Harry Potter & the Shipgirls

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Thoughtfully chewing on the stick of pocky in her mouth, Naka barely reacted to the door to her studio opening besides snorting. "Close that door, I don't want people just walking in."

After closing the door, Sendai ran over and threw her arms over her sister's shoulders from behind the chair. "So whatcha doing?" Then she blinked at what was on multiple computer monitors. "Um... why are you spying on Teitoku and Nagato-San? I mean, I would expect for Aoba to spy on them in doing YASEN! But not you."

For several moments, Naka just chewed her pocky before reaching up and bopping Sendai on the head. "I'm not spying on them, Yasen-Baka. And they're not doing that, you perv."

Rubbing her head, Sendai shrugged. "Then who are you spying on?"

Naka glanced at her and then turned back to the monitor before offering a pocky stick. "You hear about that envelope that Harry-Chan got?"

Slowly nodding, Sendai hummed. "Yeah, some kind of magic school over in Britain, right?"

Pausing, Naka turned and gave her sister a look. "Should I even ask how you know exactly what is going on?"

All Sendai did though was grin. "No, because..." She threw her scarf around her face as if it was a mask and went into a pose. "I'm an awesome ninja like that. Nothing gets pass this grandmaster of ninjutsu!"

Chewing her pocky, Naka raised an eyebrow. "Riiiight." With Sendai slumping her shoulder, Naka turned back to the monitors. "Anyways, the representatives just showed up and Teitoku wants me to keep an eye on the meeting just in case they pull something."

That caused Sendai to blink before she pulled a chair over and turned it around to sit in it before resting her arms on the back. "Huh..." Narrowing her eyes, she glanced at the clock and did some quick math. "Wait, shouldn't they already be there? It's not that far from the gate to that conference room."

Doing some quick notes, Naka grunted. "Haruna is handling them with Rose. They're taking the scenic route."

Sendai chuckled as she understood the meaning behind that. 'Make sure that they're just lost enough that it'll give us some time to get them if they do something.' It was then that she narrowed her eyes and leaned in. "Wait... there's no cameras in that location. And I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't be wired for sound."

It was Naka's turn to smirk a bit before winking. "Naka-Chan can computer." At Sendai's eyeroll, she laughed. "Okay, okay... all I did was use the old smartphones I had laying around, network them together, and then set them up for surveillance purposes."

Just staring at her, Sendai boggled. "You can do that?!"

With a grin, Naka snapped her fingers. "Yup, now you may bow before my mad haxxor skillz."

Gently shoving the laughing Naka's shoulder, Sendai snorted. "As if." Turning back to the monitors, Sendai rubbed her chin. "So... Teitoku asked for you to keep an eye on things just in case...?"

Expression turning serious, Naka sighed. "Yeah, we don't know anything about these people. For all we know, they might take out the normal cameras and make a move. Hopefully not, but..."

At her helpless shrug, Sendai grunted. "Yeah." It was then that she glanced at the monitor for a camera in the hall and her pocky nearly fell out of her mouth. "Shit! Look at the size of that guy."

Whipping her head around, Naka's eyes widened at the sight of Hagrid walking down the hall. "... Uh, the fuck?"

Both Cruisers shared a look before Naka sent off a text that she could see Nagato receive on the monitors. Then the Battleship walked toward the door as Naka and Sendai leaned in to watch.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Opening the door, Nagato blinked and slowly tilted her head back to see the massive man smiling at her from behind a bushy beard. "'Ello, yeh must be this Miss Nagato." Before she could react, he pulled her into a hug. "Thank yeh for takin' care of 'Arry."

When she was set down, it was only the work of a moment for her to recover and shake off her shock. "It's wasn't any problem, I love my son deeply."

Even though Hagrid missed the hidden message, McGonagall didn't and had to hide a wince. 'This... may be more complicated then expected.' Giving Nagato a nod, McGonagall stepped into the room only to stop. At the table was an older man looking through some notes while Harry watched on. But it was the white haired little girl in a white dress with black metal bits in various places that caused the experienced witch to freeze. Not showing her terror, McGonagall turned to Nagato and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, but I must ask... is that an Abyssal?"

Nagato ratchetted up her estimation of the woman in front of her several notches at how she tried to keep calm, despite the fear she could sense. "She is, her name is Hoppou and she's the Northern Ocean Princess. After an incident she... came to stay here and I've adopted her. She considers Harry her big brother and that's why she's here."

If anything, that along with how the small Abyssal was glaring at her, caused McGonagall to pale. "I... see." Pulling her eyes away from the sight, she glanced at Hagrid who was looking at the Abyssal in surprise. 'Quite complicated...'

Unheeding of the situation, Hagrid walked forward and gave the little Abyssal a smile. "Well now, 'ello there little one. Never seen an Abyssal from up close before."

Narrowing her eyes, Hoppou just glared. "You're going to try and take Big Brother away... Go Home!"

However, Nagato just fixed her with a look. "Hoppou, we've talked about this. Now, behave."

While the sight of the pouting Hoppou caused McGonagall's eyes to widen, Hagrid just shook his head. "Now there, we're not here ta take 'Arry away." Then he turned toward a wide eyed Harry and his eyes twinkled. "Blimey! 'Arry Potter, why... I have not seen yeh since yeh were just a small babe."

Blinking, Harry gulped. "You know me?"

Slowly nodding, Hagrid sniffled a bit. "Aye, I knew both your parents, 'Arry. Good people Lily and James were, didn' deserve what happened to them. Las' time I saw yeh, it was when yeh were left at your relatives." Not noticing the wince from McGonagall or the looks from the others, Hagrid shook his head. "I think that yeh are better here, though then with them ruddy muggles."

Glancing at McGonagall, Nagato cleared her throat. "You... were there when my son was left at those relatives of his?"

Just sighing, McGonagall shook her head and answered before Hagrid could. "We both were actually." She then gave Harry a sorrowful look. "I had been observing your aunt and uncle the whole day, Mr. Potter. At the time, it was thought that despite appearances, it was best that you were left with the only blood relatives that you had. I am deeply sorry that things turned out the way they did though I am happy that you found a much better family." Giving a nod to Nagato, she thinly smiled. "One that is more responsible and can protect you."

At this point, Goto stood up and held out his hand. "I think that such explanations can wait. I am Rear Admiral Isoroku Goto of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. I am in charge of this base and all the shipgirls here."

Once McGonagall had shaken his hand as did Hagrid, Nagato stiffened some. "I am the Battleship Nagato of the Big Seven."

Within a few minutes the introductions were all done and McGonagall sat down only to notice the chair for Hagrid and grimaced before turning toward Goto. "I'm sorry, but would you mind if I..."

After he nodded, Goto watched as she somehow caused the seat to grow until it was large enough for Hagrid to sit in comfortably. "Extraordinary." He then gave her a piercing look. "I was under the impression though that under normal circumstances you would not be doing this in front of me or that I can look forward to... issues, afterwards."

McGonagall winced, but nodded. "If this was a few years ago, yes. However, I doubt very much that it would endear us to you and that it would be likely to work. Also..." For a brief moment she looked much older then she was before she shook it off. "It may not be necessary for much longer, though I do wonder where you might have come across that information."

