Good news for fans of this revised version of Another Fine Mess...! I have written seven chapters, covering the story up to the end of the siege of Italica. It will soon be posted as a full story. For now, whet your appetite with this second chapter. The third chapter will be largely identical to the second chapter of the original, so keep that in mind.

Also, for Halloween, I've posted the next chapter for Raptor of the 20th Ward.

ANOTHER FINE MESS (REVISED)...

CHAPTER 2:

REPERCUSSIONS

"You know, Mr Potter, you were considerably lucky we were able to arrange a suitable 'malfunction' for the CCTV camera and recordings that witnessed your spell usage," the rather sardonic-looking and shabby-looking man in the trenchcoat said. He had introduced himself as Hideyo Komakado of the Japanese Defence Intelligence Headquarters, as well as Chief No-Maj Liaison for the local DMLE.

"People had died, those things were coming to kill us, so what, I should have died?" Harry asked bitterly.

"No, no, no, that's what Obliviators are for, to wipe memories when our hands are forced," Komakado said, shaking his head. "In any case, we're actually better able to cover up breaches of the Statute here than in many other countries. Japan's strange enough already. Should a wizard or witch reveal themselves, they're more likely to be lauded rather than feared, given the whole magical girl genre, or those things by Kinoku Nasu(1). You're not in any real trouble, Mr Potter. In any case, considering that the only witness is a member of the JSDF, and someone who could be persuaded to stay silent under what would be the Official Secrets Act if this happened in Britain, it's fairly minimal. No, this is really just a debriefing. Given what happened, the ICW is scrambling on how to respond to this, much like the mundane government is. The JSDF has been mobilised to send a force through the Gate, to ensure the army that came through does not try again. For now, I believe the Ministry here is going to avoid covering it up. Too many people, and the Statute of Secrecy was breached by an outside entity, which appears to be from another world. Still caused a mess, literally and politically, of course."

Harry grimaced to himself. Of course it was a mess. Another fine mess he had ended up in. And this is what he got for tracking down one of his relatives. Ever since the fall of Voldemort, Harry had had enough of Magical Britain and its fickleness, its mercurial nature towards its heroes. True, the flaws of wizards were merely those of humanity, magnified, and humanity had a tendency to demonize its heroes. But he despised being on the receiving end, and knew that the gratitude he received was hollow. He only really trusted his surviving friends, and frankly, they had lives of their own, now.

Harry, in a desperate need to be anywhere but with the fame, had decided to see if he could find other family. The Goblins, after their anger over the break-in had been smoothed over (with a lot of Harry's gold), had agreed to a full inheritance test…and Harry had discovered, to his shock, that he had relatives in Japan. With his relationship with Ginny over, albeit on amicable terms (the spark that had been there during his sixth year had faded after her breaking up with him), and Teddy being raised by his grandmother, Harry opted to come over and meet his relatives, after being given a crash course in Japanese by Hermione, as well as how to cast a translation charm.

His mother had a half-Japanese cousin, which meant that Harry had a Japanese second cousin, Mari Kurokawa. Thankfully, she was aware of magic, as her father was a Squib who had been cast out of a Japanese Pureblood family. She had no idea that she was, albeit distantly, related to the infamous Harry Potter, and spent some time getting to know him. She was actually quite tall for a Japanese woman, taller than he was, and despite only being about three years his senior at 23, she had an older, even mothering air.

He had been a bit reluctant to go on this blind date she suggested with one of her friends from the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, but Shino, while rambunctious and a little aggressive (though the 'little' part halted when she played laser tag, one of Mari's suggestions), was actually quite nice. If he was lucky, he would have her as a friend. He wasn't quite interested in romance for now, but humoured Mari, if only to help her friend.

And now, this shit happened.

After being forced to use spells against the invaders, Harry and Shino joined up with other civilians, who had headed to the Imperial Palace. There, Shino saw someone she knew, and didn't like, helping direct the evacuation: 2nd Lieutenant Youji Itami, a rather thin, lanky man with stubble on his chin, and a JSDF reservist Shino had encountered. Being given a fresh clip for her gun, Shino reluctantly (only because of Itami commanding her rather than any reluctance to help civilians) helped hold the invading forces at bay until the local SWAT teams, followed by the JSDF. The invaders had been decimated and driven back to the Gate, as it was now being called.

