27th February 1995 - Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan
The first dinner they shared had been a rather formal - if not exactly tense - affair.
Conversation had been a little stilted and had stuck to largely unimportant topics in the grand scheme of things. Making tentative tours of the magical schools and hospitals Japan had to offer and receiving advice regarding researchers that may have information that would be beneficial to Harry's various fields of study.
The second and third had been just as stuffy, but somewhere along the line the tension drained away.
They didn't speak like old friends, that sort of rapport took years and many shared experiences to build. They did however settle well into the sort of easy dialogue that could develop between like minded business partners.
Harry would bow to Akihito's accumulated wealth of experience.
Akihito would bow to Harry's revolutionary displays of ingenuity.
It allowed them to speak on something closer to common ground and went a long way to helping them move past a lot of largely useless formalities. As such it only took a week to properly iron out and sign on peace and trade agreements that - barring any unusual circumstances - would last for years.
Possibly centuries.
Harry had sat down with the imperial healer and chief potioneer for the imperial family and even a woman whose sole job happened to be making sure the healer and potioneers stocks were supplied well with everything needed to perform their jobs.
He first went through each of the base potions, their ingredients and Golpalott's Third Law - which apparently had a Japanese equivalent of a different name - before he demonstrated the creation of each from start to finish on request.
Most of the ingredients were Europe native, so there had been some curiosity over whether he did anything different in the preparation or general handling that might affect the overall outcome of a potion.
They had also gotten to observe - very politely - and question Sirius when he was taking his doses.
The same Sirius who had been at first quite flabbergasted to be on the receiving end of the same quiet respect they seemed to give everyone.
He did slowly grow accustomed to it, and to reciprocating it.
During the first few sessions the imperial healer had taken an interest in the case of Sirius Black after he learned about the extent of trauma the Healing Serenity was helping to heal. He had - with permission - performed his own test on Sirius and had determined that his recovery had been good, but it could be better.
He had gone on to suggest and then instruct both Sirius and Harry in a number of treatments he and his ancestors had developed over the years to treat emotional and mental trauma. And ways of treating malnourishment and muscle atrophy.
They had, they learned, been developed as a countermeasure in the event of people being trapped under collapsed buildings after intense earthquakes. Something that was a real risk in Japan because of its heavy earthquake activity.
Volstar had its own share of earthquakes thanks to the volcanic activity on or around the island, however so far the few quakes they had experienced - though exciting since the British Isles weren't particularly familiar with the phenomenon - were rather benign.
Some rumbling and a bit of rattling of windows and things on shelves had been the worst of it. They had remedied it with sticking runes on shelves and other furniture that would keep themselves and items resting on them in place unless there was intent to remove or otherwise move the item or items from their resting place.
Intent that a natural force such as an earthquake or typhoon could not create.
That and the runic and enchanted reinforcements spelled onto each building piece that would allow them to maintain their shape but rock slightly if the force was strong enough.
In essence to ensure they would bend so they didn't break under the strain.
It was unfortunately something that was next to impossible for the Japanese community to replicate country wide like it was - or rather would be - in Volstar, since they had shared such tight space with their mundane counterparts. It made it that much easier for someone to notice that something wasn't adding up to expected outcomes.
And the technological advancements of the mundane side meant it was just as hard, if not harder to cover up incidents of magic use in shared or mundane dominated spaces.
Instead they relied on their covert forces, the Mahou Ayatsuru, the Japanese equivalent to the Unspeakables, to slip around unnoticed and handle leaks where possible and bolster the nations defences where possible.
But their greater experience meant they had spent much longer experimenting on ways that could either bolster their disaster prevention or their responses. Since Volstar didn't as yet have to worry as much about the former, it meant Harry could focus on the things they had learned to increase recovery.
Injuries and trauma, both physical and mental.
It had taken all of two days for Akahito and his staff to notice just how fast Harry was absorbing the information they helped provide him for study, between shared dinners and polite check-ins to see how he was getting on.
After a few very polite but deeply incredulous tests to make sure he actually was properly taking on all the information he was being given Akahito assigned a small group of assistants to bring Harry a wide assortment of material and clear away anything he had finished with.
Rather suddenly, the signed promise that Harry would come to Japan's aid if they found themselves in need of help had much more weight to it.
Originally, Harry knew it had been accepted easily enough because most magically advanced countries had their own way of discretely gaining an estimate of an individuals own magical power based on ambient spill over.
So he was aware that the reason that small section of the peace contract between them had been accepted with grace was because they knew he had enough power at his disposal to make the exchange worthwhile, particularly when added to what they knew about his inventive tendencies.
Then, Akihito and his council had graciously accepted an alliance with a powerful and inventive fellow wizard and ruler.
