Au notes-
the Real chapter 3 not sure what happened before
Chapter 3: Hear, and let me just take this time to thank you all. I can't believe we broke 100 followers already for this fic. My previous works didn't get this much attention till they were much longer and had like 2 lemon scenes. The lemons won't come for this story for some time, probably not till like the 3rd or 4th year, unless I decide to do one featuring some of the other characters besides Harry. In any case, I hope this increased follower count is a sign my writing has improved. For those who are wondering, we are about 2 chapters away from Harry going to Hogwarts; there are just a couple more important things that need to happen first.
Speaking of improvements, I'm happy to announce I now have a beta in the form of the lovely and talented NimonaRules who has agreed to help me with the spelling and grammar stuff I struggle with. They also helped me with a scene I was struggling with in this chapter so I could get it out for you all.
Response to some reviews (if I didn't get to yours, I apologize)
MultiversalCosms – What you assume just because they are both Chinese people named Chang, they are related. Don't be racist. Haha, kidding, yes, they are related. a fact that will come up in this chapter. And your votes for the TBD are noted. You are correct, though Akeno would be problematic; I plan on her being more of a big sister.
love4HP – Thank you, and I will say you have correctly guessed a big part of my plan. I mean, it would be kind of a shame if he didn't learn some different stuff traveling so much and living with people of so many cultures. Although most of the really cool stuff will have to wait until he is a little older, basics first.
Magitech -Thank you, and while you are correct, the age difference isn't insurmountable given the lifespan of magical folks, my current plan for Akeno has her being more of an older sister to Harry and pairing her with someone else down the line. That said, if enough people ask for it, I could change my mind on that. You make a good point about Daphne having been done a lot, but here is my thing: some of those have been incredible fics; in fact, I'd say 3 of my top 5 used her, so it's really tempting to do it. That said, I can tell you that as it currently sits, I have no plans to have Harry go into Slytherin and even fewer plans to have a good Snape. I hope that helps you feel better about this story.
jh831- Glad you enjoyed it, and he will probably pick up some, but I don't think Akeno or Raven will allow his vocabulary to get too colorful.
GreengrassRebel – Yeah, he was tired from a long day and didn't have the time to mess around. And I got to say you raise some interesting points I hadn't considered in regard to the pairings as well as ways to develop the characters themselves, so thank you for that.
NimonaRules- Thanks, that's one of my favorite parts to write as well.
Harry sat on the deck of the Angry Abraxan, enjoying some sunlight. It was just after breakfast during the time designated for Harry's schedule to shower and get some rest before his afternoon study session with the Yamatos. He had already enjoyed a nice shower before deciding to speed his rest time on the deck today. The last two days had been very enjoyable. The members of the crew involved in his training had pushed him, but never too much. He particularly enjoyed the physical training with Bridget. He doubted he would ever be as into it as she was, but he liked how he felt after a good workout.
His mental work with Ping was off to a good start as well. Ping had started him with basic meditation techniques to help him learn how to clear the mind. And even after only a few days of practice, Harry felt calmer and more centered even outside of meditation. The old monk had been impressed with how quickly Harry picked it up, saying that he seemed to have a gift for the mental arts.
Captain Shafiq insisted they all spend at least a few minutes on deck every day, saying that too much time indoors, even if it was a very nice indoors like the living area of the ship, could lead to cabin fever.
Raven seconded the recommendation, citing the importance of natural light in physical and mental health.
In the distance he could see land growing closer.
"We should be getting into port in a few hours." Harry recognized the voice of Captain Shafiq and turned to face the man.
"Do I need to do anything to help?" the boy asked his captain.
"No, but go see Akeno. She has an idea for something we should get in the habit of having you do whenever we go into town," the captain said with some mischief in his eyes.
Harry couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but he nodded and headed inside to Akeno's room.
The teenage girl's room was situated at the far end of the hallway that housed the crew. Due to Akeno's habit of playing loud music in her room, she was placed further away from everyone.
Harry knocked on the door, and the music was turned down. "Who is it?" he heard Akeno say, her voice teasing.
"It's Harry," the boy replied.
"Oh, cuddle bug, it's you. Give me a second to take my clothes off," the teenager joked. Harry turned around and attempted to leave, before Akeno's door opened and a hand reached out to grab Harry by the collar and pull him inside.
The inside of Akeno's room looked like a bomb had gone off. The wallpaper was a deep purple that matched the girls' eyes, but almost every inch of it was covered in posters and pictures. There were Quidditch players, bands both magical and muggle, and several posters that featured girls in bikinis or shirtless men on motorcycles or powerful muscle cars. There were also pictures of Akeno herself, some with her mother and other members of the crew, some with people Harry didn't recognize but assumed were her school friends.
Clothing was scattered everywhere, and the doors of her room's walk-in closet seemed to have been removed. In the corner of the room was a large vanity in front of a mirror, strewn with different types of makeup.
Akeno herself was wearing a pair of light blue jeans that looked like they had been painted on her and a yellow halter top, clearly getting ready for the hot weather in Sydney. Her navel piercing had been changed to a blue stone today, likely by magic if Harry had to guess.
Akeno pulled Harry into the room, and the boy stood awkwardly, having never been inside a girl's bedroom before.
