Hey folks! I absolutely should not be starting a new story but my mind does what it wants. It is now entirely hyper fixated on Hunter x Hunter. So I've created this monster... Which, now that I think about it, is the first fic with an OC main. Hm.

Just to warn you! For the Harry Potter fans, yes- there will be Harry Potter but probably not in the way you think. It will be minimal while also being... a pretty key aspect? Also, yes, that key aspect is Harry himself! But, I'm not going to tell you how he is involved because spoilers. I'm going to aim for writing a fic that has a bit of mystery to it! We'll... see how long it lasts.

This fic was heavily inspired by Serenechaos' "What Was Needed" and does draw a lot of elements from it (so those that have read their wonderful, absolutely amazing story might know a bit more than others) but I do have the author's permission to use their work. So, please don't talk to me about plagiarism. It'll show up in later chapters more than now but I'd like to give the warning.

This work will be based more around the manga while drawing some scenes and inspiration from the anime! So... don't expect my dialogue to be exact or anything. It might be close but that does get boring after a while.

Anyway! Sorry for the long note, they probably won't be like this in the future. Have fun my pretties! Mwaha! (I honestly hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed plotting it.)

Tonpa's eyes twitched when the newest rookie spat out his laxative laced juice, prompting the other two to dump their own cans. What was with the rookies this year? There were so few of them that were falling for his normally effective trick. They were all irritating, arrogant little snots…

Not that he'd ever let any of that show on his face, of course. No, instead he allowed a nervous expression to tug at his features. "My apologies," he gulped nervously, clasping his hands together and bowing to really sell the show. "I had no idea the juice was expired! Er, how could you tell?"

The smallest one blinked at him with a bright grin. He couldn't wait to see it crushed, smile falling into despair as he was stabbed in the back. That's what this idiot should get for trusting so blindly. This kid was the best type to mess with even if they annoyed him to no end with naivety. "That's alright! I used to taste a lot of herbs and buds on my home island so I can usually tell when something is bad. It's a good thing that I drank first!"

That response just made his nervous expression a bit more genuine. Why'd it have to be some backwater mountain child? A small bead of sweat gathered on his brow. He couldn't allow these strange newbies to throw him off his game. Come hell or high water they'd be destroyed or his name wasn't Tonpa the Rookie Crusher!

"Y-yes! All the better. Er, oh look! Another contestant," he hummed turning to the elevator. He'd honestly thought these last guys were cutting it close but he wasn't always the best at guessing when phases would start. It all depended on the examiner after all. "I should go say hello!"

"Oh, that's really nice of you, Tonpa! I'll go with you. Kurapika, Leorio, would you like to come?"

The aforementioned men gave Tonpa a narrowed eye stare that made Tonpa clench his teeth. But eventually they agreed and their small group made it to the short figure right as they were pinning the #406 badge to their robe. He gave the figure a once over. They were small, practically swallowed under the beige desert robe that was covering them entirely; except for the bony hands and painfully thin wrists that were soon swallowed in the folds as their arms fell to their sides.

"Hello there," Tonpa greeted with false warmth, trying to peer into the black void under the hood. Could they possibly be another child? There were already two of them in this exam so far. What a weird year, strange rookies and a bunch of kids. There was a chance it was just a small adult but those hands... "Looks like you're new to the exam! My name is Tonpa-"

"And I'm Gon," the small boy at his side exclaimed, bouncing forward to peer closer, a large grin on his face. He gave a happy wave which was hesitantly returned, displaying that thin hand and wrist again. Yea, no. Definitely a kid and most likely an underfed one.

Tonpa couldn't stop the eye twitch. He cleared his throat. "Right. Right! I can't help but notice I've never seen you before. I was just helping these rookies out-"

"Aw! That's nice of you! Hi, I'm Jasper- you can call me Jas. I'm definitely not going to remember you in a few minutes."

One of the rookie's -probably the middle aged business man- behind him spluttered while the other teen muttered, "Well, that was blunt."

And Tonpa couldn't really find it in himself to disagree. And he'd thought the green one was bad enough!

