Harry swiveled around, squinted through puffy eyelids and stifled a yawn as he examined the area the threstral had landed in. Lush greenery, consisting of tall trees behind him and wild flowers under his feet, surrounded him as the faint scent of flowers, damp grass and incense teased his senses.

It was beautiful. Not as beautiful as Hogwarts. But pretty close, Harry mused and took another deep breath. I'm definitely not in England anymore.

In the distance to his right, Harry found a tiny pond surrounded by thick ancient tree trunks reflecting the stars in the early morning sky. But the most eye catching thing was the tall bronze gate embedded in a smooth red wall in front of the mountain. The wall stretched up high into the sky and Harry could only make out a bit of the mountain above it.

Harry frowned at the odd silence blanketing the area. Except for the faint whiz of moving air, there were no native animal sounds. And there was no sense of civilization anywhere around him- no buildings, towers, lights or people talking in the distance. Was Japan supposed to be this quiet?

Harry glanced back at the threstral when it fell to the ground and shattered the silence with a loud thump. Its large white eyes blinked rapidly as though the threstral was fighting the urge to sleep. Harry stifled a snort as he remembered the same expression on Ron during Binn's History of Magic class.

Harry patted the threstral on the head between the ears affectionately and took out the meat bag he had gotten from the twins. The threstral perked its head up, sniffed the meat that Harry dumped in front of it and eagerly bit into it.

Hedwig flapped up from his arms and hovered above his head. Her feathers glimmered in the pink morning light, a complete contrast from the threstral in front of him.

Harry was glad that he wouldn't have to use his own water supply to feed the threstral. It could definitely have its fill from the pond- that looked crystal clear from where he was standing. After all, a super fast trip around halfway across the globe would require a lot of water.

He glanced at his watch. No matter how many times he looked at it, it still showed that the trip that he had anticipated taking an entire half day or so, had taken him less than six hours. Harry calculated the time to be sometime around 3 in the morning in Japan, if he was really in Japan.

He frowned at the threstral. How come no one knew threstrals could travel that fast. Did they have some sort of time space magic. He bit his lip. Where had that thought come from?

They were horses of death. Or something. Not time-space-death horses.

Harry smacked his head. What in the world was wrong with him? Of all the times, for his mind to come up with deranged theories. Maybe the nervousness of traveling and escaping by himself had finally caught up to him.

He walked to the high red wall, intent on knocking on the bronze ornate gates before his thoughts took any more odd turns.

Harry paused and turned back as the threstral behind him let out an odd keening sound. Almost as though it was calling out to him. Harry blinked as the threstral stood up shakily and stumbled towards him.

Hedwig, who had been hovering above Harry's head, landed on his shoulder and eyed the threstral with an odd look. Her claws tightened around Harry's shoulder as they both waited for the threstral to stop.

Harry's eyebrow rose up and he sputtered in confusion when the threstral reached him, turned around completely and swished its long black tail in Harry's face. Hedwig squawked indignantly and flew off Harry's shoulder towards the threstral's head and screeched at it with short sharp hoots.

The threstral cocked its head to the side, blinked at Hedwig, craned its neck back and glanced between Harry and its tail.

Harry bit his lip. What exactly what was going on in front of him? Had he missed the lecture on magical animal interaction? Was this even normal?

The threstral nodded at Hedwig, and flicked its tail upright in the air once more. Hedwig flew over, landed on its back and plucked a tail hair with her beak with an audible twang.

With a satisfied nod, she flew up to Harry and held the shining black hair in front of his face. Harry blinked as both animals stared at him in anticipation.

"Er…" Harry stuttered. "Thank you?' he said and looked between the threstral and his owl as he took the hair in his hand and examined it. Hedwig hovered in front of him as he ran his fingers over the strand. Smooth and thick. Like some plant vine that…

Harry almost dropped the hair strand when it pulsed between his fingers. He pressed the hair between his fingers tightly wondering if he had imagined it.

He frowned as the hair throbbed once more. It was the oddest sensation. Almost like a human pulse. He held the hair by one end vaguely wondering if it was going to drip blood.

Harry started as Hedwig hooted at him inquiringly. With an embarrassed cough, he held the hair in his palm trying his best to ignore its odd pulses.

