AN: Another chapter, yay! I'm not entirely sure how this 'book' is going to flow. I mean, I have ideas, I even have an ending I want to aim for, but I'm not going to force it. If that means I need to abandon a tonne of prep work I've done to make the story flow properly, then so be it. Still, I hope it doesn't come to that, as I hope to take my fic in a new and interesting direction, but like I said, it took a lot of prep work to even attempt, so I hope I do it justice. You, my dear readers, simply need to, well, read, and hopefully enjoy, my newest chapter.
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 02 – Ideas and Preparation
Harry and Loki joined up with Bast, who had been watching them spar, before heading back to where they were staying. By this point, Isis would be up, and she would probably have breakfast waiting for them. The Unicorn, perverted tendencies aside, was becoming quite good with domestic skills such as cleaning, cooking, and the like.
Of course, Isis wouldn't be Isis if she didn't wear rather... suggestive outfits while she was performing said tasks.
Not for the first time, Harry contemplated purchasing a house in Japan. In fact, he decided to ask Loki what his opinion of that idea was, and see what Bast thought of it too, though if the kitty stuck true to form, she would simply agree with whatever Harry decided on.
"Hmm." Loki contemplated his answer for a moment. "I'd say that it was a good idea, but why not go a step further? You could simply purchase some land and have your golems construct a house for you. That would be a lot cheaper, and you would know exactly what went into it."
Harry's brow furrowed in thought. "Would that be practical though?" He asked. "I mean, yes, my Herakles golems would be rather suitable for the task, but it's not like I have a lot of experience with construction. I have no idea where to start really, and there's so many ways I could mess it up."
"Well, what goes into a house?" Loki threw out there. "Make sure the land is level, then start with the foundations, add the shell of a house and build on it, what's so difficult about that? With magic, everything becomes even easier, and I'm fairly sure that you have a few spells in the tome related to construction."
Harry blinked at that, before opening the tome and searching for anything relevant. "Huh, you're right. There's a spell here, an earth elemental one, used to manipulate the ground. According to the notes attached, it's from a Herbology book, specifically 'Your plants at home: Your own personal greenhouse', and it's used for preparing land for greenhouses."
A few moments later and Harry found that, yes, he actually did have plenty of spells which would be useful in construction. From the previously mentioned one, to an alchemical array that would transform earth into bedrock, great for foundations. Then there were numerous wards that he'd copied from a number of books – and he'd have to look up laws regarding some of the ones he'd gotten from the restricted section – and there were even runic arrays that would produce water for baths and things like that.
"You know, I think you might have a point." Harry admitted. "Magic really does make everything a lot easier. I suppose... if everyone likes the idea, then I might start looking for land somewhere to build this place on, as well as necessary materials."
He chuckled then. "I'll also have to look up more laws. When I looked up laws in Japan, it wasn't with a mind to staying more permanently. On top of that, it might be an idea to check out what the political landscape is like, I don't know anywhere near enough about what things would be like if I moved here."
"And you know about politics in Britain?" Loki raised an eyebrow.
Harry snorted. "Yeah, don't be too obvious about it and have lots of money." He frowned at that. "Actually, that's more accurate than I'd like it to be. The government there is run more by influence than it is by law, and unfortunately, money can buy influence."
"There's precious little we can actually do about that." Loki shrugged. "You do have influence of your own, being both the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and the 'heir' of the Potter fortune. Of course, if the situation with the ones hidden away in Canada comes to light, then that influence might crash and burn, and badly at that."
Bast gripped Harry's sleeve at the grim tone of Loki's voice, causing said boy to blink for a moment, before he reached over and rubbed between her ears. He couldn't help but chuckle at the purring that emanated from the cat-girl after that.
"I'll protect you." Bast spoke up, though her voice was kept quiet. "No matter what."
"And I you." Harry responded. "However, Loki is right, things might go badly, no matter how well we prepare, so having somewhere to go would be a good idea. Of course, if things do become too bad, I'm sure Fawkes wouldn't be overly bothered taking us off planet."