Tightly smiling, Goto gave a chuckle. "I found out from a close friend."

Knowing that she was not going to be getting any more information, McGonagall nodded. "Now then... I would think that you would have questions and we'll try to answer them to the best of our ability."

When he saw the sharp glance she shot Hagrid who was looking at various things in wonder, Goto held back a chuckle. 'Hmm...' Outside though, he just nodded. I think that would be for the best."

For her part, Nagato leaned forward and clasped her hands in front of her face. Looking at her, McGonagall was reminded of a mother dragon protecting her hatchlings and then shivered as she remembered that the woman in front of her was as dangerous, if not more so, then any female dragon. "Before we discuss this school, I think that I would like to know more about your... relationship, with Harry. Especially how you came to be there the night that he was left at his relatives." Her eyes then narrowed and glinted dangerously. "As well as what actually happened to Harry's parents."

Having expected this, McGonagall nodded with a sigh. "I suppose so." Looking at a painting of some Muggle warship plowing through waves, McGonagall consolidated her thoughts. "Perhaps a bit of background would help?" At their nods, she continued. "Our world, much as the muggle one, has both good and bad in it. Years ago, there was a group in England known as the Death Eaters lead by a Dark Lord, what we call a powerful, evil wizard. Now, You-Know-Who-"

A frown on his face, Harry blinked. "Um... I don't know who?"

Just blinking, McGonagall paused, only for Hagrid to shiver and answer. "People are still scared to speak 'is name... but it's..." Swallowing, Hagrid took a deep breath. "Voldemort, there I said it."

Raising an eyebrow, Goto frowned. "Flee from death?" At the looks, he shrugged. "I've picked up bits and pieces of other languages."

There was a thin smile on McGonagall's face. "Quite." Placing her hands in her lap, she continued. "Now, there are those in our world who believe that one's ancestry decides how good they will be at magic or how worthy."

Hagrid grunted a bit. "Bunch o' codswallop if yeh ask me!" He then winked at Harry. "Yeh mum... uh, birth mum, Lily, was one of the best witches that I've ever known!"

Fondly smiling, McGonagall nodded. "Lily was a very powerful and talented witches I have ever had the honor to teach. Your father was also a very good wizard." Clearing her throat, she then took a deep breath. "Now... the way things are classified is that you have Muggleborn such as your birth mother, Lily. These are people born with magic to those who don't have any. Then you have what some call 'Purebloods', which are those without any non-magical ancestors to their great-great grandparents. Then... we have Halfbloods. People such as yourself who either have a Muggleborn or Muggle as a parent or grandparent and the other usually being a Pureblood. Quite silly in my mind, but there you have it."

Intrigued, Goto glanced at where Rose was making some tea. "Fascinating... though may I ask what this has to do with these Death Eaters?"

Grimacing, the witch sighed. "The Death Eaters have the belief that the only ones 'Worthy' of being magical and who should have full rights are Purebloods. Anyone else is second class citizens or, in the case of Muggles such as yourself... just above the animals and thus not human. In fact, they called for the extermination of all but the Purebloods."

Eyebrows furrowing, Harry frowned. "That sounds like the Nazis."

It went without saying that there was a thin smile on McGonagall's face. "You're quite right and I suspect that they may have been inspired by them..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Still watching the two magicals, Nagato narrowed her eyes slightly. "May I ask what a group of magical neo-nazis have to do with Harry's parents?"

There was a pinched look on McGonagall's face as she shook her head. "Because the background is important. You see, the Death Eaters soon recruited other magical beings. Werewolves, vampires, dementors, giants... it was a civil war. It did not help that thanks to how the Death Eaters hid their features under masks and cloaks, one did not know who to trust. The friend you trusted with your life might show up at your house and strike you dead because the Dark Lord ordered it. Spells and potions were also used to control people to fight on the Death Eaters' side. It was a dark time and no one knew who to trust. The only person that You-Know-Who was afraid of was Albus Dumbledore."

Nodding, Hagrid took the large mug of tea and took a gulp. "Thank yeh." He then looked at Harry with a smile. "Yeh parents actually fought You-Know-Who 'imself. Three times even! Then they went into hiding when yeh were born as 'E was after them."

Folding her hands onto the table, McGonagall nodded. "However... eventually he found them. It's believed that they were betrayed by one they thought of as a brother." There was a far off look in her eyes before she shook it off. "It was Halloween. There's little known of what happened but... what is known is that your father tried to hold him off, alone, to give your mother time. Unfortunately, You-Know-Who was a powerful wizard. And by himself it was like a kitten trying to fight a large dog."

Looking down at his lap, Harry nodded. "Or a Destroyer trying to fight a Battleship."

Not quite certain of what he meant, the Professor nodded. "Yes, like that. You-Know-Who... killed your father, Harry. Sadly, he had already sealed the house so there was no escape. It was a favourite tactic of his. When he came to your room, your mother confronted him, but was also killed, I'm afraid."

McGonagall allowed him several moments as he wiped at his eyes before Nagato placed her arm around him in a half hug. The animagus was just able to hear what she was whispering to her adopted son. "... It's okay to cry, Harry. Your parents loved you so very much, never doubt that. And they died with the greatest honor that a parent could. I have no doubt that they are watching you even now from the afterlife, shining with love and pride for who their son is becoming."

Slowly nodding, Harry sniffled a bit even as Hoppou clutched his hand in hers. "I know, Mum." He then turned to Minerva and nodded with his eyes shining with unshed tears. "Thank you."

All the professor did was nod with a sympathetic expression on her face. "You are welcome, Mr. Potter. Your parents were both good friends of mine after they graduated."

The only sound was that of cups being set down by Rose who dabbed at her eyes. Moments later, Haruna placed her arm over the smaller woman's shoulders. Eventually though, Goto let out a sigh. "What happened next?"

Blowing his nose, Hagrid flushed a bit at the looks. "Sorry about tha'. I always tear up a bit at tha' story. I miss them after all."

Simply patting him on the arm, McGonagall turned back to the others. "What happened next is unknown except for some bits. What is known is that after killing your mother, Mr. Potter, You-Know-Who turned his wand on you and cast the Killing Curse."

That caused Goto to sit up a bit. "Killing Curse?"

Lips pursed, Minerva nodded. "It's one of three Unforgivables. The other two spells rob free will and torture through so much pain that one can die if exposed for too long. The Killing Curse is... was known for being impossible to defend against. Once it hits, it's a hundred percent fatal for any human. It's been used to kill hundreds, maybe thousands... none survived." She then focused on Harry. "Except... for some reason when it was used on you, it didn't work. The spell rebounded off and hit You-Know-Who while only leaving you with the scar on your forehead."

Beside her, Hagrid nodded. "Made yeh right famous it did. Everyone knows yeh name."

Giving him a look, McGonagall sighed. "He's right, they call you the 'Boy-Who-Lived'. It doesn't help that You-Know-Who vanished that night."

Eyes narrowing, it was Haruna who put their thoughts into words. "But you don't think that he's dead."

With a sigh, the witch shook her head. "No, most might think so, but I and others think he's still out there something, just... his power was broken."

