Right, Harry thought, he doubted Kenzo was hard of hearing to the point that he couldn't discern what was just going on. For his first time with a girl, an older girl at that, he thought he had done rather well. She hadn't complained, at least. As anxious as he was to prepare for the coming battles, Harry realized that it wasn't Bill's lessons that he would be looking forward to. He eventually fell asleep somehow, tea and raspberries in his thoughts.

Chapter Six: Training – A Month's Passage

Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, it belongs to J.K. Rowling. Otherwise, it's mine. Naturally, I'm making no money off this.

Harry awoke early the next morning, or at least he imagined. After all, both the village and the surrounding forest seemed to be eternally plunged in darkness. He resolved to ask Kenzo about that during breakfast, as he would rather not have the mystery on his mind during his first real training session with Bill. The thought of "training" brought on a wave of mental images from the previous night's activities, of Hitomi spread out on his futon, kissing and biting, her unique taste of sweet tea mixed with raspberries. If not for the countless love bites stinging his neck, shoulders and chest, Harry would have thought it to be a very pleasurable dream. He decided to head into the bathing room and take a dip in the medicated water. Hopefully the stuff would again prove as miraculous as it had been the previous morning, and would heal the bites quickly and remove the marks. Harry really didn't want to have to answer any questions on the subject.

Harry moved quietly towards his destination, and reached it without stirring any incident. Upon arriving, however, he found that he wasn't the only one that had decided to take an early morning soak in the tub. Hitomi was already there, lolling about lazily in the bath, naked as the day she was born. Harry stood quietly in the doorway, observing her beautiful form. The kunoichi's trained senses quickly alerted her to his presence, and she turned to acknowledge Harry. Soft brown eyes met forest green, as she cocked her head slightly and gave him that peculiar smile of hers.

"So, are you planning on watching me bathe?"

Harry chuckled inwardly, remembering the conversation from the previous morning. He allowed a bit of humor to seep into his tone.

"Of course, does that bother you?"

Her eyes shined with amusement.

"Not necessarily, though I think I'd prefer if you'd just get in the bath with me."

Harry shrugged, disrobing. He felt no particular need for modesty, given the current arrangement between the two. The smile never left her face as he ventured into the hot bath. She leaned over and kissed him softly, as he allowed the medicated water to soak into the bites covering his upper body. It burned somewhat, but the water worked its magic once again. After a few minutes, the marks were completely healed, and all traces of their existence were wiped clean.

Hitomi rested her head against Harry's shoulder as he lathered himself. Harry thought, as he had during their walk in the forest the previous day, that it was nice, and rather comfortable. They spent some time in that position, until Harry again felt those soft lips brushing against his ear.

"Grandpa will be awake soon. I need to go downstairs and get breakfast ready."

Harry glanced out the bathroom window, again noting the terminal darkness of the village.

"How can you tell?"

"Most of us have spend our entire lives in this village, Harry. We can tell the time and season simply by small changes in the air."

Harry nodded, and made to leave. She stood as well, and placed another kiss on his lips.

"I'll take that yukata down and give it a wash, Harry. Just take another from the cabinet below."

With that, Hitomi dressed and headed downstairs, taking Harry's yukata from the previous day with her. Harry went through the cabinet as she had suggested and decided on a replacement, silver with red fire print. He decided to walk back to his room and read until breakfast.

Rifling through the trunk, Harry had first thought to take out a book on basic Dark Arts, to prepare for his upcoming lesson with Bill. However, he came across another book that grabbed his interest, Basic Precepts of Demonic Magic: A Study of Chaotic Energy, authored by his great-grandfather. Flipping through, he noticed that it was a rather short book, and that it contained no wand motions or spell incantations. Harry briefly considered putting the book down, but decided against it, reasoning that Lord Grindelwald would not have written a useless tome. He turned back to the beginning and began to read.