"Why do you say that," Gon asked, interrupting before Tonpa could even get a word out. Obviously with this kid around he wasn't going to get anything done! Fine. He could take this loss and just stomp on the brat later. He had plenty of time and if by some miracle the kids made it past the first round, more time for him to work his magic. Besides, the phase should be starting up pretty soon after all.

"Because I have a terrible memory! Speaking of!" A phone was pulled out of the clutches of the robe and brought up to the kid's face. Then they started typing just as an alarm went off catching everyone's attention. Tonpa glanced over, keeping the latest rookie within his peripherals. That there looked like an examiner!

Tonpa grinned. Show time.

Jasper hummed as he finished typing a bold 'FOLLOW PURPLE HAIR' on his phone before placing it back in his pouch, tucked on his hip beneath his robe. He was absolutely determined to not forget what he was doing during the Hunter Exam. It was too bad he was already off to a horrible start, having almost not made it on time. He couldn't remember exactly what he forgot but… it had cost him a lot of time and he'd only barely followed behind the group that had… er… what had he said his name was again? Well, it's fine. He was better with colors anyways and that kid was green all over the pace which made following him easy.

Greenie and his group had made it so… following him should be safe right? It'd be easier to remember than having to check his phone for what he had forgotten anyhow. Probably. For a while anyway. It just really sucked that today was turning out to be a bad day already.

He scanned the people around him, not paying too much attention to details, because he wasn't going to remember them anyway, so what was the point? But that didn't mean that people couldn't be important for him to use in the present! Like following greenie had led him here!

And, oops, he'd almost forgotten to move, he was so focused on remembering the instruction to follow. So, follow he did. Which was immediately noticed.

"Oh! Hello Jas! Are you going to stay with us?" Greenie seemed super nice. Bad trait for him to have but potentially really useful for him to use, especially right now. The other two seemed much more suspicious of him. Hm, was that why they stuck around? Were they protectors of some sort? Then if he could just get greenie to trust him, he should be fine until he had gotten some rest! Then he could- he could… finish what he came here to do? What had he come here to do?

"Jas? Are you okay?"

"Huh?" He blinked at the face in front of him. Greenie was walking backwards now, face leaning far too close to his own for comfort. He squawked in surprise and almost fell backwards. A firm hand fell on his shoulder and Greenie let out an apologetic laugh. "Sorry!"

"No, it's ok. It's my fault… I think." He shooed the hand away from his shoulder, extremely uncomfortable with the contact. Greenie didn't seem to be bothered at all by it, thankfully.

"Are you really letting this kid hang around, Gon? He seems a little… erm-" That was the tall one. Drab colors. He'd be extremely difficult to remember. How unfortunate as that normally pissed people off. Oh, well. There was more than one guard after all.

"It's fine! He's a good guy!"

"If Gon thinks it's fine, then leave it." Blonde. Also in darker colors with a bit of white thrown in. He… might be able to remember this one. If it was any other day- "Oh, that's strange."

Drab looked confused and Greenie glanced at his two guards, curiosity written all over his face.

"What's happening? Everyone seems so rushed," Drab complained, glancing this way and that.

"I was right! The rhythm is getting progressively faster," Blonde said seriously, starting to run along with the rest of the crowd.

"Oh! The ones in the front have started running," Greenie exclaimed, flipping around so he was facing forward again as he too started to run. "C'mon Leorio, Jas! Let's go."

Jasper blinked and followed. He'd heard the guard's name but… well, not important. What was important, though- "Why are we running?"

"Are you seriously asking that!?" Ah, so Drab was a hot-head.

"I have a bad memory," he helpfully explained. He needed them to like him after all if he was going to use them to… to do…. Whatever he had set out to do today. He should check his phone. He usually wrote what was needed on it.

"Is your memory really that bad," Blonde asked, sending a frown his way.

"Yup!"

"Then why are you taking the Hunter Exams!?"

"Aha! That's what I'm doing," Jasper exclaimed gleefully. "The Hunter Exams! Thanks for the reminder!"