Soon afterwards, he, along with Shino, had been approached by Komakado, who asked them to accompany him. Harry had to wait for a while in this room before Komakado came in, apparently having explained to Shino what had happened, and to keep quiet.

"So, what now?" Harry asked.

"Well, that's up to you, Mr Potter. It's still early days yet. That being said, I'd be careful. I'm sure you're about to have a couple more honours coming your way. Eyewitnesses say that you and Sergeant Kuribayashi were amongst the first to realise the danger and to warn people about it, including the local authorities," Komakado said. "That being said, while I know you didn't intend to leave Japan for some time, I'd suggest not expediting your departure. We'll handle any visa issues on the No-Maj end. Well, I will. A few of the Purebloods here are doubtless clucking at the famous British gaijin wizard showing them up. A few of them are old enough to have been in charge of zaibatsu prior to the end of World War II, die-hard Japanese nationalists. I'm a patriot to be sure, but still, as in everything, moderation."

"So, can I go home? I mean, to Mari?"

"Certainly. Just ensure we can still communicate with you…"

Shino was pissed, but seemed to accept that Harry wanted to wait until they were away from prying ears. So they headed to Mari's place, and after the medic got them drinks, having seen the news (the only footage of Harry seemed to be blurry smartphone footage of him from a distance firing a gun at the army), Harry explained his history, albeit in brief, to Shino. By the end of it all, she was staring at him flatly.

"Sooo, you're a wizard. Your parents were murdered by a wizard neo-Nazi. You went to magical school in Scotland…and you got involved in a civil war between wizards in Britain, one that was covered up because wizards can wipe memories. Mari, I am altogether too sober for this shit. Hit me again."

"No, Shino. Remember what you did to Major Higaki's office the last time you drank too much?" Mari said sharply, putting the bottle away.

"That pompous prick deserved it, Mari!"

"You nearly got discharged thanks to that disciplinary hearing! You're lucky Hazama spoke up for you."

Shino rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I heard part of the story already from that spook, Komakado. Wizards. He showed me some magic. Said you probably used a Banishing Charm on that pistol to make it hit hard. And do you know what the galling thing is? That's not the most unbelievable thing I've heard today. I mean, it's more unbelievable than a fantasy army coming out of some weird Gate or your cousin being a bloody wizard."

"And what's that?" Harry asked, curious, despite himself.

"That slacker Itami has bloody Ranger training and Special Forces training to boot!" Shino complained. "How could a lazy bum like him be a badass Ranger and have Special Forces training, huh?"

Mari chuckled. "I actually knew that already. My sensei was actually his medic at the time. Itami actually got forced into both of those by his COs at the time because of his slacker ways, and he actually graduated the training at the lowest levels. Of course, to even graduate those courses requires considerable fortitude and ability, so maybe you've just forgotten a very basic precept: don't judge a book by its cover."

Shino scowled at her friend. "I still call bullshit. That lazy otaku would've dropped dead of exhaustion during training."

"Well, he certainly was exhausted," Mari said. "Anyway, there's a video on Youtube already of him saving a cop from one of those soldiers. He managed to kill the soldier with the soldier's own dagger or sword or whatever it was. Someone was filming it from a nearby building using their smartphone."

"Again, I still call bullshit," Shino scoffed. "Don't get me wrong, the way he handled the civilian evac and the defence of the Imperial Palace was pretty good, I'll give the nerd that much. Plus, it was pretty sweet how he told some girl, got separated from her parents, that they'd go find them. I'm not saying he's a bad guy, just that he's a lazy slacker who shouldn't be in the Jietai."

"So, what next, then?" Harry asked. "Are they going to mobilise the JSDF and go through the Gate or something?"

"I dunno," Shino said, glad for the change in subject. "I heard they sent through some of our guys to basically beat back what's left of the army that came through, but other than that…well…"

Mari nodded. "Article 9's going to be an obstacle. Remember, Harry, Japan technically isn't meant to have an army after the Second World War. We're not allowed to go to war anymore thanks to that. The few times the JSDF are deployed overseas, it's usually in peacekeeping missions or disaster relief. I guess if dealing with whoever sent that army counts as a peacekeeping mission, it could be fudged, but honestly, I don't know how or even if they're going to justify it. And early eyewitness accounts are pretty horrifying. It wasn't just a slaughter. A few of the soldiers raped the women they came across. We even have a few reports of some people taken captive and taken back through the Gate."