The black-haired girl just laughed at Harry's embarrassed look. "So what brings you by, kiddo?" she asked.
"Umm, the captain said we would be making port soon and I should come see you first because you had an idea?" Harry said awkwardly.
"Oh, right, that." The girl smiled. "Technically it was Raven's idea, but she didn't have the right supplies for it, so she brought it to me."
"Supplies?" Harry asked.
Akeno tapped Harry's forehead twice. "You're not as famous in Australia as you are in the UK, but the story of the Boy-Who-Lived is still decently well known. And we don't want to risk word of you being with us getting out yet, according to the captain and the old man. So, Raven had the idea that we would cover your scar to make sure nobody accidentally recognizes you."
"Oh," Harry said, seeing the sense in this. "How?"
Akeno pointed to her messy vanity table. "With makeup, of course." The girl laughed and pulled Harry into the chair situated in front of the mirror.
15 minutes later, Akeno and a shell-shocked-looking Harry walked out of Akeno's room and began to head to the common area. His scar had been successfully covered with the girl's makeup, but he had had to work hard to convince her not to also give him lipstick, or eyeliner, or anything else that would make him "pretty." He knew the captain would never stop laughing at him if he did something like that.
Convincing the girl not to give him mascara also required he make a promise to go clothes shopping with her and Bridget after he got his new wand. The joy in the girl's face when he had agreed to this made him wonder if she had ever even intended to put the makeup on him or if the whole thing had been a trap to make him go clothes shopping.
If it was, it had been the most unnecessary trap in history. Harry was still wearing shrunken hand-me-downs from the captain, and while he didn't mind doing that in the slightest, the idea of having his own clothes that fit him well sounded very nice to Harry, although he was a little worried about the cost of such things.
The captain had given Harry his first pay, 20 galleons, prior, claiming he would need it when they went into town, but he didn't know how much his wand would cost, and from what he knew, clothes could be expensive. He just hoped he had enough galleons, as he would hate to disappoint the girls.
They found the rest of the crew sitting around the common area, lounging or making preparations to go into port.
"Nice job on the cover-up," Raven complimented Akeno, looking at Harry's forehead. "Very natural looking, and you can't see the scar at all."
"How does it feel to wear makeup?" Raffael teased Harry.
"Ummm, a little strange," the boy admitted.
"He wouldn't let me give him any eyeliner or lipstick," Akeno pouted. "But I hope you got your expanded bag on you, Bridget, because after he gets his wand, we're taking Harry clothes shopping."
The men in the room all shot Harry sympathetic looks while Bridget looked excited, and Raven looked a little offended.
"Wait, how come I don't get to come take Harry clothes shopping? I'm a girl too." The healer shot Akeno a lighthearted glare.
"Please, if we left it up to you, Harry would come out in black leather pants, a black fishnet shirt, and a studded collar," Akeno said.
"Yes, and?" Raven shot back, grinning at the idea of a little goth Harry.
"And I won't have my cuddle bug turned into a scary goth. He is going to be hip and stylish, so all the girls want him."
"Goth clothes are hip," Raven protested.
"Not on a seven-year-old they are not." Bridget joined in the conversation.
"Ok, fashion arguments can be saved for another time." Captain Shafiq said as he entered the room, "But it's good you're taking Harry for his own clothes; he can't keep wearing my shrunken-down stuff all the time. In fact, here," the captain said, passing Akeno a small black piece of plastic. "Put it on my card, but don't go too crazy."
Akeno and Bridget looked even more excited, and the men in the room continued to look at Harry with pitying eyes.
"Oh boy, the captain is paying; that means we get to go to even more shops," Akeno grinned at Bridget and Harry.
"I expect to see receipts," the captain said warningly.
"What, don't you trust us, Captain?" a smirking Bridget said.
"When it comes to clothes shopping, no," the captain laughed.
"So mean." Akeno stuck her tongue out at the man, who just laughed more.
"In any case," the captain continued, once we get to port, Ping and Saruni, you're taking Harry to get his new wand; Bridget, you are with me if you can grab those three barrels of potion supplies we picked up in London."
"Already bagged and ready for delivery, cap," Bridget said. She patted her backpack, which must have had expansion charms put on it if it was holding more than a handful of things.
"Excellent. Shuri, Raffael, you're on supplies for today. Ping gave you the list of foodstuffs we need?" the captain asked.
"Yes, captain, we will get it all picked up and delivered today." Shuri affirmed, and Raffael nodded.
"Good, make sure you keep track of how much it is for all of us so I can reimburse you later. The same goes for you, Raven; you're restocking on some potions, right?" The captain turned to the healer.
"Yep, used up most of our skelegrow with Harry, so we have to get some more," the goth witch replied.
"Great. Akeno, why don't you come with me and Bridget since you two are planning to go shopping with Harry afterwards? We will be in port for three days this time, so everyone can get the work done today and then have two days to do whatever you like," Brian informed them all with a smile.
A short time later, the ship pulled into the dock of Sydney harbor. Raffael tied the boat off and Saruni presented the necessary papers to the authorities. The papers were, of course, charmed to show whatever the dockmasters wanted to see.
Once the ship was fully docked, everyone moved to do their various assignments.
