A/N: I wished I owned Harry Potter. Alas, I do not. Ms. Rowling, I'd be happy to take it off your hands
A/N: Another Loooooong Day finished. Next few chapters are going to cover a lot of ground. We are heading into the truly Kick-Ass part of the story now that I have started every major thread at Hogwarts. If you have been underwhelmed by the amount of actual fighting, may I point out this story is tagged as romance and friendship? But by chapter 50, I will have added a lot more fighting scenes, so here we go.
Chapter 40: Disappearing Act
January, 1995
"Today we will be studying the scouring charm," Professor Flitwick proclaimed. "I hope you are all prepared for some serious spellcasting." Harry kept his head down as an involuntary smile crossed his face. Without looking up he knew Lavender was doing the same. When she had come up to the boy's dorm room she had been horrified by the mess that had been created in less than a day. It had taken them 30 minutes, but Harry was now adept at the scouring charm under the strict tutelage of Lavender Brown. Sometimes knowledge and instruction came from the most unusual place.
"Now the incantation is scourgify," Flitwick explained to the class. A few faces were engaged and a few quills were moving, but most of the students were struggling to focus. It was the first day back from Christmas break, and Harry had a lot on his mind. Too much to focus on a charm he already knew.
He looked at Dean who was sitting next to him, and saw his friend was in an entirely different world, so decided not to bother him. Harry had been informed by Akira right before the end of the break that Dean was trending towards prodigy and that if he saw more signs of the talent he should let Akira or Minnie know. Harry was well aware of the distinctions in natural talent, and was a little jealous, but not enough to bring it up to Dean despite his year mate's easygoing nature.
The Christmas break had been a lot of fun. He had gotten wonderful presents from all his friends. Hermione had gotten him a green cloak that matched his eyes that he loved. Dean, Lavender, and Neville had all chipped in to get him a broom servicing kit tailored to his firebolt that was great. Cedric and Krum got him a book on quidditch techniques, with both of adding notes with some kind of joking insult.
Harry had expected Fleur to get him something nice even though it was unnecessary. According to his female friends the necklace he gave her was absolutely stunning, and although he told Fleur she did not need to respond in kind, the present she gave him a day before New Year's was perfect. It was a portkey to be used during his Hogsmeade Weekends to go to Chateau Delacour so that he could visit Sirius, who was in the process of recovering from all his years in Azkaban with first rate healers courtesy of his blood uncle Takashi Hayashi. Only Harry's tight control of his emotions stopped him from tearing up at the thoughtful present.
There had also been quite a few revelations over the break. Two stood out in his mind. First was the fact that his vaults could best be termed as overflowing. Harry had read "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens as a kid, and now knew that his resources would make Ebenezer Scrooge green with envy. What's worse, Dumbledore had actively stopped him from learning all this, or even seeing his parent's will. He had gotten a copy of his parent's will from his account manager, but had not worked up the courage to open it yet.
But of far more importance was the depth of the feelings Fleur felt for him, something that he was not prepared to deal with in the slightest. To his surprise, the day Fleur had confessed her feelings to him, Hermione told him to give her a chance. Harry was sure that he did not love Fleur back, but after a quiet night on his own, Harry figured that Hermione had never led him wrong before, and resolved to spend a little more one-on-one time with the French witch, if that was something she wanted.
Flitwick was waving his wand and Harry simply wasn't focused as he stared at the pool of an unknown liquid on the rock on the desk. He half-heartedly waved his wand at the mess and the liquid congealed before vanishing. Harry saw Dean look up and glance at Harry. Dean's rock still had some goop on it.
"Got it in one, huh Harry?" Dean said, uttering the incantation and waving his wand. The liquid remained on his rock.
"Yeah, I guess," Harry said with a small smile. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Dean was a good friend, but Harry was keeping the fact that he could cast almost every spell he knew silently a secret for the time being at Akira's request. He drew enough attention as it was. The last thing he needed was for students to realize that not only was Harry learning magic far beyond O.W.L level with Akira and Minnie, but also that he could cast it all silently.