"Komakado told me they captured a bunch of those bastards. Apparently his lot are seeing if they can match the language they used," Shino said. "I reckon we should put them into whatever shithole we can use that can basically be like Guantanamo Bay. Seriously, hundreds have to have been killed by those bastards."

"They're already calling this the new 9/11," Mari said, indicating the TV, which was still showing the news, and footage from the attack on Ginza. "Only, instead of terrorists, we've got Romans and fantasy monsters from another world. What next, an alien invasion?"

"What, you mean like in an anime or one of those films from the US?" Shino asked.

"Or Doctor Who?" Harry asked. "Anyway, don't tempt fate, Mari. Knowing my bipolar luck, you might just cause something to happen by daring the universe."

"I'd say you were making that up, but considering what your life's been like so far…yeah, you have a point…"

As it turned out, things took a turn for the worse for Harry, who was, of course, publicity shy. He, Shino and Itami were to be presented with awards for their actions in Ginza, with both Itami and Shino receiving promotions, Itami to 1st Lieutenant, and Shino to Sergeant-Major. Harry didn't like the ceremony. It was like being presented with the Order of Merlin all over again, although at least there wasn't a medal, just a certificate.

However, soon after that, Shino and Mari were told to report to their JSDF base. And Harry had to come to the Japanese Ministry of Magic. There, Komakado told him some rather irritating news. The Japanese Ministry wanted to hire his services to accompany the JSDF. Apparently the Prime Minister was intending to send an expedition through the Gate, to what he was calling the Special Region. And, partly due to his actions at Ginza, as well as due to his experience with crappy situations, he would be sent through the Gate with them. Officially, he would be a civilian contractor. In reality, he'd be basically a magical consultant, acting as the Japanese Ministry's agent.

He'd been given files to read, based on the Aurors using Legilimency on the prisoners they captured. These men came from another world called Mondas(2), specifically from a continent called Falmart. They were soldiers of the Saderan Empire, led by Emperor Molt Sol Augustus. And they wanted to invade to subjugate any lands they came across, take prisoners as slaves and loot whatever treasures they could find. All in the name of spreading 'civilisation', or at least their version.

There were multiple non-human species living there, more or less openly as opposed to Earth. The Elves there were the classic Elves of fantasy, High Elves and Dark Elves, as opposed to House Elves, and there were beings who looked like humans, but with animal-like traits. There were Catgirls, Dragonids, Bunny Warriors, and so on.

Of course, of considerable concern were the deities of the Special Region, who were apparently very real, and their Apostles. Apostles were regular beings who, in exchange for a 1000 years of service to their chosen deity, were given immortal bodies and superhuman abilities. One of those whom the Japanese Ministry had used Legilimency on had encountered the Apostle of Emroy, the local god of war and calamity. This Apostle was Rory Mercury, who, by Earth standards, looked like a 13 year old girl wearing Gothic Lolita-style clothes, though apparently they were priestess vestments there. She was obviously one they had to look out for, just in case she took umbrage. Of course, she could also be a potential ally, even if a fickle one. She had little love for the Empire these men represented.

Of course, he was given the option to refuse going with the JSDF. Komakado knew better than to try and entrap the person who defeated Voldemort, after all. But after some consideration, Harry decided to agree. He needed something new, something novel in his life. This could be it. He'd probably have to do some small military training, if only to learn how to use some of the equipment, but he wouldn't be part of the JSDF proper. Maybe in this new world, he could have something interesting to do…

CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:

So, a better buildup to the incursion into the Special Region. The next chapter will be a revised version of the original second chapter posted in The Cauldron.

1. AKA the writer behind Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night.

2. I used Mondas as a placeholder name for the Special Region world in my Star Wars crossover GATE: Thus the Chosen One Fought There, so I decided to use it here. Mondas sounds rather like 'Mundas', a Latin name for the world, and was used as the name of the first Cyberman homeworld from Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet.