Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 28 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! The summer between Third Year and Fourth Year begins! Harry is keeping himself busy again! He’s got to wait for his new Potion Pills to be examined, tested, and approved by St. Mungos. He has the Junior Dueling League to go to. Another Mastery to gain. And even a trip abroad with the family! Not to mention going to the Quidditch World Cup! So much to do in only a couple months!

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 28 – A Busy Summer Begins

“So, they didn’t even have a ceremony for your medal? That’s cheap of them.” Harry said as he looked at the medal pinned to Tonks’s red Auror robes. It was shiny and silver, bearing the emblem of the Ministry and the DMLE.

Tonks shrugged at the lack of spectacle for her award. “I don’t need a ceremony. I was just fulfilling my duty as an Auror.”

Harry considered her words and nodded after a moment. “Fair enough. Brilliant work, Nym. You finally stopped overcomplicating things.” He smirked at her playfully.

“Such a cheeky brat, Harrikins.” Tonks ruffled his hair with a smug grin at seeing Harry’s unamused look.

While fixing his hair with barely a thought, Harry moved their conversation along. “You’re coming on the family trip, right?”

Tonks looked at Harry like he was daft. “Of course I am. It’ll be my first vacation since I graduated Hogwarts. No way am I missing it!”

Sirius came into the sitting room with an envelope in his hands. “Mail for you, Harry. Looks to be from the Junior Dueling League.” He handed the envelope over to his godson.

“Thanks, Sirius.” Harry opened the envelope and read the letter quickly. “Same as last year. A list of new members joining and the schedule for the summer.” He handed the schedule to Sirius. “Am I going to miss any of the days?”

“Let’s see…” Sirius looked over the schedule and compared it to the plans that they’d already made. “Yeah, you’re going to miss the second and third weekends, that’s the family trip abroad. Your Mastery exam is scheduled for the twelfth, that’s Tuesday, so it shouldn’t interfere with anything.” Sirius looked near the end of the schedule. “Huh, looks like they’re taking the second to last weekend of August off to accommodate the Quidditch World Cup too.”

Tonks chuckled at the fact that even the Junior Dueling League was canceling for the weekend that the World Cup was being held in Britain. “They probably know that a lot of the kids will be at the World Cup with their families. Travel and such would also have to be accounted for too.”

“Make sure that we’re all ready for the trip.” Andromeda poked her head into the sitting room. “None of us want to have to rush the day of departure.” She looked squarely at Sirius and Tonks as she reminded them in particular.

Sirius chuckled at his cousin’s tone and look.

“I’ll be ready, mum.” Tonks promised with a grin.

“Hopefully not cramming everything into a suitcase the night before…” Andromeda said as she continued on her way towards the backdoor.

“That was one time!” Tonks called after her mother.

Harry snickered, remembering the family trip when he was younger and how Tonks had put off packing until the night before and then just crammed a jumbled mess of clothing and essentials into her suitcase.

Sirius laughed as he guided Harry towards the backyard for some random fun. “Let’s go, Harry. Dora needs to get her things in order!”

Tonks stomped her foot once. “I still have plenty of time! There’s almost a full week!”

-Junior Dueling League ~ First Meeting of the Summer-

“Good to see everyone that’s come back again this summer. And a warm welcome to all of our newcomers!” The Head of the British Junior Dueling League smiled at all of the kids and teens before him. “As you know, we’ve been on a string of victories over the last few years for the summer tournament. All of your predecessors and your senior members of the League have put in much hard work to get us those victories and keep the Junior Dueling League Cup here in Britain. So, I’d like everyone to give it their absolute best as always and let’s show our competition the brilliant Duelists that Britain produces!”

“Yeah!” The group of kids and teens cheered, excited and hyping themselves up.

Harry’s first practice partner of the summer turned out to be Draco Malfoy.

“Scared, Potter?” Draco asked with a smirk on his face.

“Not really.” Harry said with a shrug.

Draco’s expression turned into a sneer. “You should be. I’ve been learning from my father!”

Harry and Draco both saluted each other when the referee for their Dueling Platform told them to.

“How nice. Maybe you’ll be mildly interesting this time.” Harry chuckled as Draco’s face scrunched up in anger from the teasing.

The two turned their backs on each other and walked to their designated ends of the platform.

“Begin!” The Witch watching over their platform called out.

