Chapter 4: A New Way to Travel

At 8 PM sharp Nanoha and Fate were in the cafe with Miyuki, waiting for Dumbledore. The place was empty except for them, having been closed an hour before.

Nanoha and Fate had dressed in their white Elementary school uniforms, considering them neither too casual nor too formal, and their personal belongings packed into duffles slung over their shoulder. They're hair was tied into pigtails, Nanoha's with the thin black ribbons Fate had given her, while Fate's blonde hair was tied with the big poofy white ones that Nanoha had given her.

Raging Heart and Bardiche were in their Standby Forms hidden beneath their dresses, and had agreed to have their vocal processors turned off for the time being, communicating only with telepathy.

"I wonder how long he's going to be," Miyuki said, idly drumming her fingers against the counter top.

A moment later there was a 'pop' and Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of them.

"That felt weird," Fate sent to Miyuki and Fate since Dumbledore understood Japanese and Miyuki had yet to master Mid-childan, "I've never felt a teleportation like that before."

"Hai," Nanoha agreed, "It felt like it was ripping space apart." She bowed to Dumbledore. "Good evening Dumbledore-sensei," she said in Japanese, "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Dumbledore also bowed as he took in the clothing that Nanoha and Fate were wearing. "The pleasure is mine, Nanoha-san. School uniforms are a strange choice to travel," he said thoughtfully, eying the white and blue sailor uniform.

"They're for our school," Nanoha explained, nervously fingering the white fabric of the knee-legnth skirt. "We don't have anything else formal enough for travel, and we're required to wear them for trips anyway." That wasn't exactly true of course, but Nanoha and Fate couldn't exactly wear their TSAB uniforms.

"And I would like to ask, Fate and I are taking 600 thousand yen. Will that be enough for supplies?" Nanoha did not add that it was her and Fate's savings from their TSAB salary.

"More than enough, though your father left you a vault if I remember correctly. Where is your luggage?"

A shrug from Nanoha and Fate indicated that the standard issue TSAB duffles were all they were bringing.

"This is it," Fate confirmed.

"As you wish. We will be Apparating to Tokyo, and then take the International Fire Pits the rest of the way. I could Apparate us all the way to England, of course, but you should know how to get there yourself."

"What is Apparate?" Fate asked.

"I believe the Muggle term is teleport, Fate-san. We should be leaving soon. We are meeting an associate of mine at the Leaky Caldron at 10 AM London time. Nanoha-san, please take my hand, Fate-san, hold on to Nanoha's hand if you may."

Nanoha took Dumbledore's proffered left hand in her own, while Fate took her right.

"You need to hold on tight," he warned, "Apparition can be quite disconcerting for those unaccustomed, and if you are not careful, you could leave pieces of yourselves behind."

Nanoha and Fate flinched and took a firmer grip. "We are ready Sensei," they chorused. They looked at Miyuki. "Take care of the family. Sayonara."

"I will! Sayonara!"

Dumbledore nodded once and the strangest feeling swept over the two mages, almost like they were being turned inside out. A second later their eardrums popped and they found themselves standing in a deserted and fairly dirty alleyway.

Nanoha and Fate were about to ask where they were when they saw Tokyo Tower looming overhead just in front of them.

"Come," Dumbledore said, "We must not be late."

He started to walk briskly and Nanoha and Fate had to hurry to catch up. There was a small crowd, but it was mostly just tourists looking to catch one last ride up the tower. Dumbledore led them into the central elevator, the doors immediately closing behind them.

"Why are we here Sensei," Nanoha asked in English.

"As I have said before," Dumbledore said, pulling out his stick device, or 'wand' as Fate and Nanoha had read in the supply list, "We are going to the International Fire Pits. " He tapped a few numbers, Nanoha and Fate noticed that they would have spelled out 'Maho' on their cells. There was a heavy lurch and the car began to move down...and then sideways.

Nanoha and Fate looked at each other. "This is new," Fate said, switching to Mid-Childan, "We don't have anything like this at the Bureau.

Dumbledore looked at her curiously. The language she used sounded somewhat similar to Japanese, but he had never heard it before, nor could he understand it.

He wasn't quite as surprised when Nanoha responded in the same language.

"You can say that again," she said though somewhat haltingly. Languages had never been her strong suit, but she was more familiar with Mid-Childan now after having been stuck there for nearly two years. "Wizard Magic seems to be much more flexible than ours."

"I beg your pardon for interrupting," Dumbledore said, making them both jump when they rememberd he was there, "but I am sure you realize that it is considered rude not to include people in conversation when you are traveling together."

"Sorry Sensei," Nanoha said in Japanese, "We're used to using our family language to talk in public." Nanoha prayed he would by it. While not a lie, she hadn't exactly told him the truth either, and telling him it was the language of another planet entirely was definitely out.