Much of the book simply repeated what Grilthauk had already told Harry about chaotic energy, and its relation to the ordered energy of the human realm, but in greater detail. Chaos defeated order, and order defeated chaos. Harry remembered what Grilthauk had said about the obliteration of both races if wizards and demons were ever to go to war. Neither side would have any resistance to the attacks of the other. Harry also read that the higher the concentration of one type of energy in a given being's magical core, the more able that being was to resist attacks of that same type of energy. He thought of what might happen if the likes of a Hogwarts student were to try to stun or hex Dumbledore. The ordered spell would no doubt dissipate before the Headmaster's mighty aura, doing the old man no harm. The book also stated that this principle only applied marginally to attacks of the opposite type, since the concentration of chaotic energy in the human realm's magical reservoir was so minute, as was the concentration of ordered energy in the demon realm's. Harry briefly wondered if he'd be able to kill the likes of Dumbledore or Voldemort simply by blasting them with a concentrated burst of chaotic energy. It was certainly possible, he concluded.

As Harry began to read further, the door to his room opened, and Hitomi stood in the doorway.

"Breakfast is ready, Harry. What are you reading?"

Harry looked up to regard his...friend? Lover, perhaps? He wasn't entirely sure what Hitomi was to him, but he put the thought aside.

"Just a book of my great-grandfather's. Is Kenzo awake?"

"Yes, grandpa's waiting for us in the dining room."

With that, Harry put the book down, again reminding himself to ask Kenzo for more information about the Shinn Kohaku village. He followed Hitomi down into the dining room, bumping into her as she stopped before the stairs. Turning around, she flashed her unreadable smile again and kissed him, before walking into the next room and taking her seat. Harry followed behind her.

The table was already set upon Harry's arrival, with a most peculiar breakfast dish, especially for a Japanese household. Pancakes, raspberry pancakes, with a large glass of sweetened tea for each. Harry looked right at Hitomi, who flashed him that smile and winked. She knew, and was teasing him. Harry ate and drank ravenously, deciding that two could play that particular game. He finished quickly, and made sure Hitomi was watching as he licked his lips. Once his hosts had finished with breakfast, and Hitomi rose to take the dishes into the kitchen, Harry decided to take advantage of her absence to question Kenzo.

"Kenzo? Do you mind if I ask a question?"

The old village leader turned to him.

"Of course, young lord. Are you asking for Hitomi's hand already, after only one night? She must have made quite an impression."

Harry blanched slightly. Of course the old man knew, and Hitomi was no doubt aware of the fact. The satisfied smile on Kenzo's face betrayed his happiness with the arrangement, though. Harry couldn't tell why, exactly, but was at least relieved to know that he wasn't likely to have any outraged Shinn Kohaku trying to castrate him in his sleep. Harry forced a similar smile onto his own face.

"Not at the moment, Kenzo, though the offer is intriguing. I wanted to ask the reason why there seems to be no daylight in this place. I tried to ask Hitomi, but she told me to ask you, and wouldn't elaborate on the subject."

The smile fell from Kenzo's face immediately.

"That, young lord, has to do with our particular curse. Do you know the name of this village?"

Harry had never thought to ask.

"No, I don't, Kenzo."

"We call this place, our home, Eternal Shame Village. The name is fitting, as we are eternally shamed by the fact that we failed our mission fifty years ago, to protect Lord Grindelwald, your esteemed ancestor, and assist him in achieving victory over wizarding Britain. He was defeated and killed by Albus Dumbledore, and the war ended in complete and utter loss."

"And so you are cursed as a result? How is that?"

"It is the law of the Shinn Kohaku clan, young lord, that its operatives are never to return in disgrace. Failure is the greatest disgrace, and is to be redeemed either through continued service to the client until his or her ends have been accomplished or through ritual suicide. After the lord's death, our original contingent of twenty operatives nearly opted for the latter. Only the persuasion of the goblin general, the character you refer to as Grilthauk, stayed our hands that day. He entreated us to remain here, in this forest, and protect our late lord's legendary brand, until the day that his descendent would arrive to begin the battle anew. We passed this story onto our children, and then to our grandchildren. Our greatest wish is to return to Japan someday, and to allow our younger ones the privilege of serving the Shinn Kokaku as we older ones had so faithfully. To do this, we will fight for you, and exert our energies to see you to victory, young lord."

Harry nodded, interested in Kenzo's story. He honestly didn't much care about their plight beyond the realms of his own curiosity, but he still wanted an answer to his original question. He didn't have to ask, though, as Kenzo continued.