Draco cast the first spell. “Engorgio Skullus!” A purple jet of light rocketed down the length of the platform towards Harry. When the spell was within half a meter of Harry, it suddenly veered off-course and then began to orbit around him over and over again, like it was stuck on a track or something.

Harry noted the spell before looking at Draco’s stunned expression. “Rather ‘dark’ for your father to know and then teach you, Malfoy.” This particular version of the Engorgement Charm was a dark charm that made the victim’s skull swell disproportionately…without altering their skin. That usually led to the expanding skull tearing through the skin in a gruesome manner. Harry blew on the purple spell as it circled him again, snuffing it out like a candle.

“Fracto Strata!” Draco cast another spell, this one a yellow color.

Once more it got within half a meter of Harry and then began to orbit around him as if stuck on a track.

Harry glanced at the spell before snuffing it out as well. Fracto Strata broke things that it hit, that was the spell’s entire purpose. When it hit a human, what broke more often than not were bones. One could almost think of it as a legally gray version of the Bone-Breaking Curse.

“Diffindo! Diffindo Duo! Diffindo Tria!” Draco whipped his wand through the air over and over again. Six cutting charms raced towards Harry before all of them veered away and then vanished a split-second later.

“Reject.” Harry tapped into the Principle of Rejection, setting the force right in front of Draco.

Draco went flying backwards off the dueling platform with a squawk. “Aaauuhhh!” He bounced off the Cushioning Charm-ed floor once before realizing that he’d lost.

“Out of bounds!” The Witch refereeing pointed at Draco. “Harry Potter wins the match!”

Draco had a sneer on his face as he was forced to return to the platform and give the proper post-duel bow to Harry. He stalked off afterwards to sulk while Harry just shook his head at the other teen’s attitude.

‘Magic Manipulation strings are proving to be an adequate defense against most common spells. Still not sure they can handle conjured objects though.’ Harry mused on his progress with the application of his Magic Manipulation. He’d keep tinkering with it and see if he couldn’t make the strings even better at defending him.

The prodigious Spellcrafter spent his first break of the meeting going over various ideas to improve his Magic Manipulation in his head.

-Ministry of Magic ~ Tuesday, July 12th-

Harry was sitting in an empty room taking a parchment test for his Defense Against the Dark Arts Mastery exam. Unlike his Charms Mastery where one had to demonstrate purely practical understanding of Charms to a degree that was judged to be at the appropriate level by a three-person panel of examiners. The DADA Mastery exam required a written test to go over more obscure topics or answer questions about Dark Creatures that couldn’t be provided for practical demonstrations. After all, the Ministry would greatly prefer that no Witch ort Wizard practiced any Dark Curses at all. Having a practical test for them would be completely counter to that point.

‘What are three useable defenses against Dark Curses that cannot be blocked by a Shield Charm?’ Harry read the next question. “Awareness of surroundings and quick reflexes, prepared Wards and Charms to keep those with ill intent away, and redirection of spells through blocking with inanimate objects; conjured, summoned, or transfigured.” Harry spoke quietly under his breath as he wrote. That answer covered most of the bases when it came to dealing with unblockable curses. Being aware that you were in a situation where you could be attacked would give you a better chance to avoid any such curses. Preparing Wards or protective Charms if you felt that you were being targeted was obvious and the best way to ensure that you weren’t killed in your sleep by someone with such ill intentions. And the most common method was to simply put something between yourself and the said unblockable curse. That was how the three Unforgivable Curses were usually dealt with, according to every book Harry had read to brush up for this exam.

It was too bad that Harry couldn’t give his own methods as answers. His Barrier would block even the so-called unblockable curses because that was the priority of effect that he gave his spell. His Magic Manipulation would divert the curses away from him or even back at the attackers if he so desired it. But as no one else could do such things (that Harry knew of) he went with a more textbook answer. Harry needed an Outstanding on this written test to pass his Mastery Exam, so he was taking no chances.

Harry was given a lunch break after the written test for lunch. He and Sirius got to eat at the Ministry cafeteria with Tonks while they waited for the practical portion of Harry’s exam.

“How do you think you did, Harry?” Sirius asked after washing down a bite of food with some pumpkin juice.

