. - .

Chapter Seven

. - .

Hogwarts sat where it always had, looked as it always had, yet felt remarkably different.

"Old girl is a bit shocked to see me," Harry patted a slab of brick beside the class door he had led the small group through.

"Is that why the suit of armour is acting like that?"

Turned from the wall he was consoling, Harry peered to where James inclined a finger. At the end of the hallway an odd spectacle was conducting itself. Loudly.

Armour belonging to one of Hogwart's most fearsome knights had suddenly dropped to the floor as though the spirit inhabiting it had been too stunned to keep itself together. Now it was making all sorts of clanks and bangs as it tried to re-clothe.

"Oh Sir Langford, my sweet fellow!" Harry took upon the ghost, hand out to shake, then thought better. "Don't fret, I'm not here." He surreptitiously whispered.

"Oh, er…Are you partaking in a scheme, Sir?" The pieces of armour hovered mid-air. Helmet askew and open towards a bemused painting of scholars that felt slight second-hand embarrassment at having an empty helmet talking to them but not really. "You always liked them schemes. Shall I go warn the others?"

"If you could, dear Langford." Harry said and helpfully rightened the helmet. "I'm here to drop of another ghost."

"Another!" Langford gasped. Beyond pleased. "I shall disperse!" And the oddly dressed suit of armour took off down another hall.

"He's a bit…peculiar, wouldn't you say? Can he be trusted in the secret?" James asked. Gaze following where the ghost left in assured suspicion.

"Langford is a good man, erm, ghost."

A little girlish giggle had James yelp and leap from Eri who had snuck up behind. She stood and looked about Hogwarts in the childish amazement every first year got.

"So, where is this new Headmaster?" He asked, not even bothering to put effort in to masking his glum disdain he harboured for them taking his son's job.

James smelt it and narrowed his eyes, "Don't be prissy," he said in a tart fashion and led them to the Eagle stairwell. Harry grabbed Eri's hand. Wiggling them back and forth. "And don't do that!" he gawped. Astonished.

"Well I don't see why not."

"Normal people can't hold Ghosts' hands!"

"They rather should don't you think?" Harry hunched grumpily, "What if they get lonely?"

James stared. Looked up and grumbled, "Could you. For once. Just act like a regular wizard?"

"If you insist, son," Harry sighed and let go of Eri's hand with an apology. "He's no fun."

Eri cocked her head and was content following the silent group.

"My this hasn't changed," Harry admired the stone eagle before him and recalled all those treacherous years of youth he experienced getting called upon. James gripped his elbow as he spoke the password.

"Stay here."

"Out of the question. Wherever Eri goes, I go."

"Professor Snape's portrait is still up there."

"Eri, go on with James, sweetheart," Harry gently nudged the ghost forward.

Climbing the stairwell curled around the eagle, James gave a strongly worded look, "Don't wander off."

"Wouldn't dare," Harry promised and proceeded to strut off. Fingers crossed behind him.

. - .

Harry had not stepped foot on Hogwarts grounds since his departure from the Wizarding universe. Through hallways and stairwells he strolled. Nodded his greetings to students in passing and said a few good words to paintings that had survived the war. All promised to keep his presence hush hush due to Sir Langford.

Out near the Weeping Willow, Harry spread himself on the hilltop's grass and bathed in mid-day sunlight. Dearly missing the glass of wine he had left in the men's loo. People may have noticed him missing by now.

"State your business, Wizard."

Twisting around, Harry's nose brushed against the tip of a wand. He followed it up to a red-haired girl. She looked at him as if she were irritated by his mere existence.

Without a doubt, she was the spitting image of his late wife.

"Young lady, I'm a mere visitor," Harry fingered away the wand. It defiantly pinged back. "Here to drop off a new student."

"There are no new students, and don't call me young lady. Unholy Hell. You don't look much older than I am." she thrusted the wand further. Harry tipped back. Hands raised in a plead. For a short girl, she truly had a menacing presence. "Who are you?"

"I told you, young -" the wand's point, he gave a forced laugh. "Miss."

"I'm a teacher here so I'd know if there were new students. Get me?"

"It all happened so suddenly you see - and teacher you say?" Harry inclined forwards. Nearly spearing his eyeball. "What subject? Is it interesting? Do you enjoy it?"

Lily started, "Nobody can just transfer a student mid-term."

"Dire circumstances, my companion is speaking with the headmaster now if you would care for me to show you, Miss?"

"Alright," Lily gestured her wand for him to get a move on. Seemingly having sensed his genuine intentions. "You lead. And if you're lying you're going to regret it. My brother is an auror."

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Harry sprang to his feet and suddenly struck up a series of questions. "- whatever made you choose to become a teacher?"

"Mate," somewhere through the walk back up to the castle, amid not getting a breath in, Lily had developed slight tension behind the eyeballs. "I'm the Herbology teacher. I like plants, it simple."