Harry felt a tap on his right shoulder and realized he had forgotten that he had a student to his right too. Dean was zoning out, but Daphne, who was sitting next to him today in charms hadn't missed his spell. Harry turned to his only Slytherin friend with an innocent smile on his face. Daphne didn't saying anything in response, but instead pointed at his now clean rock.
"Beginner's luck," Harry said. He felt like he had managed to trick Daphne, but her eyes narrowed, and she mouthed something at Harry. Harry didn't catch it and raised an eyebrow in questioning.
"Casting silently, Harry?" Daphne said, leaning in and whispering in Harry's ear. Harry tried his best not to jump at the accusation. "Neat trick. When did you pick that up?"
"I was just being quiet," Harry lied, proud of how even his voice was.
"Sure," Daphne said, but her voice told Harry she was sure he was lying. Harry forced himself to focus for the rest of the class, loudly saying the incantation every time and making sure to mess up the wand movement a few times, as well as making sure his intent wasn't significant enough to actually succeed. The rock became partially clean a few times when he administered the liquid again, but his success was limited. Across the classroom, Neville and Hermione were being praised for their success.
"Mr. Potter, if you could stay a minute?" Professor Flitwick asks as the class ended. Harry say Daphne frown in frustration as Harry moved past her towards the professor. She had clearly wanted to corner Harry outside of class and grill him on what she thought she saw. But Flitwick had fortuitously provided a way out, and while Daphne would not forget, she would hopefully lose interest. But as Flitwick began to talk, Harry realized he was not out of the woods just yet.
"That was some nice casting, Mr. Potter," Flitwick told him.
"Well, it's a shame that I couldn't get it more than once," Harry said with a fake smile.
"Well no one else is casting silently, not even Ms. Granger," Flitwick replied. "How long have you been able to do that?"
"What?" Harry managed to show a puzzled expression.
"Mr. Potter, if you want to keep your skills secret, I am amenable to assisting you in that endeavor. However, I would appreciate it if you were honest with me," The half-goblin professor told Harry. "So I will ask again. Mr. Potter, how long have you been able to cast silently?" Harry looked around and saw the door was closed and the classroom was empty. He sighed and with a slight movement of his wand he cast a rudimentary privacy spell.
"A few months," Harry admitted. Flitwick already looked impressed by the privacy spell and now looked even more impressed.
"I assume you have been working on this with Minerva in your private sessions?" Harry nodded. "Well, I will discuss this with her. If you can cast silently then you should be doing so in all your classes. Is there a reason that you are keeping this a secret? In the past some of your classmates might have begrudged you any success, but this year I think that would not be the case."
"It's complicated," Harry confessed. It really wasn't that complicated, but hopefully saying that would deter the charms professor. But Flitwick was determined.
"Are you trying to hide your ability from the other champions? I doubt any of the contests will require direct competition of spell exchange, and from what I see from your growing friendship with the others, they would be more likely to help you improve that skill rather than holding it in reserve against you."
"No, I trust Cedric, Victor, and Fleur," Harry snapped.
"Fine," Flitwick conceded, though Harry could tell that much like Daphne, this line of questioning was far from done in the professor's eyes. "Onto another topic, if you have time?" Harry had history of magic next, and while Hermione might slide a snide comment into Harry about skipping it, Harry didn't have any intention of attending the class. But he really didn't want to get into an extended discussion with Flitwick without knowing what it was about.
"I actually have History of Magic. Could we talk after dinner?"
"Of course," Flitwick answered. Harry nodded and headed out the door. He saw Hermione waiting for him, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Ah, you saw through my ruse."
"Harry, just because you don't like history of magic that doesn't mean you can always skip it," Hermione said. She forced him to hurry through the corridor, and the two Gryffindor's caught up with the rest of their year mates. "Besides, I know you are training with McGonagall tonight so you aren't busy right now."
"There are still better ways to spend the time," Harry countered, but his heart wasn't in the argument. Hermione already had her metaphorical claws in him, and he wasn't getting out of class. He wouldn't be surprised to see her sit next to him to make sure he at least pretended to pay attention. Harry would just meditate and clear his mind.