"As for the eternal darkness of this forest, I believe it that is simply side effect of the dark energies of the sword. However, it can also be seen as a reflection of our own shame and failure. We view the rising sun as a symbol of glory and rebirth, and to be denied it for so long is a constant reminder of our curse. But now that you have arrived, young lord, perhaps we will soon see the sun rise again, both on our world and on our lives."

Harry smirked slightly, knowing that these Shinn Kohaku would serve him more ably and loyally than any other soldiers. He could certainly find better uses for them than mere guards, though. He'd have to think more upon the subject as time permitted.

"I certainly hope so, Kenzo."

Kenzo bowed slightly.

"As do I, young lord."

A third voice sounded from the far side of the room.

"Quite the story, I have to say."

Both Harry and Kenzo turned to meet the new arrival. Bill stood leaning against the doorway, smirking broadly. Harry nodded to him.

"Bill."

"Ready for training now, Harry? I'll be waiting back in the garden."

With that, Bill strode off to the back of the house, nearly getting bowled over by the two tiger cubs, who had apparently spent the night outside, upon arrival. Harry returned upstairs to retrieve his wand and books and joined Bill in the garden. The cubs attacked him playfully as well. Harry knew he had forgotten to feed them the previous evening, but they both looked perfectly full and happy, and neither bore any signs of having eaten. Well, as long as they weren't hungry, Harry thought, as he dismissed the issue from his mind and turned to Bill.

The lesson itself was practical and informative, as Harry learned two dozen or so minor, but still useful curses. They weren't anything one would expect to find any degree of success with against a seasoned opponent, as they were very basic and easily countered, as Bill had told Harry. However, many were nasty enough to take down a weak, inexperienced enemy, such as a loud-mouthed student at Hogwarts, and were perfectly legal, though not exactly smiled upon. Further, as Bill explained, just as in any other branch of magic, one had to master the basics in order to move on to the more powerful spells.

Lunch came quickly enough, as Harry and Bill had a quick meal on the grass. Apparently, most of the Order was away from Grimmauld Place during the previous evening by suppertime, as few wanted to stay around after the meeting. As a result, much of dinner had remained uneaten. Bill had grabbed enough for both himself and Harry. If nothing else, Mrs. Weasley's cooking was exquisite, and Harry wolfed his plate down. Bill offered a bit of roast pork to Grindelwald and Khariana, who had spent the entire morning lounging around at Harry's side, but neither seemed interested.

The afternoon hours were spent in practical training, applying the new spells Harry had learned earlier in the morning. Harry needed no special help with the incantations and wand motions, so the lesson passed quickly. Apparently, his dakaathi intellect had uses beyond abstract reasoning. Bill quickly decided that Harry wasn't going to need much help learning new magic, and told him before leaving that the subsequent lessons would be devoted almost entirely to dueling.

The evening found Harry back in his room, finishing the book on demonic magic, or, in more accurate terms, the accumulation of chaotic energy. Apparently, it functioned differently from magic in the human realm, relying on sheer force of will, rather than any particular motion or incantation. However, instead of playing on any particular emotion, such as hate, love, anger or the like, chaotic energy responded to an impassive focus and concentration, at least according to the book. Harry decided to experiment with the idea a little, and closed his eyes. He focused all of his thoughts upon reaching inwardly for the chaotic energy within his magical core, the power granted by his dakaathi blood. He felt an increasingly warm sensation within his left hand, and opened his eyes to take a look.

His hand was radiating with an aura of translucent black energy, the crystallized blood within the ring glowing with the same eerie light from before his initial transformation in Grilthauk's office. Aiming his hand through his open window toward a small grove of spruce trees behind the house, Harry launched the concentrated energy like he would a spell. It flew forward like a miniature comet, small threads of energy billowing sickly behind and exploded headlong into the grove. Easily a dozen full-sized trees burst into green flames, decomposing into a huge cesspool of glowing rot in a matter of twenty seconds or so. The attack drained Harry's magical reserves completely, sending him crashing to his knees, struggling to remain conscious.

As Harry regained his bearings, he thought back to what he had read. There was almost no chaotic energy within this realm's magical reservoir, meaning that all of that energy had to be drawn from his own magical core. Also, the dakaathi blood was relatively dilute within Harry's veins, meaning that he most likely did not have much chaotic energy within himself to draw upon. As impressive as that attack was, Harry realized that he'd have, at his full power, perhaps two or three shots before he found himself too drained to fight. Definitely a power to be used very sparingly, though the drain wasn't nearly as noticeable when he had held the energy within his hand. He could use chaotic energy to turn his left hook into a literal fist of death, at the very least.