"The magical shopping area in Sydney is this way," Saruni said. He and Ping led Harry to the south of the city past the opera house, stopping for a moment for Harry to see it as he had never seen the city before.
"What's it called?" Harry asked.
"Boomerang alley, and before you ask, no, it's not because they sell them there, although they do. It's all because of the shape of the alley," Ping explained.
Ping and Saruni lead Harry through the bustling city down what looked like an abandoned alleyway that was under construction. Walking to a blank wall, Saruni tapped it in a pattern, and the wall opened to reveal the magical shopping area.
Harry had never seen anything quite like it. There were shops selling all manner of magical goods, from cauldrons and potion ingredients to a magical tailor selling all manner of robes, even a place selling magical candies. The main feature of the shopping area was right in the middle in the bend of the boomerang-shaped alley. A large grey building that looked like it had been shaped from raw stone. The name Moria Bank was emblazoned on the top of the building.
"Do the goblins do the banking here too?" Harry asked, having read about the goblin banks in his lessons on the wizarding culture of Britain.
Saruni shook his head. "No, they do it in some countries, but in a few, like Australia, it's actually done by the dwarves. Counter to popular folklore, the two races don't hate each other, although they do have a professional rivalry."
"We won't be going there, of course," Ping added. "We have enough gold to pay for your wand, and I doubt you have an account with the dwarves. Also, while it is possible to access goblin bank accounts from a dwarven bank, there are large fees involved."
"The wand shop is this way." Saruni pointed to a medium-sized storefront with the name Williamson's Wands emblazoned on the front.
Entering the store, they found a middle-aged man minding the counter. "Hello, welcome to Williamson's Wands," the cheerful man said before he got a closer look at who had entered the store. "Ahhh, Saruni, my good man, I don't remember having any delivery schedule this week, did I?" the man asked, pulling a datebook from his pocket to check it over.
"Not here for delivery, Williamson," Saruni said. "Here for wand."
"Oh, very well then," the man now identified as Williamson said. "Are one of you two in need of a replacement, or are we doing a first timer for that young man with you?"
"We are here for the kid," Ping said with a smile.
"Of course, of course." The proprietor waved his own wand in the air, and a tape measure began moving about Harry, taking various measurements of his hand, arm, body, and, for some reason, the distance between his ears. The proprietor watched the tape measure for a moment before moving to the back, where there were lines of shelves with a multitude of thin boxes on them.
"Let's start with this one," the man said, handing Harry a box.
Harry opened it to find a wand that looked thicker than any of the ones he had seen and a little shorter. "5 and a quarter inches," the proprietor said, looking at the label on top of the box. "Applewood and troll whiskers, thick and sturdy."
Harry looked at the wand, unsure of what he was meant to do. After a few moments the proprietor picked it up and put it in Harry's hand. "Well, go on, boy, give it a wave; it's the wand that chooses the wizard, after all. Not the other way around."
Harry waved the wand, and a shrieking sound was heard throughout the shop. Ping and Saruni covered their ears and Harry dropped the wand in an attempt to cover his own.
The wand maker snatched the wand out of the air before it could hit the ground. The shirking stopped the moment it was out of Harry's hand. "Nope, definitely not," the man said, putting the wand back in its place on the shelf.
"Excuse me, but how do you know which wand to try if it's the wand that chooses the wizard?" Harry asked.
"Good question, my boy," the man said cheerily. "There is an element of guesswork involved, to be sure, but also most of the world's wand makers have a sensitivity to magical auras. We can feel the aura of a person and the aura of the wand and try and find something compatible. As you just saw, it isn't an exact science."
"What makes auras compatible?" Harry asked, curious now.
"A wand's aura is determined by the things that made it," the man explained as he searched through his shelves. "Almost every kind of wood on the planet can be used for a wand exterior, but what really matters is the core."
As the man spoke, he pulled out another box and handed it to Harry. "8 inches gum tree wood and unicorn hair," he read off the top of the box.
Harry once again waved the wand. There was an explosive bang, and the wand shot out of Harry's hand and embedded itself in the ceiling of the shop.
"Nope, not that either," the man said, laughing. He used his own wand to summon the attempt down from the ceiling and rebox it. "There are many cores available. Almost any magical creature has parts that can be used in making a wand; some have multiple options. Different combinations of cores and wood will create wands that excel in different areas of magic. Different wand makers have different opinions on this, but I'm of the belief that the attitude of the beasts the core came from plays a big role in determining the wand's aura."
The man approached with another box in hand. "Seven and a half inches of eucalyptus and murtlap tentacles, rather swishy and excellent for healing spells," he said with a smile.
Harry waved the wand again, but nothing happened at all; the wand felt somewhat dead in his hand.
"Still not quite right. Hmmm, oh, I know," Williamson said before rushing towards another shelf on the far side of the shop.
"Does it usually take this long?" Harry asked Ping once the wandmaker was seemingly out of earshot.
"Sometimes longer," Ping said with a chuckle. "My brother took nearly an hour to find his wand all those years ago."
"But the captain's original plan was to have me use one of his spare wands," Harry said, confused. "How did he know they would be compatible for me?"
"He didn't," Ping told him. "You see, technically a witch or wizard can use almost any wand and get some result, but working with a compatible wand will always be infinitely more effective."