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"

Wow. Drab was seriously going to hurt himself if he kept up like that. Anger wasn't good for you… or something like that. But he supposed there was no harm in telling them. "I'm taking the Hunter exams to find my family. There's lots of information available that I can use with a License!... I think."

As Drab went into another fit of disbelief and anger, Jasper turned his attention instead to Greenie who was laughing. That was a much better reaction. Safer. "That's really neat, Jas. I'm doing the same thing. My dad is a Hunter and I wanna know what it was like for him. Then I'm going to find him!"

Oh. Well, he'd never met anyone that had the same goal as him before. That was actually… really cool. He glanced over at Greenie again, trying to take in the details. The green was honestly what stood out the most, but he also had a fishing rod on his back which was a notable identifier too. Beyond that though, Greenie was sort of plain; brown eyes, black hair, round child-like face. It was a pity but he'd try his best to remember him if only for the novelty of meeting someone like him.

And considering that novelty and how rare it was -he knew of no others by the way- Jasper would do his best to make sure that Greenie liked him while they were still around each other! "In all fairness to you… I'm not going to remember that."

Greenie laughed. "That's okay! I can just keep reminding you!"

Perfect! That was absolutely what he needed. If Greenie could just keep telling him what he needed to know every time he forgot then his day would be set. Jasper opened his mouth to reply, a big smile pulling at his lips, before he was cut off by some rude stranger running next to them.

"That's really dangerous, you know. If you keep forgetting things how are you going to pass the exam?"

"And who are you?"

He watched the muscle in the stranger's cheek twitch as they closed their eyes. "This is exactly why it's dangerous. I've been here the whole time and you've already forgotten me. It's even worse than I thought," the blonde haired boy muttered.

Jasper blinked and tried to dig into his flickering memories. It was dark, it was cold, there was a steak, then he met Greenie… Mm, nope he didn't remember at all.

"This is Kurapika," Greenie cut in cheerfully. "He's been with us this whole time. And this is Leorio," Jasper dragged his eyes away from the blonde, over to a middle aged looking man. He looked like someone he'd pickpocket on the street. How drab. Hm. That's a good name for this guy. As for the other one… his most notable feature was his hair. So. Blondie. "And I'm Gon!"

Jasper nodded a few times absentmindedly. He definitely wasn't going to remember them but greenie-er, Gon?- was important for his continued success. He should probably at least try… but really on a day like today was it even worth the effort?

Meh. Fair warnings should be given.

"I'm not going to remember that."

"Stop saying that," Drab shrieked from behind them as the pace continued to increase. At the rate he was slowly falling behind, Jasper honestly didn't think Drab was going to make it to wherever they were going. How long were they going to be running for?

There was a voice from up front that suddenly spoke up, barely drowning out the sound of hundreds of running feet slapping at the ground. "Oh, yes. I forgot to mention. I am Satotz, your first phase examiner and I am to lead you to the second phase." There were a few rumbles from multiple people- he couldn't understand them for how quiet they were, not that he cared to- but they were soon cut off as Satotz spoke again. "The first phase has already begun. If you're able to follow me to where the second phase is located, you'll have passed the first test. I can't tell you where or when we'll arrive. You must be content with following me."

"That doesn't sound too hard," Jasper hummed, tugging his hood down lower so it wouldn't fly off his head with the subtle pace increase. He'd just have to focus on remembering to follow the examiner… who he totally didn't remember. What did the guy look like again? He'd definitely seen him… probably.

"An endurance test," Drab huffed. "I'm down! Where he goes, I go!"

"This test is weird," Greenie said at the same time blondie muttered something under his breath.

Not a moment later someone shot by him, almost knocking into his arm as they bypassed Greenie and Drab. Drab immediately responded with offense, telling the… kid? Yea, definitely another kid. That was pretty cool! He didn't often get the chance to see kids around his own age. Oh, right, Drab was telling him that riding his wheeled board wasn't allowed. What was that thing anyway? He'd never seen anything like it… that he remembered anyway.

It's possible he had seen it before but it wasn't ringing any bells. Must not be too important even if it looked like a lot of fun.

"Why?"