Seeing the speed he could acquire knowledge and his willingness to learn anything suggested to him, Akihito - after a brief chat with Harry to gauge his willingness - had instructed the small squad assigned to Harry to expand the subject base they were offering him.
He included more manuals on the language, both ancient and modern.
As thanks, Harry spent a couple evenings translating some of the most ancient and fragile texts he had been given into modern copies that could in turn be copied and distributed at Akihito's discretion to the various magical libraries spread throughout Japan.
He had been spending so much of his days conversing in Japanese that Sirius quietly pointed out it had softened his English accent into something that was neither here nor there. Something that had amused Sirius but had left Harry with some mixed feelings.
Harry spent more than one night after that contemplating what exactly made a person who they were. And how much a person could grow and change before they became unrecognisable compared to the person they had once been.
Logically he knew growth and change were both usually healthy things, that stagnation of the self was something akin to a small death of the soul.
But he did wonder, if there would come a point in the future, that he learnt and by extension changed so much that Ron and Hermione would wonder what had become of the boy from the Hogwarts Express.
He had quietly shared the worry with Akihito during one of the chats the older man had made sure to schedule time for and had been advised in turn that any true friend would likely feel either insulted or deep regret and shame if they felt they were the reason their friend was not allowing themselves to be all they could. To achieve the pinnacle of their Self, whatever that happened to be.
The emperor had added that there was no true way of telling just when all of that accumulated growth would be needed and how greatly the ownership or lack thereof would impact the lives of those he cared about. Whether it was his friends or the country that relied on him for guidance and protection.
Even the greatest of seers and fortune tellers could only see so far and so much.
The young king had taken that spot of wisdom and had meditated on it for several hours before coming to the conclusion that the older man was right.
If he couldn't be certain what the future held for the people he felt responsible for, then his best bet was to try and be as prepared as possible.
With that in mind he had all but moved into the imperial library with the blessings of Akihito and the semi-frequent company of Sirius when he wasn't in session with the imperial healer who had taken him under wing, or one of Akihito's children when their schedules permitted.
He had been semi-dragged out to attend Akihito's birthday celebrations a couple days prior in order for him to meet more of the Japanese nobles to help cement deeper ties - and to be shown off, though he knew it was better manners not to mention it like that - so his inventions and assistance would be better received in the long run.
Now just a couple of days later, and a few days before he was scheduled to return to Skyfall to assist in the construction of the Great Library whose design necessitated multiple complex and powerful enchantments.
Both to help protect it from the elements and natural disasters so it had a greater chance of enduring the slow march of time, but also to protect it from less natural threats.
The world as a whole had lost more great libraries than the Earth had countries.
Harry was rather keen on the idea of building one that could never be lost.
Or more importantly, has its contained knowledge lost.
Already in the few weeks he had been studying in Japan he reckoned he had acquired more knowledge on blood magic than anyone in Britain had ever known.
Spells and rituals for genealogy, diagnostics, household protection and warding.
He had picked up so many things about magical healing that he found that he was barely even disappointed he hadn't managed to find anything about horcruxes.
Though that no longer surprised him since the more he learned about the Japanese people and their culture he learned that more often than not, when faced with the unavoidable knowledge of death they greeted it with honour and dignity rather than destroying their Self in an effort to stave off the inevitable.
Even the few wixen that had really gone off the deep end in their pursuit of power or wealth had understood that there were some things one simply didn't do.
Mutilating one's own soul was somewhere up near the top.
Harry reckoned he had the restorative tonics he had been given with each meal to thank for his lack of head splitting migraine after the hours and hours spent each day absorbing every bit of knowledge he could get his hands on.
Or was thrust into his hands.
He was almost completely certain he had absorbed more knowledge than had ever graced Hogwarts stone walls.
Not that he was keen to brag to Hermione or anything.
Harry stretched in place, the last of his books for the day closed and already on its way back to its appropriate shelf space.
He had been at it for most of the day, only breaking for his meals and for a walk around the gardens with Sirius to catch up since Sirius had, over the last week, taken to exploring Tokyo while Harry read.
He had returned from each escorted trip bearing tales of massive underground train stations that had their own shopping arcades. About towering buildings that feature floor after floor of entertainments that ranged from pinball and darts, which Sirius was familiar with, to electronic games of mixed variety.
The Marauder had managed to extract a promise from Harry to look into replicating the technology since Sirius was of the opinion that all the new clubs for kids at school were fine and dandy but there hadn't been much planned for entertainment outside of it.
Considering the stories Harry had heard thus far about the rather widespread range of shenanigans his dad and Sirius had managed to get up to during their summers during their Hogwarts years...it was probably sound advice.