Harry didn't know what caused him to flick his glance over his shoulder. There was no sound or feeling of movement that might indicate an attack. He didn't see any shadow from the torchlight around him, as the sun was still up. No one around him had a change in facial expression. It was just a gut instinct, and he saw the cloaked figure launch themselves at him.
Instinct took over and Harry dropped to his back, extending his legs and catching the would-be assailant in the stomach. He levered his legs and send the attacker flying over his classmates. A few yelped and dodged out the way, and the attacker hit the wall. Harry instantly leapt to his feet, and a small touch to his wand holster shot the holly wood into his hand.
"Out of the way," Harry shouted as the attacker rose. Harry saw a mask on their face. It was not the mask of a death eater which would have instantly prompted Harry to escalate the fight. He didn't recognize the all-black mask and it made him pause as his classmates scurried out of the way. Hermione stepped forward to stand behind him. Under normal circumstances Harry would have welcomed assistance, but as Hermione moved forward Harry saw the glint in his opponent's hand. It was a knife.
"Harry, let me help," Hermione said, but then the attacker was moving and Harry elbowed her out of the way, hearing her yelp in surprise before turning his full attention back to the fight. He dodged the first swipe and as the knife rose for a downward thrust Harry closed the distance, hammering the opponent in the gut twice with his free hand. The assailant stumbled back and Harry flicked his wand to his left hand. He started a movement and his opponent rotated their head to follow the wand but it was a feint, allowing Harry to catch them in the side of the chest with a vicious kick.
They fell back and Harry pursued as he flicked his wand back to his right hand. He had felt significant feedback from his kick, and probably had bruised a few ribs. The opponent blocked a few low blows and Harry responded by dropping to the floor and trying to sweep his opponent from their feet. The response was a jump, which set Harry up perfectly. A normal martial artist might have to wait for the opponent to land and resume their attack, but Harry was anything but normal.
"Depulso," Harry said aiming his wand below him. The floor didn't budge an inch but Harry shot up into the air. His back was towards the opponent, but he had calculated their flight and both feet smashed into the stomach. Harry fired a second banishing charm behind him and he flipped in midair. However his first double kick had more power than he intended and his flipped hammer kick only grazed his opponent.
He landed and to his surprise despite his damage his opponent landed easily as well. More impressively, they still held the knife, moving it slowly side to side. Harry had managed to take the initiative and had dealt some serious damage, but this was a formidable opponent. Regardless, Harry had the measure of the attacker. It was time to speed things up.
"Let's get that mask off," Harry said and jumped towards his opponent, turning his back. He could only imagine the expression under the mask, mostly likely surprise that Harry Potter had presented his back to be stabbed. But Harry had done no such thing. As he jumped, Harry had seen the knife was held low and in the attacker's right hand. He knew that an upwards thrust from right to left was coming and was rewarded when he twisted on his right foot, allowing the thrust to pass by his shoulder and he caught the face of his opponent. He allowed them to roll away from his attack and he extended his fingers, flicking the mask away.
He turned and saw a dark-skinned girl snarling at him. Harry didn't recognize the girl, but obviously she hadn't been expecting him to put up such a strong fight, and certainly had not expected him to get a good look at her face. She had turned down the chance to attack other students and was clearly given a remit to try and kill him but there was no point in taking chances. Now that he didn't know her, it was time to put her down.
"Confrigo, Bombarda, Locomotor Mortis," Harry said, not throwing too much power into the spells. But the sudden change in tactic forced his opponent backwards. With a second to think, Harry flicked his wand towards two suits of nearby armor and said "Oppugno." The two suits of armor clanked off the wall and started towards the girl, who drew her own wand and blew them apart.
Harry had already leapt over the suits of armor and was able to land a full force jump kick in her midrift. He felt his best feedback yet and she rolled to the floor, dropping both her wand and knife. Harry kicked both weapons behind him and dodged a clumsily thrown punch as she rose. He grabbed the outstretched arm and allowed the girl's attack to lead him gracefully into a throw as she sailed down the hall.
"Harry!" Harry turned away from his opponent and saw Minerva racing down the corridor towards him, her wand out. "Are you ok?"