Jasper turned his attention back to the kid instead of the thing he was riding. He sounded bored, with maybe a hint of curiosity? Or perhaps Jasper was pushing his own emotions into this interaction. Because… he'd like to know why too.

"Why!? Because it's an endurance test! That's cheating!" Drab really seemed like he needed anger management. What a hot-head.

Greenie piped up, stealing Jasper's -admittedly flighty- attention. "No, it's not. He just said we have to follow him, didn't he?"

Right. They were following someone and it was important.

"Whose side are you on, Gon!?"

"You should just drop it, Leorio," Blondie sighed. Huh. Jasper had almost forgotten about him. He was a quiet one, wasn't he? "You're just being noisy now. You should conserve energy-"

"Hey. Why are we running again?"

"SERIOUSLY!?"

"We're following the examiner for Phase One of the Hunter Exam," Greenie dutifully explained with a grin.

"Hey thanks," Jasper responded happily. He knew that Greenie would have his back! After all, they were both hunting family!

"Hey, you two."

Jasper glanced at the boy on the wheeled board who had called for their attention. He had striking white hair and deep blue eyes. Huh… those eyes actually reminded him of Ma. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be forgetting this kid, or at least not his eyes, any time soon. Not to mention that he seemed strong for his age! Jasper couldn't exactly put his finger on what it was but there was definitely something about Whitey that was giving off danger vibes.

"How old are you guys?"

Jasper blinked but readily answered. There was no harm in it after all. "I'm twelve."

"I'm almost twelve," Greenie chirped. "Wow! Jas, I didn't know we were so close in age!"

How old did the boy think he was? He wasn't that much shorter than him!

"Just like me," Whitey murmured. "Alright. I'll run too."

There was a 'tak' and suddenly the other boy was hopping up into the air, the wheeled board beneath him flipping up as well. It was neatly caught in one pale hand and Jasper couldn't help but admire the skill that probably went into that.

"Cool!" It seemed Greenie couldn't help but to admire it as well. Maybe this boy would be another one to keep around? But he didn't seem nearly so gullible or helpful as Gon. He'd probably have to give the boy a really good reason. Hm.

"I'm Killua."

"Gon!"

Oh, there were introductions. Was he included in this? Whitey had called out to them both, right? He was remembering that correctly?

"And you?"

"Oh, Jasper." So, he did remember! Weird thing to remember… Maybe it had to do with the eyes? They were really sticking with him! Whatever, he couldn't control his brain. But he should probably warn Whitey about himself. If he stuck around, all the better, if he didn't… well, not like it mattered. "I won't remember you in a few minutes."

Whitey frowned at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"I have a bad memory," he stated blandly.

"I've been reminding him why we're here," Gon laughed.

"Oh. Is that why you asked why we were running earlier?"

Jasper tilted his head in thought. "I asked that?"

"Huh. You're weird." There was a smile on Whitey's face so Jasper took no offence. "And what about you, mister?"

This was directed to a man dressed in a very drab suit running next to Gon. Jasper turned his head to look at him. Had he been there the whole time? Well, it wasn't any wonder that he'd hardly noticed him considering how boring and dull his attire was. But still… why was Whitey including him? Was this someone that Jasper had forgotten?

"Oi! I'm not that old! I'm from the same generation as you!"

All four of them skidded to a stop.

There was a vague thought of 'Oh, a hot head,' floating in the back of his mind but mostly his brain had frozen in absolute shock because- What!? There was no way this guy with rough facial hair, dorky looking glasses, and dressed in a suit made for the most boring people in the world, could be from the same generation! That would make Mr. Drab a teenager at the oldest and he refused to believe that!

"Are you sure!?" Thank you Greenie for voicing his thoughts because his own vocals were petrified. Just… just how!?

"Argh! That's it, Gon! I'm finished talking to you," Mr. Drab screeched, and yea… definitely had a temper this one. It was probably best to just… forget this entire thing had happened.

Almost mechanically, Jasper turned away and started running again… or maybe sprinting was better. The faster he was away, the better. In this instance he was glad that he'd be forgetting that encounter really soon. Instead, he just focused on running and running and running and running and…

Why was he running again?

