Chapter 3
It had been a stressful 24 hours for Minerva McGonagall. First, making sure no-one did something unwanted with the Goblet of Fire, then the drawing of champions from said Goblet the night before and the summoning of someone who was thought to be dead. The arrival of a young man directly after the name of Harry Potter had come out of the Goblet had been a shock, but for said man to claim that he had once been named Harry Potter was even more shocking. Especially since the man appeared to be almost a decade older than he should be, if he was indeed Harry Potter.
So, after spending the night reflecting on what had happened, she arrived at the Great Hall, tired, and more strict than usual. After two cups of tea, she started to feel a bit better. She was on her fifth cup when Harry – or Takumi, as his name was now – entered the great hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. Just a few minutes later, the mail arrived and an owl dropped something in front of Harry/Takumi. At first, she didn't pay it any attention, but then a large cloud of smoke covered that part of the Great Hall, and she – along Professors Flitwick and Sprout – started to observe the spot the smoke had appeared in.
At first, she couldn't see anything, but as the smoke cleared, she began to see the silhouettes of three people. Once the smoke was gone, she could see who it was that had come there in the smoke.
All three of the newcomers were women. The first was a young woman in the late teens or early twenties. She had brilliant blue eyes and deep yellow hair, similar in colour to a dandelion, in a ponytail. She wore black trousers, some strange fishnet like shirt with a black tank top on top and a deep red coat with black flame-like pattern around the bottom. Around her forehead, she wore a bandana with a metal plate on, similar to what Harry/Takumi wore.
The next was also a young woman of similar age. She had dark hair that seemed almost purple when hit by light. As Minerva studied the young woman's face, she frowned. The girl had completely white eyes… was she blind?
Leaving that though aside for now, Minerva continued to scrutinize the woman. She, too, had dark trousers, but unlike the first woman, she wore a lavender coloured jacket that was closed up to the sternum, leaving just a slight hint of cleavage. She also had her bandana around her neck, rather than her forehead.
The last woman was of indeterminate age. She could be 30, she could be 50. It was hard to tell. She had honey-brown eyes and light blond hair that was kept in two pigtails with two bangs framing her face. On her forehead was a diamond shaped, purple marking of some sort. She wore grey pants, a grey bathrobe looking thing that was held together with a thick cloth-like belt as a shirt, and a deep green jacket on top of that.
Standing up, she, Flitwick and Sprout began to make their way down to the newcomers, when the younger blond woman spotted Harry/Takumi and jumped him, planting her lips against his. Shocked at this behaviour, Minerva spoke out loud.
"What in Merlin's name's going on here?!"
"I see…" Tsunade said. "Then, answer me this, Dumbledore-san. Takumi was taken from his home and wife against his will, by an item he has never seen, to a place he has never been, and is being forced to remain here under the threat of death or crippling injury. How is that not kidnapping?"
"Well, for it to be kidnapping, a nefarious purpose would have to be behind it, and that is not the case here. As for being forced to remain here, as his name came out of the Goblet, Harry is bound by contract to compete in the tournament, as he would be stripped off his magic, should he fail to turn up at the first task. As such, for his safety, he has to stay here."
Sighing, Tsunade leaned back in her chair. She recognized the type of person Dumbledore was. Due to his age, he believed himself to be better and more intelligent than anyone else, and thus didn't listen to any advice given. And since he was in a position of power, he believed himself above the law, and wouldn't hesitate to do anything, if he believed it was the right thing to do.
The former Elders and advisors on the council had been the same when she took over as Hokage. Fortunately, most of them had died in the war, and had been replaced with younger and far more altruistic men and women.
"And there is no way to break this…'contract', is there?"
"I'm afraid not," Dumbledore said, with a sad look on his face that just screamed 'fake' to the four shinobi. "Until the tournament is completed in June next year, Harry will have to stay here."
'Which will give me plenty of time to mould Harry into a perfect pawn for me to use' Dumbledore thought as he observed the three interlopers of his plans. 'I have to find some way to break this, so-called marriage, Harry is in. He must marry a light witch, so that when he dies, the Potter fortune remains in the Light.'
The four shinobi exchanged a look with one-another.
"Very well… So tell us about this 'tournament'." Tsunade asked Dumbledore.
"Of course. The Tri-Wizard Tournament is a tournament between the three most premiere magical schools in Europe, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. There will be three tasks, spread through-out the academic year, with the first task a few weeks from now and the last task a few weeks before the end of the school year. The tasks will be watched by the schools and dignitaries from the different Ministries, and judged by the Headmasters/Headmistress of said schools, plus two government officials."