The proprietor came back with another wand box. He opened it, revealing a beautiful-looking wand of a dark red color. It was carved to have a rippling pattern going along the wood, as if it had just been dipped in liquid. "Try this one."
When Harry took the wand, he felt warmth rush through his body and his magic rush into the wand, then back into himself. Without being asked, he waved the wand, and bright red and black sparks of light came flying out.
"Wow." Harry grinned as laughter burst out of him.
"Well, there we have it," the man said with a smile. "That's a powerful wand you have there. 12 inches of bloodwood with a dual core of manticore fang and kelpie scale. It's a very aggressive wand well suited for combat magic. I expect you will be quite the warrior someday, young man."
"We will also take a wrist holster with all the standard protection spells," Saruni told him.
"Of course, of course," Williamson said, pulling one out from under the counter. "Total comes to 17 galleons."
Harry happily pulled out the money pouch the captain had given him and counted out the money. My first time buying something with my own money, the boy thought, satisfied.
Williamson helped show Harry how to attach the holster to his wrist and then how to put the wand into said holster before the trio left the store.
As they walked down the alley, Harry took notice of a shop selling post owls and other pets but quickly dismissed the idea; after all, it's not like he had anybody to write a letter to. Everyone he liked lived aboard the boat with him. A thought occurred to Harry then. "How come none of you have owls?" he asked Ping, having not seen one in the time he had been on the Angry Abraxan.
"A good question," Ping said, looking every bit the teacher monk. "Post owls are raised under unique enchantments that make them smarter than average owls, as well as let them know where addresses are, but they struggle with non-static places such as our ship, so we use Wobbly instead."
"What's a Wobbly?" Harry asked.
Ping checked his watch, which Harry knew was also capable of showing the current date as well as the time. "Oh, you should find out sometime tomorrow if I guess correctly. He was doing a few deliveries for us, but should come back around breakfast time."
With that, they lead Harry out of the magical shopping area and into the Muggle city. The trio made their way to Pitt Street, Sydney's central shopping area, where they had agreed to meet with Akeno and Bridget so they could take Harry clothes shopping.
As they approached, they saw the two ladies conversing on a corner, and Ping waved to the pair.
"Ahhh, there you are. Did you find one that suits you?" Akeno asked Harry. She was clearly referring to his wand, but refrained from saying the word in the middle of a muggle city.
"Yep," Harry said with a smile.
"Great! You will have to show me it later." Akeno teased, wrapping her arm around Harry and pulling him into a half hug. "But for now we are going clothes shopping. You ready?"
Harry realized that Ping and Saruni were once again shooting him pitying looks but couldn't understand what was so wrong with clothes shopping. "Ummm, yes," he answered uncertainly.
The next couple of hours would show Harry exactly what was wrong with clothes shopping. Akeno and Bridget dragged him from store to store, forcing him to try out hundreds of different outfits ranging from everyday clothes to sleepwear to athletic clothing, swimwear, and even some formal outfits for reasons Harry really didn't understand. And that was without taking into account the shoes. By the time the girls were done, he had seven pairs: two everyday, two athletic, two pairs of work boots, and a set of nice formal leather shoes. He was glad he at least talked them out of buying him the red cowboy boots; he had no idea when he would have ever worn those.
They also dragged him back into Boomerang Alley to go shopping in the magical section for a few sets of robes.
They then decided to stop for lunch at a local restaurant, and after they ate, Akeno and Harry stood outside waiting for Bridget, who had to run to the bathroom.
"Hey sexy, why don't you ditch the midget and come hang with us?" a voice called out.
Turning, they were met with the sight of two young men wearing baggy clothing, both staring at Akeno.
"Screw off," Akeno said, not even bothering to give the boys a second glance.
"Aww, come on, hun, don't be like that," the first of the pair said, moving closer.
"Yeah, we know how you Asian girls are once you get past the shyness," The other said.
Harry, not liking the way these two were looking at Akeno, quickly moved to stand between them.
"Aww, look, she has a little protector," one of the boys laughed, looking at Harry.
"Go away," Harry said, trying to sound forceful.
"Oh, look, he's trying to be tough for his girlfriend." The pair laughed at Harry, moving closer and clearly preparing to push Harry out of the way.
Harry stood firm, but inside he was scared. He didn't know what he could do; he was no match for these bigger, older boys, but he wouldn't let them do anything to Akeno. He considered going for his wand but realized he didn't know how to do anything with it, and they were in the middle of muggle city.
The pair reached him and easily shoved Harry out of the way, causing the boy to fall to the ground.
"Harry!" Akeno called out, her voice laced with fury at seeing the young boy thrown to the ground.
Before anything could happen, two large hands landed on the boys' shoulders. "Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" Bridget said.
The two boys took one look at Bridget's tall and incredibly muscled form before practically shrinking away.
"Ummmm, no, no trouble," the first of the pair said.
"Right, we were just leaving," the second said. The pair made to leave the scene, but were unable to do so because of the large woman's grip on their shoulders.
"Ohhh, you're going to leave." Bridget smiled dangerously at the pair. "But first you're going to apologize to my friends, aren't you?"
"Er, right, yes, we're sorry," the first one rushed.
