Wizard of Sitri
A/N: This is the first fanfic that I publish, and I have just started writing stories last December. Please tell me what you think of my English, it is not my first language, so expect some spelling and grammatical errors. I should also mention that I am dyslectic (am using Grammarly and Word to correct spelling and grammar), so there is that too.
Anyhow, I have only seen the movies of Harry Potter and the first two seasons of Highschool DxD, so do excuse me if some information is wrong. Though, I have read a bunch of fanfictions of both. Hope you like it. Expect new chapters to come very slowly; I've not planned this story at all, and I need time for work too.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor High School DxD, I only imagine what could be if I did.
Chapter 1: The incentive
"Good morning! Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome on board this flight to Kansai International Airport. My name is John Owen, your captain for this flight. Your cabin crew are here to ensure you have an enjoyable flight to Japan this morning. Please fasten your seat belt and refrain from leaving your seat until the sign is on."
I nervously tightened the seat belt and took a deep breath of the enclosed and sweet-smelling air. With a rumble, the plane moved from its position on the tarmac, and the excited voices of passengers sounded delighted to my ears.
"Nervous?" The kind elderly woman to my left asked.
With a pale face, I gave her a small smile and answered, "Yes, a little… this is my first time flying on a plane."
"Oh, dear," she gently placed her hand on my hand, which held the armrest in a tight grip. "Don't worry dear, it's only making the experience worse. Try to imagine you are sitting in your home and watching a movie, that certainly helped me."
Taking another deep breath, I forced myself to try to relax. Looking out of the slowly retreating ground from my window seat. I imagined myself flying on my broom, thinking that I am in a game of Quidditch seeking the Snitch.
I sighed, trying to take the advice from the kind lady to heart. Who would have known that flying in a plane would make me into this stressed and worried self? Having no trouble on a broom – even racing a dragon – but a simple plane makes my legs weaken like I'm Ron walking through a nest of Acromantulas.
I thought of the reason I was even on this plane today. My life had taken quite a drastic turn after the battle against Tom. Almost 12 years ago, I think. Although, it certainly doesn't look like these years have affected me … at least physically.
A flock of birds veered away from the plane and flapped their wings frantically to steady themselves from the strong currents. My image reflected in the small round window, allowing me to see my usual, normal self.
Still the messy hair, green eyes, and young features. Although, a new pair of glasses, stylish black frames resting neatly on my nose. A face that has not changed even a little from the years that has passed since then.
Memories from the past flowed through my mind. I remembered how my life has changed; from one symbol to another …
Around me, the sounds of celebration still prevailed. Light streamed from the cracked walls, illuminating the cobbled floor of the Great Hall. Wizards and Witches wept, both in joy and sorrow from the aftermath. But still, a great sensation of relief and jubilation lingered in the air.
I still knelt where I'd taken my last stand. The newly acquired Elder Wand securely held in my shaking left hand; arms still shaking from the force of our colliding spells.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed from my right. "You did it!"
Her arms took a tight grip around me. Tears of relief and joy fell on my shoulders.
Ron stood to the side, a smile lingering on his face.
When her crying subsided, Ron helped us up on our feet. We stayed in that position, leaning on each other, and feeling the worries going away like a rushing train.
Around the jubilation, in the gaps of the crowds, people were treated, and the deceased was mourned.
Then … the masses noticed. I don't know who started it, but it spread around like a wildfire in a lush forest.
"Harry Potter!"
"Our hero!"
"The conquer of the Dark Lord!"
People cried out in overzealous excitement.
All around they gathered, converging around our position in the middle of the hall. The weeping for the lost pushed away for the moment. Pointed hats thrown up to try to touch the ceiling. Fireworks going up in the destroyed space.
It was unbearable. Cries, laughter, and exclamations louder than anything I have ever heard.
My two friends tried to shield me from the excited crowd. Guiding me through it, and around the zealots of a new age.