Now what to do with it.

Surely threstral tail hairs were rare, like unicorn tail hairs. Were they used in wands? Potion ingredients? Robe making? Collector's items? Black market ritual items? Wigs? Harry's forehead drew together with each thought.

Well, either way it needed to be kept safe. Harry rolled it around his finger, intent on keeping it in his backpack for the time being.

But both animals protested with a loud squawk and a hoarse neigh-screech sound.

He eyed them and sighed, "Well, what do you suggest I do with it then?" The threstral moved forward, breathed out onto Harry's wrist and looked at Harry expectantly.

Harry frowned at his wrist for a few moments and blinked, "a bracelet?" He mimed looping it around his wrist.

The threstral snorted and Hedwig hooted. "Well, uh, I could do that, I suppose." Harry fiddled, twisted and tied the hair around his wrist and held his hand out to the animals for inspection. Hedwig hooted in approval and landed on his shoulder once more.

The threstral shook its mane and nuzzled Harry's with a slight purr that vibrated through Harry's hand. Harry raised his hand in front of his face, squinted and examined the hair strand that had been looped, twisted and knotted into an odd thick bracelet. It still pulsed against his skin, but it didn't feel as alien as it did before. In fact it felt pleasantly comforting.

"Thank you" Harry repeated, feeling it prudent to thank the threstral in front of him. The blank white eyes stared straight at him and then the long neck dipped forward in a gentle bow, wings folded close to its body.

As Harry wondered if he should bow back, the threstral turned to Hedwig, let out another odd purring sound and bowed once more. Hedwig hooted softly from Harry's shoulder. They bumped heads once more and the threstral turned and moved away from them ignoring the both of them as it tore into to the raw meat.

Harry turned to Hedwig. Now that he thought about it, owls and threstrals did have a common trait- both could find a location anywhere in the world. Maybe that's why they know each other? She blinked at him, non-pulsed by his thoughtful frown.

"Right, we'll talk about this later." he muttered and walked to the gate.

Harry really hoped that Hermione and Ron found the mirror soon. He had a lot of questions that Hermione would hopefully love to research.

The bronze gates shimmered in the faint sunlight. Detailed carvings of mountains, trees and fish surrounded a large circular swirl at the center. The swirl, for some odd reason looked very inviting.

Harry placed an unsure hand on the gate, wondering if he should knock on it, and gasped as his hand went right through the gates.

An illusion! Like the entrance to platform 9 and ¾ at King's Cross.

Harry tightened his hold on his backpack, gave one last look to the threstral behind him and boldly walked through the gate.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he came face to face with an imposing stone stairway that seemed to come out of he mountain itself. That must have been a pain to carve, Harry thought idly. He searched for the top and gulped when he didn't see an end in sight.

Harry turned to Hedwig, "Do you suppose it's a test to see if I'm worthy or something?"

Hedwig tilted her head to the side.

"That's how it goes in stories. Just before the person visits the monks, they have to prove themselves."

Hedwig glanced up at the stairs, turned back to him and blinked.

Harry sighed, took one last look back at the gate and climbed the uneven stone stairs. "Better make a start if I want to get anywhere," Harry reasoned as his feet slapped against the stone stairs.

His legs quivered and the backpack dug into his shoulders as he stopped and sat halfway up for a drink of water and a bite of chocolate. That side trip to Honeydukes and his chocolate splurge was definitely worth the money- Harry had a feeling those two seals filled to the brim with chocolate would definitely be a life saver.

Harry refused to look at his watch. Or count the steps. Or the cracks in said steps. It was too tiring to bother with. Besides, he mused as Hedwig fluttered in the air to stretch her wings, it couldn't be that far up. The monks couldn't survive really high up in a mountain. They needed oxygen rich air. Right?

The pink dawn light brightened into a pleasant orange morning and eventually into a pure blue sky sprinkled with occasional puffs of clouds. Harry huffed as he dragged himself up the last few flights of stairs and into a cave like opening in the middle of the mountain.

Harry paused and glanced back down eager to see what little he could of the area he had come to. There were trees as far as his eyes could see but no villages anywhere. Maybe no one ventured into this area of Japan, and it was some protected area. He gulped down another sip of water and waited for his breathing to even out before he ventured into the cave.

