The summer was going to be bad for Harry.

Not because of the heatwave.

No… one simple letter told him everything there was to know.

Like a foreboding feeling, something that deep inside, told him that it was only the beginning.

Harry stayed sitting on the floor in his bedroom, reading the letter between his hands for the nth time. That Sabo wrote him had surprised him. Harry was friend with Luffy. Still, as a Champion the last year, he became sort of friendly with Ace, because he had been with him so much with the task and all that, but Sabo and him were still 'my friends' brother', not really his own friend.

So, that Sabo was writing to him was surprising.

'Potter,

I know that you will be surprised that it is me that is writing to you, since we're not really close. Unfortunately, the reason of my gesture is important and I estimate that you have the right to know. Having a lot of work and things to do (with one of them being find an ahou gomu) I'll keep this letter as short as possible.

You will find enclosed a section of a newspaper that I translated, so that you can understand the implications of what I am telling you. Some days ago, as Luffy was going to cross to the Shin Sekai, he assaulted a Tenryuubito, which caused a lot of trouble at Shabaody. The most important which is that my brother and his crew were totally defeated by a Shichibukai named Bartholomew Kuma and are at this day still missing. I doubt that you will be able to exchange letters with him, and I'm not even sure that we will find him again in time for the school year.

With this in mind, I'm going to talk about something concerning you more personally. I don't know if your peruse the Daily Prophet or if you just read the big news, but Fudge (Karamelu as Luffy nicknamed him) began a smear campaign to discredit you in the eyes of the public and is sure to tell to anyone who want to hear that no Dark Lord is back. Not that it change anything, my sources tell me that Voldy-kun is trying to get something before beginning to show himself. We don't know what it is, for now, but it's in the building of the government, that's sure. All of this to say that for the coming year, I think it's better for you if you lay low. They will do anything to break you. Stay out of troubles and make yourself forgotten to the maximum of your abilities, so that no one can reproach you anything, even if you think that you are right. We are never too prudent.

That's all I have to say. I'm sure that you still are under the shock of Diggory's death. I liked this guy, I will miss him too, but unfortunately, I learned that the pain to stay on yourself crying those that aren't here anymore will only lead to your fall. So, stay strong, remember him, but continue to walk forward.

Fondly,

Sabo.'

At this instant, Harry was hard pressed to imagine how far the troubles in which his friend Luffy and his brothers were in went. Something in his guts told him that it was only the start, and…

Unfortunately, he was right.

—

At the start of July, he realized that the piracy, as little as it was talked about, was always here, on the muggle side, and in the worst way possible, he discovered it.

He was going down the stairs to run a little, taking advantage of the coolness of the evening, after the hot day, when he heard the televised news and stopped short in the corridor:

"Tonight, we go to bed with a more secure sea! In the afternoon, the hardcore criminal Ace D. Portgas, second commander of the pirate crew of the man called 'White Beard', was arrested and imprisoned in the high security quarter of the sea jail, Impel Down."

The television was showing behind the presenter an image of a young man badly hurt, shirtless, with heavy chains, but holding himself straight and head high, anyway. Harry recognized easily the silhouette and the tattoos of the one he had been around at Hogwarts for four years.

"The date of his execution is still discussed. Portgas, eighteen and half years old, is unfortunately only one known figure of the young generation of the heirs of the Golden Age of piracy, in the boom still in action which followed the execution of the famous Pirate King Roger Gold. Among those people, sometimes very young, who for reasons unknown, hug the sea, we find those eleven figures, notorious and rising."

And eleven photos were displayed on the screen with the name and their age, and an astronomical amount of money. Luffy was in second place, and was the youngest. Kidd was first. Zoro was among them too.

- It's the parents fault! That's all! Grunted Vernon as the television went over all the bounties known of the piracy, among which Harry recognized Luffy's crew; his Natural Magic teacher; his second; the Patil's sister; Thatch; the vampire in kimono he had seen accompanying Ace; Rayleigh and the redhead that had put Dumbledore back in his place after the thing he had done to Sabo.

- This kid only has what he deserves! Smirked his uncle, satisfied.

- SHUT UP!

Vernon turn toward Harry, surprised. Harry himself was surprised with his audacity, but he couldn't stay without doing anything in front of what Vernon had just said.

