"Professor?" Harry said, knocking on the door of Prof. Kurak's office and sticking his head in. Leon was at his side, peering into the room as well, while Hedwig was somewhere outside, close enough that Harry could feel her.

"Hello Harry, come on in," the white haired man said pleasantly, though not from behind his desk as the teen had expected. Indeed the desk wasn't even where Harry was used to seeing it. When McGonagall had been alive she had kept her desk right in the center of the room, dominating everything. Instead his new Head of House had pushed it to one side, so that it was in front of the large window that looked out upon Black Lake. In fact Prof. Kurak had done a lot of redecorating in his short time since he'd taken over. Harry remembered the room feeling like he'd stepped back in time, that all that had been done to modernize Hogwarts had been kept away from the old woman's office. Instead it felt like the domain of a witch… but not a cackling evil one who wanted to gobble up children but rather a witch who quietly worked on her spells that could cure the sick or change the fates of those less fortunate. A great fireplace, banners depicting the Gryffindor Arcanine throughout the ages, trophies from winning Gauntlet seasons, bookshelves filled with old dusty books whose authors were long dead though not forgotten.

But Prof. Kurak had changed all that. His desk wasn't the massive beast that McGonagall had used but something rather modern with a computer and dual monitors. The ancient wingback chair had been replaced with a high end office one, padded with leather but still an office chair. The endtable with a tea set had been removed and in its place was an exercise bike of all things. The banners had been pulled down and in their place were pictures of Alola, including the professor posing with a group of young men and women, grinning as they stood in front of a mural they'd clearly finished spraypainting on the side of a building. The fireplace remained but he'd set up a couch in front of it and to Harry's mild amusement there was a bag of marshmallows and some roasting sticks sitting just at hand.

On one hand it was so startling to see the room changed. But on the other it made him rather happy because it banished completely McGonagall's phantom. He could talk to his new head of house and not worry about constantly comparing him to McGonagall.

'Not that the room would do that,' Harry admitted. 'Other than my first year I didn't spend much time in here.'

As for his head of house he was standing on the opposite side of the room on a long stretch of artificial turf that he'd installed in his office, a putter in his hand as he carefully lined up his shot. There was the THUNK of the putter head striking the golf ball and Harry watched as it rolled merrily down the path before sinking cleanly into the hole.

"You know one of the main reasons I took this job is the golf courses Avalon has up in its northern region," Kurak said with a small laugh. "I just hope I'm able to sneak away and get a round of 9 in before the first snowfall."

"Might want to hurry then," Harry stated, "as it isn't that unusual for us to get snow in October."

"Hmmm," Kurak said, walking over and retrieving the ball. "Maybe when you have a Le Fay's Weekend I can convince Al and Sev to let me sneak off and get some shots in. Plum can cover for me and I can always pay her back by letting her have a weekend off; though I honestly don't know what she'd want to do."

"Plum?" Harry asked.

"Prof. Kawa," Kurak said before grimacing. "Don't call her Plum though, she hates it. In fact don't mention I called her that either, you hear? Don't need her bustin' skulls like the old days." He rubbed his head and grimaced at that before walking back to where he'd been putting and setting his ball down. "You golf, Harry?"

"Never had the chance to do so," he admitted.

"It's an interesting game. For many reasons, really." He lined up his put again. "Its one of the few sports where you can be utterly by yourself and enjoy it. Baseball? Other than a batting cage what else can you do? Football? I can bounce a ball about but it ain't that fun taking shots at an empty net. Basketball I guess you can challenge yourself with trick shots but that is about it. Pool I suppose you can play on your own but that's an indoor sport and the field never changes. But golf? Golf you can play with a team or against others or just challenge yourself." He swung his putter, giving the ball a tap only for it to miss the hole by about an inch… or so Harry thought before it rolled back and sunk in. "I can go out and play a round of 18 each week and get the same thrill as taking on a whole mess of opponents."

Reaching down and retrieving his ball he set it up but this time motioned for Harry to come forward. "Go on."

"Uh…" Harry said.

"I'd ask your Leafeon but I'd rather not have him gnaw on my clubs."

Leon huffed. "Golf is so speciesist."

"What if we figured out a way for you to use your vines?" Harry postulated.

Leon considered that. "Huh."

Kurak, for his part, let out a groan. "Man, please don't have me competing against Pokemon as well as humans!" He held out the putter and Harry finally took it. "The other thing about golf is you can train and train, doing all you can to become the utter best, and feel like crap all the same. Do everything right and you keep messing up. Until one day, just one game, everything goes right and you feel like the best in the world."