“I should get an Outstanding based on my answers. I went pretty by-the-book so that they’d all be considered ‘correct’ answers.” Harry said as he took another spoonful of beef stew. “If I gave some of my own answers, they’d definitely count them as wrong.”

Tonks almost snorted into her drink. “Not their fault that you semi-regularly defy common Magical knowledge.”

Harry only shrugged with a little grin on his face.

When the time came for Harry’s practical exam, he was first given the results of his written test.

“Congratulations, Mr. Potter, you’ve passed with an Outstanding for your written exam.” Griselda Marchbanks said to Harry with a smile.

“Thank you, Madam Marchbanks.” Harry returned the smile to the elderly Witch.

One of the other examiners brought out a rolling cart with multiple items on it. “Your first practical task is to determine what curses have been placed upon these items.”

The three examiners stepped back and readied their clipboards to evaluate Harry’s skill with identifying curses, a basic requirement for anyone hoping to get a Defense Against the Dark Arts Mastery.

Harry activated his Mage Sight spell and looked at each of the items for a moment, one after another. Seeing the Magic on the items, Harry was easily able to figure out what curses had been cast upon them. “The vase has the Flagrante Curse applied to it. That will burn anyone that touches it. The stationary set has the Bloodletting Curse on the quill. The Ink to Acid Curse has been cast on the inkwell. The parchment has a Deterioration Curse on it that will drain the strength and stamina of anyone that touches it.” Harry gave his answers while looking at the three examiners.

“Th-That’s correct…” One of the examiners nearly gaped as he gave Harry full marks. “But how? You didn’t cast a single charm to reveal anything.”

“That wasn’t necessary.” Harry said simply, not saying anything about his Mage Sight spell.

“Astounding.” The other examiner mumbled to himself, giving harry full marks as well.

Griselda Marchbanks chuckled at Harry performance, still remembering his Charms Mastery exam. “Next will be dealing with Dark Creatures. We have several subject from minor nuisances up to a few legitimate threats. You’re to demonstrate an adequate method of self-defense for each of the creatures. If you feel you have to kill one of them, do so, but do try and refrain from going too overboard.”

“Yes ma’am.” Harry agreed and watched as the wheeled cart with the cursed items on it was wheeled away.

Soon enough cages and crates were being brought in, some silent, others moving, and some had loud growling or other noises coming from them.

The first creatures let out of their crate was a group of five imps. The small creatures, no more than twenty centimeters tall at the largest, quickly rushed for any small thing that they could get their hands on to throw at Harry and the examiners. Imps were known to love to annoy, trip, or push anyone that they could for a laugh. They weren’t truly threatening for most any Witch or Wizard, being easily scared off by a simple Flipendo hitting them even once.

“There we are.” Harry simply flicked his index finger and all five imps’ arms snaped to their sides, their legs went straight and locked together, and then all five fell to the ground unable to move.

“Very effective use of the Petrificus Totalus, Mr. Potter, one of the examiners praised as he gave Harry full marks.

The imps were levitated back into their crate and taken away while the next container was brought forward. Harry noticed that all of three of the examiners were under a are of effect charm, possibly Protego Totalum, before the lid was removed.

“Billywigs.” Harry noted as soon as he saw the fast moving glints of sapphire blue that flew out of the container. The small insect were fast, which made them rarely noticed by the Non-Magical, and even most Witches and Wizards only saw them after they’d been stung. A swarm like this could actually be a real threat, even if the person in question wasn’t allergic. The buzzing got louder as the fast-moving insects approached Harry.

Fwoosh

Flames erupted in midair, torching the magical insect and making the dead bugs fall to the ground in droves. Like any insect, fire was a quick and efficient means of killing them.

“I think you can still harvest their stingers.” Harry mentioned as the examiners were marking down his scores. Billywig stingers were a Potions ingredient that could be found in several potions taught in Hogwarts.

“Excellently done, Mr. Potter.” Griselda nodded as the dead Billywigs were levitated back into their container and then taken away.

The next creature brought forth was a colorful bird in a cage. It’s bright pink feathers and almost ball-like shape made it easy to tell what it was, a Fwooper. The magical birds were known to cause insanity in those that listened to their chirping songs for too long.

A wave of Griselda’s wand and the Silencing Charm on the bird vanished.

