And this chapter's story suggestion is Had I Known by kayly silverstorm. It is a very interesting story following Snape and Harry well after the defeat of Voldemort. AU. I suppose that I shouldn't give a story suggestion for each chapter I post, as I might run out unfortunately quickly.

How many people are excited to see what Japan's magical side is like? This was a long time in coming.

Update 12/30/18 – Some grammar fixes made.

On the Wrong Side of Sanity

Chapter 13: Communication

The world is a book,

and those who do not travel read only a page.

-Saint Augustine

…

One of the first things that I noticed as I entered the magical side of Japan was that everyone was dressed much differently than witches and wizards in England. Some were wearing what was clearly muggle clothing, the kind that actually fit in, and some of it was quite nice. A few witches walked past me in suit skirts. A number of witches were wearing something that had a white top with really long sleeves and a red flowing bottom. The shape wasn't too dissimilar to what we would wear in England, but the bottoms that the Japanese witches were wearing weren't like robes. They were actually separated a bit like pants, just much more loose. I had become so used to robes that these new outfits were startling. In fact, I could remember seeing pictures of these outfits before while in school.

Muggle school.

How could I have seen something that Japanese witches wore in muggle school? I was so focused on that one question that it took me some time to notice that just about every person had an animal walking with them or perched on their shoulders. Most of them were foxes, but some were carrying snakes. Snakes! They obviously weren't considered evil here like they were in Hogwarts, and seemingly all of magical Britain.

Not all of the people walking around had animals with them, but most of those who didn't have one looked at least slightly less than human. Or perhaps they had simply had a magical accident that gave them terrifyingly long necks. Or sometimes tails…

What was going on here?

About the only thing that I recognized was the only obviously goblin-made building. It could have almost been a replica of Gringotts. I couldn't help but sigh in relief as I saw it. Walking through the crowd of people, I had to wonder if it was more normal for witches and wizards in Japan to wear muggle clothing. During the many times that I had been in magical sections of Britain, I had never seen so many magicals dressed in that style. I could only compare it to the Quidditch Cup, except people here knew how to dress like regular people and so there were no men unfortunately dressed in women's nightclothes.

As I reached the bank and stepped inside, I saw goblins that looked exactly what I was used to in Diagon Alley; similar disregard for all non-goblins and everything. When I finally reached the front of the admittedly short line I just about hit my head on the wall beside me. I still couldn't speak Japanese, so how the hell was I going to talk to them? The goblin in front of me must have seen my panic, because he immediately spoke in English. Apparently, my nationality was obvious to him. Not sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"English?"

"Oh, yeah," was my intelligent reply.

"Name?" The goblin's questions couldn't be made shorter even if he tried.

"Harry Potter," I said, wondering how getting money from here could work if I ran out. Would I have to stop by Britain every time I needed more money?

"You don't have a vault in Japan." It wasn't really a question, but it felt like one.

"I, uh, live in England. But, well, I just need to convert some money into yen, can you tell me if the magical side uses galleons or yen? Also, is there a place to stay nearby?" I asked because I was finally feeling the effects of travelling and the stress from trying to navigate my way into Magical Japan. The time difference meant that it was still pretty early for me to get tired, but what else could I do here during the late night anyway?

"How much?" the goblin asked, ignoring my question.

I placed ten galleons on the counter in front of me, which the goblin quickly took and then started counting out both paper money and coins. When I finally walked out of the bank, I was proudly carrying a little over 6,500 yen.

Since the goblin had never answered my question about a place to stay for the night, I began walking around the area that had already begun to clear out because the shops were finally closing. It looked like only a couple of street peddlers were still out, and they seemed more interested in conversing with each other than selling their wares. I walked over to them quickly, hoping that they would be able to point me in the direction of a place where I could stay the night. A short while later, after much confusion and frustration, I was still wandering around looking for anyone who could speak English or at least perform whatever magic it was to translate. Finally I caught up to an older man with a small fox sitting on his shoulder who turned to look at me when I called out.

"Excuse me! I'm trying to find a place to sleep for the night. Can you help me?" I said, slightly out of breath for jogging up to him.

"Help?" he asked, putting his left hand to his shoulder to lightly touch his pet. I wondered if he worried that it would fall off…or bite me. That thought made me lean away, just slightly.