Harry squinted into the darkness and turned to Hedwig, "you ready?"

She hooted and flew in front of him into the darkness of the cave. Harry stumbled after her, keeping a hand on the wall beside him. His steps echoed and Harry grit his teeth as he realized that he hadn't packed a torch.

Thankfully, Harry felt a cool breeze on his face. Even the darkness seemed to become …less dark. That meant there was an opening nearby. Harry quickened his steps, "come on girl, we're almost there."

Hedwig's wings flapped loudly as she picked up speed. Harry blindly stumbled out of the small opening and took a deep breath. Harry's eyes flew open at the strong scent of incense.

Emerald eyes widened at the sight of a large ancient looking monastery that glistened in the sunlight. Harry looked up and gaped- sunlight was pouring in through a large circular opening, into the mountain. And judging by the size of the monastery and the open space around it- the mountain was humungous.

Grey stones paved the way from the cave like tunnel to a large sea-blue building topped with a black roof that slanted downwards. The central structure was surrounded by many other blue buildings, some of which were two storeys high.

A few monks garbed in blue smiled at him with a knowing look- maybe they were pleased he had taken the stairs- but they didn't move forward from their groups to greet him. He stumbled across the grounds and entered the largest building.

Harry bit his lip and looked around. Directly in front of him was a large room where rows of monks sat silently on the floor surrounded by dozens of oil lamps. The left hand side led to a large door while the right looked like a long and endless passage. There were no signs, and Harry didn't think it was right to disturb any of the monks to ask for directions.

Not knowing what to do, he followed the lamps lining the passageway on the right. He could always come back to the door.

He stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a thick wooden door inlaid with deep carvings. Before he could make out what was on the door two monks opened it from the inside.

Harry walked forward and Hedwig shuffled on his shoulder as he came into a room filled with lamps, mats and a single monk. The two monks bowed and left, closing the door behind them.

Harry walked to the cushion placed in front of the man and motioned for Hedwig to come into his arms. Contrary to Harry's expectations, the man looked quite young, his skin firm and unblemished. As he bundled his legs beneath him and sat down the man opened his eyes and spoke.

"So you've finally come, Harry Potter."

Harry gaped at the white pupil-less eyes that stared at him unblinkingly. "Ah, yes…sir" Does everyone know my name?

The man smiled at him kindly, "and you wish to find out about your family"

"Well if it isn't too much trouble" Harry said meekly, suddenly unsure of himself as he avoided the other man's gaze.

"Coming here was the right thing to do then" the monk stated simply.

The room was enveloped in silence. Finally Harry asked, "Do you know of my grandmother Orihime, then?" his mouth fumbled over the unfamiliar name.

"The person you are looking for did pass through here as soon as she entered this realm and left to return to her original home years ago."

Harry's eyes lit up in happiness as he realized that his search was bearing fruits. "So then she came from here"

"No she just passed through here" the monk answered.

Knowing that the monk would only talk what he was asked Harry said, "where exactly did she come from?'

There was a brief silence where the monk closed his eyes. "Would you follow her? Even if you had to go to a strange land far from your friends here? Even if there is no chance of finding her or any of her relatives?"

Harry looked at the cushion beneath him. The odds of him actually finding any living relatives were not very encouraging. Chances were, they were all dead and he'd just be going on a wild chase with no end in sight.

But, a part of his mind warred, wouldn't it be better to know for sure before the prophecy came to pass. Hedwig shuffled on his leg and looked up at him.

"I would, I have to try, if I still have family, I… I'd just like to meet them before... well it'll be nice just to meet them I suppose"

"And what makes family? The fact that you share blood?" the monk asked.

Harry glanced up, heart thudding painfully, "I…no, but it does make them more real to me." He whispered softly.

"If you searched hard enough, you'd find people related to you in your world" the monk said, in a bland tone.

Harry frowned, that was sort of true. In the wizarding world, everyone was sort of related to each other distantly. But he didn't have any blood connections there. After Sirius's long winded explanation about blood connections between purebloods Harry had found out that all of the Potter's relatives- distant or otherwise- had been killed off during the last few wizarding wars.

The only living family he had in the wizarding world was the non-blood related kind-the Weasley's, Sirius, Remus and Hermione. Everyone else was just a stranger he needed to protect from Voldemort.