"No problem," Harry said. Then he heard it. The whooshing sound that accompanied speedy movement. He turned and saw the girl only feet from him. He didn't see a wand or knife, so he allowed her to close the distance, grounded himself, and hit her in the jaw with a full-powered uppercut. As she flew into the air, Harry felt light presence on his shoulder, and turned to see a button on his shoulder.
"Huh?" Harry managed to say before he felt the jarring sensation from the button as the portkey activated. Harry managed to think that his master would kill him for turning his back on an opponent and being so careless before his body was forcibly yanked away from the corridor. Hermione, Minerva and the other students stared at horror as Harry disappeared from sight.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Minvera shouted, and the attacker fell to the ground with a gleeful smile on her face. "Hermione, what happened?" Hermione just stood there, totally in shock at seeing her best friend vanish into thin air. "Hermione, snap out of it!" Hermione still stood there in shock.
"She tried to surprise Harry, but he had her handled," Lavender said, realizing Hermione wasn't capable of rationale speech. "He landed a few big hits on her. I have no idea how he vanished."
"I saw it," Dean said, stepping forward and pointing towards the button. "It's a portkey. She put in on Harry as he landed the last hit."
"Portkey!" That roused Hermione out of her stupor. "But professor, it is impossible to portkey out of Hogwarts!"
"Yes, indeed," Minerva lied. That was the common theory, but not entirely true. The headmaster could create a portkey into and out of Hogwarts, and could also grant permission to anyone to do the same. However, that seemed unlikely as Minerva did not know the woman who now lay on the floor with a nasty grin plastered on her frozen face. That led to the far more disturbing possibility.
A portkey, just like most magic, varied in power from the wizard who created it and how much force the wizard put into it. A single wizard could probably not create a portkey that could activate from a touch and break through the Hogwarts wards. Earlier this year, Minerva would have dismissed the possibility outright. But when she quizzed Akira about Sirius's escape, the young Japanese man had explained that the portkey he used to spirit Sirius away had been made by 4 wizards working under his father and Laurent Delacour as bodyguards, and that there were very few wards in the world that could stop it from transporting the intended person.
A portkey usually activated on touch, or when a specific word was open. She needed to figure out what type of portkey this was. Since the woman had apparently placed the button on Harry's body, that probably meant that there had been a codeword. But she needed help.
"Ms. Granger, go and get Professor Hayashi. If he is in class, pull him out. Ms. Brown, the headmaster's office. Tell the Gargoyle I need him and bring him here right away." The two students rushed away to get the teachers. "Mr. Thomas, you saw everything?"
"Yes Professor," Dean said. "Harry was beating her down, but she sacrificed her body to put the portkey on him. I was unsure of what happened until I heard the button fall to the floor. Wouldn't the portkey usually travel with him?"
"Indeed it would," Minerva said. She hadn't even realized how unusual that was. "This is quite a problem." She surveyed the corridor but nothing else made sense. The transfiguration professor had no other solution. She was intentionally underselling the current situation. This was a serious problem, bordering on catastrophic.
"Minerva," Akira said, racing down the corridor "Harry was taken?"
"Yes it would appear so," Harry's grandmother said. "I assume there will be an investigation. I'll have the headmaster floo Amelia."
"That's a start," Akira said. "I'll reach out to my father and he'll send some people too. Harry is resourceful and they obviously wanted to catch him, not kill him. Our first goal is to find him. I heard the portkey is still here? We need to check it and secure it for the investigators."
"Of course," Minerva said, indicating the portkey.
"It might still be active," Akira said. "Grab it together?"
"Hold one moment," Dumbledore said as he strode down the corridor. He waved his wand at the button and frowned. "It is no longer active. I'll take that back to my office and investigate." He reached for the button but found Akira in front of him as Minerva grabbed the button. "Excuse me, Professor Hayashi."
"I'd prefer for professional investigators to take a look if you don't mind, Headmaster."
"Professor Hayashi, we can take this back to your office and use the floo in there to get in touch with your father," Minerva said. "Albus, go call Amelia and explain. Ask her to bring some aurors and an unspeakable. We may need their skills."