-I know Portgas! Personally, even! And you throw the fault of his choice on people he didn't even have the chance to know! The guy they are going to execute saved my life! He helped me with my homework! He acted like someone totally likable, to the point where you could forget that he had a bounty on his head! I won't let you talk badly about him!

-How dare you… hissed Vernon, purple.

But Harry was already gone.

He had only one idea in mind: to help Ace.

He caught a bus and went to London, once there, used his memory to find the only place where he would be able to contact people who could tell him what to do to help Ace to quit this place.

When Harry found the bar, it was late, but the light was still on. Doubting a little, he opened the door, to see it empty and dead.

-You come quite late, Potter-chan…

Harry jumped and turned toward the bar to see this woman, Shakky, turn some alcohol in her glass.

-I… I saw the news… They have Ace…

-I know. Ray-chan has never been as angry and worried. Add to that that Luffy-chan is still missing, if with that, Ace has troubles on his side… Ray-chan went to see what he could do Sit down.

-I want to help… I…

-No, you can't.

Shakky step back from behind the bar and pushed Harry in a seat, before picking a drink for him.

She put a butterbeer in front of him, and explained to him:

-Ace-chan is a Commander of the Lord of the Seas, Potter-chan. You don't want to be there the day of his execution.

-But-

-Let me finish. Edward-chan won't stay without doing nothing, when one of his sons is in trouble. The day they will execute Ace-chan, it will be a true war. You will only be dead weight there. And you won't withstand what you will see. You saw a death, true, but the Avada Kedavra, it's clean. The men who will fight there will be ready to take a sword in their guts and take it out to give the same in return, and too bad if their gut fall on the ground. I understand that you want to intervene, but it would be no use. It's not your war, like it's not mine anymore. It's between the marines and the pirates.

Harry took a sip of his butterbeer, trying to come out of his panicked state.

-What happened, do you know? Asked Harry.

-Yes. Ace-chan disobeyed a direct order from his captain.

Harry frowned, not understanding the link.

-You know Thatch-chan?

-The commander? I met him twice.

-One of Ace-chan's men tried to kill him and stole an akuma no mi. It's an unforgivable crime, the attack on a nakama, most of all for the Shirohige. The culprit is someone named Marshall D. Teach. He call himself Kurohige, or Black Beard, since he ran away. Ace-chan followed him in all the Grand Line, against the order of his captain, to make him pay this act. He went when Thatch-chan was still fighting for his life. Unfortunately, Ace-chan found himself against an opponent with power too strong for him. Result, he lost. He was given to the marines at the end of the fight, and in thank you, Teach was elevated to the rank of Shichibukai. But you want to know what is the saddest? It's that Ace-chan was close to each men under his responsibility. During classes, he sent numbers of letter to ask for news, to prove that he was here, even with the distance… and Teach played of the trust of everyone to accomplish his wrongdoing.

Harry let himself lean forward, head in his hands, realizing the magnitude of the situation.

-There is nothing I can do? Even something little…

-Granger-chan came, three hours ago, with the same question… and I will tell you the same thing I told her… You can prey, nothing more. Prey to the God in which you believe, or the supernatural entity in which you believe. Prey for Ace's survival in this war… but this all, at you level, that you can do.

Shakky look at the night by the window and sighed.

-Whatever the result of this war is, the world will change. For good or bad, it's still to be seen…

And she breathed out a cloud of smoke.

—

She had accompanied Harry back to his home, and he closed himself into his room, ignoring the world.

He wasn't a great believer, but he began to prey, holding Marco's feather in his hand. Prey for his friends to receive help, for their survival.

Preying so that no one he knew died in this war that was preparing.

At the end of the week, after passing all his days in his bedroom preying, he received a letter from Shakky.

Thatch was no longer in danger, but bedridden. This put one strong man away from the war, in the pirate's rank.

This same day, the day of the execution fell, July the fifteenth.

The fourteenth, while he was coming down to eat a little, he heard the news again.