"I see… Very well. We will stay here during this tournament, and I demand to be on the judging panel as the former superior Takumi and recently retired leader of Konoha."
"But…"
"That is non-negotiable!"
Dumbledore gave out a sigh.
Very well. Now, as the rule states that the only tool allowed during the tasks is a wand, Mr. Potter will have to get one. As such, after lunch today, one of the teachers will take him to Diagon Alley, where he will be able to procure a wand for himself."
Tsunade blinked.
"I'm sorry, but who is this 'Potter' you are talking about?"
"That would be me." Takumi said. "Harry Potter was my name before I came to Konoha."
Tsunade nodded in understanding before turning back to Dumbledore.
"Now, we need a place to stay while we are here."
"Of course." Dumbledore said. "I'll have one of the House-Elves prepare three rooms for you to use…"
"That won't be necessary." Naruko interrupted him. "I will be staying with my husband while we are here, so only two rooms will be needed."
"Ah, of course…" Dumbledore said, a brief look of discontent on his face. "The rooms will be next to Mr. Potters', so he can show you were they are."
The four shinobi gave Dumbledore a nod, and after Tsunade had risen to her feet, they followed her out of the office.
Watching them leave, Dumbledore sank back in his chair as soon as the door closed behind them. He was not happy. Sure, the return of Harry Potter had been a godsend boon to him, the appearance of the three women was not. The simple fact that they had succeeded in coming here meant that young Harry had a way out. That caused him to lose one of the possible holds he could have had on the boy, since he no longer could keep him here with the promise to find a way to get him home, only to say that he was 'working' on it when asked.
Not only that, but Harry claimed to be married, and to someone not proven to be 'Light' to boot! That wouldn't do… that wouldn't do at all!
Sighing, Dumbledore looked at his phoenix and asked.
"What should I do, Fawkes?"
The phoenix just thrilled in response.
It was a silent group that followed Takumi as he led them to where he was staying. The had all made a silent agreement not to speak of what to do until they were somewhere private, and had a barrier seal in place.
Once inside Takumis' room, Naruko quickly put up a barrier before they all sat down.
"I take it you all noticed it." Tsunade began.
"Yes," Hinata answered. "That man, Dumbledore, is the same as the former Elders back home. He also seems to have some sort of interest in Takumi-kun, and I don't think he has Takumis' best interests at heart."
"I've noticed that too." Takumi said. "His reaction to Naru-chan being my wife, makes me think he's seeking some sort of control over me. What type of control, I do not know, but that's the feeling I get."
"There's no way in Yami's dark hole I'll let some beardy old bastard keep me from Ta-kun, 'ttebane!" Naruko exclaimed, before looking a bit sheepish.
"It seems your verbal tick has come back again, Naruko-chan." Hinata said with a small smile.
"Ehehehe… sorry."
"Anyway, while we are here, treat this place as hostile territory." Tsunade continued. "While I'm not saying you should act as if we were at war, at least be careful and don't trust any adult. Hell, even take what the kids say with a pinch of salt."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the other three answered.
Looking at his wrist-watch, Takumi made a note of the time.
"It's about two hours before it's time for lunch. Perhaps we should look around the school and familiarize ourselves with the area?"
"Sounds like a good idea." Tsunade said. "Let's say we meet up again at the place we arrived in two hours, so we can eat before that wand business this afternoon."
Taking down the barrier, they left the room and went on their way. Hinata and Tsunade on their own, and Naruko with Takumi.
Some time later.
With Tsunade.
She had been walking through the halls of the castle for almost 30 minutes, now, and so far she hadn't seen anything that was worth noting. Continuing down the hallway, she came across a room she thought she recognized. Looking inside, she smiled. It appeared she had found the medical area of the castle.
Stepping inside, she was met with a stern-looking older woman, dressed in red and white.
"Hmm, you don't seem to be injured, or having any form of sickness…" The woman said, waving her wand around a bit before stopping. "That can't be right…"
"Oh? What can't be right?"
"Well, according to my scans, you're almost as old as I am, but from the looks of you, you're only about thirty."
"Well thank you." Tsunade said. "My beauty is one of the things I pride myself on. Now, my name is Senju Tsunade, who are you?"
"Oh, sorry! I'm Madam Pomfrey, the assigned Healer here at Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you. As I said, my name is Tsunade, former fifth Hokage of Konoha and current director of Konoha's Hospital. I was looking around the castle when I found this room, and thought, 'why not see how healing is done here?'. Do you have time to talk for a bit?"
"Yes, I believe I have some time right now. Why don't you come into my office and have some tea while we talk?"