Looking into his mug, Hagrid shook his head. "Doubt that there was enough human in him to die, myself."

There was a stern expression on Nagato's face. "Well, if he comes back then he's going to face the full might of a Super Dreadnought of the Big Seven."

Lips curling upward a touch, Minerva chuckled. "I can only hope." Then she turned serious. "However, after his disappearance, his followers scattered and while a number were jailed, others managed to escape punishment through various... means. Because of that, and a protection that your mother left on you, we had to place you at your aunt's. If there was another choice, we would have taken it. But at the time..."

Frowning, Goto only looked at the painting of the Battleship. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Much to his surprise, McGonagall nodded. "Quite."

Several minutes passed as they all digested the information they had been told. Goto didn't need to know that Naka was taking notes and he was certain, after glancing at Nagato, that at sometime in the coming months he could look forward to a report on the Death Eaters. Turning back in time to see the professor place her cup down, he sighed a bit. "Thank you for informing us of the issues. Perhaps though we should move on to the issue of this school of yours."

Nodding, Minerva relaxed a bit. "Agreed." Reaching into her handbag, she pulled out a brochure. Though they all raised eyebrows at the moving pictures on it. "This is the general information for the school. Hogwarts is one of the premier magical schools in the world and has a thousand year long history. We are located in the Scottish highlands in a castle gifted to us."

With a glance through what she had been given, Nagato looked up. "It says that it's a nine month long boarding school?"

With a small smile, Minerva nodded. "That's right, though students can come home for the Christmas holidays if they choose and other arraignments can be made. For example, we've recently instituted a policy where the parents of students who may not be wizards or witches can come and visit for such events as Quidditch games so that they can see what their children can do."

Humming, Nagato continued to look through it as Hoppou just glared as she tightened her hold on Harry. "So Hoppou can visit Big Brother?"

Wincing a bit, Minerva was about to answer when Hagrid shrugged. "Some might have a problem wit tha'. Don't understand it myself, but people can be like tha'."

Ignoring the grumbles from Hoppou, Nagato glanced up from the paper. "Courses?"

With a hum, McGonagall leaned back. "Hogwarts teaches the core magical subjects such as Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and the like. In Harry's Third Year, he can choose additional courses such as Care of Magical Creatures and a small course in magical first aid is also given at that level."

Just placing the brochure down, Nagato frowned. "What about other subjects, such as science or math? I don't want Harry getting left behind."

There was confusion on Hagrid's face, but McGonagall sighed. "In addition to some other recent changes to the curriculum, Hogwarts has also added a special course for those students who wish to continue their non-magical education. It's mostly worksheets but two weekends a month we have a teacher who works in the Muggle world come in and test students. They also check the work done by the students as well as helping them where possible. It's a lot of work as Mr. Potter may have to do it on his holidays, but he should be able to keep track with what he would be at in the Muggle world otherwise."

Pleasantly surprised, Nagato raised her eyebrows. "I was under the impression that would not be how it would be."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, McGonagall frowned. "Up to last year, you would be right. However it's a recent change due to certain events and circumstances."

Intrigued, Nagato just looked down at the brochure. "I see..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

New Jersey was not a Battleship to be caught unknowingly, but she would admit that she was surprised with a call from Goto while visiting Yokosuka (after all, she was delivering some birthday gifts for Nagato's kid from several American shipgirls elsewhere). He had given her directions somewhere and it was only after she arrived that she recognized it as an old, Cold War bunker. One of her Fairies identified it as a fallout shelter which caused her eyebrow to raise, even if the sight of Yamato and DesDiv6 right outside the bunker hadn't. Upon entering though, she gave Goto a salute. "Sir."

Giving her a nod, Goto saluted her back. "Jersey." Following his eyes, Jersey could see Shioi and Maruyu there as well. The door behind her closed and a look showed her Ooyodo there. "Anything?"

Much to Jersey's surprise, Ooyodo pulled out what looked like one of extra radar sets for the Iowas and moments later she felt the radar sweeping the room. She winced for a moment before remembering that shipgirl radar didn't affect humans somehow, just telling a shipgirl if someone was there. Which was a good thing as she knew otherwise the only human in the bunker would have been so much cooked meat from the sweep. After about a minute though, Ooyodo put the radar away and became more at ease. "It's clean, we're the only ones in here."

Needless to say, being out of the loop did not help Jersey's already soured mood. "Okay, with all due respect, what the fuck is going on?!"

Sighing, Goto just motioned to one of the seats. "You're going to want to sit down for this, Jersey. It's a long story..."

It was several minutes later after Goto had explained about what was going on with Harry and these 'Magicals' that there was silence before Jersey broke it with her reaction. "Shit."

Weakly laughing, Goto nodded. "That about sums up my reaction to it all. I have to ask though... do you have anything to add? Like if Williams knows before this bombshell is dropped on him?"

For several moments, Jersey thought it over before grimacing. "No, I don't think that Williams knows anything about this fucking mess. But..." At the look, she continued. "I remember sis, Iowa, telling us about something that happened on one of her last cruises. She swears that she fought an Abyssal at sea and sank it, but then people appeared on her and somehow her crew forgot everything. They even somehow changed the logbooks."

Expression turning stormy, Goto grit his teeth. "I was afraid of that." He then looked over at the wall with a glare. "I can't even trust my own memories from before the first time I remember seeing an Abyssal."

Uncomfortable, Maruyu shifted a bit in her seat. "Um, Teitoku? While I can see why you would have Jersey-Sama here due to her being a Battleship..." She paused for a moment as Jersey snorted in amusement. "Why am I here? Or..."

Grimly smiling, the only human there shook his head. "Or Shioi?" At the nods, he sighed and looked much older. "Because I have a mission for all three of you of the upmost importance."

All three shipgirls straightened a bit as Shioi nodded. "Whatever the mission is, Teitoku, we can do it."

Chuckling, all Goto did was shake his head. "I know that." Reaching behind him, he pulled out several folders and handed them to each shipgirl. "I need you to transport these for me. Maruyu, once Harry's party is done, I need you to take your folders to Kure, Sasebo, and the others. Transport them directly to the Commanders and make sure that when you give it to them, it's in a secure location. Somewhere there's no paintings and do so alone or with shipgirls present. We can't take any chances."

The little Submarine took the folders and somehow made them disappear, Goto knowing that they were now safely within her hull. "Y-yes, Sir!"

Slowly nodding, Goto turned to Shioi and nodded. "I need you, Shioi, to transport them down to our friends in Taiwan and Australia. The same as Maruyu applies. Jersey..."

With a snort, Jersey made the folders she had been given disappear as well. "I'll make sure that mine gets to Williams and the others. No fucking magical bullshit is going to stop this Battleship." Her smirk then became a bloodthirsty grin. "I'd like to see someone try."

Narrowing his eyes, Goto shook his head. "I'm hoping that you don't. This is... explosive, to say the least. Normally, I would go higher with this, but I don't know where and who the magicals have an ear on. And until I do know, I need to keep this on the downlow. I'll leave the question of how to inform the government to the spooks, they'll be happy doing something. This McGonagall and Hagrid seem okay, but from what little I've gathered, there are others who would not think twice about taking away my memories. The sooner that it gets spread around, the less likely that the chain will be broken."

There was a slight frown on Jersey's face as she shook her head. "But the more people that know, the sooner that the secret might get known."

Simply snorting, Goto looked at her. "I'm willing to take that chance." Rubbing his face, he gave a sigh. "And to let you know, I included video in those folders and before you ask, your crew can look."

Not even a moment later, Jersey raised an eyebrow as she felt her Captains looking at what was in the folder. "The hell? It looks like you wrote this up on a typewriter..."

From where she stood, Ooyodo snickered a bit. "He did. He actually had to borrow one of mine from my hull as we wanted to make sure that there was no chance of possible leaks if they can hack computers."

Grumbling, Goto shook his head. "Fucking never thought that I would need to use a typewriter..."

Despite her smirk of amusement, Jersey couldn't help but wonder who else might have been affected. Her thoughts in particular going to a certain professor she cared for and who might well have encountered possible magic outside the shipgirls during his research. There was a creak of steel as the Battleship's fists clinched at the thought of someone wiping Crownings' memories before they relaxed at the thought that it wasn't going to happen again if it had. They would need to go through her first. Of course, that was when Shioi spoke up. "You said that they're still here?"

Slowly, the Admiral nodded with a tired, but satisfied look. "They're waiting on the decision on whether Harry will go or not. They both understand that Nagato and her family will need to discuss it and think it over and are willing to wait until after his birthday for an answer."

That only got nods from the shipgirls.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Okay, and done:
_____________________________________

There were thunderous explosions all around as the woman picked up the crying girl and began to run. Out of the corner of her eye, as if it was in slow motion, she saw a shell heading straight for them. Despite everything, her only regret was that the girl in her arms was about to die, not that she was about to lose her life...

And then a boulder flew out of nowhere and the shell hit it instead, detonating. "What the..."

A shout then caught her attention. "The hell are ye doing, ya daft woman!"

Eyes widening, the little girl shouted out at seeing the old man running over to them. "Mister Willows!"

Giving her nod, Richard Willows helped the woman to her feet. "Aye, Lassie. Now what are ye doing here, Lauren?!"

Just swallowing, Lauren looked around. "We're trying to get all the children to safety, we got everyone out of the school, but-"

She was cut off as Richard growled as he glanced at the bus at the other side of the parking lot where he could see children looking out. "But the Abyssals are moving too quickly for ye to get out of town."

Then hearing a crash, Lauren turned in horror to see an Abyssal Destroyer burst through the wreckage of the school. In her arms, Anne gave a small scream of fear as the Abyssal spotted them and began to slowly stride forward. Then she felt a hand on her head and saw Richard glaring at it. All of the children knew about the old Scotsman that lived beside the school. He was rough, but kind and sometimes let the kids pick berries from his garden. Right now, though, Anne felt safe. "M-Mr. Willows?"

It was with a gentle look and tears in his eyes that the old man looked down at her and ruffled her hair. "Listen to this old man, lassie. Ye are going ta live. All of ye. And ye are going to grow up inta the wonderful lass that I know ye will, ye hear me?"

Quickly nodding, Anne whimpered. "I promise, Mr. Willows."

Slowly, Richard turned to the approaching Abyssal and his hardened. "Lauren, get the children out of here. I'll buy ye the time that ye need."

Utterly shocked, Lauren turned toward Richard who began walking toward the Abyssal who seemed amused. "H-how?!"

For a moment, Richard stopped and then chuckled sadly. "This old man has his secrets... now go!" As Lauren finally ran for the bus, Richard ignored the children screaming for him to run. "Ye all have ye whole lives ahead of ye. This old man..." Blinking away his tears, the old man shook his head as his wand slipped out of his holster, all his training and experience as a Hit-Wizard coming back. "I'm coming, Abigail. Wait for this old duck."

To Anne and the other children watching, Richard seemed vanish before he appeared beside the Abyssal. Then a light shot from him and exploded against the Abyssal's one eye, cracking it as it roared in surprise and pain. "MR. WILLOWS!"

Laughing as he blasted an Artillery Imp, Richard grinned grimly. "WELL?! IS THAT ALL YE GOT YA WEE LITTLE BEASTY?!" Once more laughing as the Destroyer tried to crush him, the old man tucked into a roll under it before launching a borderline dark cutting spell. It was more a scratch then anything, but the roar of rage caused him to smirk. "COME ON THEN! COME ON IF YE THINK YE THAT YE CAN BEAT ME!"

Bringing it's mutated foot down, the Abyssal only met air as Richard appeared on top of it and began blasting it over and over. However, it was then that the Abyssal noticed the bus starting to move out of the parking lot and brought out a cannon. On the bus, Lauren's whipped her head around from the unbelievable battle. "SEAN! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

Just as it was about to fire, Richard appeared a distance in front of it before a large boulder launched forward. In mid-flight it changed shape into into a hunk of metal that jammed itself into the Abyssal's cannon as it fired. Said Abyssal's head vanished in a burst of flame that sent Richard flying. Slowly picking himself up, the old man gasped at the spike of pain in his side and looked down.

Only to see what looked like a half-foot long chunk of black, eldritch metal sticking out of his stomach. Reaching down, he sliced off as much of it as he could and slowly picked himself up. Right in time to see several other Abyssals come into view. Even as he felt the warm wetness trickle down his side, Richard's mind flashed back to years before. Hard fought battles against people in black cloaks and masks like skulls. One day coming home to find his younger, pregnant wife dead on the floor of their home, a skull with a snake in it's mouth composed of green smoke floating above his home.

The disgust when the war ended and several of those, including the ones who he knew murdered his wife, walked free. Because of that, he left the Ministry of Magic behind. Retiring to a sleepy, seaside town to live out his life. The smiles of the children as he told them modified stories or let them eat from his small garden.

In fact, some of those very children he was now buying time for.

Grim chuckles escaped from him as he noticed the bus drive out of sight. Straightening his back, he took a deep breath before casting a charm to dull the pain. 'Time to buy my way then, I suppose...' With a wave of wand, the rubble around him transformed into various animals that launched themselves toward the Abyssals, going for the various Imps. Meanwhile, Richard himself began to run. 'Never wanted to live to be old and feeble anyways.'

When, several minutes later, the bus crested a hill, Lauren looked back to where the school had been with a pair of binoculars. It took her a moment to see through the smoke only to gasp. There, in the monsterous jaws of one of the Cruiser type Abyssals was the broken body of Richard. And then she realized that he seemed to be laughing before he pointed his hand and the Abyssal only had a split second for her eyes to widen.

And then both her and Richard vanished in a flash of white light and sound before flames that looked like animals began to consume everything around them. Including the other Abyssals. Turning away, Lauren choked back a sob. Looking up at her, Anne blinked. "Miss Jackson?"

Blinking back tears, Lauren just grabbed her in a hug and held her tight as both of them cried.

Unfortunately for the Obliviators, they never did find the children or their teachers, lost among the survivors. If they had even suspected that they had seen magic in the first place. And each of the children and the two teachers cried for the old, friendly Scot.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Harry was looking out at the waters of the harbor when he felt a tap and turned to see Kaga there with a juice can in her hand. "Here." Once the nearly-eleven year old took it, she sat down beside him. "A rather eventful day, today."

Looking down at the can, Harry just glumly nodded. "Yeah..." After a few minutes of silence and Kaga just sipping her own drink, Harry looked over at her. "I... guess that you heard?"

Slowly, Kaga raised an eyebrow a fraction of an inch. "About?"

Once more, Harry looked down at his can as if it could tell him the secrets of the universe before he answered. "My parents."

Finishing off her own drink, Kaga let out a sigh. "I don't think that there's one on base who hasn't heard." Taking a bite out of the can, she chewed it thoughtfully before swallowing. "It seems at times as if gossip travels at faster then light speed on a military base."

A grimace on his face, Harry stared off at the waters as he heard more sounds of crunching as Kaga ate the rest of the can. "Are you going to say anything?"

With a hum, Kaga turned toward him. "Would you like me to?"

Shrugging, Harry frowned a bit. "I guess..."

In reply, Kaga leaned forward and supported her chin on her hands. "While I am certain that you have already heard it, your parents were extraordinarily brave for what they did, Harry-Chan. There was great honor in what they did and I think that I would have liked to have known the two of them."

Almost a minute passed before Harry finally popped open his can and took a drink, somehow comforted by the silence before he broke it. "I wish that I could have known them too."

Kaga just made a thoughtful sound before nodding. "And that bothers you, doesn't it?"

Head slumping a bit, Harry sighed. "Yeah..." Raising his head, he looked at the Aircraft Carrier beside him. "I... don't know what to feel. I mean, I finally know what happened to my birth parents, but..." Several moments passed as Harry tried to search for a term before he sighed. "... There should be grief, but I only feel sad that... that I didn't get the chance to know them enough to actually grieve about them being dead."

Tilting her head, Kaga hummed. "And that bothers you."

Needless to say, Harry looked toward her. "Shouldn't it? I mean, these are my parents and all I can do is be selfish and wish that I knew them. And to be sad that I didn't know them, not that they died. That's... that's not right."

A moment later, he felt a hand on his head and looked up to see Kaga place her hand on his head and gently run her fingers into his hair. "You might think so, but you would be wrong." There was a slightly sad smile on her face as she looked out at the ocean herself. "What you are feeling is natural, Harry-Chan."

Frowning, Harry huffed a bit. "Still doesn't feel right, Kaga-Oba."

Much to his surprise, Kaga let out a small chuckle. "No, I suppose that it doesn't. But that, as well, is natural in such a case as your own." Glancing around, she slowly nodded. "Which is why you came here, I think."

Just shrugging, Harry frowned. "Yeah... not many people come here at this time of day."

Noting that the sun was sinking toward the horizon, the shipgirl hummed. "No, I suppose not. It must have gotten tiring, I think, for all the others to come up and offer their condolences. Especially Taigei as she seemed rather tearful when she heard. Though I suppose that it does not help when your not sure how you are supposed to feel yourself."

It was with a nod that Harry let out an explosive sigh. "Yeah..." The waves lapped against the shore before Harry spoke up again. "Is it bad that I'm also angry with them..." At Kaga's raised eyebrow, he clarified. "My parents? I mean... I'm proud of what they did and thankful, but I keep feeling angry that they let themselves die and leave me without ever knowing them."

Slowly, Kaga blinked as her mind flashed far back to a time decades before when she had heard about her sister being sunk as a target. A sister that she had never gotten the chance to even know. "... No, that is very understandable. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I would be surprised if you did not harbor such feelings."

That caused the ten year old to look up in shock before he furrowed his eyebrows. "Really?"

Frowning, the Carrier let out a soft sigh. "Yes. As unfortunate as it sounds, and as horrible as it may be, it is perfectly natural to feel anger in a situation like this. Where you lose a close family member without ever knowing them and being angry that they let themselves die before you could."

His finger running along the rim of his can, Harry worked his jaw muscles before exhaling through his nose. "What about Mum, though? I don't mean my birth Mum, but my Mum..." Pausing, Harry soon shook it off. "That..."

Somewhat bemused, Kaga inclined her head slightly. "I take it that you're wondering if it's wrong that you love Nagato-San as your Okaa-San as much as you do compared to your birth one?" At his nod, Kaga looked up at the sky. "Hmm, perhaps, but then you know Nagato-San. She has raised you the past few years while you have few memories of Lily-San. Perhaps it's not so wrong after all." Laying her hand on his shoulder, the shipgirl shook her head. "In a situation such as this, it can bring about complicated feelings. It's not clean cut what is right to feel and what is not, I believe that it's impossible to know."

Voice soft, Harry blinked away some tears. "What about regret?"

Gently bringing her arm across his shoulder, Kaga blinked away some wetness in her own eyes. "There will always be a deep regret in your heart at such a loss. Regret that you never knew them, regret at how you will never know them until the next life. Possibly regret at how you may never get the chance to know them. Life... is full of regrets, it's as natural as breathing. If we let them, they can weigh us down as if a anchor around our necks. Or... or we can take that burden and carry it, acknowledge it."

Feeling his arm slip around her, Kaga just held him before he whispered to her. "Thank you, Kaga-Oba."

All she did was nod back.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Steam gently rose from Goto's coffee as he looked out his window and then turned back to where Nagato was sitting in front of him. "Hmm... so you decided then?"

With a slow nod, Nagato let out an exhale that carried her emotions before shaking her head. "We all talked last night about whether Harry should go to Hogwarts or not."

Raising an eyebrow at that, Goto cleared his throat. "'All'?"

Lips turning upwards a bit, Nagato nodded. "Myself, Harry, Hoppou, Rose, and Shiromizu, though only Harry understood what she was saying." That caused Goto to blink and boggle a bit which almost caused Nagato to snicker at as it had been getting harder to surprise the human Admiral. But she managed to hold it back... barely. "We are after all a family and decisions such as this should be made as one."

Thoughtful, Goto leaned back a bit and nodded before clasping his hands over his chest. "I see... you could have waited until after Harry's birthday."

However, the Battleship only frowned a bit. "That would mean having them on base for three days. Not... the most fair of things."

Slowly, the man in front of her shook his head. "No, I suppose not." He then let out a sigh. "So then... what did you all decide."

For several moments, Nagato was silent as she looked outside the window towards the ocean. "We decided that Harry should go to Hogwarts. Not only is it a unique opportunity for him, but he can connect again with his birth culture..." It almost seemed as she didn't quite want to explain more, but finally relented. "There is also the fact that it connects with his birth parents. After all, they wanted him to go to Hogwarts and already paid the tuition. But he might also understand them and, I hope, learn more about them."

Quiet, Goto rolled around what he had just been told before he nodded. "I suppose the last bit was your reasoning?"

Once more, Nagato's lips twitched a bit. 'He knows me too well.' Clearing her throat though, she gave a nod. "Hai. I would be remiss if I did not do anything to allow for Harry to learn more about his birth parents."

Finger against his chin in thought, Goto snorted. "I still cannot imagine that Hoppou took her 'Big Brother' leaving for such a period well."

Much to his surprise, Nagato actually chuckled at that. "No, she was not all too happy. But she is somewhat, sadly, used to it since Wanko was always living far away. However, as long as we have someway for speedy communications between them, she doesn't have that big of a problem. And when I asked McGonagall-San, she admitted that she had an idea as to how to do that."

Eyes narrowed, Goto grunted. "I'd like to see how since she revealed that modern electronics don't work. Though I can understand why they don't."

It was an bemused Nagato who shook her head. "Well, where they are they do need to protect against lightning. Having something to drain away lightning and the potential for it in the air makes sense even if it leads to electronics failing. Akashi-San might be able to come up with something though to get around that."

Grunting, the Admiral just shook his head. "No doubt." At the knock on the door, Goto sat up a bit. "Come in."

Yonehara came in with a folder followed by Ashigara. "Got the reports on the amount of resources that the Subs brought back." He suddenly grinned. "They found another manganese nodule field and marked it down while bringing back plenty for use in the docks. And Tenryuu figures that her and DesDiv6 found another Abyssal cache and brought back what they could from it."

Now smiling, Goto chuckled. "Good, good. That should help out a lot with resources." He suddenly became thoughtful and gave Yonehara a look. "Actually... mind staying for a bit?"

Raising an eyebrow at the tone, Yonehara shrugged and sat down with a snort. "Sure, I don't have all that much to do at the moment, Ashigara?"

Said Cruiser smirked before plopping herself into Yonehara's lap, said human letting out a grunt. "No... I can wait."

Amused, Nagato just raised an eyebrow as she ignored how Goto was pinching the bridge of his nose and muttering about Cruisers. That done, Goto took a deep breath and then looked up. "I have need to ask you something, Sousuke. It's in regards to what is happening with Harry."

That caught the Captain's attention and he sat a bit straighter... or rather, as much as he could with Ashigara in his lap. "I see." Not even bothering trying to move his girlfriend, as he knew from experience how fruitless that attempt would be, Yonehara sighed. "So what's going on with the kiddo then?" After being told though, he just frowned thoughtfully. "I see... and how can I help?"

Goto's next words caused Yonehara to freeze. "The special emergency funds."

Confused, Nagato looked between them only to raise an eyebrow. "I do not know why you would need funds. I am quite sure that I have enough money to put Harry through school and, if not, his parents left him a substantial amount from what I have been told."

Scoffing, Goto shook his head. "I have no doubt about that. However, we need to know more about these wizards and witches. And the best way to do that right now would be to buy books when Harry goes to buy his supplies, especially with regards to what they have written about history. Any insight to their culture and society would be best."

A frown on her face, Nagato nodded. "That would be wise, I agree... but I believe that I can afford it still."

However, Goto shook his head. "I would rather that you don't use yours or Harry's money for this. Hence, the special emergency funds."

That got him a look of utter confusion from Ashigara as she looked between Yonehara, who looked thoughtful even as he nodded, and Goto. "Can I ask what your talking about? What special emergency funds?"

Leaning back, the Admiral chuckled a bit. "It's a bit of a fancy name really. During their resource expeditions, the Submarines often grab food on the way. Among them... oysters. Needless to say, we have a rather large amount of pearls and mother of pearl locked away for a rainy day. In case of needing emergency funds, we have connections to sell them and get a little bit of needed cash. The thing is though..." He grinned a bit. "I recently found out in a conversation with Hagrid-San that pearls and mother of pearl is very valuable right now in the magical world. Apparently the merfolk who were their major suppliers have been hit hard by the war. And for whatever reason, only natural grown ones work best for their purposes and thus are very valuable. Which means that we can get quite an amount of wizard gold for them. Later on, I think we can set something up and get paid in gold bullion which we can use, but right now we can use them for funds in the magical world for our needs. I already ran it past one of the spooks and John and they both agree that it's a smart plan."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Yonehara ignored the shocked look on Ashigara's face. "Wait, how did you get in touch with Richardson about this?"

His expression literally reminding the others of a cat who found a bowl of cream, Goto smirked. "He sent back Shimakaze last night after Maruyu arrived in Sasebo last evening. Her and her sisters have been relaying written messages back and forth all night and day."

Impressed, Yonehara nodded. "That... makes sense."

Suddenly, Ashigara raised her hand. "I got a question." Getting an amused nod, Ashigara's next words caused both humans to stare at her. "Why would you need pearls to get gold? I've got plenty."

Utterly silent, Goto turned to his friend who stared at his girlfriend. "What do you mean... you got gold?"

Confused, Ashigara reached into her dress not seeming to notice Yonehara flush or Goto coughing and looking away. Then she pulled out a bar of gold. "When I sank I was carrying some gold on me. I got a few tons of the stuff you know."

Almost robotically, Yonehara and Goto turned to each other and just blinked in disbelief before the Admiral groaned and banged his head on the table to the confusion of the two shipgirls. "Great... just great..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Despite how long the shipgirls had been around for, Minerva McGonagall had never given them too much thought besides the odd few moments when she considered what was going on. Hogwarts, where she spent most of her time, was well inland after all. And Diagon Alley she often just used the floo to reach. Thus, she had never really spent much time around any shipgirls outside of Victory.

And she happened to avoid the old sailing ship as much as she was able, thank you. The insanity that her and the Headmaster got into at times had her going to Madam Pomfrey for a headache potion most of the time. Or a bottle of Scotch.

It varied.

However, that said, the last day or so was rather eye opening for the middle aged witch. While her larger companion had been fascinated, Minerva had mostly just watched or explained the questions. Most of the questions seemed to be extremely well thought out and she had to think of her answers. The Muggle, Admiral Goto's question about exchange rates of not just money but of materials had caused her to scratch her head for a bit before she had contacted Filius and asked him. It had taken a while to do so though as the Charms Professor was in France for some odd reason apparently helping out some old friends there with a problem. Said part Goblin had gotten back to her with an ordered list within hours.

The rest of the time had been spent just watching the various shipgirls as they went about their business and even eating at their lunchroom. In some ways, Minerva was reminded of her students. What truly warmed her heart though was watching Harry interact with them. She had been worried years before when she had heard he was adopted by a returned Battleship, but now that worry was gone. It did her heart good to see him happy and cared for. Though it did amuse her about how some of the shipgirls acted around him, especially that tall one... she believed her name was Shinano. Already, she was making thoughts about a betting pool among the teachers.

Soon though she was brought out of her thoughts as she reached the door to the apartment that young Mr. Potter apparently called home and knocked while checking her watch. Yes, it was five thirty in the afternoon exactly. The door then opened and McGonagall barely held back a flinch at the two red eyes that were glaring at her from the pale face before Nagato's voice called out. "Who's at the door, Hoppou?"

With a huff, Hoppou turned around and McGonagall relaxed some. "It's the lady from yesterday, Mommy."

Not even a moment later, the door was opened more fully and Nagato stood there in front of both magicals. While the Battleship had changed out of her usual wear into civilian clothing in the way of a long sleeve shirt and knee length skirt, Minerva couldn't help the amusing thought that a number of witches were going to suffer from feeling inadequate. Smiling, Nagato motioned toward the apartment. "You're a bit early."

Just smiling, McGonagall chuckled some. "We wanted to make sure that there was time enough in case there were any other questions that you might have before we visit Diagon Alley."