"Luffy D. Monkey, called Straw Hat, missing since the beginning of the break, just reappeared at the most unexpected place in the world. Indeed, this young captain pirate of fifteen years old, succeed in entering Impel Down. We don't know yet his goal, nor how he did it. The Marine refuse to comment any, other that they do all they can to take him"

Harry sensed a knot in his stomach. True, knowing that Luffy was alive, was a good new, but to know that he was in incredible danger, alone, to save his brother (because Luffy could only be at Impel Down to save Ace)… made him sick of his lack of power and act.

He went back to his room silently, all want to eat something had vanished.

He had searched in a library how to enter Impel Down, but all he knew and learned, was that it was in the middle of the sea. Nothing more, nothing less. And Harry didn't know how to access the Grand Line and how to move once there. He may have had a chance if he knew how to apparate, or if he had a portkey… but without that…

It was strange.

Harry realized that when he leaned on his bed.

Usually, he should have been happy that a criminal like Ace was sentenced for the crimes he committed. But from what he had learned, he didn't really had a choice… to be able to live fully, he had to move away from the laws. Harry remembered the apartment quite luxurious of Garp, and the fact that the things seemed so new. The lack of marks of the three brothers, and their percistence to want to pass most of their time outside… All those things that showed that they weren't made for a normal life.

He remembered Luffy lost stare out of the window, and this expression of sadness when he was at Hogwarts, even during classes…

—-

-You knew?

Harry raised his head from the letter in front of him that should tell him more about the war, when Dudley stood in the entry, accusingly.

-I knew what? Inquired Harry.

-That this guy… Portgas… was the bastard of the one that was called the Pirate King?

Harry's heart stopped. How did Dudley new that?

-It's not my problems, if this is the case or not, answered Harry avoiding the question. Why do you tell me that?

-Because they just said on the news that your friend just escaped the execution, but with the state of his injuries, he would probably die quickly! And they said he was the bastard of Roger Gold!

-The real name is Gol D. Roger! Hissed Harry.

The content smile on Dudley's face made Harry's blood boil.

-Plus, his idiot of a brother was mortally hurt! It's said that he won't pass the night! It's good, he is the son of the Revolutionaries' Leader! And that's not all, they lost their captain! It's a pineapple head with a stupid name of Marco who will take his place! Ahahahaha!

And Dudley walked away laughing.

Harry brought back his attention to the letter between his hands.

It was Marco's writing.

Spade didn't stay, after the delivering, he had others letters to deliver.

With a trembling finger, Harry opened the letter and read it:

'Potter,

I received a message from Shaky saying that you went to see her, in the hope of being able to help. I thank you for your concern, but as she told you, you didn't have any chance in this conflict. If on the muggle side, you received a resume of the war, saying that we saved Ace, but that our captain lost his life – cursed be Teach for killing him – on the Grand Line's side, the news would have been bloodier. Seeing a man change into a Buddha is less surprising for them, than for the English.

As you must know, now, the war was very hard. Ace is still unconscious, but we succeed in healing most of his injuries (I don't know how you did it to warn Fawkes, but I thank you). He will survive. Few can brag that they can live after receiving a punch of magma in their chest. He still did an admirable act taking the blow wanting to save Luffy. Luffy, was hurt during our escape. He is between the hands of the Shi no Gekai Trafalgar Law. We don't know if he will live, but one of our comrades, Jimbe, is with him and keep us in the loop.

The situation on the Grand Line, more particularly the Shin Sekai is… very unstable. Ace will have to hide some time (we are searching for a good hiding place so he can heal in peace), before beginning to wreak havoc on the sea again, with Sengoku's idiocy of letting the name of his father escape (I know that you know). Luffy wasn't spared either, since it seems that Sabo's dear boss, Dragon the Revolutionary, is Luffy's paternal (if you say 'what a family' before that, you will join the opinion of almost all the population of the Grand Line).

That's… that's all I can tell you for now, other than I doubt that the class of Natural Magic will still be available at the start of term, since that except if Dumbledore (be he cursed a hundred time) find another teacher, I won't be there to maintain the class. As the new captain, I have too big responsibilities toward my crew to be able to be away like before.

However know that as long as you have the feather I gave you, I will do all I can to give you my support in case you need it and that there will always be a phoenix to help you. I also want you to know that I was happy to met a young man like you.

It is time for me to leave you, I have to put my father and my siblings dead during battle into their grave.

Marco.