It was a blur of motion; flashes of cameras, questions flying in the air, hugs, and claps on the back.
In the end, we were able to push our way out to the courtyard, down the beaten path and to the road leading down to the forbidden forest.
"How could they, huff," Molly Weasley protested, guiding us all to the edges of the forest. "You think they would focus more on the wounded than celebrating."
The Weasley family had gathered in our desperate escape from the castle. All except Ginny was here; Fred and George, poking a mummied Percy; Bill and Fleur talking quietly with Charlie; Arthur trying to calm Molly; and me, Ron, and Hermione sitting quietly on the grass and breathing in the fresh scent of the forest.
"Molly, they're just glad, that's all," Arthur gently steered Molly to a fallen tree, letting her sit and calm down.
"Man, that was mental," Ron mumbled quietly. "Why would they …"
"Oh, Ron. They're obviously relieved –" huffed Hermione.
"Relived!" shouted Ron.
"Ron, you –"
I tuned out the coming argument. Taking deep breaths, I just let the tension out, my gaze roaming the picturesque landscape around the great castle on the hill.
Seeing movements from the path down to the forest, I let my eyes linger on their silhouette.
Her flaming hair cascaded down her back, glinting gold in the sun's rays. Robes tussled from the previous battles and her legs weak from the strong arms around her waist. Eyes closed in bliss, and mouth moving in tandem with the man that held her close to his chest.
My eyes watered, breath stopped, and my mouth opened in shock. I couldn't believe it. Here I am, having gone through a battle and survived death. Having longed for those lips on my lips, that presence in my life.
Yet …
She stands on the slope, making out with another man.
I wobbly rose to my feet, my grip on the Elder Wand tightened. Tears threatening on the edge of my eyes; vision slightly blurry.
"I-I … I'll," turning, I ran into the forest. With my voice weak from a pronounced feeling of betrayal, I muttered over my shoulder, "I'll need to go."
I stumbled into the dark forest. With scratches and bruises still covering me from my previous battle, I could only think of being alone. Pain, not from my wounds, slowed me down in my desperate escape from reality.
"Harry!"
"Come back …!"
The voices echo amidst the trees. A prominent feeling of hurt bubbled in my chest.
With thoughts and feelings colliding in my mind, I did not notice that I had fallen to the ground. More bruises building from my fall, but I didn't think of them, just the feeling of running away from it all.
My hand pushed the stone covered ground, rocks and gravel moving with the force of it. Tears were now falling from my eyes, soaking the coarse ground in my sorrow. My hand gripped something solid, a small rock, I imagine.
Weak from all the feelings running through me, memories of the past anchoring me to this reality, I feebly crumbled to the ground once again.
"Harry!" Hermione's worried shout echoed in the background of my thoughts.
My vision started to darken. The fingers of my left hand held tightly around the Elder Wand and my right hand rigidly gripping the rough, but smooth stone.
I let the darkness overtake me, letting the silence embrace me …
Although the love for Ginny was strong and the hurt of her newfound love for another was excruciating. It was not the reason I am here today, sitting on a plane bound for a country on the other side of the world.
No, it was not the reason … alright, not the whole reason, at least.
My hand was white from the force I used on the armrest, and my gaze locked onto the drifting clouds outside. The light of the morning sun glinting of them in an enchanting way, only seen from the sky high above.
"Something to drink?"
I was interrupted in my thoughts of my past by the kind lady, who seemed to have acquired two cups of water and a sandwich.
Thanking her and taking the cup of water, I let some tension flow out of my tense body and rested back in my seat.
Once again, I came back to thoughts of the past. Of reasons and decisions that plague me even now.
"Harry, mate," said Ron from the kitchen, with Hermione hovering around him. "Hadn't Ginny and you parted ways before the battle?"
Grumbling into the couch, I slowly turned my head to stare at Ron. My stare ware deadly, piercingly so. So much in fact, that Ron seemed to back off and looked at me in a way you only look at a deadly creature … or a broken man, hard to say.