“Twee…tweetweetwee…” The Fwooper began to sing and Harry felt nothing. His Occlumency stopped Magics that affected the mind, even the Fwooper’s insanity-causing song. However, as the Mind Arts were a rather esoteric Brach of Magic, the risk posed by an un-silenced Fwooper was very real. “Tweetweetwee…”

The song ended as Harry reapplied the Silencing Charm with barely a thought. Then, for good measure, he conjured a cloth to cover the cage and then placed a Silencing Charm on it as well.

“Very good, very good.” Griselda smiled at Harry as the Fwooper cage was taken away. “You knew that Fwoopers are susceptible to falling asleep if their cage is darkened.” She made an extra mark on her assessment for Harry’s knowledge.

A much larger crate was levitated out a short time later. When it was opened a group of ugly creatures, all roughly a meter in height, with red caps on their heads and holding clubs made of wood or bone stalked out. These were Redcaps. Some believed they were related to Dwarves, while others claimed they were related to Goblins. No true consensus had ever been reached as the Redcaps weren’t intelligent enough to speak human languages, and studies of their bodies only revealed further similarities between both Goblins and Dwarves. They were attracted to places where human blood had been spilt and the bludgeoned the unwary to death if their territory was infringed upon. For lone Non-Magical people, they were incredibly dangerous. For a competent Witch or Wizard, they were an aggressive nuisance more than anything.

“Grah!” The Redcaps let out a screech as they approached Harry, raising their various clubs threateningly.

“None of that now.” Harry waved his hand and the clubs were yanked from the hands of the Redcaps, floating high into the air.

“Gree!”

“Grrr!”

“Auuh!”

The Redcaps shrieked and snarled at their clubs being taken away. They went silent as they were all bound by the Petrificus Totalus that Harry cast on them. All of the Redcaps fell to the ground unmoving and Harry levitated them back into their crate and sealed them inside before letting the clubs gently land on top of the crate.

“Non-lethal and disarming them to make them less of a threat to others.” One examiner nodded in appreciation for Harry’s handling of the Redcaps. It was obvious that he’d given Harry full marks for not resorting to lethal measures, even if they were allowed.

The final crate was much, much larger than the rest and made of thick metal. Even still, it rocked slightly and loud grunts could be heard from within. When the large door swung open, Harry saw a beast that he hadn’t seen since his first year of Hogwarts, a Troll.

The large Troll was easily four meters tall, it’s dull grey skin denoted it as a Mountain Troll and it was wearing a ragged loincloth that looked to be stained with blood splatter. It was chained up within the metal crate but those restraints came loose by themselves as Harry’s next test began. The Troll grabbed a large wooden club from the floor of the metal crate before stalking out and staring at Harry.

“Well, aren’t you big?” Harry smiled at the Troll.

The Troll breathed in with a few deep sniffs through its nose. Its eyes showed its dim nature as they had no intelligence behind them. What they did have was bloodlust and hunger. The Troll was looking at Harry like he was prey.

Harry noted the blood splattered loincloth and the way the Troll was looking at him. The fact that they even had a Troll for this test, even for a Mastery, was somewhat odd if Harry thought about it. Which led him to a single hypothesis.

‘This thing’s killed and eaten humans before. It was probably captured to be killed and harvested for potions ingredients.’ Harry thought about the Mountain Troll’s presence. If it was a maneater, then its fate was already decided. The Ministry didn’t have much of any tolerance for dangerous Magical Creatures, and by exterminating a dangerous Troll, they could also legally lay claim to its materials.

“RAAAUUUHHH!!!” The Troll let out a loud, bellowing roar as it hefted its club high and started stomping towards Harry with heavy steps that made loud thuds each time its two-toed feet slammed against the stone floor. Most likely, the dull creature had never been truly hurt by a spell and so didn’t consider Witches and Wizards a threat. Troll hide was known to be resistant to Magic, after all, and only powerful Wizards and Witches could overcome it with their spells.

‘Glad I’m a little powerful.’ Harry thought to himself without changing his expression.

“BRAAAUUUHHH!!!” The Mountain Troll was in striking range and it was already salivating as it swung at Harry.

Crack

The wooden club shattered as it slammed into Harry’s barrier.

Not giving the Troll any time to realize what was wrong, Harry swiped his right index finger through the air.

The Troll went silent, its eyes blinking twice before growing duller. Then its head fell off its shoulders and landed with a ‘thump’ on the floor. The headless body fell backwards and crashed to the ground loudly. Thick Troll blood spewed from the neck, painting the stone a nasty reddish color.

“Lovely…” Harry grimaced at the smell that came with the blood. It was his first time killing something like a Troll, but aside from its humanoid appearance, the young man wasn’t overly bothered by it. Trolls were classified as ‘Beasts’ for a reason, and this was more akin to killing a violent ape or bear than a sapient creature. It was still a kill, and Harry was processing the life that he’d taken in his head, but it wasn’t something that would upset Harry or leave lasting effects on his mind.

A team of Witches and Wizards came over to remove the Troll’s corpse while Harry was motioned over to the three examiners.

“Very well executed, Mr. Potter.” Griselda nodded to the young man. “You were never in any danger, were you?”

Harry shook his head once. “No ma’am.” The Troll had no way to actually hurt Harry with him being aware of it. Had he somehow been unconscious and deaf, then perhaps, but the stench of the Troll and its heavy lumbering steps would’ve even woken the deaf. No, a Troll posed no threat to High Sorcerer Harry Potter.

“I don’t think there’s any debate, yes?” The examiner on the left looked at the other two.

“Not at all.” The examiner on the right agreed.

“I’d tell you both to get your heads examined if you thought there was reason for debate.” Griselda said to both of her subordinates before turning to Harry. “Mr. Potter, on behalf of the Wizarding Examinations Authority and the Ministry of Magic, we’d like to present you with a certificate and symbol of Mastery in Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

All three examiners tapped the parchments they’d been scoring Harry’s results on with their wands. The parchments rolled up into scrolls and then vanished. A few moments later another Witch entered the large chamber. She handed a framed certificate to Griselda first and then what looked like a badge of some kind. The younger Witch moved back to stand behind the three examiners after handing the items over.

“Harry James Potter, this certifies you as a Defense Against the Dark Arts Master.” Griselda handed the framed certificate to Harry. It was a parchment inlaid with gold that had Harry’s name on it, the legalese writing in cursive that described his achievement and accomplishments in DADA, and was finished off with a silvery Ministry seal. On the bottom edge were what appeared to be the signatures of Griselda and the other two examiners. “This,” She held up the badge. “as you already know, is a Symbol of Mastery. Just like your Symbol for Charms Mastery, you can keep it on you at all times if you desire. It proves beyond any doubt that you have earned your Mastery.”

“Thank you very much.” Harry gave a short bow to the three elder examiners as he accepted the certificate and the symbol. The symbol was almost identical to the one he got for Charms, a badge made of what appeared to be gold, silver, and potentially even platinum. The gold body of the badge had the seal of the International Confederation of Wizards on it in the background. Around the symbol, along the edge of the badge, were intricate lines of silver to decorate it. Inlaid within the gold was what Harry thought might be platinum, spelling out his name and the title ‘Defense Against the Dark Arts Master’ beneath it.

“You’ll be happy to know that you don’t have to stop by the Minister’s office before you leave, Mr. Potter.” Griselda chuckled and both of her fellow examiners cracked up when they saw the look of relief on Harry’s face.

“Harry!” Sirius beamed as he saw exit the examination room with a new certificate and badge. “No problems, eh?”

Harry shook his head once with a smile. “Not this time!” He laughed as Sirius pulled him into a hug and overdramatically proclaimed how proud he was.

The two headed for the offices of the DMLE to show Tonks as well.

-Auror Bullpen-

“Nym!” Harry called out loudly, startling the Metamorph.

A wall of transfigured air sprung up between Tonks and Harry as the Auror whipped around with her hand raised.

Harry examined the ‘air bricks’ with an amused eye. “Interesting… You did that without any hesitation.”

“Harry!” Tonks made the air return to normal as she shot him an unamused look. “You little prat!” She pulled him into a headlock and gave him a noogie for good measure. “So…?” She looked at the certificate and the badge in Harry’s hands.

“Second Mastery attained!” Harry displayed his accomplishment to Tonks with a grin.

Tonks smiled and gave Harry a warm hug. “Never doubted you for a second, Harrikins.”

“Celebratory dinner tonight?” Sirius offered Tonks with a wide grin.

“If you’re paying.” Tonks grinned right back at Sirius as she let Harry go.

Sirius took on a faux thinking look. “Well… I suppose I can… Since for Harry.”