"Yeah, we, uhh, you're just so pretty we lost our heads," the second one continued.
"And now you're going to apologize to the little guy, correct?" Bridget said, turning the boys to face Harry.
"Yeah, umm, sorry I pushed you, kid; that wasn't cool of me," the one who had shoved Harry said.
"Good boys. Now get lost, and if I ever see you again, I'm going to make one of your heads go up the other one's ass, and I won't let you pick which one of you gets to be which," Bridget threatened before releasing the pair, who quickly ran away.
Harry was relieved, but he also couldn't help but feel ashamed of his failure to do anything to protect Akeno. He had spent his whole life getting pushed around by bullies, and he was tired of it. A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind and lifted him up, interrupting his thoughts.
"Thank you for standing up for me, Harry," Akeno said, smiling at the boy. "But for the record, I could handle those guys very easily."
"But you couldn't do magic here," Harry said, looking up at Akeno.
The black-haired girl just laughed. "You really think I need magic to deal with idiots like those? Please, Harry, you're not the only one who has been getting training from a young age."
"It's true, Harry," Bridget said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Believe me, I just saved those boys from Akeno a lot more than I saved her from them. But you're a good boy trying to protect her like you did, and you're going to be a great man someday if we have anything to say about it."
"You really think I can be great?" Harry asked in a small voice. In his mind, he could hear years of the Dursleys' shouts that he was worthless.
Bridget and Akeno both hugged Harry. "We know you will be Harry." Bridget assured the boy.
With that, the trio made their way back to the ship.
The next day at breakfast, Harry was still thinking about the events that had taken place and wondering what he could have done differently.
The whole crew was present, enjoying a meal cooked by Ping. Harry and Bridget had just finished their morning workouts. According to the woman, just because they were in port didn't mean Harry got to slack off.
"So, Harry, let's see the wand," Captain Shafiq said.
Harry flicked his wrist the way the wand maker had shown him, causing the wand to fly out of the holster. The boy just barely managed to catch it before it left his grip, causing the table to laugh at him.
"You will need to practice that," Saruni said to the boy.
Harry nodded before presenting his wand to the captain.
The man held it up for the table to see, "Nice color," he complimented. "Bloodwood, don't see that a lot in wands. What's the core?"
"Manticore fang and kelpie scale," Harry answered.
"Dual core, very impressive," Raffael said, looking at the wand in the captain's hands. "Did he say what it would be most suited for?"
"Combat magic," Ping answered for Harry.
"Excellent! That will give you an edge someday," the captain said thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
Before the captain could answer, a loud squawking sound was heard through the window of the ship. That was strange, as most of the noise of the harbor was blocked out by the ship's wards.
At the sound, the entire crew, save Harry, lifted their plates off the table, with the captain reaching to grab Harry's as well.
"What—" Harry started to ask. A white blur suddenly entered the room and slammed into the dining room table.
Harry reflexively ducked, but when no further impact was heard, he came back up only to be met with the sight of a snow-white pelican sitting calmly on the table as if it hadn't just slammed into the thing.
It was the largest pelican Harry had ever seen, almost twice the size of the normal ones he had seen as the ship traveled or in the dock since they made port. The bird stuck its foot out to the captain, and Harry saw a large stack of letters tied to the webbed foot.
"Harry, this is Wobbly," Ping explained. "As we mentioned before, he is what we use in place of a post owl."
"A pelican?" Harry asked.
"Yep," said the captain. "Bought him off a fellow in Hawaii years back. Don't rightly know who trained him or why, but he is the only bird who has always been able to find the ship no matter where we are."
The pelican made a loud squawking sound and opened its beak towards the captain. Harry was expecting the captain to give it food, but instead he pulled out a hip flask from his many pockets and poured its contents into the pelican's bill.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Whiskey," the captain answered once the flask was emptied. "Wobbly is a great post bird and even better tracker, but only when he is drunk."
"We don't know why," Raffael added.
The bird let out a happy squawk and fell backwards onto the table, where it lay still.
"Is it dead?" Harry asked.
"Nope, just passed out." The captain chuckled, untying the letters from the bird's foot and handing them out.
There was one letter for each member of the crew except for Shuri, who had two letters, and Akeno, who had four.
"Post owls don't like moving targets like our ship," the captain explained. "So we have a deal with an international owl post station in France for a small yearly fee to hold letters for us until Wobbly comes by and gives them to him, as well as to take any letters from him and send them out via owl. Our friends and regular clients know to send letters to this station with the added address of the Angry Abraxan, and that way we get and receive mail easily without having to stay in one place and wait for owls."
"It's a good system," Akeno added, looking through her letters.
"Captain, I've got our next contract," Shuri said, looking at one of the letters. "But it will require cutting our time here in Sydney short if we want to take it."
"Do you mean short like leave right now or leave tomorrow morning short?" The captain asked.
"Tomorrow would be fine," the Japanese woman conceded.
"Great, then all of you are free to enjoy the day. Shuri, why don't we go discuss this new contract and decide if it's worth it?" With that, the captain and Shuri left the room.
"So, who's everyone's letter from?" Akeno said casually as she went through her own letters. "I got a few from some school friends."
"My nephew," Ping said, smiling at the letter before looking at Harry thoughtfully.