"On the topic of the other Potters, what's going on with them?" Loki asked. "Have you planned everything out yet? You did go through what I saw and heard when I did my little infiltration, didn't you?"
"Yeah." Harry frowned. "While their claims do explain some things, it does seem rather like something's missing from it, no?" He shook his head. "Anyway, Amelia is going on 'holiday' to Canada in a week, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot going with her, and Hound is just going to turn up as well, he says that I'm 'too interesting' to not keep an eye on."
Loki chuckled. "You know, I'd almost be worried he'd want to abduct and dissect you. It's a good thing that the Department of Mysteries apparently doesn't do that, outside of extreme circumstances at least, which you do not qualify for." Loki then seemed to contemplate something. "Two heads of department are good allies to have, do you think you could reach out to a few others? If you want to drag the Potters out into the light, then you're going to need more people on your side."
"There's not much I can do on that front." Harry sighed. "I do have something of a reputation amongst the students at Hogwarts – what with that study group thing that sprang up – and they may have spoken to their parents and/or guardians about me, but that's the extent of that. I have had direct contact with the Minister for magic, but Fudge seems the type to choose what is easy, rather than what is right, and he is just so easy to manipulate."
"Of course, that's both a blessing and a curse." Loki nodded.
Harry rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I have a week to put some sort of initial plan together. Now, let's see what Isis has cooked up for us, it smells good."
Loki nodded in agreement. "Indeed it does, and our spar has made me quite hungry."
A rumble from Bast's stomach made the two males laugh, before all three of them went inside.
xxxxx
A while later, Harry was sitting next to Lindy. In front of him, Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate were going through the last of the tests he'd put together for them. He ignored the voice in the back of his head giggling at the fact that a lot of theory questions had been lifted from OWL and NEWT exams.
Lindy leaned over to Harry and quietly asked. "What are you doing?"
Harry looked up from the Tome of Shadows in his hands. "Going through everything that's in here, and deciding which spells to practise next. While, after Chrono's comment, I've managed to link the Tome to my device, that doesn't mean anything if I don't know what spells I have available."
"Hmm, fair enough, I guess." Lindy's eyes flickered over the pages Harry was going through. "I suppose there's a lot of information to go through, especially seeing as your tome doesn't have an upper limit like the Tome of the Night Sky does. Heh, I'm sure Hayate would be jealous of that if she knew." She teased him with a grin.
Harry laughed softly. "I think Hayate is happy to have an entirely new branch of magic to explore, she's certainly jumped into it enthusiastically, even more so than the other two." His lip twitched into something resembling an amused smirk then. "Of course, she's jumped head first into everything as far as I can tell, she's certainly a bundle of energy."
Lindy smiled at the brunette girl. "Yes, she is. You should have been there when she took her first proper steps out of that wheelchair of hers. She fell over after stumbling a few feet, but the expression on her face... it was simply radiant, and how she threw herself into her physiotherapy..." She shook her head.
"It's a shame that there aren't any physically demanding clubs at Hogwarts." Harry commented. "Quidditch is as close as you get, and only seven players per house actually participate." Harry tilted his head to the side in thought. "I wonder, though, how the students would take to more clubs being formed."
"What's actually needed to form a club?" Lindy asked curiously.
"Depends on the club. Homework and study groups don't actually require anything, then the low to zero risk clubs – things such as gobstones and chess – require a student to have the approval of a professor, then the magical clubs require a professor to oversee things – those ones like the charms club for example. I believe that's it." Harry thought for a moment. "Yeah, I don't think I missed anything."
"Where does Quidditch fall in all that?" Lindy wondered aloud.
"Magical." Harry replied. "Madam Hooch is supposed to watch over practises, but considering the insane times some of the captains drag their teams out of bed, and how late they often stay out, it just isn't practical. Still, her 'office' has an exit out onto the grounds close to the pitch, so someone can get to her very quickly if necessary."