Nearly two hours passed before Harry recovered from the exhaustion. He spent the time reading up on some more advanced dark curses and pondering how to use his resources upon leaving the village. He had come up with a small idea as to how to create that information network that Kenzo had touched upon during their initial meeting, but was distracted from working out the particulars by the arrival of his "other" tutor. Hitomi had crept into the room with a stealthy ease and situated herself right next to Harry. She slipped off her top as their eyes met, and the "training" began without so much as an exchange of greetings. Nearly four hours of teasing and whispered instruction later, she left the room, but not before giving Harry his first experience with oral sex. He ventured to return the favor, but she just flashed her smile and told him that she'd get the full run of his nether regions before he'd get anywhere near hers. Instructor's privilege, she had called it.

The days in the village passed in similar fashion. Harry would wake up and bathe, sometimes alone, and sometimes with Hitomi, but she always watched, at the very least. Harry found it rather amusing that she always managed to be hanging around right as he went into the bathing room. He was rarely so lucky in catching her, and wasn't about to ask her when she bathed, even though she would have told him. After his bath, he would have breakfast with his two hosts, and Bill would invariably arrive around half past eight, unless he had the scheduled day off work, and was thus expected to be accessible around the clock for Order duty.

Ah, the Order. Just as Bill had predicted, Harry had only spent a few days within the village before the eldest Weasley son came down for the morning with most amusing news. Mad-Eye's turn in the Privet Drive guard rotation had finally come up, and it had taken the grizzled ex-auror roughly one hour to figure out that he had packed up and left, when Hedwig had been let out with a note, and no Harry in the house to have given it to her. Moody had apparated immediately to Grimmauld Place to report, and just as the Order had assembled to discuss the matter, Hedwig arrived with the note. Dumbledore went personally to Privet Drive to interrogate the Dursleys, and when he returned, the old man was, as Bill had described him, "beyond furious". Harry found the entire situation most amusing. Hedwig had been sent to the Burrow, which was all well and good, since she wouldn't have been able to reach Harry in the secluded village anyway.

Still, from the training, Harry managed to become quite the skilled duelist. Bill was slightly more skilled, but Harry's raw power more than made up the difference. Harry was a bit hampered by the fact that he really didn't know his actual magical strength. Even as his body and magical core continued to adjust to the transformation, Harry's holly and phoenix feather wand seemed to do the opposite. He knew that he was more powerful, his increased spellcasting endurance spoke to that. However, his spells seemed to remain at the same level of strength that they had even before the transformation. Bill had concluded that the problem lay in Harry's wand, that, somehow, it was no longer compatible with him. Harry agreed, but he wasn't sure whether the reason lay in his biological transformation, or in the fact that he no longer identified himself with the false idol known as "Harry Potter". After all, he was now a far cry from the bright-eyed Gryffindor hero that the Ollivander wand had originally chosen. He would have to find a place to obtain a new one.

On those days that Bill wasn't available, Harry spent more time reading his magical tomes, or he solicited training in other areas from various Shinn Kohaku members about the village. After a few such sessions, along with constant practice between, Harry had become surprisingly adept at masking his magical signature from detection and walking about soundlessly. Both skills would potentially prove quite useful in evading Order members and teachers both around Diagon Alley and at Hogwarts, once he left the village.

That last set of skills had proven useful on one occasion already. By a stroke of luck, Harry had managed to catch Hitomi alone in the bath, and was able to creep up behind her unnoticed. She was both surprised and pleased when he managed to grab her naked rear without her being at all aware of his presence, but nearly ruined his favorite yukata by jerking him down fully clothed into the tub with her. Of course, the extra "lesson" that resulted was well worth the price, Harry thought.