“Much appreciated, dad.” Harry laughed and was pulled into a gentle hug by Sirius.

Tonks could only smile softly at the father-son moment between Harry and Sirius. She knew how much it meant to both of them that Harry could call Sirius ‘dad’ like this.

The two were let out of the Auror Bullpen by Tonks through the Floo, which could normally only be accessed by Aurors. It was a much faster way to get home than having to walk back through the Ministry to get to the public Floos.

-Next Morning-

“Well… That’s expected…but still a little annoying.” Ted mentioned as he saw the front page headline on the Daily Prophet.

‘Harry Potter ‘The Boy Who Lived’ stuns Magical Britain by earning his second Mastery!’

Tonks snorted at the headline. “You’d think they’d be less surprised after all the crazy things that Harry has already done.”

Andromeda read the first part of the article over her husband’s shoulder. “They didn’t even get Harry’s age right.” She tsked at the lack of fact-checking within the Prophet.

“Shocking.” Sirius said with a flat tone. “Anything I need to contact the family barrister for?”

Ted finished reading the article first, before looking up from the paper. “Doesn’t look like it this time. The article wasn’t written by Skeeter at the very least.”

“The fact that she’s allowed to write after all the ‘speculations’ that she’s made over the years is just a sign of the quality of the Daily Prophet.” Harry said with a wave of his hand. “The Quibbler is at least honest about being a tabloid.” He mentioned of the magazine that was floating in front of him as he ate his breakfast. Luna had asked if he read it and Harry couldn’t say ‘no’ to his little sister. It was a fun little magazine if one read it as satire and funny stories, rather than taking it seriously.

“Thanks for breakfast, mum.” Tonks finished her food and gave Andromeda a hug. “I’ll see you all after my shift.” She hugged Ted, Sirius, and Harry, leaving a kiss atop Harry’s head.

“Have a good day, honey.” Ted smiled at his daughter as she held her hand up to her mouth and cast a specialized teeth-cleaning spell. ‘Her wandless magic is getting much better ever since Harry started teaching her.’ He was a very proud father for all that his daughter had accomplished already in life.

-Saturday ~ July 16th ~ Morning-

“Is everyone ready?” Sirius questioned the group as they waited for the International Portkey to activate. They’d chosen eight in the morning for their departure as the time change would put them in the late afternoon when they arrived in Japan, the first trip abroad that they were taking as a family.

“We’ve got everything we need.” Andromeda nodded as she patted her suitcase. She eyed Ted’s, Harry’s, Sirius’s, and Nymphadora’s in turn to make sure that nobody was forgetting theirs.

“Ready and waiting.” Harry’s excited grin brought a smile to Sirius’ face. The prodigious Spellcrafter had been the one to choose the destination for their family trip as a reward for his various accomplishments (and staying out of trouble at Hogwarts, but Sirius thought Andromeda was being boring for rewarding that).

Harry had chosen Japan for the simple fact that he was interested in Magic that was vastly different from anything that was taught in Magical Britain. What better place to find such Magics than a country literally on the other side of the world?

“I believe this will be quite interesting.” Ted smiled at his family happily. It had been far too long since they’d all been able to take a trip together in his humble opinion.

“Let’s go, before Madam Bones gets the idea to call and tell me that the department needs me.” Tonks really wanted her first vacation in years!

“I’ve never been to the Far East before. I’m certain that it’ll be lovely.” Andromeda kissed her husband’s cheek, planning to have some time together on the trip.

“Should be about time,” Sirius looked at his watch before holding out the length of rope to the group. Andromeda, Harry, Tonks, and Ted all firmly grasped the rope as Sirius began a countdown. “Five, four, three, two, one!” A second later and they all felt the telltale ‘hook behind the navel’ feeling as they were whisked through a swirl of colors for a very long moment.

-Tokyo ~ Ministry of Magic-

The group of five landed from the International Portkey on their feet. Harry almost staggered from the sudden stop, but managed to keep his feet. Tonks wasn’t so lucky, falling over and having to scramble back to her feet with an embarrassed look on her face while cursing her clumsiness.

Looking around, Harry noticed that they were on a large platform. On both the left and right were more platforms that were receiving travelers. Harry looked forward and a large sign caught his attention. The sign read ‘日本の魔法省’ and Harry looked below that to see, in English, the words ‘Ministry of Magic of Japan’. Beneath that, in large characters, was the word ‘Welcome’ written in several languages.