"That sound nice." Tsunade said, following Madam Pomfrey into another room.
With Hinata.
Having found herself outside, Hinata was walking along the shore of a large lake. Every so often, she would activate her Byakugan, and try to see if she could spot anything of note. So far, all she had seen had been in the lake. There were several creatures living in the lake, and there was some type of village in the middle of it.
But the only thing worth mentioning so far was the giant, octopus-like creature swimming in the lake. At first, she thought that perhaps Killer B, or the Hachibi had ended up there somehow, but as the creature came closer, she noticed that it didn't have the chakra network of a Jinchuuriki, nor was it made of chakra, like a Bijuu was.
Thus, she could only assume that the creature was completely natural, and was supposed to be there.
Turning away from the lake, she walked towards the forest she could see a few hundred meters away. She wondered what kinds of creatures lived in there.
With Naruko and Takumi.
The couple had decided to go upwards in their exploration of the castle. That meant they now stood on top of the highest tower in the castle, looking out over the grounds. They could see Hinata move from the lake towards the forest, and groups of students moving between different classes. Leaning on the battlement, Takumi embraced her from behind, and Naruko relaxed into his chest.
"This world feels weird." Naruko says.
"I know. There is something in the air that shouldn't be there, and for all the hate and violence our world held, there is a darkness here that far surpasses anything I've ever felt before. Not even Kaguya or the Juubi held such a darkness inside them."
Naruko sighs, and leans deeper into Takumis' embrace.
"We can only hope our presence here doesn't cause unnecessary troubles, but…"
Saying nothing, Takumi just nods, and the couple remains there in silence until it was time to meet Hinata and Tsunade again.
Soon, they were back in the hall where they had arrived, and sat down at one of the tables in order to eat. Looking around the table, they saw only a few things they recognized, such as two types of chicken and three types of sausages, but barely no vegetables.
Wondering how in Yami's black hole not everyone was obese with food like this, the four shinobi only took a small part of what they recognized, before agreeing to go hunt in the forest once they were back in order to avoid such fat and tasteless food in the future.
It was some thirty minutes later, when the short man from the morning, Filius Flitwick, came over to them and told them that he was the one who was going to guide them during their trip to Diagon Alley. Following him to his office, he explained how they were to travel there.
"We will be using something called the Floo Network. It's a method of travel that makes use of the fireplaces in wizarding society." He began. "By using a special powder, we can step into a fireplace anywhere that belongs to a wizard or witch, call out where we want to go, and step out of the fireplace in said location only moments later."
Pointing towards a pouch filled with a green powder, he continued.
"Take a pinch of that powder, and step into the fireplace. We are going to the Leaky Cauldron, which is the entrance to Diagon Alley, so clearly state its name, and throw the powder towards your feet in order to begin the travel."
Deciding to go first, Takumi took a pinch of the green powder and stepped into the fireplace. Declaring 'The Leaky Cauldron!' with a loud voice, he threw the powder down, and in a fwoosh of green fire, he was gone. The trip was strange for Takumi. He could see flashes of several homes, some with people near the fireplace – and were those two doing what he thought they were doing!? – before the trip suddenly stopped, and he stumbled out of the fireplace, into what looked like a dingy pub.
Turning around, he was just able to brace himself, before getting his arms full of his wife, as she flew out of the fireplace. A few moments later, Hinata stumbled out, followed by Tsunade and Flitwick.
After dusting himself off, Flitwick motioned them to follow him, and led them out the back of the pub. Taking out his wand and tapping on the brick wall, he stepped to the side as the wall opened up, revealing a hidden street.
"Welcome, to Diagon Alley!"
The four shinobi all looked out over the Alley, making sure they saw as much as possible of it. Turning back to Flitwick, they looked at him for direction of where to go.
"Our first stop will be Gringotts." The tiny Charms Professor said. "Gringotts is the wizarding bank, and as Mr. Potter has an account there, he will be able to get enough money to buy what is needed. The bank is run by Goblins, so please, try not to stare."
Following Flitwick through the Alley, they soon came upon a white building with 'Gringotts' in bold, golden letters on front. Moving up the stairs, they entered the bank, all noticing the scripture on the wall.
Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
Flitwick led them to a teller in the back, and spoke to the Goblin.
"Greetings, Brother. May your gold ever flow…"
"And may your enemies fall at your feet." The teller answered. "How may Gringotts help you today, Brother?"
"With me today I have Harry Potter – though he now uses a different name – so a meeting with the Potter account manager would be needed."
"Of course. You do know that a test will be needed to prove he really is Harry Potter, don't you?"