Those very lessons were both fulfilling and frustrating for Harry. Oh, he enjoyed all of it, but she never stayed the night with him, and never allowed him to have actual intercourse with her. She seemed to understand his frustration, and tried to ease it somewhat by allowing him to control the pace of their liaisons every other night. He was allowed free reign with her, as long as he stayed within her rules. He tended to use those night to vent, as he bit her more frequently than usual, often hard enough to draw blood, and was rather physical with his handling. Truly, his dakaathi nature did not like to be restrained, and was more than happy to show it when roused. Only Harry's predominant human side, and his increasing fondness for Hitomi, kept him from forcibly taking the beautiful kunoichi. For Hitomi's part, she had a certain masochistic streak, and Harry's manhandling drove her absolutely wild. It usually took all of her restraint not to break her own rules voluntarily, but she was able to resist the dakaathi charm. She did often remind him, always with her peculiar smile, that while she personally loved playing rough, other women would not, and that he needed to be able to gauge what his partner liked and disliked.

Harry's knowledge and proficiency with the Dark Arts also increased dramatically, and by the end of the month, Harry's repertoire of curses surpassed that of just about any wizard or witch within Voldemort's forces, save for select members of the Inner Circle, and, of course, the Dark Lord himself. That, combined with his honed dueling skills and blossoming dakaathi powers, made Harry quite a force to reckon with. He retained his lack of affinity for the Unforgivables, perhaps due to his somewhat repressed emotional capacities. Of course, he had never tried one with his dakaathi bloodlust truly roused, as that tended to only happen during his most physical outings with Hitomi. He had long deduced that the kunoichi was a bit of a masochist, but he still didn't think she'd appreciate getting belted with the Cruciatus in the middle of a snog. Perhaps he'd show more aptitude for the three curses when placed in the right mindset, but he tended to think of them as a crutch for the unimaginative. He could do better, and his chaotic fist was just as good as an Avada Kedavra, and a whole lot messier besides.

Zharrghast remained situated in its place of rest, on the dais at the far end of Eternal Shame Village. The sentient brand had remained a constant annoyance to Harry, as he remained unable to conceive of any way to take it in hand without risking the loss of his soul to the monster lurking within. Of course, he had little time to ponder the matter, given his other training pursuits. Harry would have enough time to figure out how to deal with Zharrghast upon returning to Hogwarts, an event that he was not particularly looking forward to.

Lastly, Grindelwald and Khariana, Harry's two tiger cubs, continued to grow, and were roughly the size of large muggle dogs, just a bit bigger than Sirius had been in his animagus form, by the end of the month in the village. It seemed that the beasts fed off of their magical link to Harry, siphoning off a small portion of his considerable power in order to sustain themselves. If anything, it was a symbiotic relationship, as Harry found that he seemed to have a certain empathy with the two creatures, and could command them through sheer force of will. They would thus provide excellent support when the time invariably came to fight, with their lethal claws and teeth and debilitating breath attacks.

And so, Harry awoke, just as he had every morning for the previous month, more or less naked on his futon in the guest room of Kenzo's abode, body riddled with love bites and scratch marks. The latter was a more recent trend, as Hitomi seemed to enjoy paying back his rough handling in kind. This would be his last day in Eternal Shame Village before returning to the wizarding world to face those he had left behind. The Shinn Kohaku had treated him like one of their own and taught him many of their skills, despite the fact that he'd very nearly slaughtered the entire village upon his arrival. Smirking to himself, Harry stalked off towards the bathing room, knowing that Hitomi would likely be right there waiting for him.

He wasn't disappointed, as the young woman was already in the tub, watching the door as if awaiting his presence. He arrived, and shrugged off his yukata with a practiced ease. As he reclined into the wooden tub, she leaned over and kissed him softly, as had become their routine over the course of the month. This time, things were a bit different, though. She responded to his further advances openly and completely, with no underlying teasing or restraint. Harry halted their passionate kissing and regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

"No lesson this time?"

She beamed back at him, a different smile than the one he had come to associate with her almost as if it were an intrinsic part of the collection of quirks and anomalies that he had simply come to know as "Hitomi". This new smile was also free of restraint, and seemed to express everything that she had been holding back for the entire short time that he had known her.

"No, Harry. No more lessons. As of last night, you've graduated from my dojo. There's nothing more about the art of lovemaking for me to teach you."

Lovemaking? Harry preferred to think of it as simply sex, but he'd humor her and use her terminology. He still had one last night to possibly apply his training, after all. He doubted if he'd ever feel completely satisfied unless he took her all the way.