"Yeah," I said, relieved that he could apparently understand me. "I need to find a place to stay."

The man turned to look at his pet, and then began whispering to himself. I couldn't hear any of what he was saying, but it didn't inspire confidence. He made a movement with his hand, and a moment later he looked back at me. "You need help with something?"

I wanted to give him a weird look, since I had just explained what I needed, but I was able to keep it in. No need to push away my only help. "Yeah. I'm trying to find a place to spend the night, but I don't know this area. Could you help me? Maybe tell me the name of a hotel or something nearby?" I thought about just slipping into his mind to find the information that I wanted, but thought better of it. It hadn't exactly helped me much with previous people in this country.

The man smiled and turned to look further down the alley. "That is a hotel. It is called Ryokan."

"Ryokan?" I echoed.

"Yes, it means hotel. Do you want me to take you?" The man was smiling, and I was sorely tempted since I knew he could speak English, but I felt bad about holding him up so late at night.

"I should be ok, thank you."

The man nodded and walked away as I started towards the hotel. It didn't look much different than many of the other buildings around it other than all of the windows that it had. The entryway looked warm, with brown and green hues, a small sitting area, and a desk for checking in and out. I walked in and soon stood in front of a young…man? His eyes were…off. Close together and golden hued, but that wasn't the biggest tell. It was his tail, slowly twitching behind him, that caught my eye the fastest and indicated that he might not be a human.

"…Hello?" I asked a bit uncertainly.

"Ah, English. Welcome to the ryokan. Will you want a room?"

"Yes, please." I said, curious about the man standing in front of me, but more interested about getting a room and getting some sleep. "How much would it be for, um, two nights?"

"It would be five galleons, sir." He replied with a grin that showed far too many teeth. I nodded and handed over the money with a careful eye on this person who looked like they could be dangerous. The man looked at a paper and then frowned a little. "We are a little full; there are no western-style rooms left. I hope a Japanese style room will be fine."

I shrugged and said it didn't bother me. I didn't know what any of that meant anyway. What was Japanese style?

I was soon shown to a room and given the key, as I walked in and dropped my small pack on the floor in relief, I noticed that there wasn't a bed. Anywhere. I turned around and went back to the hallway in order to ask about it, but the man was already gone. Did I have to sleep on the floor? I took a minute to look around at the room, searching for where a bed might be hidden while seriously considering simply laying down and trying to get some sleep. I can't say that didn't at least sound somewhat appealing. Instead, I walked toward a wall and opened what seemed to be a closet. Jackpot!

Inside, there were a few different things folded up and neatly stacked. I began pulling everything out and throwing them on the floor, starting with a pillow. As I looked to my mess on the floor, I could see that there was everything I needed, including a heavier blanket than I might actually require. I quickly set about spreading a futon mattress out on the floor and climbed on, dragging a lighter blanket and my pillow with me. What seemed like minutes later, I was soundly asleep.

…

I woke up to light shining in my face, and a somewhat uncomfortable back. I opened my eyes and stared around me, wondering what I was doing on the floor for a bit before having my memories come back to me of the previous night. I stared in bemusement at my little bed. I never thought I would sleep on the floor again, not after finally getting my own room with the Dursleys'. I was surprised that I had slept as well as I had. I climbed back out of the small 'nest' of blankets I had made and sat up with a stretch. After getting some rest, I felt much more alert and more inclined to study my surroundings than I had earlier.

The floor was different from anything I had seen before, looking more like little mats about the size of a person all pressed tightly together. I couldn't quite tell what they were made out of, as I had never seen it before. The entire room had a slightly stale grassy smell that I had never experienced before inside a building. There wasn't much to the room; no T.V. like my cousin always gushed about, no large closets or coffee tables either. In fact, I just realized that there was no wash closet inside the room and wondered for a moment where I had to go in order to take care of business. I shrugged to myself and mentally reminded myself that I could always ask the man at the front desk. After half-heartedly folding my bedding back up and stuffing it in a corner, I headed out with my bag over my shoulder in order to locate the restrooms, showers, and to hopefully find something to cure my hunger.

I met the same man as the night before on the first floor. I asked him about a restroom and shower, all while staring at his face. I had a hard time focusing on his words. There was something very different about his face today, like it was kinder; less dangerous. He had a smile to his eyes that I certainly didn't think I saw last night. Perhaps he had needed some rest himself.