The group moved off the platform when a uniformed man waved them over. An odd feeling ran over their bodies and Ted mentioned that it was likely a ward to disperse any form of concealment Magic or transfiguration before travelers could enter the country. They were directed to a desk not too far away with another Wizard sitting behind it. Sirius pulled out their travel information as they walked over. With a friendly smile and a nod of his head, he placed the documents on the desk.

“Welcome.” The Japanese Wizard greeted them in slightly accented English after glancing at the first page of their documents. “You’ve come to Japan on vacation, correct?” He questioned as he looked over the parchment and then at the group of five.

“Yes sir,” Sirius nodded in agreement. “Sirius Black, Andromeda Tonks, Ted Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, and Harry Potter.” He pointed to each of them in turn while the Japanese Wizard compared them to their photos on their documents.

After looking over all of the documents, the Wizard nodded and stamped the first page. A tap of his wand and the stamp glowed, turning a golden color. He pulled out a wooden box and opened it before turning it to face the five British Magicals. Inside the box were five small items that looked sort of like Non-Magical hearing aids. “We hope you enjoy your time in Japan.” He gave them a short bow from his seated position as the five of them put the items onto their ears. The Japanese Wizard then turned to face another Wizard next to a gate. {Let them through, Tanaka-san!} he spoke in Japanese, but thanks to the Magical Items they’d put on their ears, the British family could understand the words.

These particular items were called Linguistic Aides, and from what Harry knew of them, they were rather expensive. Sirius had paid extra to have one for each of them when they arrived in Japan. The item could be set to convert one spoken language into another which would be heard with barely any delay. To change the language required a specialist that knew the language the wearer wanted translated. Harry did wonder if he couldn’t make a spell that did the same, but he’d look into later, after his many more interesting ideas were tested.

The five of them passed through the gate after it was opened for them. The metal gate was closed behind them immediately afterwards. The group walked up a short flight of stairs and followed the signs (thankfully in multiple languages, one of them being English) and were out in the Magical District of Tokyo a short time later.

“This time change is so going to mess with me.” Tonks said with a sigh, seeing the position of the sun.

“We did just lose eight hours.” Ted chuckled at his daughter.

Andromeda looked at Sirius. “We should find our hotel first and put our things down.”

“My thoughts exactly, Andy!” Sirius agreed with a laugh. “But it’s not a hotel! I booked us at a traditional inn with a hot spring!” He loved spending some of the vast Black Family wealth on his family. The fact that it was on things that the old, bigoted Black Family would hate only made it better.

The exit from the Ministry hadn’t dumped them into the heart of Non-Magical Tokyo like the British Ministry did in London. But into what was clearly a type of Magical Alley like Diagon back home. The district was clearly built in an older style as compared to modern Tokyo. Harry was no expert on the history of the country, but he’d guess that it was probably similar to Diagon and might be about two-hundred years older than most of the Non-Magical buildings in Tokyo. Harry’s head was turning in every direction to try and take it all in. He saw a few creatures he wasn’t familiar with in the window of what seemed to be a Menagerie-style shop. There were shops similar to Scrivenshaft’s that sold parchment, ink, scrolls, and other stationary too. A few shops also sold things from Magical Europe, indicating that Magical Japan had a healthy international trade across the world.

Harry couldn’t wait to explore as much as possible of this new and interesting land!

The rest of the walk to the hotel was filled with taking in the sights of the area and making plans to explore it together as a family. When they got to their accommodations, all of them looked the traditional inn over. It had a high wall around it and a gate of thick wood. They walked through the open gate to a large garden courtyard and the three-story building was quite splendid. Made mostly of wood and with a tiled roof, it was a picturesque looking building.

The accommodations were explained by one of the polite hotel staff as they entered the building proper and checked in. They walked into a relatively large entrance hall, with couches and chairs where guests could sit and talk with each other. It was clear that the interior was constructed using traditional Japanese methods. The flooring was tatami, and all the doors appeared to be sliding doors. One of the features of the traditional inn that was explained by the helpful staff were the common bathing areas called ofuro. They were usually segregated by gender, and used the water from a hot spring if any were available nearby. After getting checked in, the family of five went to their large room that had quite a bit of space, more than enough for the five of them.