Harry bit his lip as all his doubts re-emerged. What about his grandmother's blood- so what if they had similar blood, did that make them any more family than the Dursleys? Was it worth it to search for them? Harry closed his eyes as different scenarios played out in front of him.

Hedwig hooted softly and nipped on Harry's fingers. He gave her a soft smile and glanced at the monk, "It may be the most selfish thing to do, but I need to find them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned about blood relations. I've never…" Harry paused. How could he put it into words? The anticipation of finding family related to him, the blood connection-He'd never had anything like that before. Was it too much to hope?

Harry ran a finger over Hedwig's head and whispered, "Maybe I'm just a fool searching for hope" hope that someone would welcome me with open arms because I share the same blood.

The monk leaned forward, "there is nothing wrong with looking for hope."

Harry blinked rapidly and swallowed thickly as he continued to pet Hedwig. He sighed, "Looking and finding are very different things, aren't they?"

The monk smiled at him, "If you never look, you can never find."

Harry had to bite back a laugh. It seemed that the Dumbledore-ish behavior of stating the obvious was not restricted to barmy old coots. "No, I suppose not" he replied, eager to chase away the silence.

The monk glanced at Harry appraisingly before rising from his big cushion. He motioned for Harry to follow him and moved towards a small door at the side of the room. Harry fingered his backpack, all the while curiously looking around at the places they passed while staying close to the monk's back.

They made their way to an enclosed garden, behind the monastery building filled with large trees and tiny ponds that reflected the pure blue sky. For a brief moment, Harry mused about the weather conditions in the mountain. Was the weather always pleasant? How is there a pond in here? But the monk had reached a crystal blue archway. Harry paused close to it and touched it curiously.

Glass.

The archway was made out of glass that twisted upwards on both sides and met at the top.

Harry cringed when Hedwig bit his ear. "What?" he muttered at his owl.

She looked straight ahead.

Harry cursed under his breath and ran after the monk who had disappeared around some trees.

He found the monk in front of a large round stone with a smooth and flat surface. He turned to Harry and said, "This is the portal that will lead you to where you want to go."

Harry stared at the sooth surface in confusion and moved forward to touch the stone. He flinched slightly when his hand only met the smooth rock. "umm… shouldn't you open it?" Harry asked.

"The monks are simply the guardians. We are not allowed to open it" the man stated simply as he stared at Harry.

"So how…"

"The portal is hardly ever opened." Harry hung his head in disappointment. But he perked up when the man continued, "It only opens for people who carry blood from the other realm."

"But then, how did the people from there come here?"

The monk smiled gently, "I think you'll learn from them when you arrive there."

Harry was about to protest. But the monk sighed in amusement, "I do not know child. That world is not our concern anymore."

But then Harry just thought of something else. Something far worse. "What about people not related to me, who have my blood in them?"

The monk looked at Harry, waiting for an elaboration. Harry looked down in shame, "Voldemort, uh the dark lord … in England, he took my blood when he…"

Harry looked up when the monk chuckled. "I doubt a little blood would make him in any way share the same blood as you and your grandmother's family."

"But my protection didn't work…"Harry said, cringing at the memories of his possession during the last year.

"Hmm… Do you know, that blood is created from cells in the bones."

"What does that…" Harry muttered

"Blood cells die, and I'm sure that the blood he took from you died. If he still had your blood, then wouldn't he have already harmed you?"

Harry stayed silent for a moment as he digested that. He remembered that dark night in the graveyard and his mind focused on a specific point, the point where Voldemort used the bones his father's bones. So technically if he was following the monk right, Voldemort should have his father's blood cells in him. "So you're saying that if I fought him now, he wouldn't be able to harm me?"

The monk looked up at the sky and said, "Unfortunately, no"

"But…"

"I said your blood cells died in him. But that doesn't mean the magic he stole from you died. You know there is a reason your world puts a high importance in blood. Magic is linked directly to the blood and both together create a wizard's life force. That is why wizards live longer."

Harry blinked in confusion. The monk looked at him gently, "but I don't think I should bore you with the details at the moment. All you need to know is that no one will find this place unless this stone allows them."

Harry turned wide eyes to the monk.