So he had several topics that needed seeing to before he had to head back to Britain in May for the next task for the menace of a tournament, which would take place primarily underwater if the hints he and the other champions had been given were to be believed.
The library, which had been well planned out in advance but required a rather intense amount of time and magic to enchant and activate runes that would be layered throughout the huge structure.
After a great deal of debate Harry and the rest of the construction team had decided on a pyramid base building that would be accessible to all and contain a wealth of fictional, historical and general knowledge tomes. Above it would float an icosahedron shaped structure that would only be accessible via specially enchanted portkey platforms that could only be triggered by intentional use of magic. Each of its twenty faces would be deeply inscribed with layers of runes of multiple origins including a couple Harry had managed to find that were considered dead languages because there weren't enough people left alive that knew and used them.
The space inside both structures deeply enchanted to be effectively infinite, going on and on. It would also - provided Harry had all his arithmancy and his theory was correct - with the correct infusion of magic and ritual possible, if not probably, to awaken in a form of its own sort of synthetic sentience much like Hogwarts.
That would allow the furniture, from stacks to tables and piles of cushions, to move to a guest depending on their needs. Which also meant the internal structure could shift so a guest could turn a corner and find a restroom or cafe that hadn't been there previously. Or that turn another corner and find the exit portkey platforms, despite having wandered potentially literal days away from the ones they had arrived on.
Which meant that new books or historical artefacts could continuously be added until the end of magic and there would still be room available for more. And that every magical being or creature in the world could theoretically fit inside its walls at the same time and not bump into each other.
Its enchantments would render its parts unbreakable, unaffected by intense heat, cold, spell fire or pressure. Its air, water and stability runes would ensure that even if the entire island somehow sank to the bottom of the ocean or was enveloped in lava or poisonous gasses from its volcanoes, that the atmosphere inside the library would not be affected.
Needless to say, the Great Library had in part also been planned out as an emergency shelter for the people of Volstar, should the worst happen.
It was a labour of love and a beacon that would display the absolute best that could be achieved when the magical races worked together in harmony instead of beating each other down or distrusting each other.
It honestly made Harry a little teary when he thought on it a bit too long.
The second project was somewhat less pleasant to think about, but necessary regardless.
No matter how peaceful Volstar was at present, or how well its current citizens intermingled, it was almost inevitable that at some point down the line someone would break the law and a prison would be required.
Absolutely everyone that had discussed the matter - whether they were part of the construction crews or not - had been adamant that the structure be as far from Azkaban as it was possible to be and still be counted as a prison.
Sirius had been the only person that had been quiet on the matter, though Harry had spent enough nights awake talking his godfather through horrific nightmares that centred on his memories of Azkaban for him to mistake the silence for not caring or disagreement.
For all that the structure itself would reside in the centre of the islands largest active volcano, it would share a great many of the enchantments that would protect it and isolate its internal form from the outside world and its influences.
Each cell would in reality be a suite that more closely resemble a moderately sized flat than a typical jail cell. Temperature controlled to a constant twenty-four degrees celsius during the day and a comfortably cool fifteen degrees celsius during the night. Which would keep close enough to the temperature shifts of the outside world that prisoners would be less likely to become sick from temperature shock upon leaving the prison once their allotted sentence was complete.
Each 'cell' would consist of several rooms that would be isolated from each other cell and occupant.
A dining area where balanced meals would be directly delivered by house-elves.
A living area with comfortable seating, a bookshelf that would contain works of fiction that would rotate on a monthly basis, a desk and chair that could be used to write correspondence - which would of course be checked before it left the facility - which could help inmates keep contact with family and approved friends so they didn't become so cut off from the world outside they failed to reintegrate upon departure.
A small indoor garden that would be maintained by house-elves but would contain non-poisonous flowering plants that would theoretically help soothe and provide a quiet space for inmates to meditate.
A well appointed bathroom and a room that would contain magical equivalents of mundane exercise equipment to make sure each inmate had ample opportunity to exercise and work off excess energy.
Good behaviour would be rewarded with desserts, art supplies and other small entertainments that would help lighten the monotony of the day-to-day. Poor behaviour would see those rewards removed. The only interaction they would have with other sapient beings would potentially be the elves that would maintain their quarters and a healer if they became ill and a mind healer that would visit them once a week unless the inmate proved too dangerous.
The idea being that a person treated like an animal was more likely to react thusly, so if Harry - and the population of Volstar as a whole - wanted any chance of law breakers learning from their wrongs and reduce the risk of them committing another crime and ending up right back in prison, then they would need to be treated with as much respect as anyone else and given every opportunity to become a law abiding citizen once more.
Of course they had taken into consideration those unfortunate members of society that through greed or other motivators refused to reform and would continue to be a danger to others.