"Health and Safety is really lax there, isn't it?" Lindy remarked dryly.
"Yes, yes it is." Harry agreed. "Potions is the worst. I've actually got a long coat that I made specifically for Potions classes. It's dragon hide, and I've added as many protective runic arrays as I could to it. I have some similarly enchanted goggles as well." He chuckled. "Snape seems torn between approving my caution, and hating the fact that it's me doing it."
"This Snape sounds like quite the character. If he's that bad, how is he qualified to teach children?" Lindy scowled, recalling when Harry had described all of the professors he was aware of.
"Teaching in the Wizarding World doesn't require a degree in education. Actually, you don't actually need any sort of qualification to teach, but it's generally accepted that an applicant should at least have achieved an EE on the appropriate NEWT exam, and those with Masteries are rather desirable for the teaching profession. However, just because someone is good at a subject, that doesn't mean they're good at teaching it." Harry replied.
Lindy, her eyes filled with amusement, glanced between Harry and the three girls in front of them. "I think that may you have some teaching qualities of your own, perhaps you should take over some lessons for your poor, over-worked professors."
Harry shook his head. "They're paid to teach, let them do it." He waved her off. "I'm a student, I'm supposed to be learning, and I think I'm doing a rather admirable job of it, if I do say so myself."
Lindy rolled her eyes and replied. "Yes, learning, that's what you're doing, not strip-searching the library and assimilating everything you come across, really."
Harry looked at Lindy with mock surprise. "Is this sarcasm I hear from you?" He shook his head. "Why, I never."
Lindy narrowed her eyes. "After all the effort I put into those reports, and ensuring things went as smoothly as possible, I feel I've earned that right."
Hayate looked up from the test she was filling in, before whispering just loud enough for Fate and Nanoha to hear her. "Those two getting along like this is really creeping me out."
"Agreed." Muttered Fate, while Nanoha nodded slightly.
Harry's eyes flickered in the direction of the three, though it was hidden by his hair, which was currently loose. Lindy caught it, and the corners of her eyes crinkled with silent laughter. The two of them decided not to comment on their whispering, which hadn't actually been as unheard as the girls had thought it to be.
"How is that going by the way?" Harry asked with genuine concern in his voice.
"Better than I thought it would honestly." Lindy replied. "I went through old records, and the previous issues were the 'Book of Darkness' incidents, and Reinforce was referred to as part of that. As long as we keep quiet about NachtWal being fused with you, I foresee few problems arising from Reinforce being up and about. If anyone recognises her, there could be problems, but those responsible for making decisions about this are, thankfully, being rather reasonable. As long as nothing happens while you are Rein's 'master', then her actions beforehand won't be held against you." She paused for a moment. "It doesn't hurt any that you're essentially a gateway to an entirely new magical community."
Harry sighed, understanding exactly what Lindy had meant by that.
He was useful.
As benevolent and friendly as the TSAB was, it remained that it was still a pseudo-military group centred around armed law enforcement. Because of that, certain exceptions ended up being made, and someone's potential was weighed against anything that could be held against them. It was one of the less pleasant sides of things, but it was also something working to Harry's advantage right then, and so he would get the best result he could out of it.
Wanting to distract himself from his thoughts, Harry looked towards the three girls. "Are you done?" He asked, seeing Nanoha fidgeting slightly whilst not looking at the test he'd handed out to her.
"A-Almost." Nanoha replied, her cheeks stained a light red in embarrassment. Harry realised what had caught her attention almost immediately though, as smells began to waft into and around the room.
He chuckled. "I'm sure that Isis will share whatever she's baking with you later, try and ignore the smells for now and finish that test."
Nanoha ducked her head back down and did so, while Harry began to wonder just how Isis was so good in a domestic role. True, she had read cook books, and some other bits and pieces from all over the place, but she must have gotten some serious practising in somewhere. Perhaps the house elves in the Hogwarts kitchens had helped her out, they were rather keen to assist with everything, the cheerful little buggers.