Despite the presence of some of Takashi Hayashi's subordinates, some of Amelia's top aurors, and an unspeakable specializing in portkey travel, there were no clues of real substance. The unspeakable was able to tell that the portkey was long distance, and one of the Asian investigators thought it was possible that the magical signature was bad news.
The investigator wasn't sure, but it was very possible that the portkey had deposited Harry in one of the few Asian countries Akira's father had no influence over: The DPRK. North Korea had long been a thorn in his father's side, and they were a rogue nation in the magical and muggle world. It was a hotbed of illegal activity, and whenever senior Asian officials raided dangerous areas with credible intelligence, they found it empty. His father was sure that there were spies throughout the government, which meant that any raid to try and get Harry might get him killed.
"We need Dumbledore," Akira told Minerva regretfully. "He'll need to invade the mind of our captive." Minvera agreed so the captive was transported to the headmaster's office and Minvera revived her after binding her to a chair.
"I hope it does not come to this," Dumbledore said as he gazed at the woman, trying to meet her eyes, but she turned away. "Ahh, so I must be more direct." He stood and drew his wand. "Legilimens!" Albus's eyes became distant and the woman began to struggle against her bonds. The headmaster was silent for a few minutes and then his eyes became focused.
"Did you find anything?" Minerva asked eagerly.
"Unfortunately, there was significant memory modification, and the woman is quite insane," Dumbledore explained. "I fear that Harry may be lost to us. Fawkes?" Dumbledore's phoenix flashed into the room. "Perhaps you could find Harry for us?" Fawkes trilled and flashed away. "He will search for Harry, and hopefully retrieve him for us."
"I hadn't thought of that," Akira admitted. "Very little can stop a phoenix, but this was carefully planned. Were you able to get anything from her?"
"Only snippets of conversation, and a reference to the Vengeful Brotherhood. Does that mean anything to you?"
"Can't say I've heard of that," Akira said. Suddenly his father's investigators stepped forward to two grabbed the woman as a third unbound her. The lead investigator's face showed he was shaken.
"Thank you for your assistance," the investigator said, "but we will be taking control of the investigation."
"You have heard of this brotherhood?" Albus asked.
"That is classified information," he replied. "If we could trouble you for the use of your floo?" Dumbledore nodded and with a dash of floo powder the investigators disappeared with the prisoner.
"My father will find Harry," Akira said. "We can only hope it is not too late."
Word of Harry's attack and disappearance spread around the castle like wildfire. As the students congregated for dinner there was no other topic on discussion. Draco had told everyone in ear shot that Potter was as good as dead. This earned him a slap from Daphne who called him a monster before storming over to the Hufflepuff table to sit with Susan and Hannah.
Meanwhile the Gryffindor table held mainly stoic faces. Hermione had tear stains as Cedric spoke softly to her, and Lavender was making no attempt to hide her tears.
"Harry was protecting us," she told her new significant other. "Otherwise he would have been fine."
"Harry would fight any attacker anyways," Dean replied. "You know that is who he is. Don't worry about it." Similar sentiments were expressed down the table. Krum didn't say much as he mulled the situation over. Kidnappings were not uncommon in the former Soviet Block but rarely were they of such high profile people. Normally there would be a ransom and the person would be returned, and while Harry's wealth made that a possibility this felt different. He could only hope his uneasy feeling felt wrong. He saw the headmaster rise and turned to hear what he had to say.
"Most of you have heard of the events today that transpired in the afternoon. I can only say that all avenues of investigation are being explored, and I can only hope that Mr. Potter returns in time for the second task." Dumbledore sat, and Krum could tell most of his new friends were upset with such a simple explanation.
In the meantime there was not much he could do. There not much point in worrying as it would get him nowhere. He would continue to work on solving the mystery of the egg as best he could. The champions had agreed that while they would work together on solving the clue, they would go about the tasks on their own, only intervening if someone was in serious danger. But for now all he could do with the egg was get a headache from the screaming.
One person at the table was downright angry. Hermione had been mad when Harry pushed her out of the way, but quickly realized as she watched the fight that she would have been a liability to her best friend and that her desire to help Harry had meant that she had allowed her own training to slack. She explained her plan to Cedric and by dinner the plan had been passed around.