"Bloody hell," Ron huffed out and gave Hermione a quick glance. "Harry … mate. You really do need to do something; you'd been holed up in this place for more than a month now."
A low growl, dampened by the cushion on the couch was my answer.
"Hmm …" staring at me, Ron eventually gave up. "Hermione you do it."
And went back to his constant battle with the dishes.
"Harry," Hermione softly said.
My head now pressed firmly to the cushion; I only saw a world of darkness before me. I could hear her soft footfalls to the side of the couch, much to my chagrin.
Feeling the weight of the couch change, I knew she would not retreat like Ron. Another grumble exited my throat, sounding more like a wounded animal than anything else.
"Oh, Harry," she gently rubbed circles on my back. "You know that Ron is right. You and Ginny broke up before our search of those cursed things … she was there a whole year –"
My throat clenched at the thought of her in the arms of another, bubbling into a soft sob at the end.
"– what I mean is that it's normal to feel this way. Just remember that she is her own person too, with her own life and experiences."
My sobs intensified at the cruel truth. Of course, I'd known, but that doesn't remove the swirling thoughts of memories of what could have been.
When my emotions subsided, she decided that enough was enough, it seems. I was forced up to lean on the backrest of the couch. My pillow, drenched in tears, removed from my clutches and reach; held back by Hermione's wand – it floated lazily in the air behind her.
My eyes followed the clutch of my sorrow, even as Hermione called Kreacher to clean it.
"Have you thought about working?" she asked when my eyes lingered on the spot where the cushion once was. "Auror? Professor, maybe? McGonagall did ask if you wanted the position."
"No, I –" I muttered, my gaze on the bright flames in the room's fireplace.
"No, Harry! You need to do something," chided Hermione, her sharp eyes locked onto my clenched right hand. "Why do you still have that stone?"
At that, my attention diverted to the smoothly cut stone in my right hand. The one I unintentionally rediscovered a month ago. The same stone that I received from my deceased headmaster and mentor. The one that I used to gain the courage I needed before facing death.
My gaze lingered on it. Its black surface gathered the light around it, only allowing the slight symbols of the Hallows to be seen in its centre.
I should have put it back in the forest, should have thrown it away when I could. But … I just can't do it … not now at least.
"I-I," I hesitated, wondering if it really should be disclosed or not. And in the end … I lied, "I think it's pretty … found it in the forest. It could at least be a reminder of what could've been."
"Hmm," Hermione inspected it with her sharp gaze, looking awfully like Professor McGonagall. "Anyhow, I'll think you should think about it. Some work could be good for you, letting you think of something else for a while."
"I can't go back, Hermione," – for the first time for the past month I gazed directly into her intelligent eyes – "they're possessed, following me around, always. It's even worse than being the Boy-Who-Lived."
Silence followed, both of us letting our thoughts take over our minds.
"Maybe …" she began softly. "You could – no, that won't work."
My thoughts came back to reality, I asked, "Hermione?"
"You could work in the Muggle world, although, you'll need an education." She offered slowly.
"I went to Hogwarts –"
"It won't be enough; you'll need Muggle education." Her voice was stern, and her gaze was as determined as ever. "In fact, I'll think it would be a great idea. You'll need to go through the system and to do that, you could be able to get a good education with it."
"Uh," I'd offered eloquently.
Clapping her hands together and rising from her place on the couch, she said, "Then it's decided, you and I will continue our Muggle education!"
Turning around before I could have anything to retaliate with, she marched back to Ron in the Kitchen.
"Oh, no." I groaned out when she passed the kitchen doorway. My left hand already moving to my face, and my disheartened gaze descending to the table before the couch, where the Elder Wand rested innocently on it.
In the end, Hermione was not able to convince Ron to follow into the realm of Muggle education. Although, I can't really blame him. He had his sight set on the Auror program, and with a recommendation from Kingsley, it was a losing battle to begin with.