Harry hit the ball and watched it roll before it went into the hole.

"…and you can also have some brat show you up even though they don't got a lick of training."

"Sorry," Harry admitted.

"I'm kidding," Kurak said pleasantly, selecting a different putter and handing it to Harry while he took back his own. Grabbing another ball he dropped it and began to line up another putt. "I imagine you want to know why I asked you to come here."

"To talk," Harry said rather glibly.

Kurak let out a laugh at that. "Well, obviously. Though I do admit I don't mind the two of us golfing while we do so." He struck his ball and it rolled down the turf and into the hole, the Professor moving so Harry could line up his shot. Figuring that at least this was better than the tedium of just sitting in a chair and having a conversation Harry set the ball down and settled in to take his turn. "The question is what do you want to talk about."

"I don't care," Harry said.

"This isn't me being polite, Harry," Kurak said, leaning on his club while Harry tapped his ball; it was too light and he had to line up for another shot, now halfway to the hole. "I actually want to know what you want to talk about. It isn't fair of me to just take control of the entire conversation… you should have a say."

Harry looked at his Head of House and fought the urge to roll his eyes… before wondering why he was fighting that urge in the first place. 'I'm tired,' he thought as he hit his ball, sending it into the hole. 'I'm tired of dealing with people who act like they care when they really don't and I'm tired of having to act in a certain way just to make sure that they don't feel bad when I do something they don't like. I'm just… sick of trying to make other people happy.'

And that's when he knew exactly what he wanted to discuss with his Head of House.

"Do you actually care?"

"Pardon?" Kurak asked.

"Do you actually care what I have to say?" Harry asked. "Do you honestly want to talk to me or are you just looking for me to fill your head with empty words about how I'm doing just fine so you can toddle off to Dumbledore or Remus or Sirius or whoever is now in charge of the fucking Avalon Government and tell them that Lily Potter's son isn't going completely mental so everyone can breathe a sigh of relief? Or maybe you do want me to have a breakdown and then you can sell the information to Rita Skeeter or Fudge or Voldemort or whoever the hell else is looking to make my life fucking hell! Is this just the bare minimum for you? "Oh, if I can get him to at least talk I can say I did a good job and cash my paycheck"! Or maybe this is something else entirely… maybe you are looking to make a name for yourself! "I'm the teacher that finally managed to connect with Harry Potter!'. Well I hate to break it to you but Slughorn already hinted he wants to be my mentor and he's willing to bribe me to spend time with him so unless you're giving me these golf clubs you're right now being outbid. So how about you just tell me what you want me to say so we can get this over with and move on!"

Kurak watched Harry, eyebrow raced in the face of his outburst.

"…damn," Leon muttered.

Harry sucked in a mouthful of air and looked at his starter. "Call Dr. Linda?"

"Might be a good idea," Leon groused.

He nodded and turned to his head of house. "Sorry about-"

"No you're not," Kurak cut him off.

"Wha-?"

"You're not sorry… or if you are then I'm going to be very disappointed in you." He leaned his putter against his desk and sat down on the edge of it, arms folded over his chest. "Because I have to say… you impressed me with that speech and if you go back on it now I'm going to be miffed."

"You… are happy I just yelled at you and cursed and all that?"

"You yelled AT me… but at and at are different."

"…no, they really aren't. They are the same words."

"I'm talking metaphor… whatever." He waved his hand, dismissing that thought. "You yelled about the situation but not about me. I just happened to be the person you were talking to. There is a big difference there. Believe me, I get it. I've done both of those things… yelled at someone just to use them as a sounding board or because they gave me the opening to vent… and yelled at them because they fucking deserved to be yelled at." He rolled his eyes. "And believe me, I've been on the end of having idiots not realize the difference. Alola is all big in feelings and shit like that. 'Let's be happy! Let's never be negative it will ruin the vibes your body puts out and darken your aura'. Don't deal with the bad just hide it and if you do reveal it that makes you the bad guy." He let out an exasperated laugh. "For fuck's sake this is our most famous Pokémon!"

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a Dusk ball and gave it a toss, releasing a Mimikyu. The little guy looked actually rather nicer than the photos Harry had seen of them; it's disguise looked rather professionally made, not crudely drawn, with the fabric of high quality and stitching sold. Harry, having spent years needing to sew up Dudley's destroyed teddy bears when his cousin tore them apart only to suddenly decide he wanted it fixed and perfect again, knew good stitching when he saw it.