"Herbology?" Harry gave his daughter a once over as though trying to spot a hermit hiding in her pocket, "Well, er, oh. Good." He said.

"Not exciting enough? - take a left here."

"Not at all. It's perfectly ordinary and drear," Harry happily said. Well. One of his children got it right, at least.

"Thanks," Lily said. Seemingly no such thing.

It was then Harry spotted his other child round the corner.

"I told you to stay put-Lily!" James stumbled and glanced between his two relatives. His sister was pointing a wand at Death like he were some magical piñata. And Harry appeared to be greatly enjoying it. "Lily! Put that away!"

"James?" Lily held steady. "You know this creep?"

Harry raised both eyebrows, "Now dear. That's no way to talk to somebody you just met."

"He's a friend," James hurriedly rushed over. "So I'd appreciate it if you stopped acting like an Auror and put that blasted wand away!"

"Uh huh," with great reluctance Lily did as told. "Sorry about that." She told Harry in a mopey sort of way.

"I think you did an excellent job," Harry assured. Beamed a grin and asked James how Eri was going.

"She got sorted into Hufflepuff and is getting settled," James had started twitching. "We should get you back home. Mmm?"

"Oh there's no rush," Harry folded his hands and grinned down at Lily in such an endearing fashion and motion that startled her. "Enough time for some amiable chit chat, don't you say?"

Lily leaned back and whispered an adjective to James that sent Harry's hackled into a fritz.

"Now child," Harry began.

"Let's go," James strong armed Harry down the hallway.

"Lovely meeting you, dear girl!" He cried and once around the corner he opened a nearby cupboard and sent them on their way.

.

"I had no idea Lily was interested in plants," Harry strode back and forth in front of James as his son got ready for work. "Such a noble pursuit it is, don't you think James?"

"You didn't know because you weren't here," James laced up his combat boots on the kitchen table and scowled at Harry whacking it down.

"No need to be so rude," he huffed and sat opposite. Wiggled a finger in a motion his spoon followed in his teacup. "And you didn't have to cut Lily and mine conversation short like you did."

"Yes I did," James insisted and helped him to understand, "You're two cuts short of sly. In seconds you would have told her you're her father back from the dead and have been for centuries."

"I would not," Harry protested. "What kind of man do you think I am?"

"When I was seventeen you blundered your way into my dormitory, obliviated all of my friends and took me to the realm of Death. There-after dropped me back two weeks later. Everyone thought I had been kidnapped. To this day there's still a case file on it in the ministry which has gone - thank merlin - unsolved!"

"Yes well," Harry grabbed his teacup and stirred it himself. Creating a little whirlpool of ferocity that if given the opportunity, would gladly sharpen a pencil. "Sorry for that, I...I pooched parenthood."

A chill dipped down Jame's spine and hid from the genuine twinkle in those green eyes.

"Just, hey, leave Lil's alone. Al too. Everyone's moved on with their lives. If you were to come launching yourself into it and suddenly leave like you always do, with no warning on when you'll come next, it'll mess with them. Don't involve them, please."

Harry kept his gaze on the milky tea of destruction he had forged and decided that he really ought to get back to the party he had left.

What little party remained, that should be said.

"Lovely seeing you again, James," Harry stood for a moment or two, met his son's shocked eyes and hurried to the garden door. "Thank you for your assistance tonight, could not have done it without you." And without haste Harry threw himself out of one universe and into the next.

Out he stumbled from the men's bathroom. Guests and security were exactly how he had left it.

Tapping his chin with a finger, Harry guesstimated it had been at least thirty minutes since Shota had seen him last. In Harry's world he was gone nearly half a day!

"Timezones, eh" he said. As though it explained everything.

Someone exiting the bathroom rammed into his back. Harry twisted and caught them both before either fell.

"Yagi," Harry didn't blink at the haggard man. He could practically taste the exhaustion. "You look dreadful."

Yagi ran a hand through on-end blonde hair. Pencil eyebrows trembling. "Eh? I just cleaned up." Recovering himself, Yagi did a double take. "You weren't here just a moment ago."

"Oh?" Harry grimly murmured and with with a bit of magic through tips of fingers he ran down Yagi's arms, the suit rightened. Tie steamed straight and whatever that had been ailing the man post-transformation calmed itself.

Yagi coughed and tried to recall if he had taken any ibuprofen.

"That's better, let's get back to the dance."

"I don't dance," eyebrows worried themselves harder as he got dragged by the arm to the main hall. "And where did you come from?"

"The bathroom of course."

"I was just in there - and you weren't," Yagi would have noticed someone outside the stall as he deflated into his regular state. And someone would have noticed his explosion of steam.

"Different bathroom, then."

Yagi didn't have time to mount an argument, as he got succinctly dragged back to the party.

. - .