I and Hermione were able to apply for some simple courses, although quite basic ones when I look back at it. We went through our education together, albeit quite slowly; still practised our magic back at Grimmauld Place on the side.
Hermione was later accepted into a position at the Ministry, and her time there was more important. As time went on, she focused more on the legislations and laws for equality for Magical races of different kinds, and less on following me in our education. Her relationship with Ron continued to develop, and in the end, they got married. They moved out of Grimmauld Place and got their own apartment – they even got two children now.
With time, my focus faltered. I still avoided the magical world, and my education took longer and longer to complete. But not due to me not liking it, it's quite fun, actually – after all, without it I wouldn't have gotten this opportunity.
I took a long sip of the water, depressing thoughts swirled in my mind. My watch told me that only an hour has passed.
No, the thing that is the reason I'm leaving England is due to something else. Something quite unexpected.
"Ron! Hermione!"
I banged frantically on the door, painting the area red from the blood that the action caused.
A muffled shout from Ron was heard from inside the house. The sound of an answer and the dampened thud of footfalls approaching the closed door.
Desperation eluded my logical reasoning; my fists continued to drum a steady beat on the oak door.
"Help me –"
My desperate action was interrupted abruptly; the door flew open with such force I thought it would break with the motion.
"Oh, Harry, what –" Hermione was the one that answered, a pile of books balancing on her hand.
"Help meee!" I shouted to her face.
She stopped short at my shout, only letting out a confused, "… uh."
Adrenaline began flowing out of my body after seeing my friend once again, anchoring me to reality. Blood dripped on the porch; staining parts of it red.
"Harry! What happened to you, you're bleeding." She stopped her shock at my shout and dragged me inside. "Come in, I'll have some bandages in the cupboard."
In the living room, Ron was playing with little Rose. Her giggles and laughter drenched my frantic thoughts like they were never there; forcing me to smile instead.
"Harry," Ron looked up from the blocks on the floor, his eyebrow raised with surprise at my bloodied hands.
Shaking my head, I indicated little Rose with my head. He nodded, then continued to help his daughter with the building blocks.
"Harry, in here," came Hermione's voice from the kitchen.
She dragged me into a chair beside the kitchen table, where bandages rested beside a small bottle of ointment.
I winced at the sting of wet cloth pressed to the wound on my right hand.
"So," she asked while focusing on cleaning the wound.
"So, what."
Lifting her head, she met my eyes and asked, "So, why did you bang on our door like your life depended on it?"
"I … my neighbour said something, something weird," I uttered. My gaze lowered, looking down at my hands. A bout of panic rose once again in me. I mumbled what I'd heard Mr Addams say only an hour before, "he said that I haven't changed; my face still looks like it did six years ago."
"And we're magical," stated Hermione. "We don't age like Muggles."
She dipped some ointment on the wounds.
"Ouch," I snapped my hand back, the wound stinging from the medicine. "Why aren't you using a potion?"
"It's a small wound, Harry. Nothing that needs something like that." – she started to apply the bandage around my knuckles – "Now, explain what that has to do with this."
"Can't you see, my face looks the same." I lowered my voice at the end. "It's the same; no creases, no beard – it's the same as I was at 17. You and Ron don't look like this, you've changed, looking like adults. Me? Nothing."
"Harry," she hesitated.
"Hermione!" I shouted, trembling at the conclusion of my findings. "Even my teachers say it. They're doubting me, thinking I'm lying."
My head lowered, the trembling not stopping.
"Harry …"
She didn't believe me then, although I can't blame her. Only six years had passed after the end of that cursed war.
But as time passed, she did notice things. Small things at first, then more pronounced.
I was right, my neighbour did say something weird. Something weird and unnatural, but something of a truth.
As the years passed, I stayed the same. My face a perfect picture of the boy that killed the Dark Lord. Youthful, like a seventh-year Hogwarts student – a face frozen in time.
