harmlessly into a wall. The boy rolled his wand with a look of disgust on his face.

"It's harder than I anticipated."

"What was that?" Susan asked, trying to hide her shock. Deflecting spells with no incantation was something taught after school. She had seen her aunt do it, but many aurors couldn't do it until they were finished with training, and here her friend did it instinctively. He seemed almost bored by his success.

"Just math, I guess. Can you go again?"

Susan was panting heavily. After 30 minutes not a single spell had hit him, regardless of her tactics. He was hitting the targets arrayed around the room with some regularity, either with spells he fired at the same time or by deflecting her spell in that direction. Susan was impressed but there was another feeling creeping up inside her every time the boy made a face of disgust when he missed a target, which was becoming more and more infrequent.

It was a feeling that she occasionally came across when she met some of her aunt's more impressive guests, but it was one she almost never felt at school. In fact, the last time she felt it was when Harry had intervened after the first task and broke the French boy's jaw and seemed totally unaffected, more annoyed than distraught. It was just a sliver, but it was growing. She was afraid.

Not so much of the boy in front of her, deflecting her spells at all angles. He was usually so unassuming, fitting into their group of friends with ease. He was quiet for the most part, and when he spoke it was usually something important or an observation few others had noticed. She wasn't afraid of him, but rather the look of total disinterest and ease at which he demonstrated remarkable spell work. It was as if he was mad at himself for no discernible reason.

"You ok?" He had been speaking while Susan had zoned out. "You look a little tired. If you want we can call it a day."

"No, I have some energy back," Susan lied. "You ready?" The boy nodded and Susan sent a barrage of her strongest spells at him with no pause between them. She ended it with a spell her aunt had taught her only to be used in dire circumstances, a powerful bludgeoning spell. As the bolts of light streaked across the room, she saw each one deflected with ease, but as the bludgeoning spell reached the boy he contorted his body to dive out of the way of the final shot.

"Woah!" Dean said, flipping back to his feet. "That last spell was really nasty. What was it?" Susan dropped to the floor, too tired to speak. "Hey Susan?" Susan just stared at the ground, dropping in deep breaths, and then her vision faded and she felt herself crumple to the floor.

-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O-

"Susan!" Susan looked up to see Professor Hayashi looking at her with concern. "Dean said you passed out for a second."

"I did?" Susan asked, trying to rise, but her legs were asleep and she stumbled. The defense professor caught her and guided her to a couch the room had conjured.

"For a few minutes," Dean said, a worried look on his face. "You should have told me you were getting tired!"

"It was too easy for you," Susan said. "I wanted to make you dodge, and I did."

"What were you two doing?" Professor Hayashi asked. "It's New Year's day, you should be napping or having fun with the present's Harry got you."

"Well, I got a math book for Christmas from my mum. She's a teacher, and she said I should learn some useful stuff in case this whole wizard thing doesn't work out." Dean shook his head a bit. "She doesn't really get the wizarding world in the slightest."

"A lot of people struggle to." Professor Hayashi put a hand on Dean's shoulder in commiseration. "What does that have to do with the reason you raced into my office worried that Susan was dying?"

"Dying?" Susan said, her head clearing a bit.

"You weren't responding to anything." Worry flashed across Dean's face. "I saw you were getting tired, but it was too exciting."

"Well, I'd advocate taking it easy today, and no magic for sure," Professor Hayashi explained. "You were magically exhausted. If you feel tired tomorrow, come and get me." Susan nodded. "But what were the two of you doing that has to do with math?"

"Well, it kind of made sense of me to combine math and magic," Dean said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. Akira looked at him with confusion. He had absolutely no idea what the young wizard was talking about. He was aware of math but had no idea what Dean meant when he said he had combined it with magic. "Should I just show you?"

"I guess," Akira admitted. He was curious to see what was going on. Dean walked across the room from him.

"Fire some spells at me," Dean called. "Nothing too powerful. I'm still working out how to do this." Dean flicked his wand out of his brand-new holster. The Hessler Holster could be attached at the waist, leg, or arm, and Dean had chosen to attach it to his waist, the most common area. Akira had his own attached to his arm, and always had the disillusionment charm active so it seemed like his wand came out of midair. "Oh and please cast verbally. I suspect that I can't do it with nonverbal spells just yet."

"You sure?" Akira asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of his voice.

"Go for it!"

"You asked for it," Akira muttered to himself, and with a simple snap of his fingers his wand jumped to his hand. "Furnunculus!" The beam shot across the chamber and without a word Dean flicked his wand and the beam returned straight back at Akira, who flicked his own wand to deflect the spell.

"Again!" Dean said with a smile. Akira grinned in spite of himself.

"Locomotor Mortis! Titillando!" He cast these spells without too much power behind them. "Expelliarmus!" As he saw Dean deflect these spells to the side he put some real power into his disarming spell. Dean focused on the spell and with deflected it over his head. "Wow."

"That was tricky," Dean said. "You intentionally weakened the first two spells." Akira looked at where Dean had deflected the spells and his eyes widened.

"Even with that, every spell you deflected hit a target," Akira observed, seeing three targets behind Dean swinging. They were at different heights and distances. "How?"

"Well, it just makes sense. I assign a number to each spell depending on the effect and power. Akira opened his mouth but Dean forged ahead. "Don't ask me how I do it, to be honest I have no idea how. I know where the targets are, and if I know how powerful the spell is and what it is, I can use the appropriate amount of power to change the angle and hit the target I'm aiming at."