Harry's train of thought ground to a halt as he heard giggling coming from the kitchen, and it wasn't coming from Isis either, her laugh was a lot more mischievous, with a dash of deviousness thrown in. No, this laugh sounded more... disused, like the one laughing didn't do so very often.
"Heehee, no, Isis, don't!-" That was, unless Harry was mistaken, actually Reinforce's voice. "No, stop that! I'm ticklish, so... no! No, no, no, nonononoNONONO! Heehee, hahaha, oh, stop, stop it, stop it!" A loud squeak and now everyone in the room was looking towards the door as it fell open, Isis and Reinforce falling through it and landing on the floor, with the unicorn on top.
"I'm not even sure I want to know." Harry murmured, his eyes resting on the dishevelled looking pair of females. Puberty decided to prod Harry at this point, and he couldn't help but notice the curves the two possessed. Judging by Reinforce's suddenly wide eyes that jumped in his direction, and her atomic blush, she had picked up on those thoughts as well.
Harry, at that point, didn't know which way to look, as no matter which direction he focused his attention, he would still catch sight of attractive females. Either the fully grown, yet lovely Lindy, Fate who was developing quite a bit and quite early too, the innocent and pure Nanoha, or the cute and enthusiastic Hayate.
Reinforce started spluttering as Harry's mind suddenly jumped to what he found appealing about girls, but he wasn't alone in that. Just as Reinforce could pick up things from his side, so too could he pick up on what she was feeling and thinking. Suffice to say, Rein was just as inexperienced as Harry was with dealing with such thoughts, thoughts which were springing up just like Harry's were for some reason. Was Harry going through puberty also affecting Reinforce due to the close bond they shared?
"Are you finished now?" Harry asked Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate, hoping to get past this awkward moment as quickly as possible.
Nanoha slowly nodded her head, and so Harry swiped her test before she had even reached for it, taking Fate's and Hayate's too when they indicated that they were done too. He then proceeded to vanish off to where he could mark them in peace and quiet.
In other words, somewhere he wouldn't be seeing the distracting sight of attractive females.
xxxxx
Several further hours later, Harry was back with the tests he'd given them earlier, marked and ready to tell them how they'd done. They were gathered in the Midori-ya, even though it was past closing time, and everyone was wondering how the three of them had done.
Bast was sat next to Harry, a few bruises here and there a testament to the sparring session she'd had with Zafira while the three girls had been doing Harry's tests. Of course, Zafira had a few bruises as well, though not as many as Bast did, and a very clear black eye.
Isis was sat next to Momoko, Nanoha's mother, and if Harry was hearing correctly, the two of them were quietly discussing baking and recipes, exchanging ideas, and chatting about how magic affected cooking, especially with ingredients that weren't available to muggles.
Loki was looking through some files, though what they were about, Harry had no idea. Whatever they were, Loki was treating them quite seriously, so Harry thought Loki might approach him regarding the contents sometime soon, just as soon as said raven had gotten together all of the information he could collect.
Everyone else was scattered about the place, but directly across from Harry, once again, sat the three girls who were roughly the same age as himself.
"Right, how do you want to do this, by subject or by person?" Harry asked.
"Subject, core classes first." Lindy called out. "It'll make things easier for you."
"Okay then, are we all in agreement?" Harry received several nods at his question.
"Right then, let's start with Astronomy. First off, all three of you are far above where you need to be with this, though as it's an almost completely theoretical class, you've had plenty of time to study. Fate, you achieved a seventh year result of EE, whereas both Nanoha and Hayate were just a step below with sixth year O, which is actually higher than seventh year A." Fate got a little bit of applause for that, making her duck her head in embarrassment.
"Next is charms. Theoretically, all three of you are about fifth year, low to mid EE, so in another few months, you could reach a NEWT standard. Practically, you scored fourth year EE. Slightly behind the theory, but considering it's a completely different magic style to the one you're used to, it's a really damn good result." Nanoha frowned for a moment, drawing attention to herself.