Of course, that was when she spotted the three teenage girls at the table looking at her curiously. Despite them wearing more clothing, she remembered them from the night before wearing what looked like schoolgirl uniforms, except with riveted metal wrapped around their middles. Seeing where McGonagall was looking, Nagato just chuckled. "These are the Akizuki class Destroyers. May I introduce Akizuki, Hatsuzuki, and Teruzuki. They'll be escorting Harry and I."

That caused the professor to just blink. "Escort?"

For her own part, Nagato only raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am a Battleship after all and we don't go anywhere unknown without an escort of Destroyers at least."

Raising a finger, McGonagall was about to comment before she just decided to let it go. "I see, well the Portkey that we're taking should handle all of us and it will bring us to a room in the Leaky Cauldron. I think that we should first visit Gringotts and then perhaps return to the Leaky Cauldron for a short breakfast."

Slowly, Nagato gave a nod to that. "I think that will be a fine idea as we could all use a bit of breakfast."

Hagrid finally spoke up at that point as he was looking around the room in confusion. "Where's 'Arry? Can' really leave without 'im."

All Nagato did was turn to a partially open door. "Harry, we need to get going!"

From inside came Harry's voice. "I'll be right there, Mum! I'm just saying goodbye to Shiromizu!"

Curious, Hagrid turned toward the Battleship with his eyebrows furrowed. "'Hiromizu?"

Lightly chuckling, the shipgirl shook her head in amusement. "My son's pet snake, her name translates in English to 'White Water'. He can understand her and talk back."

Now that caused Minerva to look away from her examination of a tea set that she remembered was supposed to be Rose, and which she remembered from her introductory visit to Lily's home all those years ago. "He can understand her? And speak to her... It would not happen to sound like hisses to everyone else, would it?"

With a frown, Nagato nodded. "It does." However, seeing the two magicals share a unnerved look, she narrowed her eyes. "May I ask what the problem is?"

Sighing, McGonagall took off her glasses and wiped them clean. "It seems that young Mr. Potter is a parseltongue. One who can speak with and understand snakes in their own language." She added the last bit at the confusion on Nagato's face before continuing. "I, personally, don't have too much issue with it, but..."

Unnerved still, Hagrid finished it. "Some people, well, they won' see it tha' way. Parseltongues are seen as dark and evil... You-Know-Who was one afta all."

Filing that nugget of information away, Nagato nodded as McGonagall commented on two other evil wizards who had the ability. "I see... however, I can also understand how some might look at bad examples and paint everything with the same brush despite some good. And I very much doubt that my son is going to turn 'Dark' and 'Evil'."

A frown on her face, Teruzuki turned toward Akizuki. "Um... what if he turns into that emo thing when he gets older though? Wouldn't that be dark?"

Slightly confused, Akizuki thought it over before shaking her head. "I don't know... but we should be able to head it off before he does!"

Utterly lost, Hagrid looked at them and blinked. "Emo? Wha's that?"

Looking at her sisters, Teruzuki leaned forward. "It's this weird thing that some teens do. Boys will grow their hair like really long and maybe color it. All the while talking about how all the world's horrible and they need power to protect themselves. Some even go on about blood and stuff..." She then paused. "I think anyways. Some things in the modern day are just weird."

Not quite sure what they were talking about, McGonagall tried to ignore the image it gave her and cleared her throat. "I see..." It was then that Harry came out and the middle aged witch smiled. "Good evening, Mr. Potter, even though soon it will be morning I suppose... are you ready for the trip?"

All he did though was nod before he stopped. "Just... one moment." He then walked over quickly to Hoppou and hugged her, the little Abyssal hugging him right back. "I'll only be gone for a bit, sis. And I'll bring you something back, okay?"

The Abyssal just nodded. "Okay, Big Brother."

Once he let go and walked over to where McGonagall was holding out a rope, Nagato also gave Hoppou a hug. "Now, you be good for Tenryuu and we'll see you in a few hours."

With a hum, Hoppou nodded and then stood back as she watched her adopted mother, the three Destroyers, and Harry grab hold of the rope being held by Hagrid and McGonagall. Then she blinked and rubbed her eyes as the group was there one moment and then gone the next. "Hoppou wonders how they did that...?" It was then that she sensed something and turned toward the ocean and smiled. "Big Sister is close!" And with that, Hoppou rushed out of the apartment, only taking time to close and lock the door before heading towards the docks.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

After what seemed like minutes of going through a spinning tunnel, all of those holding to the Portkey landed with a thump. Thankfully, Nagato's arm shot out to keep her son standing as she looked around the room that they were now in. "You okay, Harry?"

Straightening himself up, Harry nodded and gave her a shaky smile. "Y-yeah... though a bit dizzy."

There was a slight smile on McGonagall's face as she nodded. "Quite, that's normal for those using Portkeys for the first time, you just had the bad luck that it was an international one."

For the moment now that she was now sure that Harry was okay, and that the Akizuki sisters were alert, Nagato took a chance and had her radio fairy tune into the local shipgirl radio channels. Her plan was to just listen in and see if they were really in England, but that went out the window as she overheard something and began to transmit. {Warspite? You know about this... Hogwarts?}

Utter silence met her before it exploded and all four shipgirls there winced a bit at the radio traffic before Warspite finally got it all calmed down. {The hell, Nagato!? Since when are you in England!? And how do you know about Hogwarts?!}

Glancing at Harry, Nagato soon turned back to the conversation. {Harry received a letter and a Professor McGonagall arrived to talk with us. Apparently they have him down for going there and we're currently in a place called Diagon Alley. As for how we got here... they have some sort of magic that allows for near instant magical intercontinental travel to set destinations. It transported myself, the three Akizukis, Harry, and two adult humans from Japan in...} She glanced at her clocks and frowned. {Roughly twenty seconds.}

Once more there was silence before Warspite said the words that was on everyone's mind. {Shit.}

As they began to walk toward the door, Nagato nodded. {My thoughts exactly. Teitoku already knows and wants us to gather information. Now you?}

Hearing the sigh, Nagato could almost imagine the Battleship shaking her head. {We've known about Hogwarts and the magicals for a while now thanks to several incidents, including Victory being friends with Albus Dumbledore.} It took every ounce of will not to show her surprise, though Nagato knew that the Akizukis were staring at each other. {It's supposed to be secret. Besides which... you know Hermione, right?}

Nagato gave the briefest of nods before remembering that Warspite couldn't see it from wherever she was. {Hai, I remember you telling me about her. Anti-Aircraft Cruiser, correct?}

Softly chuckling, Warspite could almost smile over the radio. {Correct. She's a Natural Born and as it turns out was written down as a student. She'll be heading to Hogwarts this year for her first as a matter of fact. And we were going to have her gather information where possible.}

With a smirk on her face, Nagato followed them into what looked like a dingy bar. {Great minds think alike then. We should discuss this later however.}

Almost able to see the nod from Warspite, Nagato heard the chuckle. {Very good, perhaps over some beers then my friend.}

Inclining her head, Nagato hummed. {Perhaps.} With the conversation done, Nagato tuned back in on what was going on as the barkeeper greeted them. "Hello there, Hagrid. Out on another errand?"