"You know, his daughter, my grandniece, is about your age. I'll have to introduce you two next time we are in Britain. You will both be in Hogwarts around the same time."
"They live in Britain?" Harry asked, surprised.
Ping gave Harry an indulgent smile. "You expected my entire family to be in China?"
Harry flushed a little but nodded.
The old man laughed, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Don't feel bad, Harry; once upon a time you would have been correct, but my nephew was appointed Magical Ambassador to Britain some years ago, so he has been there ever since."
"Oh, ok, so, ummm, what's your grandniece's name then?" Harry asked.
"Cho." The old man smiled at his letter. "Cho Chang."
"Mine's from my parents," Bridget added into the conversation.
"Ex-girlfriend," Raffel said, staring distastefully at the letter.
"Oh, which one?" Akeno asked, eyes sparkling with mischief.
"The crazy one," Raffel said as he put the letter back down.
"Raf, that doesn't really narrow it down much," Bridget complained, causing everyone at the table to laugh.
"Mine is from my son," Saruni said with a smile as he read the letter. "He will be graduating Uagadou soon. I'll have to ask the captain if we can make a port in Kenya for a few days so I can go see the graduation ceremony."
"That sounds nice, Saruni. I'm sure the captain will be willing to go there," Raven said before gesturing to her own letter. "Mine's from my old mentor back at St. Mungo's hospital."
Once everyone had read their letters, they all prepared to depart the ship. Harry had plans with a few of them today.
First were Akeno and Raven, who took Harry to see a new movie in the local theater.
Afterwards they handed him over to Raffael, who took Harry to a shop to get a guitar of his own size, like he had promised, so Harry could properly learn the instrument. They ended up finding a nice one that was Harry's size and made from the same type of red bloodwood as his wand.
Finally, Bridget took Harry to one of the local arcades so he could try one for the first time. He'd never been able to go to the one near where he grew up, as it was a favorite hangout for Dudley and his gang.
Then the entire crew, including the captain, met at a local restaurant for a final meal in the city before they would leave the next day.
Needless to say, after such a full day, it was a very tired but happy Harry that fell asleep as soon as he returned to his room.
Harry's routine would remain the same over the next few months. The addition of the wand meant he could now try and do spells, so his study time with Akeno now included as much practical exercise as book work. They started him with a few basic spells, such as the levitation charm, knockback jinx, and wand lighting charm.
They quickly found that Harry took to magic like a fish to water, learning all of these basic spells in no time. Shuri predicted that if he continued at this pace, he would master most of the spells taught in the first year in record time. The captain was very pleased to hear about this projection, and told Harry that once he reached that point and had a sufficient number of spells in his arsenal to make it practical, he and Saruni would start training Harry in dueling as well.
His occlumency training was also going well. He had learned the basic meditation exercises Ping wanted him to start with as well as early stages of mental defense, which involved learning to sense Legilimency probes in his mind and then clearing the mind when an intrusion was sensed so the intruders couldn't see anything. The next step would be learning to craft a kind of mental shield to prevent intrusion from happening at all.
His daily exercise in the morning with Bridget was also continuing well, with Harry starting to show early signs of developing a good musculature.
Despite all the things he was learning, Harry's schedule was kept from being overwhelming with the built-in rest periods the captain and Raven had insisted on. A good portion of this personal time was spent with Raffael learning the guitar. Raven had been concerned that this didn't constitute rest, but Harry had assured her he found the lessons relaxing. He also spent some time on the ship's deck just watching the ocean go by, enjoying the relaxing feeling as the ship moved across the waves.
The Abraxan had made stops in several different countries over the last few months. From Australia, they had gone to South Africa and then across the Atlantic to Brazil. Then they had gone north, visiting America and then Canada. In each new place they had taken at least a day or two on shore, and Harry had gotten to see many things, both magical and Muggle. Their next contract would take them back across the ocean, going to India. Harry was looking forward to seeing the country and its magical cities. Apparently, India was regarded as one of the most magically powerful countries in the world, largely due to the fact that they had a larger wizarding population than most European nations combined.
Captain Shafiq told them they actually had entire cities in India that were completely magical and shielded from Muggle knowledge, and it was one of these magical cities on the coast they would be landing in.
Harry was sitting on the deck of the Abraxan one morning enjoying the waves. He knew something was different today. Bridget had given him the day off from morning exercise, something she almost never did. Even on what was dubbed recovery days, they did some light cardio work. But today the bodybuilder had told Harry to take the day off entirely.
Unsure of what was happening, Harry had taken the morning to relax and then gone to the library for his usual study time with Akeno and Shuri, only to be told by them too to take the day off.
He had been about to go to the kitchen to help make preparations for lunch when he was stopped by Bridget, who told Harry she needed his assistance checking some things in the cargo hold.
Harry hadn't spent as much time in the Abraxan's cargo hold as he had on the rest of the ship. Like the living area, it had been magically expanded to the point where it could hold several warehouses worth of goods. Of course, the ship almost never had that much cargo at one time, but the space was there should they need it.