"As should be expected."
"Then follow me."
The Goblin stepped out from behind the till, and led them through a pair of doors in the back of the bank. After about a minute, they came to an office, and after knocking on the door, the Goblin left them.
The door opened, and they entered the office.
"Greetings." Said the Goblin sitting behind the desk. "I am Axegrinder, the Potter account manager."
He reached into a drawer and pulled out a sheet of parchment and a dagger.
"Now, to prove that you truly are a Potter, please place some of your blood on the parchment, and we will know your closest family."
Axegrinder raised an eyebrow, as the black-haired male didn't pick up the dagger, but rather raised a hand to his mouth and bit down on his thumb, drawing blood. The male then swiped the bleeding thumb over the parchment, leaving a trail of blood behind.
The gathered people all looked at the parchment as it flashed briefly, before letters and words began to appear on it. Soon, they could see what it said.
Name: Uzumaki-Ishimaru Takumi (Formerly Harry Potter)
Father: James Charlus Potter
Mother: Lily Potter née Evans
Godfather: Sirius Orion Black
Godmother: Alice Longbottom
Wife: Uzumaki Naruko
Unborn child
The first six was expected, but the last one, was not. Naruko was the first to react.
"Eh? I'm… pregnant?"
Tsunade was on her in a heartbeat, a diagnostic jutsu at the ready. Running her hand over Narukos' lower belly, Tsunade checked and double-checked, before confirming it was true.
"It's true. You are about 2-3 weeks pregnant, so I would set the due date sometime in late June to mid-July."
As soon as she heard this, Naruko hugged Takumi while exclaiming; "We are gonna have a baby!"
Takumi, still in shock, could only hug her back, while happiness bloomed in his chest.
"Congratulations, Mr. Potter." Axegrinder said. "Now that we have confirmed that you are who you claim you are, how can Gringotts help you today?"
"Huh? Oh, right." Takumi turned towards Axegrinder while still hugging Naruko. "Well, we need money, but we know nothing about what currency you use, nor do we have any idea about how much money we would need for our trip to the Alley."
"I see." Axegrinder nodded. "The currency used by the magical world are called Knuts, Sickles and Galleons.
He picked out three types of coins.
"This one here," he held up a bronze coin, "is the Knut. It's the lowest of the currency, and there are 29 Knuts to the Sickle, which is the next step up."
This time, he held up a silver coin.
"This is the Sickle, and there are 17 Sickles to the Galleon, which is the gold coin, and the highest form of our currency. Now, if you are to shop in the Alley, I would suggest no less than 300 Galleons, as it would cover most expenses."
Looking at each other, the four shinobi nodded.
"Thank you, Axegrinder, that would be excellent." Takumi said.
Nodding, Axegrinder rang a bell, and moments later, another Goblin entered the office. Looking at the Goblin, Axegrinder spoke to him.
"Leatherbeak, prepare a purse with 300 Galleons from the potter account, and bring it here."
"Yes, Master Account manager." The Goblin, Leatherbeak, said, before leaving.
Turning back to Takumi and the rest, Axegrinder spoke again.
"Unless there are something else, your gold will be here in about a minute, and then our business for today will be concluded."
"No, nothing more." Takumi said. "Thank you, Axegrinder."
"Of course, Mr. Potter. And, congratulations, again."
Not long after that, Leatherbeak returned with a purse filled with coins, and the group was led out of the bank.
"Well, now that that is done, it's time to get you a wand, Mr. Potter." Flitwick said as he led the way again.
Soon, they stood in front of a rickety building with a sign that said:
Ollivanders Wands
Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
Stepping inside, the four shinobi immediately went on high alert, as they could feel a presence close to them, but were unable to see anything. That was when Ollivander himself appeared. Unfortunately, he decided to appear behind Naruko and was thus almost impaled by a kunai wielded by a high-strung Takumi.
Fortunately, Takumi was able to stop himself only a fraction of an inch before killing the wandmaker, but he still scared the living daylight out of Ollivander.
"Well…" Ollivander said, holding his chest in fright. "That was new…"
"Sorry." Takumi said. "But you appeared behind my wife, and, well…"
"No worry, young one." Ollivander said, before mumbling to himself; "Perhaps I should stop doing that…"
Ollivander looked around and spotted Flitwick.
"Ah, Filius Flitwick. Aspen wood and Unicorn hair, 7 ¾ inches. I hope it still works as good as it did when it choose you?"
"That it does, Garrick. That it does." Flitwick said with a chuckle. "But Mr. Potter here needs a wand, so if you could be so kind…"
"Of course." Ollivander said, turning towards Takumi. "Ah, Mr. Potter. I almost expected to never see you in this shop, when you didn't come here in '91. I remember when I sold your parents wands. Your fathers' wand was mahogany and dragon heartstring, 11 inches, while your mothers' was willow and unicorn hair, 10 ¼ inches. Let's see what is fit for you."
Ollivander vanished into the back of his shop, and returned a few minutes later with his arms filled with boxes. Setting the boxes down on a table, he picked a wand and handed it to Takumi.
"Oak, and dragon heartstring. Go on, give it a swish." He said, motioning Takumi to wave it.
Shrugging his shoulders, Takumi gave the wand a wave, and almost dropped it as the windows exploded outwards.
"Nope, not that one." Ollivander said, taking the wand from his hand. "Hm, this one. Holly, phoenix feather. Give it a try."
Taking the new wand, Takumi waved it a bit more carefully this time. This time, nothing exploded, but the wand almost seemed to melt in his hand, becoming all flaccid, like it was made of cloth rather than wood.
"I've never seen that happen before." Ollivander said as he looked at the wand in interest. "Not to worry, there are plenty of wands in here."
Over the next couple of hours, Takumi tried wand after wand, but none of them worked at all.
"This is fascinating!" Ollivander exclaimed. "In all my years, I've never encountered a customer I can't find a wand for!"
The wandmaker looked almost giddy in anticipation.
"For you, Mr. Potter, I will have to custom make a wand. And for that I will need you to come into the back of my shop so that I can match you to the type of tree needed for that wand and what core to use."
Following Ollivander into the back of the shop, they stopped at three doors.
"Inside these rooms are the materials I use to craft the wand in my shop." Ollivander explained. "What I want you to do, Mr. Potter, is to enter the first two rooms in order to find the wood and core needed for your wand, and then bring the materials into the last room, where I will craft the wand."
Nodding, Takumi stepped into the first room, and found it filled with different types of wood. Not knowing what to do, he looked around until his eyes fell upon a piece of wood in the back. Feeling somewhat drawn to the wood, he walked closer and picked it up. The piece of wood felt warm to the touch, and there was nothing else in there that caught his interest, so he left the room.
"Ah, I see you have found the wood needed." Ollivander said as Takumi came back outside. "And… Oh, my. Cherry wood from a tree that grew at a shrine in Kyoto, Japan."
"Is there something special about that wood?" Naruko asked.
"Oh, yes. Wood from a Cherry tree is rarely used outside of Japan when it comes to wands, and the tree itself represent Rebirth and Purity. Now, let's see if you can find the core for your wand, Mr. Potter."
Nodding, Takumi stepped into the next room, where every wall was covered in shelves, that in turn was filled with jars containing different materials. As soon as he entered, he felt drawn to two sides of the room. On one side, there was a jar containing a golden feather that seemed to spark on its own, and on the other, a jar that seemed to contain some type of blue-green hair. Grabbing both jars, he stepped out again.
"Oho, two cores? Now, aren't you an interesting customer!" Ollivander said with glee, as he saw what Takumi had brought. "Tail-feather of a Thunderbird and hair of a Naiad, interesting…"
"What do you mean, 'interesting', Garrick?" Flitwick asked.
"The feather a Thunderbird will make the wand powerful, but hard to master, and will be perfect for transfiguration, while the hair of a Naiad will make the wand harder to control in the beginning, but once the wand is mastered, it will steady the flow of magic through the wand, giving its master the ability to cast more powerful spells at a lesser cost of magic."
Ollivander now looked like a child at Christmas.
"Now, if you could put the materials in the last room, Mr. Potter, I will begin to craft your wand. It will take some time, but I will bring it to Hogwarts myself once it is finished. Now, the cost of the wand will be 35 Galleons, as the materials are very rare to come by."
Handing the money over to Ollivander, the group left the wand-shop and floo'ed back to Hogwarts from the Leaky Cauldron. Having spent almost four hours at Ollivanders, it was soon time for dinner. Leaving the castle, they entered the Forbidden Forest in order to hunt, and soon came upon a wild boar.
Killing the animal, they skinned and gutted it before cooking it over an open fire. Once they had eaten, they returned to the castle and turned in for the night. Holding each other, Takumi and Naruko went to sleep with smiles on their faces, as they thought about the child that their love had produced.
And that's it for this chapter. Next to be updated is 'A Child of Light and Madness', but that chapter will be short as it will basically only cover the meeting between Sheogorath and Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, plus some notes about how the summer was for Halios, Seren, Neville and Hermione.
Until next time, enjoyy guys