After having the time of his undead life the night previous, Harry had escorted Yagi back to his apartment from which the man has yet risen from.

Now there was a small child at Harry's cafe asking about a long-shaped sickly looking guy and he reckoned there must be a connection.

"Yagi never mentioned he had children," Harry inclined himself over the cash register and-eyed the peculiar green haired child his dastardly knowledge claimed 'Izuku'. "Adoption was it?"

"He's my mentor!" Izuku trembled. Wide-eyed as though Harry were about to go blab to some juicy adulterous gossip to the Vatican Pope. "We-we were supposed to meet up for weekend training and he never showed up….This is his new address isn't it?"

"Ah. Yes. The man is upstairs nursing a hangover."

"He got drunk?" Izuku asked. Voice hoarse with astonishment.

"Oh certainly," Harry said. Grinning from manic recollection. The man had absolutely drowned himself in the healing tonics Harry had spiked into his drinks.

By now Yagi's body will be near finished rekindling blood-cells and skin-cells and all those other delicious cells that desired to be nurtured.

"Nothing better than drinking with friends. You know. Come, I'll take you to him."

Izuku backed a sharp step, "I shouldn't bother him."

"Nothing is better than nursing a hangover with friends," Harry lied. If nothing else, he was intensely interested by this child's involvement to All Might and was intensely bored by his mundane staff. Not one of them had stolen from the cash register or nicked food. These people were too darn kind. He should really look into hiring some troublemakers.

"If you're sure," Izuku rubbed a toe into the tiled floors. Harry grinned. Yes, he could sense the destiny hanging around the boy like a lightening storm.

"I am certain."

Like all honest children, Izuku believed the adult.

. - .

"I'm coming in, Yagi," Harry burst into the apartment and switched on every light he could. "Close the door behind you child, and make yourself at home. I'll go wake the guy."

"Should we really be doing this?" Izuku vibrated with each step he took. Hesitancy and human decency having dashed his blind faith the moment he saw Harry leave some random paying guest in charge of the cafe.

"Right, here's your mentor. Bright eyed and bushy-tailed," Harry helped lumber a much larger, ganglier man into the room. Izuku tried not to choke on his spit.

Yagi had looked about as bright eyed and bushy tailed as a fox recovering from some sort of foreign disease.

"Bleeeggg…" All Might bleated and got deposited on the couch.

"I'll go put on some tea."

"Al- Yagi-sensei!"

"I think it's safe to say he'll be feeling much better with your company, Izuku."

"bleeeeeeeeeeee-Izukyoou...?" Yagi muttered wearily. Harry turned from his tea-making to observe. Knelt beside his teacher, the young teenager was clutching the man's hand. Bent forwards and awaiting.

Curiously, Yagi's exhausted eyes popped.

"Izuku?!"

"Good evening Yagi," Harry zipped towards the two with a magically ready tea tray. "How are you feeling?"

"I," Yagi didn't know who to questionably look at more, "- erm - good -"

"Oh?"

"Oh - well, yes."

"Good," Harry poured the healing potion into Yagi's cup and handed it over. Izuku insisted to help, but Harry slapped his interfering grubby hands away. He had concocted this potion for Yagi's specific illness. If anyone were to consume said potion, well, he couldn't possibly imagine -

"This is nice," Izuku took an offered sip from Yagi's cup.

If Harry were asked to explain his feelings in that moment, and he were to respond in earnest, he would have sent them to a black hole and asked how they liked it.

"Are you alright?" he asked Izuku. The poor boy was still sipping the tea. Green eyes garnering a concerning shine to them. "No...sudden urges to combust?"

"Excuse me?" Izuku squeaked. "I'm fine. Th-thank you? The tea is...it's really nice? What's in this-" he took a mouthy sip, "Lemon?"

"Oh. Alright then." And Harry gave him a good once over. "Then I think you ought to finish that tea, lad."

. - .

It was apparent that the child was suffering from a similar ailment to Yagi's.

Izuku being the man's student, and Yagi being Harry's tenant, it was also apparent that Harry really should investigate whatever the fuck was going on in this school of theirs to make them sick.

. - .

"Well that is odd," a pretty administrative lady muttered under her breath. Guiding Harry through the school grounds he must admit, was pretty bleakly decorated.

"What is?"

"Mr. Tanaka never played the lottery," she said. Referring to the forty year old UA cook Harry had replaced. The man had packed off to Hawaii in the middle of the night. "He despised gambling, yet he won. He also went to Hawaii, which he could never do."

"How so?"

"He's afraid of flying, you see. Always have been. Couldn't even handle staircases."

"Oh," now Harry was feeling a bit bad about sending the man that plane ticket and discount for an international moving service. "Everyone's got to face their fears sooner of later."

"I suppose you're right. Sorry, I forgot, welcome to UA, Potter-san."

. - .