The monk chuckled, "the stone here, works in mysterious way Harry Potter. It knew before any of us, that you would come here to use it. And it has waited patiently. This world just conspired to bring you here by any means possible."

"The stone…is …umm, alive?" Harry asked in a panicked voice, trying to stamp down his fear.

"Not alive, per say, it just knows when people need to use it, if you understand me…"

"And it knew that I would come?"

"It knew that one of your family would come, if not you, then your children or grandchildren. As long as there is a trace of the blood from the other side in this world, then the stone will always exist, waiting for the blood to return…"

Harry stared at the stone. "So the stone knows me?"

"In a way." White eyes, eerily reminiscent of the threstral, looked at him in amusement, "how else would I know about you and your world when I live in this mountain?"

That had to be a sign that he was doing something right. If everything had gone smoothly to bring him this far, then surely he could move on to the next step and pass through the stone portal.

"Will it disappear when I go through it?"

"Does it matter?" the monk asked with a serene smile.

"No I guess not, I do want to go, no matter what, just thought it's be prudent to ask, so that I'd know if I could come back here" And the snippy part of his mind, who he had taken to calling Snape, remarked that the prophecy wouldn't let him escape from his duty so easily.

The monk stared up at the sky and said gently, "If and when you really want to come back then that world will conspire and help you come back."

Harry shook his head at the idea of the world conspiring to make his wishes come true. If that was the case, then shouldn't Voldemort have disappeared for good? But he relented. His trip had been ridiculously convenient so far. He just hoped his good luck would last him as he passed through the stone.

"Well then I guess I should get going, shouldn't I?" he turned to the monk, but the monk was still staring at the sky and made no move to indicate he had heard Harry. Harry rolled his eyes in irritation and moved closer to the stone looking for a clue to activate and open the portal.

Harry paused and his eyes widened in disbelief as a bright flash of light and a familiar trill filled the air. He looked at the red bird the hovered above him and groaned. Any extra time the threstral had bought him had probably run out when he climbed the stairs. Fawkes had found him.

Hedwig rose from his shoulder, hovered between the phoenix and Harry and squawked angrily. Fawkes responded with a series of short sharp trills. After a few minutes, their loud sounds escalated into indistinct mesh that Harry had a hard time drowning out.

"Hedwig" He called out. She ignored him.

"Fawkes, Hedwig, stop" he tried again. "come on, don't …"

Fawkes let out a deafening screech, flashed in front of Hedwig and lashed out with a claw. Harry's throat tightened at the wet squelch and Hedwig's cry of pain.

What do I do? Hedwig…

She flapped her wings weakly as blood dripped down pristine white feathers. Fawkes hovered above her, red feathers looking menacing and more blood like than usual.

Hedwig let out an odd gurgle. Her wings paused mid-flap.

"Hedw…"

Harry ran forward with outstretched arms, intent on catching the white owl plummeting to the ground. She fell into his arms with a soft thump and lay there unmoving.

Harry held Hedwig carefully in his hands. "Hedwig?" he whispered, eyeing the growing red splotch on her chest.

Hedwig hooted mournfully, her amber eyes fixed on the phoenix that hovered high above them, red feathers gleaming fiercely.

The phoenix trilled sadly and flew down. Harry pulled Hedwig closer to him, intent on protecting her from any more damage.

Fawkes hovered in front of Harry's face, trilled softly and bent his head in apology. His usual black eyes morphed into a fiery red and Harry swallowed painfully as a couple of red tears leaked down and onto Hedwig's wound.

Harry tried to pull away but found himself stuck immobile, arms refusing to budge and legs stuck to the ground.

Harry closed his eyes as a bright flash of light surrounded Hedwig and Fawkes. Whiteness seeped past his closed eyelids as magic and phoenix song filled the air. Harry wondered, not for the first time that day, what the heck was going on.

For one wild moment Harry felt that he had been transported back to the graveyard with the priori incantatum. But the magic in the air at that moment was different. Not sad, violent or angry like the graveyard.

But more like, desperation and some sort of urge to find something.

Harry's fingers tingled and he bit his lip as Hedwig's body heated up. Each feather felt like a pinprick of a flame on his skin. Was this how a phoenix killed? By burning its foe's body with a single tear of blood? Would he burn too? The tingling sensation raced up his arms and Harry tried to ignore the overload on his nerves.