Later that night the group congregated in a now empty room of requirement. It included Hermione, Dean, Lavender, Susan, Hannah, and Neville. There were some older students as well from a mix of houses. The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team had arrived, and Cedric and Jason represented the Hufflepuffs, while Cho and Luna had come too. There were no Slytherin's but without Harry, Hermione wasn't surprised to see Daphne not appear. What was a surprise was that Ron and Seamus appeared as well.
"You are all here because Harry was taken today. I was in the hallway with him ready to fight alongside him but Harry stopped me. I realized quickly that I would only hindered him and was outclassed by his attacker, but as Lavender and Dean can attest, Harry was remarkable effective. While I doubt we can learn his fighting style, there is still lots we can do."
"What do you mean?" Angelina asked.
"We train," Cedric explained. "We get stronger as wizards, increasing our power, speed and casting repertoire. Death eaters attacked at the world cup this year, and it is clear that are many more dangerous people in the world."
"I don't know about you, but I never want to be pushed aside again," Hermione added. "When they find Harry, I want to be right next to the rescue team." There was a growl of assent. "If Harry was here, I'd say he should train us, but that obviously won't be happening. So we will share spells and practice, and pair up to fight each other. Does that sound good?"
"Harry can run this when he gets back," Jason said. "But for now I think Hermione should be the head. Any objections?" Hermione frowned at that statement but the room was silent.
"Fine," Hermione said as the silent stretched. She wasn't happy with it, but it made sense. "It goes without saying that this will be a secret from the professors." Everyone nodded even though the reactions were mixed. Neville looked nervous and in contrast the twins had wide grins. "We will be using dangerous spells and dueling is forbidden, so this needs to stay under wraps."
"Ok," Cedric said. "Should we get started?"
"Sounds good," One of the twins said, and everyone looked at Hermione.
"Ok," Hermione agreed. "Let's get started."
-O-O-O-O-O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O—O-O-O-
After what felt like an age Harry landed. He saw a wizard right in front of him with his wand pointed at him, and Harry subtlety dropped his wand as he was bound. He collapsed to the floor with ropes all around him and managed to flick his eyes around the room. There were torches on the wall illuminating his landing spot, and he saw the wizard was now talking to a beast he recognized. The presence of two centaurs unnerved him.
Centaurs were proud creatures who mainly stayed to themselves. They had an unhealthy distrust of wizards and for them to be working with a wizard spoke volumes about how well organized this group was. The half horses also paid inordinate attention to the position of certain stars and planets, and for them to be involved in his kidnapping meant that other centaurs were unlikely to provide assistance.
He felt his hip twitch and knew his wand had returned to the holster. The wizard who had bound him was over-confident and did not know all the features of his wonderful holster. If he was not disarmed or his wand taken, it would return to the holster. Harry had hoped that this would happen and had positioned his hand right by the holster on his hip. The wizard had not used a truly full body-bind, and Harry managed to graze the holster. That was all he needed as his wand snapped into his grasp.
"Flipendo," Harry murmured and directed his wand at the wizard, sending his flying. The centaurs looked around in confusion, giving Harry time to send them both into the far wall. One of them slumped down unconscious, and the other cried out as the collision broke a leg. Harry rose and stunned the now screaming half horse.
Harry glanced around the cell as he unbound himself. There was no one else, and a heavy door with a bar locking it in place. What concerned him was the sight outside the window. It had been afternoon at Hogwarts, and now he could see the moon. That meant that the portkey had taken him significant distance.
"Idiots," Harry muttered as he unlocked the door. As he swung it open he stepped out and swung in a 180 degree half circle, but saw no one in the corridor. He swung the door back closed and pondered the situation. The wizard and centaurs would be up soon, and with no information Harry could risk the possibility of them chasing him down or potentially grabbing reinforcements. At the same time, he did not want to exhaust his magic in case there were indeed more enemies in his new prison.
He locked the door but didn't but a dampening spell on the door. He hoped no one could come check on him, and this seemed like a good compromise. As he jogged through the new environment with a variety of random twists and turned, it all looked the same. He stopped slowly, smacking himself on the head.