Kurak leaned down and reached under the disguise, giving the Fairy/Ghost that hid under the cloak a little scratch that saw it cooing in delight. "Because this guy isn't the cutest Pokemon in the world no one in Avalon wanted to use him. So him and the whole rest of his species decided to make costumes so they could look like that overrated electric rat just to get some attention. If that doesn't scream of how insane Alola is I don't know what does!"

"Sounds a lot like Avalon too," Harry said, kneeling down and retrieving some Pokepellets that he used to train his team from his pocket. He held out a few in his palm and after a moment Mimikyu reached out a tendril and snagged the treats up.

"I'm working to get him to actually abandon the disguise but no go." Kurak shook his head. "But anyway, my point. People like to bottle things up, put a happy face on things, and ignore that life isn't all sweetness and kindness. The person smiling at you as you cross the street might be in utter agony because someone they love is dying and they have to smile to keep from crying. Or your best friend says everything is "alright" when in reality they're too scared to admit that that things aren't alright but if they tell you they think you'll judge them. The boss that looks all calm and collected is losing their mind, hearing voices. The kid winning the trophy knows they'll never be good enough for their folks. The dad that comes to every practice and seems oh so supportive?" Kurak's hands balled into fists. "Well… he beats his kid. And beats them. And never let's up."

Harry swallowed at that. "This… doesn't sound like something a teacher should be telling a student."

"If Dumbledore wanted a Pokewood style teacher that will lead the Dead Poet's Society or whatever other shit like that he shouldn't have hired me. I told him that I'll talk how I want, teach what I want, and get you kids through the school year alive however I fucking want." He finally moved to sit behind his desk, motioning for Harry to take a seat. "Now then, let's talk about what the real problem is."

"And what do you think that is?" harry asked, honestly interested in what the Professor might say his issue was. It seemed like everyone in Avalon had a theory as to why Harry acted out the way he did. Little Surrey, pressure to live up to his parents, PTSD-

"The adults in Avalon are shit."

…that was a new one.

"Don't look at me like that, you know it's true. I read up on the teachers you've had so far and frankly most of them don't deserve teaching certificates. Now, don't mistake me here, I ain't the poster child for what one might consider the perfect educator. Pretty sure teachers shouldn't have wrap sheets with the Jennys." Harry's eyebrows rose at that admission; nothing in his research on Prof. Kurak had shown THAT! "But the ones you've had? Shit. Let's get rid of the ones that were really Voldemort, alright? That just seems unfair to taint the waters with him."

"That's putting it mildly," Harry groused.

"But without him the number of good ones you've had I can count on one hand and still have fingers left to pick my nose. Your guardian… he was a good one, though I do question letting someone who is raising you be your teacher. Crouch seemed to do well from what I read but he didn't stick around. And Slate…" Kurak's face puckered. "You know I went to say hello to him a few days ago and caught him watching the Golden Girls a BIT too intently."

"That will replace the Wailord in my nightmares," Harry complained.

"Mine too, kid, mine too." Kurak shook his head. "But the rest? Lockhart was a chomo. Umbridge… if I'd been around when she was the Jennys would have had a reason to lock me up again. Sprout wasn't a bad egg but McGonagall… no offense but that woman should have retired ages ago. I read up on her when I came here and in the beginning she was a firebrand… but by the time you got her she was just burned out."

"I've heard about all this… how my parents-"

"Oh don't give me none of those sob stories to excuse her," Kurak said with a lazy wave of his hand. "People don't get to blame others for the shit mistakes they make. Trust me, I used to do that and I learned the hard way it never ends well. A strong person admits what they did wrong. More than that they own it. They own their problems and either turn it into armor or cast it aside."

Harry shifted at that.

"Oh oh oh!" Kurak said with a laugh. "Not sure how to handle that, are ya? People been telling you to forgive her because she's dead. Well death doesn't excuse someone for their mistakes. Nothing does. We don't get a free pass if we get sick or have something bad happen to us or we die. We still did what we did… so we can either own it-"

"Or make it our armor," harry said.