P.S.: As the class start, tell the Patil twins that Kali is alive after the battle, if they worry for the health of their sister.'

Harry let his head fall back and sighed deeply.

Ace survived, and Luffy's case was unsure.

It was better than nothing.

Harry stood up and took his writing tools.

-Say, Hedwige… do you feel that you can deliver a letter to a ship on the Grand Line? Asked Harry rubbing his Snowy Owl.

She nibbled his fingers after letting out a squawk of indignation.

-Sorry about doubting you, I know that you are the most intelligent owl in existence.

Harry pulled his feather in the ink and wrote a letter to give his condolence to Marco and his crew, and wish them good luck for the rest of their trip.

Some days later, Shakky forwarded him another letter…. From Luffy.

In it, Luffy was saying that he was alive and sorry for worrying him. He was telling him that he would be there at the start of term, but that he would also pass a lot of time training, so, he shouldn't expect a lot of thing from him. Apparently, Sabo wasn't able to intervene. The why stayed unclear, but he knew that his brother had done what he could to try to save Ace.

Reading between the lines, Harry sensed that something had changed about Luffy

What… he wouldn't know until the start of school…

But something was sure, and Luffy was saying it in his letter. He was still alive, and still able to fight, it was the most important thing.

—-

-You're less proud now that your friend must be dead! Commented Vernon, at lunch this day.

-Ace? We're not particularly friend. He saved my life and helped me some times, but I mostly friend with Luffy. And they are both alive, Uncle Vernon. I just received a letter from Luffy. And as he says… they are alive and still ready to fight. It's the most important.

And Harry continued to eat his part of the meal, liking the silence of the table.

-Oh, and I forgot to precise… the guy that threatened you, three years ago, because you were abusing me… it was the, how did you described him, Dudley? Pineapple Head? Who send him. And it happens that Marco is known at Hogwarts under the name of Professor Fushisho, and that he trained the best of our cops and is still one of the best liked teacher of the school. I wouldn't be surprised if he was inundated with letter of condolences and that those responsible of this war found themselves with some nasty surprises.

Harry didn't know how right he was, since Marco was drowning literally in the letters of encouragement and condolence of his old students and some of his colleagues professors that stayed in touch with the news, but also the fact that some persons like the Weasley twins, had the happy idea of sending some very violent howlers to the admirals and Sengoku. Even Garp received one (the twins notably told him that he should be ashamed of taking a part of this farce, after calling Ace and Luffy his grand-kids).

—-

Harry was continuing to read the newspapers.

Sabo had given him a subscription of a translated version of the Grand Line's Voice, revolutionary version, since the young man wanted to stay informed. Nothing was said on magic wasn't hard to understand, other than maybe what was an unknown 'akuma no mi'. But the information were important, to keep an eye on Luffy and in the hope of seeing him appear again, or to know what was happening to Ace (he almost had a heart attack when he saw the jump in his bounty).

On another side, the Daily Prophet wasn't talking about that. At no moment, the Grand Line was mentioned or the pirates, other than when the British communities were touched. There was no mention of the conflict that had devastated Marin Ford. Nor of the death of Edward Newgate. Nothing at all. Just meaningless gossip that was trashing his name everyday, beside Dumbledore's.

Toward the end of July, he saw, on the Front Page of Grand Line newspaper, a photo that reassured him. Luffy and Ace was side by side, in the ruins of what was said to be Marine Ford, covered in bandages and patches; They almost looked like mummies. Ace had in particular a leg in a cast and crutches, plus a big bandage on his left eye. They were preying, their respective hat on their chest covered in healing bands, eyes closed.

Harry found the photo beautiful, but so sad…

His saddened eyes were drawn to two little details. Firstly, contrary to his oldest, Luffy had his wand visible. It was discreet, we could believe that it was a finger, but seeing it closer, we could see the difference. Second detail, the things written on his arm, between the bands. A three, followed by a D, all of this crossed.

-What could it mean?

—

On a ship of the Revolution, Robin smiled seeing the paper.

Luffy was pushing back their date, for the Shin Sekai, until everyone finished to prepare correctly, without haste. Him, he would go back to school this year.

She fold her paper and closed her eyes. She would apparate there before the start of the classes. Who would go back to the school, too?