And just like that, it stopped. The heat vanished, leaving an icy cool trail in his arms. The song and magic disappeared into a thick silence.

He opened his eyes fearing the worst.

A piercing yellow eye looked at him and a strong hoot greeted him.

With a startled gasp, Harry pulled Hedwig close to his chest. "Hedwig." He whispered. You're alive. I'm glad.

Harry laughed as he felt her struggle against his chest. Hedwig never did like being confined. He opened his arms and watched with blurry eyes as she hovered in front of his face and flapped her wings.

The tight knot in his chest eased as he took stock of his owl. She was fine. She was moving and there was no more dripping blood. Her feathers were still a pure white, except for the three red lines on her chest and her long wings… wait a minute.

Harry held out his arm and motioned for Hedwig to land. His arms wavered as she landed on his arm gently.

"Hedwig, you're heavier" he said and examined her closely.

She hooted at him reproachfully and opened her wings to fly away.

But Harry held his other hand in front of her, palm wide open. "no, look, you've gotten …bigger"

She looked at his palm dubiously and then glanced down at herself. She spread her wings wide open, looked at them carefully and squawked in surprise.

Hedwig turned to Fawkes, who was hovering a little further away from them, and uttered a long string of hoots. Yes, Hedwig, question the phoenix that tried to kill you. Harry watched the phoenix cautiously, ready to pull Hedwig back if anything happened.

Fawkes eyed Hedwig with an odd look, chirped a single note and disappeared in a flash of light.

Hedwig paused mid-hoot, beak wide open, and blinked. She turned to Harry. He sighed, "Well, he is Dumbledore's"

Hedwig hooted in agreement and cast an annoyed look at the spot where the phoenix had been. Hedwig stood still as Harry ran his fingers over the slash marks, "why did he…?"

Hedwig nipped his fingers. "You have no idea too, right?" he said with a sigh.

They both started at the sound of a gentle cough.

Harry turned back to the monk in embarrassment. He had completely forgotten about the monk being there.

"Has the argument been settled?"

"er…" Argument? More like another odd magical animal interaction I didn't understand. Well at least I wasn't the only one this time. Harry looked at Hedwig. "I …suppose?"

"Well, that's good, best not to leave any unfinished business behind" the monk continued. "Now are you all set to go, Mr. Potter?"

"I… yeah…" Harry turned back to the stone, quite willing to move ahead before anything else happened.

Thinking over the previous conversation with the monk, Harry grimaced as he realized that his blood might be the key to opening it.

Reaching into a side pocket of his backpack, Harry pulled out his grandmother's odd knife, pricked the thumb of his left hand and smeared the blood on the stone. As soon as the blood touched the smooth surface of the cool stone, he felt a pull at his wound. He watched as the blood from his finger spiraled outwards changing into a translucent blue-green thread of energy that settled at the edges of the stone.

He pulled back his hand and watched in fascination as the stoned glowed briefly before a ripple appeared within the blue-green circular border. If that's not a sign, then I don't know what is, Harry mused as he realized he was one step closer to finding his family.

Harry turned to the monk, "I…I'll see you later, I suppose." He pulled Hedwig close to his chest and waited for her to settle down before walking towards the distorted surface of the stone.

He heard a low whisper behind him, "good luck", but he was already inside the stone portal. He idly realized that he hadn't bothered to ask the monk his name.

Harry closed his eyes and tightened his grip around Hedwig, as the energy pulled him gently through what seemed like alternate layers of water and oddly enough silk. He pretended he was flying on his broom and almost managed to forget that he was depending on some freaky stone to get him to his destination in one piece.

Before he knew it, the air around him changed and lost its watery and sluggish feel. The temperature warmed and dust tickled his nose while gentle fingers of wind tousled his hair.

His feet touched ground gently just as the last traces of the stone's energy gave him a soft push in the back before leaving him altogether. Stones crinkled underneath him. And a gust of wind ruffled his hair and rushed past his face.

Harry frowned. It was a bit too quiet. He opened his eyes and was greeted with a sight that made his throat clench in despair.

He was standing on the ruins of a destroyed village.