"And yet we've never made love?"

"The sex itself is easy, Harry. Knowing and interpreting the touches and feelings behind it is the difficult part, and you do that masterfully. Yes, I dare say there isn't a woman alive that could resist you now, or that could dominate you in any way."

"But you have, on both fronts."

"Perhaps, but perhaps you simply learned to be a good student. I did have to punish you a few times, though, particularly in the beginning."

Harry didn't have time to continue the debate any further, as Hitomi rose to leave the bath and prepare the morning meal. Harry finished bathing as well, before rising and putting on his favorite of the many yukata he had worn over the course of the month, the white robe with the forest green feathered pattern. Folding his own wings against his body, as had become his habit, Harry gave himself a look in the mirror.

He had physically changed only slightly over the course of the month. His wings had lengthened slightly, to a span of an even eight feet, as had his hair, which now reached to the middle of his back. His muscles were a bit more defined as well, but that was a likely result of his constant training with Bill, as well as Hitomi, who tended to give him a workout in her own right. No, much more defined were the changes in his gait. He carried himself with a nearly feral grace, honed dueling technique and Shinn Kohaku stealth training making his every motion fluid and completely devoid of wasted energy. His eyes, still the same forest green, now bore a hint of ferocity just begging to be unleashed.

Heading down to breakfast, he saw a most peculiar array set before him. Fish, rice, and miso soup, along with, of course, raspberry pancakes. Harry shook his head as he sat down to eat, Kenzo and Hitomi watching. Grilthauk and Bill were seated at the table as well. Kenzo spoke first, a conspiratorial smile on his face.

"We have enjoyed housing you this past month, young lord. Hitomi in particular, I would imagine, judging by the rackets you two make, but both I and the rest of the village have grown fond of you as well."

Bill snickered at Hitomi's horrified face. Grilthauk's wizened face remained impassive, but the old goblin's eyes betrayed his amusement. Hitomi chose not to respond, and suddenly became rather interested in her miso soup. Harry supposed that he ought to return the pleasantries, though his thoughts on the matter were in fact somewhat genuine. He rolled his eyes slightly and responded.

"I've enjoyed staying here, and I've learned more than I ever could have hoped. I honestly don't want to leave."

Kenzo nodded.

"But you realize that you must. You have finished recuperating, and I believe that we will all have our own tasks that we must return to as well. Have you given any thought to what you would have us do, young lord?"

Harry decided to follow Kenzo's lead and unveil his plans for the Shinn Kohaku.

"Yes, you spoke of creating an information network nearly a month ago. My plan would be to have your villagers spread out over the British Isles and open up a network of teahouses in strategic points within select magical areas. The main location should be in Hogsmeade, and branches in Diagon Alley and deep into Knockturn Alley are a must, as are locations in any main wizarding community. Work cooperatively with the goblins on determining exact locations, their client records should help in identifying areas with high densities of magical families. You'll want to try to create an atmosphere that will attract mostly wealthy pureblooded clientele, since most prominent Death Eaters come from that echelon of wizarding society."

Grilthauk spoke up.

"And the Order?"

"I don't think we need to worry about using this network to keep tabs on the Order, since we already have Bill inside, and I can probably bully the old man into letting me in as well. He has too much riding on my participation in his little struggle with Voldemort to deny me much of anything. Back to the main point, the purpose of these places will obviously be to keep eyes and ears fixated onto important locations, and we'll need each to be connected through some physical network, so that any information uncovered can be relayed quickly, both to Gringotts and to the Hogsmeade head location, from where any special orders will be dispersed. Does this meet with approval?"

Grilthauk and Bill nodded, but Kenzo had a suggestion.

"Perhaps, young lord, it would be better to tailor each location to fit with local needs. For example, we can supply an apothecary in one location, a Japanese robe shop in another, as each is needed, and keep the teahouse as a default for areas where all needs are already met. However, the idea of using businesses as a front for espionage is excellent. Our people are trained in the art of using veiled remarks to loosen tongues. Aside from that, we can make good use of any revenues generated by this venture."

Bill spoke up now.

"Yes, but where is the initial money going to come from? Building and stocking these places is going to be expensive."

Harry turned to him.