"Now you're catching on!" Kurak leaned back in his chair, Mimikyu jumping up to sit on his lap. "Yeah, she's dead and that's sad. But it doesn't change what she did… or how you feel about her. At lest it shouldn't." He tapped his finger against the desk. "Let me clue you in on something, kid: all your life there are going to be people looking to catch a break. To get away with murder. And the moment you begin to bend they will see if they can push you just a touch further." He cleared his throat and mimicked Dumbledore, "Harry my boy would it not be better to forgive the dead? And once you do that why not the sick? And isn't anger or jealousy just a sickness of the mind? So why not forgive people who treat you poorly… they are just sick. And while we're at it why not show them kindness even as they plunge the dagger into your back? Have you tried bending over so they can have easier access?" Kurak let out a huffing laugh and Harry couldn't help but do the same. "Am I wrong?" he asked in his normal voice.

"No," Harry admitted. People had been making him feel like he had to forgive everyone just because they had died. Even his shrink had been pressing him to move on, even if she hadn't actually put those thoughts into words. But Kurak actually telling him that it was okay for him to feel anger towards McGonagall and the other professors who had died at the Ministry for not being there for him… it was a burden being lifted off his shoulders.

'And somehow… it actually makes my anger not as deep,' Harry realized.

"I get not trusting adults," Kurak continued. "They lie. They use you. You know… we are born and we are told that we should trust those bigger than us. Listen to what they say because they are smarter and want to help us out. And then suddenly its like a switch is flipped and we are told, "No, don't blindly trust people! Be your own man! Be strong!". All that." He wagged his finger. "Except not too strong. Don't get too independent. Wouldn't do if you began thinking things they didn't want you to think, after all. Be dependant but also a rebel. Dare to be different but only if you conform to how people think you should act."

Harry frowned at that. He couldn't disagree with what the professor was saying… in fact he'd thought similar things himself over the last year, as it had slowly sunk in just how messed up Avalon was. But to hear someone else, especially someone older than him and in a position of power, say such things… it was just such a radical departure from what Harry was used to when it came to educators.

"Talk to me," Kurak said, for the first time since Harry had entered the man's office his voice taking on a gentle tone. "Like I said it does no good to keep things bottled up."

"I… I don't know how to react. I'm just used to adults not understanding… no, that's not true. That makes it sound like they actually know what is going on."

"And they don't, do they?"

"And not in a 'Adults don't understand'." Harry rolled his eyes; that felt like something some lame high school drama airing as midseason filler would use. 'If only my life was simply trying to deal with high school and love triangles… though in my case that would mean Neville or Ron trying to get with Jasmine because Ginny, Hermione, and Luna are off limits for me.' Out loud he said, "I mean that they never really bothered to get to know me and understand what I was going through so how could they even hope to understand when they never put in the effort to try?"

Kurak nodded at that. "Some people… parents or teachers or just authority figures… they don't actually see children as people. They see them as props. They treat us-" he motioned between himself and Harry several times, "-like the worst stereotypes of Pokemon trainers those nuts in Unova were preaching about a few years back. They give us a command and expect us to do it and then when we're done they want us to slink away. And if we don't…" He let out a huff. "If we don't…"

He trailed off and the two sat in silence for nearly a minute, the only sound in the office being Mimikyu's murmurs of delight as Kurak petted him.

"You're speaking from experience I take it?" Harry asked. When the Head of House didn't say anything he pressed on. "Who were you before you came to Avalon?"

"Not a hero, if that is what you're trying to get me to admit," Kurak stated. "The opposite. You got screwed over and decided to fight back for noble reasons. Me? I… I thought I was doing the right thing but in the end I wasn't. Or maybe I was." He shook his head. "Hindsight being 20/20? That's never been the case for me." He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling like he expected it to have all the answers. "Ask me one day and I'll tell you how I screwed everything up. Every mistake I made. Or maybe even admit that there was never a chance I was going to win, that life was rigged and I didn't realize it. Of the people who I once thought would stand by my side but abandoned me the first chance because they cared more about pleasing the elders than the promises made to their peers. And I suppose… I broke the same promises but some days I don't see that while other days it is so clear it makes my soul bleed.

"But then if you wait a little while I'll flash a cocky grin and tell you of the victories the history books won't ever mention. How I walked right up to the tradition holders of Alola who said that I would never amount to anything and spat in their eye. And I walked away without a scratch. The friends I made… of the days where I met someone and realized that all that time I had spent feeling alone in reality I never was… we were all just too scared to speak up and reveal that we were different! And when we finally got the guts… we realized that we were the same in our differences."

He let out a sigh though, unable to keep his good mood up. "These days I can't decide what my life has been."