"It feels weird to cast these spells. It's kind of like my core is... twisting slightly, wiggling to make things work properly." She said.
Harry thought for a moment. "Well, your practical results, in most classes, was the highest. It's possible that, when my magic was used to heal you, you gained something of a slight affinity for Terran magic, and it's this difference to Mid-Childan style magic you're feeling."
"It's possible." Shamal commented. "I'll do another deep scan on you soon, see if I can figure it out, okay?"
Some murmurings that had begun were silenced as Harry continued giving the girls their results. "I don't know why I'm bothering with Defence Against the Dark Arts. All of the professors for almost a decade have been rather bad, apparently, so you are far ahead of the school there, and it seems all three of you took to offensive and defensive magic easier than almost any other, with Hayate showing great aptitude with curses and hexes, Nanoha showing her true devilish colours with jinxes, while Fate showed her stuff with counter-curses, as well as answering some of the more obscure stuff I dug up perfectly. All three of you are hovering around sixth year here, with Hayate being the best, closely followed by Nanoha and Fate, who are about equal, though with different focuses."
"Herbology was fine for all three of you, though none of you really focused on it. Your knowledge is solidly fourth year, and it's one of the ones we can't do practically, as I don't happen to carry magical plants around in my pockets. History of Magic most students spend asleep, bored to tears by Professor Binns, and seeing as the actual exam has been identical for... a rather long time, it's probably best to skip that one." Harry grumbled.
"Really?" Momoko exclaimed. "I would have thought history would be important."
"You would, wouldn't you?" Harry responded. "Binns focuses on Goblin Wars, pretty much to the exclusion of all else, aside from Witch Burnings and a few other things, like the Statute of Secrecy. I learn more history in Ancient Runes when we're doing class discussions on cultures of fallen civilizations."
"That doesn't sound very good." Momoko muttered.
"It's not." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, Potions is next. This one got rather varied results from the three of you. Hayate, no offence, but while you scored mid third-year, it was the worst result of the three. Nanoha scored fifth year, and Fate high sixth."
"I didn't like Potions." Hayate admitted easily. "It was all so confusing, and the measurements are way messed up. Seriously, a 'dash', a 'splash', a 'bundle'? Where's the standardised measurements here?"
"Yes, that does make the subject more difficult." Harry agreed. "It also doesn't help that your magic is rather 'energetic' by nature either, and it's all sorts of subtle things like that which can affect a potion. It's one of the reasons there's so few Potion Masters in the world, the subject is more of an art than a science at times."
"Anyway, the final subject of the core classes." Harry quickly continued, before the conversation spiralled off topic. "Varied results, once again. I must admit, I had a lot of difficulty with this subject, and in fact still do, so I put a lot more time and effort into it than I do other subjects. Fate and Nanoha scored third year here, mid and high respectively. Hayate actually surprised me, managing to score fourth year in Transfiguration, perhaps her mind is more geared towards transformations."
Signum compared Hayate to Fate and Nanoha. "Perhaps it is something to do with imagination. Both Fate and Nanoha have found themselves comfortable with the mathematical style of magic used by Mid-Childa, whereas Mistress Hayate is a lot more of a... free thinker."
"Yeah, that could be it." Harry agreed. "Anyway, I'm just going to skim through the electives now. Arithmancy, you're so far ahead that you could probably teach the subject already, all three of you, though especially Nanoha. Care of Magical Creatures, Hayate scored the highest here, but this is purely theory work, as I can't really set up a practical examination too easily. Divination, I have no clue how to really grade that, but Fate had the most information on the subject out of the three of you. Muggle Studies, all three of you failed actually."
There were noises of surprise from the others, while the three girls in question grimaced.
"Those questions didn't really make much sense." Hayate grumbled.
Fate nodded in agreement. "They were all done from a wizarding perspective, and asked things about fashion, though what monocles had to do with it was beyond me."