They would remain in their assigned place for the rest of their days, treated humanely but no less barred from the chance to hurt others ever again.
Harry hadn't wanted to completely discredit the possibility - however hopefully unlikely - that a repeat of what had happened to Sirius might occur at some point in the future.
As many failsafes as he tried to build into the court processes to ensure guilt before any sort of sentencing or relocation could occur, he wasn't willing to gamble a potentially innocent person's life on the sort of self-assured arrogance that had permeated the British Ministry and more importantly its legal system.
So the correctional facility would be the product of several months of intense planning and research and to an extent emulate the examples set forth by the Japanese and Scandanavian magical correctional systems.
Lastly was of course Sirius' emphatic suggestion regarding the expansion of entertainment options.
Even if he wasn't sure about the older man's insistence regarding the muggle arcade machines - though he would look into it as promised -, that didn't mean there weren't other options that Harry knew they could plan for and start putting together as soon as they got back.
Like live theatre performances that used magic to enact the sort of stage effects that mundane plays and concerts just couldn't hope to replicate with machinery. Public swimming pools that would be modelled after desert oasis or forest waterfall grotto's, artificial inland beaches with water that mimicked the tides. Slides and aquatic toys that blended into each artificial environment.
Public parks and petting zoos were honestly some of the easiest things they could create.
Though a full scale zoo that catered to both magical and mundane fauna that would double as a research and breeding facility for endangered species was also on the books. And he had worked out a permanent way to record and project audio and visual information stored into crystal on a larger scale than the memory orbs that he and the twins had created as merchandise for the Tri-Wizard tournament.
Which meant, they now had a way to create a magical version of muggle movie theatres and a smaller home edition not dissimilar to a mundane VHS and tape combo. All they needed was the production end, meaning actors, wardrobe and effects divisions.
For all it seemed like all he did lately was throw himself face first into the danger of the tournament or into the admittedly disturbing amount of books he had been consuming post ritual, he still had managed to work on and coordinate the foundations on a great many projects either via correspondence or via his crown to earring mental communication relay.
Something that had long since proved itself worth more than its weight in gold.
Despite coming up with nothing new regarding horcruxes - the quiet bugbear at the back of his mind - there was still plenty enough to focus on and to put into action.
He could honestly return home with a feeling of accomplishment.
One that didn't at all feel like a consolation to a greater potential achievement.
He had learned so much that had previously been closed to him, and managed to find time besides, to cement plans that would further add life and security to the home he had built.
Sirius had taken like an overgrown sometimes furry fish to water where the Japanese restorative treatments, meditation and mind healing were concerned. He was calm, patient and introspective in a way Harry had never known him to be.
And if Harry himself, who had seen and talked to him every day of their weeks long trip, was a touch awed by the change...well, he could only imagine what Remus' reaction to it would be.
Truly, the combination of Harry's new potion and the other treatments had done a sort of wonder for Sirius' built up years of agonies, large and small.
Now all they had to do was wade through the fallout from the recently released and very public statement from the British Ministry that admitted to the masses that despite best attempts to prove otherwise, that it seemed that several individuals had been placed in Azkaban without proper procedure being followed.
The papers and letters Remus had read to him over their connection had done a wonderful job of listing out each infraction the internal investigation had turned up.
Lord Crouch had gone from quiet embarrassment of dubious standing to criminal awaiting trial.
His convicted criminal son who had apparently been magically compelled to remain hidden in their home had been freed by means that remained undisclosed by the Ministry and had gone on to infiltrate Hogwarts and interfere with the tournament that was currently underway.
Several members in uncomfortably high stations were revealed to have been embezzling from the Ministry coffers.
An uncomfortable number of aurors were apparently revealed to have been accepting bribes to look the other way or worse were found to be abusing their power to extort money or services from businesses.
Not to mention the glaring reminder that the Undersecretary had assassinated the previous Minister.
The British governing body had devolved into horrifying shambles of starkly highlighted corruption that had the ICW in an uproar.
At least according to a letter Harry and Akihito had both received announcing the call for an emergency session to discuss whether or not ambassadors from the ICW should be sent to 'encourage' the British Ministry to very thoroughly clean house and get its act together.
Considering the last time the ICW had stepped in to conduct an audit of a ICW nation's actions and holdings had been during the cleanup that had followed the terrible march of Gellert Grindelwald, it said rather a lot about just what the magical world - at least the wix side of it - thought about Britain's ability to take care of their own messes.
And that wasn't adding on the fact that they likely were unaware that Britain's own self styled Dark Lord was not quite as dead and defeated as had been previously reported.
What a time to be alive. Harry thought with a sigh.