~MC~MC~MC~

"I used to think my life was a tragedy!" Luna declared, startling all the students who were sitting around outside the main steps of Hogwarts, enjoying the last little bit of warmth before the fall truly became a frigid nightmare. "But now I see… it's a comedy!"

"Should we do something?" Daphne asked as the Mistress of All Veela… stood there in a garish redish-purple suit, her face painted white, hair dyed green, with blue triangles done over her eyes and a massive red 'smile' coating her lips and cheeks.

"I find it best to ignore her… and buy life insurance," Ron said while Luna began to dance… and Neville looked down trying to figure out how his clothing had suddenly turned into a red-and black harlequin outfit.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Golf sees you competing against others, you know," Kurak finally said. "But it was never like that for me. At least not when I actually enjoyed playing the game. All those tournaments and the like… when I got out on the course it was just me, all alone. I let my opponents fade from my mind and focused on the game. Or… so I thought. Because I realize now that even when you play alone you are stilling competing against yourself." He looked at Harry. "You understand?"

"I… yeah," Harry finally said. "You aren't just going through life; you are taking on all that you once were, trying to get better. Or recapture what you lost."

"Recapture… damn that's right." Kurak nodded. "Damn that's right."

"You," Harry began only to stop himself.

"What?"

He looked at the Head of House before deciding to take a small risk. Just a tiny one. A risk to see if this was someone could, if not trust, at least allow to hear his thoughts. "You ever feel like you aren't just competing against yourself but a whole bunch of different versions of yourself?" Harry looked down at his lap. "There are days, even if I'm just going to class and the like, where I feel like if I just turned my head I could see hundreds of different Harrys, all living the same life I am right now, only they are living it differently. Better."

"Every damn day," Kurak muttered.

"Shouldn't there be versions of me doing worse?" Harry asked. "Shouldn't I see them when I look around? Why is it that all I can see are the ones doing better?" He sighed, shaking his head in frustration. "I know why. And that only makes me more depressed." He looked at Kurak who was merely watching him, the only movement he made being the occasional twitch of his hand as he stroked Mimikyu through it's cloth disguise. "I don't suppose you have an answer to getting past such thoughts."

"Just a lot of don'ts," his Head of House admitted. He was silent for several moments more before finally speaking up again. "There is something else about golf… unless you're tired of talking about it."

"Better than most of the things people want to talk to me about," harry admitted.

Kurak clearly saw that as the yes it was and continued on. "It's a really simple game. Club. Ball. Hole. Honestly that's all you need. We could go outside right now, dig a hole in the ground, find a ball and a stick, and play a game. That's that. But people always like to make it more complicated. Add to it. Need fancy balls that are supposed to float in the air or drop quicker or roll in a straight line or curve. Clubs for every sort of distance you might to cover… and then you need your clubs for long grass, short grass, sandy areas… and every year it seems like a new club comes out that is supposed to be so much better so you need to get those as well! And then you need new clothes, maybe a watch that can help figure out pitch and distance, shoes that will help you… eh, you get the point.

"Its no different with Pokemon battling, you know? In the beginning it was just a person finding a Pokemon they liked, convincing them you could do so much more together than separately, and that was that. But then we invented the Pokeball. Okay, not too big a difference. And potions and revives? Those just make life easier, right?" He shook his head, bemused by the thought… or perhaps what he knew was coming. "Now though it seems like you can't go a day without finding out how you've been battling wrong. Not just raising a Pokemon… battling. New attacks. New strategies. Heck, we can't even battle like we used to."

Harry opened his mouth the speak but it was soon clear that Kurak was on a role. "I mean, it used to be enough that you were able to figure out how to combine moves in order to throw off your opponent. Now though?" He scoffed. "Sky battles where only flying Pokemon are allowed. Or Mega Stones that create evolutions only not really. Dynamaxing. Z Moves-" His face twisted in disgust at that, "-and now we have Speakers and Veelas and Psychics and the like…" Something must have shown on Harry's face, a scowl or the like, because Kurak added, "I don't have a problem with people that can do such things… listen, here is what I'm trying to say but I keep fucking it up: sometimes in life you think you need to get more complex. That the only way to win is to upgrade. Evolve or die, that shit. But that means nothing… if you don't have the will to win. And sometimes you wrap yourself up in your own head that you've already lost."

"So… what? Simplfy?"

"Hell if I know," Kurak admitted. He stood up and went back over to the putting green. "Though sometimes the best thing you can do… is go back to what you know."

And with that he went back to putting.