Hermione speculated that it could've been something to do with Voldemort. I did have a part of his soul in my head for a long time, after all. Who knows what archaic magic he might have found on his travels back in the days?
I didn't dare go back to the magical world after that revelation. My fame was already at an all-time high; all knew my name. Who knows what they'll do when they see that their Hero was not ageing?
Thus, I stayed even more cooped up at home. Only wandering when needed, like buying new ingredients, new potions.
I talked less and less with the Weasley's, only occasionally talking to Hermione and Ron.
Although, I did visit my godson, Teddy. That was one thing I did not avoid. I've gotten quite attached if you can call it that. Teddy and Andromeda are the only ones that I'm talking to besides Hermione and Ron.
Anyhow, my focus turned to the mundane instead. It was hard without Hermione's help, but I did it in the end. One year left of High School.
It's funny when you think about it; 29 and still in High School.
The sun could now be seen on the horizon, shining as bright as ever.
The opportunity came at the end of last school year. I was called at the end of my last class of the day.
"Potter," my teacher called at the end of class. "Do you have time?"
While the others rushed out of the classroom I walked up to the teacher's desk at the front.
"Yes, Mr Williams," I respectfully replied.
Mr Williams was a good teacher, always kind to others. Knowing what to say and which actions to take when needed. He teaches high intermediate Japanese. A course I took due to my interest in the language.
"Ah, good," said Williams, scribbling on a stack of papers before him. "You know that the school have an exchange program for those that study Japanese, right?"
"Yes, I've heard about it," I replied a little confused. "But isn't it for females only?"
I've stumbled into the Japanese language a year after the revelation about my appearance. The school I go to has a wide variety of courses, both college and high school ones. And it just happened that the beginning Japanese course would fit in an empty place in my schedule.
I thought it could be good to learn it, in the case I needed to move to another country; somewhere my fame did not reach. So, I look it, to see how it was.
I hadn't meant to continue it, but as the years went by and my understanding of the language continued to grow, I remained in the classes. Thinking it would be fun to have the knowledge to mess with Teddy when he's back from his first year at Hogwarts.
"It was," Williams corrected. "The school we're partnered with are planning to change to being co-ed after the new year."
He gathered the papers in his hands, aligning them correctly before lifting them up.
"Excuse me, Mr Williams," I hesitated. "You'd want me to be the exchange student for this year?"
"Correct," he gave me an encouraging smile. "You've might not think so yourself, Mr Potter, but you've worked exceptionally well these past years."
He gathered his coat from the wall beside the door. Then continued his little speech.
"So, Harry. What you'd say? Would you be willing to participate in the exchange program with Kuoh Academy this year?"
I accepted as you can imagine.
Now sitting on a plane bound to Japan. All my luggage packed in the little bag at my side thanks to Hermione.
From toothbrushes and underwear to coats and suits. Even the Elder Wand and Resurrection Stone are there. The former was used as my current wand, my previous one was destroyed by Nagini. As for the latter, mostly as a reminder of the war to be honest.
Never knew why I haven't thrown it back to the forest. Might be the reassurance of being able to see my parents again. Maybe to keep it secure and away from others, either accidentally or not. In any case, it's here with me now.
And of course, my father's Invisibility Cloak is with me too. After all, I can't leave it in England.
Either way, all three Hallows are here with me to Japan.
"Lad, you alright?" Asked the lady to my left, concern heard clearly in her voice. "You've been starring at your watch for almost an hour now."
"Oh, sorry," I said embarrassingly. "My thoughts derailed me for a bit."
"No worries, no worries." Smiling, she kindly said, "You're not shaking. That's good. Maybe think on those thoughts of yours some more. They appear to be helping."
"Yeah," I breathed out, an uncomfortable smile on my face. "That it seems."
Chapter End
So, what do you think? It is good, bad? Any thoughts and feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Oh, and just to clarify I do know that Fred died in the Battle of Hogwarts. But in this AU/Crossover, he is alive.