Bridget told Harry they would be taking a spot inventory of all of the ship's supplies at the captain's request and had proceeded to walk Harry slowly through counting each and every item in the ship's stores. This didn't take long, as the current job they were doing was only to transport a number of delicate magical artifacts that a rich Indian wizard had purchased from an American artificer that were deemed too delicate to transport by portkey or Floo. However, Bridget seemed oddly focused that day on making sure they counted each item and triple-checked their storage conditions so they would not be damaged.
After an hour of this, the woman had seemingly reluctantly dismissed Harry, who had, of course, started making his way to the kitchens again so he could do his normal job as the ship's cook.
This time he was intercepted by Raffael, who said he wanted Harry's help to check some things in the ship's engine room.
The Abraxan didn't run on traditional fuel and was instead powered by a series of runestones. Raffael had Harry hold a light to these wards while he seemingly meticulously checked each one and then inspected each of the engines mechanical parts. After half an hour of this, Harry was confused. While learning about the runes that powered the ship was interesting, he couldn't really understand why Raffael needed his help with this, as from what he understood, this was what the Italian man did every day.
When he asked the question, Raffael had stumbled for an answer before muttering something about extra hands being useful and telling Harry he could go.
The young boy again made his way to the kitchens before once again being stopped by a crew member. Akeno pulled Harry away from the dining area and told him that she needed his help with something in her room, and the captain had given his permission.
Harry was even more confused when it turned out the task she needed his help with was cleaning her bedroom: a task he knew she almost never bothered with. Thinking that maybe her mother or the captain had gotten on her case about the perpetual explosion that was her room, agreed to help.
One would have thought that picking up after a teenage girl wouldn't take too much time, but the problem was Akeno seemingly kept changing her mind about where she wanted things to be put in her room.
They were on the third rearrangement of the girls closet when a silvery mist in the shape of an abraxan came into the room. Harry was awed by the spectral figure, having never seen anything quite like it, and was even more amazed when it spoke in the captain's voice, saying, "It's time."
Akeno immediately declared her room was finished and began to pull a confused Harry towards the dining area.
The young boy knew something was going on, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it could be. The crew was acting strangely this afternoon.
As Akeno led him into the dining area, he was confused to see all of the lights had been turned out and the window shades pulled, leaving the room in darkness.
"What is—" the boy started to ask before suddenly the lights came on. The crew began to jump from various hiding places, shouting, "Surprise!"
A large banner had been hung across the room, and balloons and streamers were scattered everywhere.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" the crew exclaimed together.
Harry just stood there stunned for a moment before he realized it was, in fact, the 31st of July and his birthday. He wasn't really in the habit of keeping track of it, as the Dursleys had never allowed him to celebrate his birthday, and things had been so busy since he came aboard the Angry Abraxan that he had completely lost track of the date, but the rest of the crew clearly had not.
He felt Akeno come up behind him and push him further into the room. "Come on, Harry, don't be shy; we got cake and presents."
"Presents," Harry said, stunned. He had never been given birthday gifts before. Of course, he was familiar with the concept, as Vernon and Petunia had always showered Dudley with gifts for his birthday, but Harry had never received one.
The crew seemed unbothered by Harry's silence and lack of reaction so far. They happily gathered around the table as Harry was pushed to the head, where a cake had been set out. There were eight candles burning on the cake and the words "Happy Birthday Harry" were spelled out with a green frosting.
Harry just sat in front of the cake, still too stunned to move, when Akeno lightly bumped his shoulder. "Go on, Harry, blow them out; it's your day after all."
Harry smiled at the older girl and turned to blow out the candles.
The whole crew cheered as he did so, and he felt his heart growing lighter with each passing moment.
Once he had composed himself, he began profusely thanking everyone for this event.
The crew just laughed, and Raffael pointed out he was too early to thank them as he hadn't even opened any of the gifts yet.
Seven wrapped packages were neatly stacked on the kitchen table. There were no cards, and each of the gifts had been wrapped in plain black wrapping paper.
"This is a ship tradition," the captain explained as Harry was led to the pile. "Each member of the crew gives a gift, and as you open them, you have to guess which gift came from who."
Harry nodded and began opening the first gift. The square box was opened to reveal a wizarding camera. The camera appeared to be the newest model available and was also covered in an impressive-looking series of shining runes.
Harry looked at the camera for a long moment before making his guess. "Mr. Ping?" he said questioningly.
"Yes, Harry, that is from me," Ping said. "I felt your room has been looking a little plain lately, so I wanted to get you something so you could record your time with us. It has a number of useful functions as well, such as this animated mode."
With that, the Chinese man tapped one of the runes on the camera, and it began to fly around the room taking pictures of various people at different moments.
"Great for events such as this, when you want to record them but don't want to miss them because you're hiding behind a camera," Ping continued.
Harry thanked the Chinese man before moving to the next, a small, thin box.
The next gift was a medium-thickness gold chain with a pendant of the ancient crest of the Potter house.
"Captain, is this from you?" Harry asked. He stared, amazed at the Potter crest. He had seen the symbol in the books on ancient wizarding families, but this was his first time seeing it.
"Good guesses, Harry." The captain gave a grin as Akeno helped Harry put the necklace on. "It has a couple of protective enchantments as well as a tracking spell, so we don't lose you."
Harry smiled at the care shown by the gift and moved to open the next package. Inside was a book entitled Wooing Witches: A Beginner's Guide to Romance.