"That's remarkable," Akira said quietly as he studied Harry's friend. He had not had too many interactions with the dark-skinned wizard who was studying his handiwork. "I think I know a student who might be willing to do some more practice with you, if that's acceptable." Dean nodded and Akira returned 10 minutes later with Adrian Pucey.

The 6th year Slytherin was a challenge to Dean, as he mixed in non-verbal casting and had an extensive repertoire of spells. Akira had encouraged him to use anything that would not cause lasting damage, and Dean was forced to dodge often. He had even been hit a few times, but it seemed like he was having fun.

Later that night Akira discussed what he had seen with Harry's grandmother. They had graded all of Harry's tests and although his history of magic had been a Poor, every other class had been a pass, with his charms, herbology, and astronomy all registering somewhere near or in the O range. It had been quite a remarkable improvement which made both professors thrilled.

"I'm telling you Minerva, it was remarkable. By the end he was deflecting spells he had never learned. He saw something once or twice and he understood it. I think Mr. Pucey hit him once in the last 5 minutes. I never would have expected it."

"I understand that the non-verbal aspect is quite impressive," Minerva added. "Spell deflection onto targets is not unheard of, but to do it as his age is remarkable."

"Trust me," Akira said. "You might as well drop him from all non-spell his classes next year. He won't be able to focus on them."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are four distinctions of skill my father uses. Most people are normal, whether using martials arts, magic, or magic martial arts." Minerva nodded in understanding. "There are three more distinctions. Geniuses, like my brother." He held up one finger. "Everything comes easier to them, and when they apply themselves they are simply more powerful and skillful than their classmates."

"Genius?"

"I suspect Harry is one, as do both his masters. He will outstrip us all in the near future and is already close to defeating me in our spars. Although they have never fought, my father believes Dumbledore is probably near the top of the Genius spectrum. However, he will never be able to achieve the highest level of skill."

"Which is?" Minerva asked.

"Naturals. They have total control over magic and can combine it quite effortlessly with fighting. It is simply poetry in motion, and there is nothing they can't do. They are once in a generation talents."

"You suspect Mr. Thomas is a natural?"

"Not at all," Akira commented. "Naturals do not bloom late, and if he was a natural he would be done with school by the end of his first year. In all his years and travels, my father has only met two man in that echelon, and never have been defeated to my father's knowledge."

"One of them is Nambung?" Minerva asked. Akira nodded. "Who is the other?"

"An American named John Eagle," Akira said. " He defeated my father in a spar three years ago, quite easily. It was quite the shock. But no Mr. Thomas is not a natural. Dean is most likely a prodigy."

"A what?"

"A prodigy. They are not so uncommon and you have probably met quite a few. They are usually fairly average, except for unmatched excellence in one field. They usually see the world in different ways than your average person. In the muggle world, the most common are math prodigies. I suspect if Mr. Thomas had grown up in the muggle world he would fit that description."

"None of this explains why I should drop him from all his classes," Minerva said.

"As he grows into his power and his knowledge grows, very little else will interest him. Hopefully the new group of friends will keep him grounded, but it might be hard for a little while. Often these people drift away from the world and other people, consumed by their desire to master the craft. If Dean is a true prodigy in spell misdirection, then nothing else will matter. The fact that he was unsuccessful occasionally means he is not a true prodigy."

"But he will still be above his classmates?"

"Not in casting spells or going on the offensive, or even defending. He will still be at the same level with all of his other work, if he can be bothered to do it. But when he truly dives into understanding his ability, it won't matter. Aside from shielding or avoiding from the unforgivable, close to nothing will be able to hit him if he sees it coming. He'll need private instruction, and probably a significant other or important friend to keep him in the real world."

"I never would have bet on Mr. Thomas to develop unusual skills," Minerva admitted. "As his head of house, I'll keep an eye on him to confirm it, if you don't mind."

"I hope you do," Akira told her. "I suspect that I am right, but it could be an anomaly. You can never tell with prodigies. Some of them don't realize their skills until adulthood. Mr. Thomas may have never realized this ability if his mother was not a math teacher."

"Yet another illuminating conversation," Minerva noted. Akira nodded ruefully. "Magical Britain must seem so backwards to you."

"At times, but it is not like Japan and Asia are free of problems," Akira admitted. "None of this changes what we discussed earlier." Minerva nodded sadly. As they were essentially relatives and both cared for Harry, they were united in their desire to help the boy. At the same time, it had led to a huge fight a few weeks ago. Akira had explained that after the tournament, he would try to convince Harry to return to Japan with him and complete his school there.

After her fury calmed and she had time to reflect on the argument, the transfiguration professor was forced to admit Harry's brother had some valid points, and if Harry was truly willing to leave and decided he was done with Britain, she would send him on his way and hide her tears. That did not mean that she would not try to convince him to stay in ways both subtle and overt over the year and that she might not follow him regardless of how it affected Hogwarts. But she would not stand in her grandson's way if his heart was set on leaving the continent.

"You know I will fight for my grandson to stay," Minerva told him.

"If you didn't, I would take him away without your knowledge," Akira said pointedly. Minerva nodded. "Look, I know it is a tough reality, but the fact remains that he would learn more and be infinitely safer if he comes to Japan with me."

"I don't think that Harry is willing to hide behind other people," Minerva said.

"I know," Akira said. "But I still worry.

"If you didn't," Minerva explained, "I would keep him without your knowledge."