"Kenzo, I'll leave that up to your discretion. Bill, I have enough gold just in the Evans vault to buy half of Britain. Combine that with the Potter vault, and the Black vault which is soon to come into my possession. By the way, Grilthauk, we need to set up a time for Sirius's will reading. We can discuss that tomorrow. Anyway, money is not a concern. Does anybody else have a suggestion?"

Nobody had anything to put forth.

"Then I guess that'll be all. We'll get together again in a month or so, before I leave to go back to Hogwarts."

Grilthauk nodded and left to return to Gringotts, but Bill stayed behind, having nothing else to do with his day. The majority of the day passed without event, but right before supper, Kenzo led Harry outside to a clearing a ways into the forest, Bill and Hitomi following behind. Grindelwald and Khariana noticed them leaving and ran along as well, catching up with Harry easily. The entire village had gathered there to give a farewell feast to the young lord that had restored hope that they would one day be able to return home. The sake bottles went around several times, and Harry felt a bit tipsy by the time the meal had ended.

Harry was presented with a series of gifts from the village. First was a large vial of an invisibility solution, much like the one used in making his father's cloak. Harry briefly hoped that Tom the Barkeep had kept tabs on his things, particularly that Invisibility Cloak, seeing as he had never showed up at the room he had booked. Harry imagined that the Order had long since scoured the Leaky Cauldron for any sign of him, and took his small bag with them. Dismissing those thoughts, he took a look at the vial before him. The note attached said that one coating of the solution lasted more or less for a week. Harry figured that he could use it to effectively hide his wings, as long as he kept them folded against his body.

The second gift consisted of the entire collection of yukata that Harry had worn over the course of his visit, twelve in all, plus the one he was wearing. He didn't imagine that he'd be wearing them around Hogwarts, but they were comfortable.

The final gift seemed to be his black dress shoes that had mysteriously disappeared as he bathed that first morning. The villagers explained that they had refit the shoes with softer cushioning, and placed silencing charms onto the soles so that Harry would have less difficulty moving about unnoticed.

After hearing the felicitations of the entire village, Harry left to return to Kenzo's abode to rest for the evening. He would get none, as it would turn out. Hitomi followed a short distance behind, intent on sending him off in her own unique way. Harry managed to find his way back quickly enough, and undressed and plopped down onto his futon for the last time. He was nearly asleep when he heard the sound of a silk garment pooling into the floor. He looked up, and there she stood, the flickering lamplight reflecting off of her porcelain skin. Harry thought she had never looked quite so pretty.

"One last lesson, then? And I thought I'd graduated."

"No lesson, Harry. I want my payment now."

"Oh? Can I afford your fee?"

She smirked at him, another new expression for her, at least from his eyes.

"Probably not, Harry Evans, but I think that we can come to an arrangement."

[Content removed

(End Chapter Six)

Author's Note: There's Chapter Six, a bit quicker than I thought I'd be getting it out. Again, I hope I've not offended anybody with the sex scene. I've made my decision regarding the pairing situation. I will be staying with the multiple partners. For those of you who like Hitomi, she will be getting back in on the action later on, sooner than you think. I like her too much to just kick her out of the plot, and I have a lot of future plans for her. However, she'll be exiting the stage for a little while, meaning that she won't be accompanying Harry to school. He needs to be single there for the other pairings to work. I don't think she'd be really jealous, but how many girls are going to be willing to approach or respond to Harry while Hitomi is constantly shadowing him? Besides, I already have a better way to get her around the area, and many of you will probably be able to guess what it is. I apologize for the fast pace of this chapter, and the summary method used to describe most of Harry's training. However, I really wanted to get through this arc of the story and back into the canon world. Harry returns to Diagon Alley next chapter.

Whoa, fifty reviews on the nose for this chapter. I'm ecstatic, and thankful for each and every one, but I can't respond individually to that many here or I'd never finish. So, from now on, anybody who has a comment or question about the story that they would like answered, feel free to send me an e-mail, and I'll respond as I'm able. I can also be reached via AIM. You can find the appropriate addresses in my profile. As for the comment about me possibly doing a full-out lemon version and posting it elsewhere, I am certainly considering it. We'll see what develops. Hope you all enjoyed the update, and please keep reading and reviewing, everybody. They're what keep me motivated to continue writing.