Harry grimaced. "Yeah, there's a few problems there. First are those who are born and raised in the Wizarding World, they have no idea about anything more complicated than a steam train or bicycle. Next is how few students actually bother taking the subject, and with no interest in it, it kind of gets ignored a lot. Third, there's a lot of bigotry with regards to muggles, and I don't mean just from those who want them enslaved and/or dead. Even 'light' aligned families like the Weasleys are damn near clueless when it comes to muggles, thinking their 'alternatives' to magic 'quaint', 'silly', and 'ridiculous' in some cases."
"That was a big sticking point in my reports to the higher ups." Lindy said. "Earth is one of the few planets where magicals and non-magicals have been separated, and because of just how different wizards are to muggles – increased lifespan, resistance to diseases and illness, magical creatures, slower cultural and technological development – bringing them back together would be no easy task, and will only get worse as time goes on."
Harry nodded in agreement. "True, though attitudes on both sides won't help. Religion, for one, will cause issues, as there are those that will equate magic with evil somehow, though it's more intolerant and extremist people and groups that really need to be watched carefully, lest they incite the masses."
"Anyway, we've gotten off topic again." Harry returned to giving Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate their results. "The last 'standard' elective left is Ancient Runes, which you all did pretty well in. Fate got the highest mark here, sixth year EE, followed by Nanoha with fifth year O, which Hayate missed by a bare two points."
"So, you think they're ready for Hogwarts now?" Shiro Takamachi asked.
"In terms of education, then yes." Harry replied. "I have absolutely no idea how things are going to go down in regards to other things. If you're worried about them being discriminated against due to coming from a different country, don't be. There's actually a sizeable number of Asian students at Hogwarts, though for some reason most seem to end up in Ravenclaw."
Harry chuckled to himself for a moment. "Aside from that, they'll be starting out two years after everyone else, so there's the social side of things to consider, but I don't foresee any problems there, Nanoha does specialise in 'befriending' others, doesn't she?"
Nanoha pouted at Harry while there was a smattering of laughter around her. Then, an 'evil' idea occurred to the girl. "Harry." She said his name so sweetly, he couldn't help but think he was about to be doomed. "Did we ever actually make our friendship... official? I'm not sure we did, but I guess we could always go the 'traditional' route, I'm certain I haven't beat the friendship into you yet."
Harry found a small hand on his shoulder, and he turned to see Vita giving him a pitying look. "I will ensure an appropriate epitaph is on your grave, something like 'Here lies Harry, witty trickster, lover of books, and FRIEND'. I'll make sure that the last bit receives proper attention."
Harry rolled his eyes, before pointing towards Nanoha. "One, you're evil. Two, You can already consider me a friend, there's no need to 'befriend' me now." He then indicated Vita. "Three, not funny, I should hope my epitaph is far more awesome than that." That earned a snort and chuckle from Vita.
Harry then looked up at Lindy, Momoko, Shiro, and Shamal, the ones acting as parents or guardians for the girls. "By the way, has anyone from Hogwarts or the Ministry been in contact with you yet, and if so, what's the 'reason' you're going to Hogwarts instead of Mahoutokoro?"
"Yes, a man who referred to himself as 'Hound' visited us, along with another individual, apparently titled 'Origin'." Shiro nodded. "We'll be taking a short 'holiday' to Britain soon to visit Hayate's 'uncle' Graham, where we'll 'bump' into each other. After that, some strings will be pulled, and the girls will be offered a place at Hogwarts."
"Hmm, neat." Harry nodded. "Because they're past eleven, and the local school didn't pick them up yet, the girls are essentially 'free game' when it comes to offers from other schools. That takes care of what I thought would be the greatest obstacle, the location."
"Yeah..." Momoko trailed off for a moment. "Do you think... well, could you tell us about the Wizarding World? It's just, this is even stranger to me than the whole TSAB thing, and I kind of want to know what's going on in my daughter's life."
Harry shrugged. "Sure, what do you want to know?"
Momoko began asking questions, and soon others joined in. It would be many hours, and late into the evening, before the group broke up to return home and sleep.