Jasper frowned. He was running in a group of people and he was obviously here for a reason. And it obviously had to do with finding his family because… why else would he be doing something like this? From the gentle burn starting in his legs, he'd been running for a while but he just couldn't figure out why he'd be… just running. And in a crowd at that. He hated being so close to people and larger groups always made him nervous. Especially because they were all adults! Why was he running in a cluster of adult males!?

Jasper took a sharp breath in and held it, before letting it slowly. Panic was never a good thing. He just needed to think.

There was always something that he did when he was confused like this. Because sadly these bad days were becoming more common than he'd truly like. There wasn't much he could do about that except… except… maybe writing it down? But where could he write-

Oh! His phone! With a giddy excitement filling his chest at remembering that crucial detail, Jasper reached into his pouch. Mentally, he patted his less forgetful self on the back for always having his own back. The pouch was the only place he could store things so he couldn't possibly forget where he put it. There were a few other things in there that he paid no attention too, instead latching onto the slim brick that was his phone.

He pulled it out and held it out in front of him, looking over the set up quickly. He couldn't quite remember how to turn it on so he just started pressing buttons until the screen lit up. He grinned at it. There was nothing else on the screen except for a red notebook so he tapped it, opening up his most recent notes.

HUNTER EXAM

Get on boat

Listen to Captain. Captain has biggest hat.

Get to Zaban City

Do not get on busses

Find other examinees?

Made it. Don't forget Hunter Exams!

FOLLOW PURPLE HAIR

That was it? Okay so he was doing the Hunter Exam… probably for information. Every goal he had was to get back to his family and a Hunter License would certainly help. But… who was purple hair? Is that why everyone was running-

"Oof!" Jasper slammed into someone's back, sending his phone flying out of his hands as he twisted around them so he wouldn't fall onto his butt and lose momentum. He fumbled to catch it but instead sent it spinning forward through the air as he knocked it with the back of his hand. It smacked into a wild tuft looking head of red hair. Then it was snatched out of the air by a pale hand tipped with some rather sharp looking nails and-

Oh. What- what was that feeling? It made his stomach churn and bile build in his throat and-

"Hey, watch it rookie!"

His eyes darted back to the man he'd bumped into and he couldn't help but frown. He was a short squat man with scruff on his face and a nasty sneer hidden in his eyes, with a gleeful tilt to his mouth. Automatically he marked this- his eyes darted down to the numbered badge as everything else was unremarkable about him- #16 as a threat. Maybe not a major one... But he honestly hoped he remembered this later. Why couldn't he have a normal brain?

"Don't just stop in front of people then, gramps," Jasper huffed, completely put out by this situation.

"Gramps!? Hey, you little-"

Ignoring the grasping hands and irritated face, he slipped away from the annoying man and sped back up to catch up with the crowd. He needed to… to… what exactly was he doing before? He'd been checking his phone, right?

His hand slipped down to his pouch but it wasn't there. Where…?

His stomach lurched and that horrible feeling came back, making black spots dance in front of him as his head pounded.

"I believe you owe me an apology, little rat~."

"Ah." That's right. It had slipped from his fingers and this man- this man that was suddenly right next to him- in his space!

How was he running bent over like that!?

Thankfully, while his brain was stuck on the invasion of personal space and the painful looking running position, his auto-mouth kicked in with a small, "Sorry."

"Now, that doesn't sound very sincere~! Want to try again?"

Jasper couldn't help the hitch in his stride as his muscles started clenching on their own. His breath caught in his throat and his heart started beating a mile a minute as that horrible sickening feeling grew stronger. He'd never felt like this before! Never! What was this!?

It was like he was losing control of his body! Nothing made sense except the need to run and run but he was already running! He was running and it didn't stop, he was running and it was still there, the jaws of a predator, sharp teeth, warm blood dripping and dripping-

It felt like death incarnate was standing next to him and nothing would ever be okay again-

He was back in the dark, and the hands, and the screams-

He'd never find his family because he'd be dead-

His lungs hurt, his limbs hurt, he hurt, hurt, hurt-

AN: So, tell me what ya think, yea!? Leave a review and I'll love you forever :)