Harry blushed a bit at the title before looking towards Akeno.
The girl laughed. "Yep, that was me. You may be too young to find a girlfriend yet, but you can start learning the basics."
This brought laughter from the rest of the crew as they saw the title of the book she had given Harry.
Harry put the book aside and went to open the next package; inside he found a black wrist bracelet with metal studs going around it. The gothic accessory left him with no doubts on who had given it to him.
"Ms. Raven," Harry said confidently.
"No, actually that one's from me," Raffel said with a straight face before Raven smacked him upside the head.
"Don't mess with him," she scolded the Italian man before turning to Harry. "Yes, Harry, that's from me. I hope you like it. Since I wasn't allowed to help with your wardrobe, I wanted to give you something that will go with any of the outfits Akeno and Bridget picked out for you." This was said with a teasing pout/glare at Akeno and Bridget, who both just laughed.
Harry smiled as he put on the bracelet, making the goth woman grin at him in approval.
The next package was heavier when he moved to pull it to himself to begin opening it. Inside, Harry found a set of magical training weights. Harry had been told about these; they were fixed to the wrists and ankles and used by professional duelists to train their wand speed and footwork, respectively. The weight could be adjusted by how much magic was put in them.
Feeling confident he had the right person, Harry turned to the one who had originally told him about these kinds of weights. "Ms. Bridget."
The muscled woman smiled and patted Harry on the head. "Yep, I'll show you how to put them on later. They are great for training the smaller muscles and will help you in your dueling practice the captain and Saruni are putting you through. Not to mention, the wrist ones will make you punch harder in case you have issues like with those Muggles back in Sydney."
Harry's next gift was a medium-sized flat box that turned out to contain an impressive-looking brown leather jacket. Harry looked closely at the jacket for a minute and at the crew members before noticing the label on the jacket and becoming certain of who gave it to him.
"Mr. Raffael," he said, smiling.
The slightly paunchy man laughed. "Dang kid, how did you guess?"
Harry pointed to the design label in the jacket. "I remember your lecture on the superiority of Italian leather goods," Harry said. The aforementioned lecture had actually been a small argument between Raffael and Akeno over dinner one night about which country produced the best leather goods.
Raffael laughed again. "Good memory, kid. That jacket has a growing charm on it too, so you should get at least a good 5 years or so out of it before I expect it to become too small for you."
"Still think you should have gone with the black leather one," Raven said, indicating she had been consulted on this gift choice.
"Raven, I will not let you turn Harry into a goth," Akeno said firmly.
"I would argue that black leather isn't inherently gothic," Raffel interrupted before Raven could speak. "But the brown is better as casual wear."
Seeing that a fashion argument was about to begin, Harry quickly moved to open his next gift. This was a longer box, and when Harry opened it, he found a wooden sword. It was a little longer than his wingspan and made of a well-polished dark wood.
"Ummm, Mrs. Shuri?" Harry said uncertainly, noting that the sword had a Japanese look to it.
"Yes, Harry, that's from me." Shuri said, "It's called a bokken or training sword. Akeno told me about what happened with the two boys in Sydney, and I thought you might like to learn another method of self-defense that doesn't involve magic, so after discussing it with the captain, we will be adding some martial arts and sword training to your regiment."
"Wow," Harry said, staring at the beautifully carved sword. He thought back to how he had been unable to do anything when those boys were harassing Akeno.
"It will also help you with your dueling, Harry," the captain added. "If you're disarmed or in close proximity to an opponent, knowing physical combat can change everything."
The final gift was the smallest of the lot when he opened it. Inside was a wristwatch of nice stainless steel. The watch had been set to show the current date as well as the time. The hands of the watch were silver against a blue backing, and the numbers were also done in silver.
With only one crew member remaining, Harry didn't even need to guess. "Mr. Saruni," Harry said.
"Correct." the African man smiled at Harry.
"Well done, Harry, you guessed them all correctly," the captain praised. "Clearly you've gotten to know your new family well over the past few months."
To Harry, this moment and the captain's words were a revelation. He knew the crew of the ship was full of good and nice people, but seeing the effort they had gone to for his birthday made him realize they really did care about him. This wasn't just a collection of good people. These were friends and family; the first good one he could remember.
At that revelation, tears began to fall from his eyes. Akeno quickly moved forward and embraced the now eight-year-old child, who clung to her, apologizing and thanking the crew over and over for their wonderful gifts.
"You don't need to be sorry, Harry; we understand," Raven said as she wrapped her arms around Harry as well.
"Group hug!" Akeno called with a laugh.
The crew all laughed and moved forward, some embracing fully, others merely placing their hands on one of Harry's shoulders in a more reserved show of support. All the while, the magical camera flew around the group, clicking pictures of the scene.
All right, folks, that's a wrap for chapter 3. I will be honest: I'm not totally happy with parts of it; namely, I wish I had done a better job on the birthday scene. I almost cut it, but I felt it was important to show how Harry's relationship with the crew had grown and developed over the last months. As I said, we have, I expect, 2 possibly 3 more chapters before we reach Hogwarts. I start cannon events; there are still a few more things that have to happen. Also points for the first one who leaves a review correctly guessing where I got wobbly from.