"I'm sorry, what did you say again?" I asked, giving up on trying to understand why he seemed so different.

"The restrooms and bathrooms are right this way," he said while turning around to guide me to them. I nearly stumbled when I saw that he had no tail this morning. Had I been hallucinating last night?

"We have a communal showering area here, separated by gender, of course. But if you would prefer, we also have two separate showers for guests who do not feel comfortable in the baths. Over there are the toilets. Is there anything else you need?" he finished, looking at me to make sure that I was following along with everything.

"Ah...yes. Is there a place where I can get food?" I asked as my stomach growled.

"We have traditional Japanese breakfast in the room through that door," he responded quickly. I thanked him and headed to the restroom and showers, taking care to avoid the communal area. Merlin knows who could already be in there. I certainly didn't want to walk around starkers in front of everyone.

When I was finished cleaning myself up, I walked into the room where the man, whose name I still didn't know, had shown me before. I quickly got a plate and served myself a lot of different foods that looked like they had nothing to do with breakfast. Oh well. I was hungry. After eating a ball of oddly flavored rice, some kind of soup, as well as some awfully sour vegetable rather clumsily with a pair of chopsticks, I headed back to the entrance intending to ask for some sort of map for travelers. There behind the desk was the same man as always, this time once more looking rather dangerous and wild. I narrowed my eyes at him. I was frustrated enough with my own doubt about my sanity that I gave up being polite. No longer wanting to hold back my ability out of consideration for privacy, I let my magic slip forward and into his mind to find out what was going on. My suspicion of him being dangerous was a strong deciding factor.

When my mind met his it was…awful. A maelstrom of confusion, foreign magic and incomprehensible thoughts; I was blindsided by the difference. A headache, with a side of dizziness, assaulted me instantaneously. Not only that, but apparently my intrusion was noticed, indicated by the rage in the man's eyes and the snarl on his lips. That had never happened before.

The man growled at me, actually growled. His hand came up like he would strangle me, then went to the counter instead and made gouges in the wood. That was quite enough to make me nervous. He growled again, with no words, and set himself as if he was going to tackle me. I was more than worried violence would break out for my error. The next thing I noticed, just as someone else was running into the entryway, was that the man's eyes had turned golden and his ears had disappeared from the side of his head…and reappeared on top as…dog ears?

"Yamete! Yamete! Nani wo shiteiru!?" a young man called. I tried to see the man that had come up beside me and was calling to the other. He looked…almost exactly the same. I wanted to stare at him, but I was too afraid of turning away from his growling twin in front of me. Finally the growling stopped, and there was a very rapid conversation between the two in Japanese. I couldn't understand a whit of it.

The newcomer turned to me with a scowl. "Why do you assault him?" he asked angrily. I felt a bit of shame.

"I uh, I rather thought he was dangerous. That, and it seemed to me that there were two different people. I'm sorry." I gave as my rather poor excuse and apology.

"People?" The newcomer gave me a confused look, and I wondered if he just didn't know the word. "I am Nishimoto Keiji. This is my bonded fox, Hisato."

"Bonded fox?" I echoed in confusion.

"Yes. Hisato-chan, katachi wo kawari nasai." I watched before my eyes as the strange man morphed into a small fox. A small fox that was still somehow glaring at me. "I asked Hisato to take my form and cover the desk for me. I had to attend to a customer. Why did you attack his mind?"

"I didn't attack it!" I exclaimed. His slight scowl spurred me to continue. "I just wanted to find out what was going on. It was a peek into his mind to make sure there wasn't anything…dangerous going on." The little fox just growled at me again.

"Maybe it is best if you go now." Keiji said, with lingering anger in his voice. I simply nodded and stiffly walked toward the exit, quickly grabbing what looked like a map on the way out. I wanted out of the awkward conversation probably as much as he did anyway. Still, I hoped that they weren't kicking me out completely.

I had already paid for a second night.

…

…

…

Terrible, terrible writer's block along with a life that doesn't seem to want to slow down. Even with my ideas planned out a bit, it's still not enough to spur my brain into laying things out nicely on paper (or online). Sorry!

I thought about writing a bit more before ending this chapter, but this seemed as good a place to stop as any. Thankfully I already have the next few chapters all planned out, just not completely written out yet.