"Turns out I'm an idiot too," Harry said with a sigh. "I left him with his wand. Well, I doubt I could find my way back even if that was worth it. Now, as to how to get out of here." He drew his wand again which he had stowed in his new holster and said "Point me Exit," His wand jerked in his hand straight up. "Ok, so I need to find stairs." Harry used the spell again and soon found stairs heading up.
He used the point me spell a few times and continued heading up. Eventually he reached a giant dining hall and saw a huge door in front of him. He hesitated for a second, both curious and cautious. The old Harry would have rushed through the door, but he was smarter than that. He walked up to the door and placed his ear against it. He didn't hear anything, so with a flip of his wand he eased the door open.
"Aguamenti," Harry heard from behind him. He jumped to the left and saw a torrent of water smash into the door behind him. He rolled to his feet and with a tiny tap he was armed. He saw a wizard grinning at him. He said a few words and Harry recognized it as Chinese.
"Sorry, I don't speak Chinese," Harry said in Japanese. "If you are threatening me, I'd appreciate it if you could do it in Japanese."
"Of course, Mr. Potter," his new attacker said in flawless Japanese. There wasn't a hint of an accent, which made Harry shiver a bit. If this man could cast spells in Japanese as well, he would be in trouble. However, his reflexed meant there was a chance he might be able to get the drop on him, and Harry began to formulate a plan. "I expected you to be in your cell right now."
"Yeah, I got out. If you wouldn't mind showing me the exit."
"Hi." Fire sprouted from the man's wand, and Harry was forced back towards a corner by the blasts of fire. He could tell from the heat and speed that he was facing a master. "Hi muchi." A whip of fire appeared from his wand, and with a flick the wand the whip headed towards him.
Harry ducked the attack and silently unlocked his weights which fell to the ground with a loud clanging sound. This surprised the wizard who looked around for the noise. Harry took the moment to close half the distance, and the wizard swiveled around and fired two more blasts. Harry managed to avoid them and get within striking distance. One more blast of fire headed towards him and Harry couldn't dodge.
"Han'ei Suru!" Harry yelled and the fire bounced back towards the other wizard who banished the fire past him. But now Harry was next to him and he threw all of his speed into a straight aimed at the man's jaw. Instead of feeling contact Harry felt his arm grabbed and he sailed over the man's head. Harry flipped in the air and landed with a stumble and felt his side explode in pain.
"I'd appreciate it if you surrender," The man said, his leg extended. Harry felt his side and suspected the man had bruised some ribs. The kick had been as powerful as Akira at 100%, but his form was cleaner and the speed much faster, almost at an unbelievable amount. Harry hadn't even seen it coming. He was fighting a real master, and Harry held back a shiver. He would die, of that he was almost certain. But Harry wasn't going to back down from a fight, not when he still had a chance.
"You know I can't," Harry said with a small smile.
"Very well," the man said, raising his wand. Harry brought up his wand as well and gave a half bow. Then Harry heard an unusual sound, one he had not heard for months. It was a sizzling blast and Harry looked up to see his opponent fall, smoke coming from his body.
"Harry?" Harry heard a familiar voice ask. Harry looked towards the voice and felt his body sag with relief as Nambung raced towards him, a few men in bright blue cloaks behind him. He had no idea what Nambung or the Asian special ops team his master worked with were doing here, but he was safe now.
"Hey," Harry said as his teacher grabbed his shoulders. "Fancy seeing you here." Then he felt exhaustion spread over him and he closed his eyes and sagged into his teacher's arms.
"Captain?" One of the men asked. "Who is this?"
"A friend," Nambung said as he cradled his apprentice in his arms. "I assume you and your men can take care of securing the other men here. If it comes down to it, leave no one alive." The man saluted and the men broke into 3 groups, each heading in a different direction. "Harry what are you doing here?" The world's most powerful magical taekwondo master looked down at the unconscious boy with a mixture of concern and caring. "Let's get you out of here." There was no movement or speech as a sphere of crackling lightening appeared around the two men and then it rushed inwards, the two figures disappearing in a flash of light.