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To Kurofai's question: Did anyone else reincarnate?
Huh, I don't know. I'm not in charge of these things. Reincarnation is a tricky business, especially when the nature v/s nurture debate comes up. The nature of a person might be determined by the soul inside, thus affecting the subconscious and personality, but circumstance and what is experienced in life is important as well.
If anyone else from OP was present in the HP world they might be content to live out simple lives in accordance with where they happened to be born in this life. Or not~ who can say?
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Harry brushed a lock of greying hair from his face in annoyance. Most would consider it good fortune that he had not gone bald in his old age, but the rat's nest that made it's home on the man's head had not been tamed with time. The cowboy hat, too sun faded for the color to be determined accurately, did little to hold back the scraggily mess.
The ship was anchored just off shore of a tiny island in the pacific. He was in the smaller of the two settlements; the one that did not attract tourists but played home to the various locals who worked year round instead of seasonally.
A barber shop caught his eye. Harry debated whether he should enter, when a gust of wind blew all of his carefully restrained hair into his eyes making the decision for him.
The door jingled as he walked in. A skeletal man with an afro stood behind the counter wearing a black suit and apron.
"Here for a trim?" Harry nodded, handing his hat on the stand beside the door. "Right this way sir!"
The barber jovially led the old man to one of the two seats in the room. Letting himself relaxed , Harry listened to the enjoyable tunes hummed by the barber.
"Daddy!" the comfortable silence was broken by a dark haired child rocketing into the room. "Look at this cool bug I found!" The boy, no older than five, tried to stop, but ended up skidding into one of the chairs.
The barber appeared unconcerned at the chaos. Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Shouldn't you check on him?"
The taller man shrugged. "Kid's bounce, and this one's practically made of rubber."
"Owie," the child moaned, sitting up to reveal a new bruise on his already thoroughly knocked knees. He looked around dismayed. "Ah, my bug's gone!" He walked over and began pulling on his father's pants leg. "Hey, help me find it."
The barber sighed again. "How about when I'm done with this customer?"
The child pouted. "But I want to now!"
Harry chuckle. "Was it an interesting bug?"
The boy's eyes lit up and he grinned widely, stretching what appeared to be a scar under his eye. "It's the biggest beetle ever, just as big as by hand! It was really cool!"
"The biggest ever, hu?" Harry scratched his chin. "I once was on an island where the beetles were big enough to carry away a grown man."
"Cool!" the boy shouted, stars in his eyes. He leapt into the barber's chair next to Harry, handing onto the adventurer's every word.
"It all started when my first mate Luna 'accidentally' changed out course..."
The stories continued long past the end of Harry's haircut. Eventually the sun began to set, and Harry thought he should head back to his ship before it left him on shore again.
"Do you have to leave, old man?" the boy asked. His bottom lip wobbled threateningly. "I want to hear more stories!"
"Now now, our guest has been very kind to you already," his father chided.
"But I want to hear more! I want to go on adventures too!" The little boy ran to Harry's side, fists tugging at the hem of his coat. "Take me to sea with you! I wanna be a pirate too!"
Harry paused, one hand on the doorknob, the other about to grab his hat.
The barber looked mortified at the child's behavior. "I'm terribly sorry about this, he is usually better behaved around strangers..."
"It is quite all right," Harry waved him off. He knelt before the crying child. "So you want to be a pirate?"
The boy nodded.
"It is rather difficult you know. Adventures are fun, but still very dangerous."
"Then I'll get strong," the kid growled. "I'll be the strongest! I'll - I'll- I'll become the best pirate in the world! The king of the pirates!"
The old man grinned.
"If you're going to be a pirate, you'll need a nice hat." Carefully he placed the once orange cap on the child's dark locks. "When you grow up, you can tell me all about your adventures and give that back to me."
Tears gushed down the child's face as Harry left the shop.
It took until the captain was half way back to his ship before he realized that he did not even know the kid's name. He shrugged. "I'll know him by the hat," he decided. "Good luck Hat-Boy." He smiled. "You'll need it."
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The skipper, who had never managed to find an alternate source of employment, gazed bemused at his captain napping peacefully half way up the rigging. All these years, and the man still managed to fall asleep while climbing into the crow's nest.
He frowned. Something was missing from this familiar picture. "Where's his hat?" The lurid orange monstrosity had never been absent from the captain's person in all the time he had known him, yet now it was gone.
"I believe he gave it away." The skipper jumped at the dreamy answering voice.
"H-hello Miss Luna. What do you mean he gave it away? He treasures that hat more than his first born child."
The woman, whose hair had only grown more pale with age, laughed lightly into her hand. "He met an old friend for the first time on that last island and gave the friend his hat."
Confusion at her words was a usual occurrence, so it was with great care that the skipper spoke. "How can you meet an old friend for the first time?"
Luna fixed him with her pale blue eyes. "I don't know Thatch, do you?"
The skipper frowned, feeling an old birthmark on his back twinge uncomfortably. "My name's Thackeray, Miss Luna."
She smiled dreamily. "Of course it is, Mr. Skipper."
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Author's Note:
This is becoming a bad habit. I might be forced to make this story 'in progress' instead of 'complete'.
Any one else have a question for the writer?
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