Dumbledore smiled, though Nanoha and Fate could tell that he wasn't completely convinced. "Apology accepted. Please remember not to leave your companions out next time. It will prevent misunderstandings." Nanoha nodded. "Hai." "We should've use Telepathy, Fate."

"Hai," Fate agreed, "Let's do that from now on when taking about our Magic."

"Hai."

"Where exactly are we going Sensei?" Fate asked in English.

"To Nagasaki," Dumbledore replied.

Nanoha and Fate blanched. "But it's radioactive!"

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes filled with mirth. "Not underground."

Nanoha and Fate blinked. "Underground?"

"Master, I am detecting an unknown barrier ahead," Raging Heart sent to Nanoha.

Sir," Bardiche sent to Fate, "Scans show an unknown barrier approaching."

"Hostile?" Nanoha asked, mentally switching to soldier mode.

"Negative," was Raging Heart's response.

"We must be nearly there," Nanoha said aloud on purpose.

Dumbledore looked at her. "You are quite right. May I ask how you know?"

"My Spatial Awareness. I'm sensing something up ahead. I was just checking to see if you knew about it."

Interesting ability, Dumbledore thought to himself. "I see."

The car then came to an abrupt halt, though the three passengers were not affected. The doors dinged opened. Nanoha and Fate gasped at the vast underground cavern, lit by an unearthly light. Shimmering stalactites and stalagmites where scattered throughout the cavern. Their elevator wasn't the only one. More of the steel gray cars line the wall behind them, while on the opposite wall, behind the ornate wood desk in the center of the cavern, were smoldering open firepits, like what the Japanese used to heat the house in the olden days. People dressed in strange flowing robes bustled about the cavern, some going to the elevators, others, after stopping at the desk, went to the firepits only to disappear in a flash of green fire.

"Follow me please," Dumbledore ordered, "and please say close." Nanoha and Fate hefted their duffles and followed quickly after Dumbledore as he strode purposefully up to the desk.

The clerk, a broad, balding Japanese man brightened when he saw him. "Ah, Professor, so good to see you," he said in heavily accented English.

"And you Ichigo," Dumbledore replied, taking out a rather threadbare purple coinpurse. "Transport for three."

"Three."

"Yes. I am transporting two new students to the Leaky Caldron."

Ichigo took one look at Nanoha, and was so surprised he degraded to Japanese: "By Kami-sama! Takakmachi Nanoha!"

Nanoha and Fate exchanged startled looks. "How does he know your name," Fate asked, clearly surpirsed; sure she and Nanoha were famous in the TSAB and their planets, but here on Earth was another matter.

"No clue. Unless it has something to do with what happened ten years ago."

Nanoha opened her mouth to ask, but Dumbledore spoke first. "We must be on our way, Ichigo."

"Oh, Hai," Ichigo said, tearing his shocked gaze from Nanoha to summon three identical gray drawstring pouches.

Dumbledore moved to pay but Ichigo waved his hand. "Ne, a gift for Takamachi-sama."

Nanoha blinked at being called 'Lady and Fate stifled a laugh a Nanoha's expense as Dumbledore took the pouches and ushered the two mages toward the firepits.

"How did he know my name," Nanoha demanded in Japanese, "and why did he call me 'sama'?"

"Not now, Nanoha-san," Dumbledore said as he stopped them in front of a pit, "I shall tell you some other time."

"So he does know," Nanoha sent.

"Looks that way," Fate agreed, "Though good luck trying to get it out of him. Yeesh, if investigating the Wizarding World wasn't so important, I'd string him up with a Lightning Bind and hold him at Zanber point until he told us."

"I'd use a Starlight Breaker if I could," Nanoha sent with a mental chuckle, "Makes a better visual threat."

They both turned their attention back to Dumbledore as he said, "Now, since neither of you has done this before, you need to follow instructions very carefully."

"Hai, Sensei," Nanoha and Fate chorused.

"You toss the Floo Powder on the fire, and say where you wish to go. It is the Leaky Caldron. You need to be sure to get it right, otherwise you may end up somewhere else."

Once Nanoha and Fate had the pronunciation down, Dumbledore handed a pouch to Nanoha.

"This doesn't use any of our own magic does it?"

Her worried tone gave Dumbledore pause. "No. May I ask why that particular question?"

"I'm still recovering from an crippling injury," Nanoha explained.

Before Dumbledore could respond, Nanoha stepped into the pit, asking Raging Heart to analyze the spell, and upended the bag, the dark grey powder spilling onto the fire as she said, "The Leaky Caldron."

Instantly green flames surrounded her, and Dumbledore, Fate, and the firepit vanished.