The rest of the evening was spent getting settled and trying out the yukata that the hotel provided. Harry didn’t mind the garment. It was comfortable and not that much different than a robe. He also thought that Tonks looked very nice in hers, which was an added bonus. Dinner was served by the staff and Harry enjoyed trying out the new cuisine. He’d never had tempura before, sashimi had taken a second for him to eat too. He wasn’t used to raw meat of any kind, but it had been tasty in the end. The hotpot was tasty and filling, probably one of his favorites so far. Dessert was anmitsu, which was sweet but unlike any dessert that Harry had ever eaten before.

“Bath time!” Tonks grinned as she and Andromeda headed for the hot spring. They were all looking forward to trying it out since it had been recommended.

“Shall we, Harry? Ted?” Sirius chuckled as the menfolk took their towels and walked down to the springs themselves.

The steam filled the area and rose into the open air as the three stepped out of the building. A few other men were already relaxing in the fairly large pool. Sirius walked forward with no shame, towel in hand, as he happily went with the customs of the land. Harry had debated on wearing his towel, but had shrugged it off after seeing Sirius nonchalantly going bare. Ted had his on for a bit, but seeing everyone else going without, he removed it before slipping into the spring.

“Ah~” Harry couldn’t help but sigh as he submerged his body in the hot water.

“Mhmm~” Sirius hummed as he relaxed against the edge not too far from his godson. “That’s nice.”

“I bet you were hoping for a bit of that co-ed bathing, huh?” Ted joked with Sirius, knowing of the slightly younger man’s old ‘playboy’ nature.

Sirius chuckled quietly, minding the sign that they’d seen that requested guests not to be overly loud and to not splash or swim in the spring. “If it was an option…then maybe.” He tried to look suave. “The ladies of the Far East haven’t had the ‘Sirius Black’ experience, after all.”

Harry and Ted both snorted and muffled their laughter.

“Aunt Andromeda would definitely hex you.” Harry laughed at his godfather.

Ted nodded in agreement. “Definitely. I wouldn’t be able to stop her.” He snickered at Sirius’s faux betrayed look.

The time spent relaxing in the hot spring was very enjoyable and when the family got out and returned to their room they redressed so that they could explore the Magical District.

“What should we see first?” Harry asked, clearly the most excited to check out everything.

“Let’s walk the main street first, then we can start exploring from there.” Andromeda smiled, seeing Harry so excited and happy.

With the basic plan set, the five of them started walking down the main street of the district and took in the sights.

In a short time Harry had a bag in hand and was filling it with various things that caught his interest from various small shops. Not to mention a few small souvenirs for his friends. Sirius laughed as he paid for it all, using the currency that he’d exchanged beforehand through Gringotts. Even if he felt a bit stiffed by the ‘fees’ the Goblins charged him to do it.

As the family of five had fun and experienced some of the culture of Japan, they didn’t notice that they were being watched by a pair of interested golden eyes. Said eyes were focused almost entirely on Harry. The watcher’s eyes did widen when Harry looked directly at them a minute or so after they started watching the young man. But Harry’s eyes slid past them a second later.

“My, my, aren’t you the interesting one?” The watcher murmured to themselves, wondering how Harry had noticed that he was being watched even though the watcher was concealed by a spell. “Not only a large amount of power, but sharp intuition as well. I’m quite curious now.” The watcher seemed to vanish into the shadows, the last thing to disappear being their golden eyes, which almost seemed to glow.

-End Chapter-

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Harry earns his Defense Against the Dark Arts Mastery! Woo!

But was there ever any doubt? Kek!

The first meeting of the Junior Dueling League wasn’t very exciting for Harry. One would think that Draco would know not to be a boastful prat…but you can’t fix stupid.

Those spells he was using were rather ‘dark’ leaning, however. Harry notices and yet still makes it clear that no matter what Draco thinks he knows, Harry knows FAR more.

Trip abroad for the family! Yay! It’s to Japan because Harry wants to be as far removed from the Magic of Europe as possible. He’s so curious, as always! Ha! We’ll Harry be able to pick up some new Magical knowledge from the Land of the Rising Sun?

He’s already got a mysterious watcher just by walking through the main street of the Tokyo Magical District! Who is this watcher and what could they possibly want with Harry?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!