Lightly laughing, Hagrid shook his head and clapped one hand down on Harry's shoulders as he spoke with pride. "Nah, Tom. Escorting 'Arry here for his shopping."

Not even a moment later, Nagato could see the regret on Hagrid's face as he realized what was about to happen when Tom exclaimed at seeing her son. "HARRY POTTER!? AS I LIVE AND BREATH!"

There was quiet for a moment and then the surroundings burst into noise from talking, shouts, and the scrapping of furniture. Hagrid, to Nagato's surprise, was already moving to try and get between Harry and the crowd only for the three Akizuki sisters to already be there. Akizuki interlocked her arms with her sisters forming triangle with Harry in the middle and Nagato at the back. Not one of them budged from the press of bodies from people trying to shake Harry's hand, not that any got too close. Then again, trying to move 2,700 plus tons when one was just plain human was an exercise in futility. Harry then noticed one of the wizards and pointed. "Um, Mum? I think I met that guy before at a grocery store."

Much to Nagato's bemusement, the man seemed faint. "He remembers me... YOU HEAR THAT! HARRY POTTER REMEMBERS ME!"

A bit tired of what was going on, Nagato tapped Akizuki on the shoulder, the Destroyer's eyes hardening. "Okay, we're moving out!"

It went without saying that the wizards or witches trying to press in found themselves being easily pushed to the side by the three waifish girls. They went slowly in order not to hurt anyone, but still they made good time and soon reached the outside of the establishment in a small, deadend alleyway. Several seconds later, they were joined by a bashful and regretful Hagrid and a scowling McGonagall who was shouting something back into the noisy pub that caused it to quiet near instantly before she slammed the door shut and turned to Hagrid. "Well, that might have turned out better."

Shuffling a little bit, Hagrid sighed and looked down at Harry apologetically. "S'rry about that, 'Arry. I didn't expect that."

Taking some pity on him as he seemed genuinely regretful, Nagato nodded before her tone turned dry. "How strange, and here I thought that I left the idol phenomena back in Japan."

Both McGonagall and Hagrid gave befuddled stared before the giant man scratched his head in confusion. "Idols? Like, them things that get worshipped?"

Just chuckling, though she kept an eye on how the three Destroyers were all close to Harry as he thanked them. "Something like that." Waving a hand, Nagato gave a helpless shrug. "They're music and acting stars back in Japan. Their fans can be very... determined."

After a few moments, McGonagall gave a nod. "Quite." Brushing some dirt off her skirt she straightened her back. "As you can see, Mr. Potter here is very famous."

Simply nodding, Nagato tilted her head slightly in agreement. "I see..."

With another brush of her shoulders, McGongall walked toward the wall and stopped before turning. "Now then... beside me you can see a container filled with staves. These are for those without wands as each have a small magical charge. And in the end that's all that's needed to open the doorway to Diagon Ally."

Much to Nagato's amusement, Teruzuki raised her hand. "I've been wondering... why did they call it Diagon Alley?"

Lips twitching, McGonagall actually chuckled. "If I remember my history correct, it was due to one of the original builders of what would become the main shopping district. The man, as it turns out, had a thing for word plays and left his mark in various places... though it both amused and exasperated him when no one clued in for quite some time until well after it was all official. Of course, by then it was much too late to change things with how... conservative, we witches and wizards can be with such things."

Her question answered, Teruzuki went back to her position. "Thank you."

Nodding, McGonagall turned back to the wall and brought out her wand. "Now then, this is the combination, though if you forget there's always someone around to lend some help..."

Inside of Nagato's head, her fairies jotted down what they observed and she didn't need to know that the same was true for the three Destroyers. She also knew that Harry was paying close attention only for him to gasp as the bricks seemed to roll away and slowly formed an opening in what had been formerly a wall. On the otherside looked like one of the oddest, though busiest, market streets Nagato had ever seen. "Impressive."

Meanwhile, Hagrid just chuckled at their expressions and waved one hand. "Welcome... ta Diagon Alley."

With one final look at each other, Harry, Nagato, and the three Destroyers followed their guides into the crowds.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking along the cobblestones, Nagato's eyes glanced all over the street as she kept her ears open. She knew without a doubt that the sheer amount of Intelligence Fairies she had in her hull were recording and writing down everything that she saw and heard. There were even, surprisingly enough, American Fairies that Jersey as well as Arizona and Albie had sent over. Though some of those were currently in the Akizuki sisters' hulls doing the same.

Nagato was still unsure about the cameras that Naka had apparently hooked up for her Fairies to use. Something about a pilot project due to the normal Go-Pros always being the first casualties of any battle. All the Battleship knew was that Akashi had her go under for an hour and then wake up with apparently the equipment already inside her. However, she did consider it worth it. However, one conversation caused her to turn and blink. "How much for dragon liver!? That's highway robbery that is!"

Just raising her eyebrow, Nagato turned her attention back to the other shops as they passed. 'So dragons exist then. But then... where are they?' It wasn't long until they reached one of the larger buildings and Nagato glanced at the odd humanoids in armor in front of it. Oddly, she was reminded of Tengu and at first thought the beings were them until she noticed that they had no wings and quietly whispered to McGonagall. "Professor... may I ask...?"

Understanding, McGonagall gave a nod and whispered back. "They're goblins, Miss Nagato. They're in charge of Gringotts and the gold inside." At seeing one of the Akizukis look with wide eyes at the poem inscribed on the doors, McGonagall thinly smiled. "You wouldn't want to try and steal from them only to get caught. I imagine that they could be quite... unpleasant."

Simply mumbling, Nagato nodded. "I see." Part of her was quite proud of her Destroyer Escort as they moved into position around Harry with clear firing lanes, none of them liking the looks from the goblins or the metal blades they used. Not that they were too worried about themselves as they could handle things. Rather they were more concerned with Harry. A fact that made Nagato very happy as she could feel the eyes on them as they walked in. At the various tellers, there were transactions going on and Nagato raised an eyebrow at a sight of several large gemstones being weighed before they came to a teller of their own. Said teller seemed to be busy, but Nagato could tell that they were just acting. 'Likely trying to put us in what they think of our place.'

It went without saying that Nagato was only amused at the power play. Finally though, McGonagall cleared her throat in such a way that it could not continue to ignore them and sneered. "How may I help you?"

Only frowning, McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "We are here to make a withdrawl for young Mr. Potter here from his vault."

The being seemed to glance at her and the Destroyers and narrowed his eyes some. "I see... and do you have his key?"

From within the folds of her robe, McGonagall withdrew a key and placed it the desk. "Right here."

With a scowl, the goblin picked up the key and examined it from all angles closely. Almost seeming to be disappointed, it grunted a bit. "It seems to be the right key, however... we must make sure that you are truly who you say you are. After all, we have had people try to sneak in before."

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato met his eyes directly. "And what happened to these people?"

A smirk on it's face, the goblin chuckled. "They were punished and saw the error of their ways." With that, it ducked underneath the desk and they could hear sounds as if something was being moved around before the goblin came back up. In his hand was a stone box with a circular piece in front upon which was a goblin's face carved. "Now then, place your hand inside the mouth." When Harry did not do so right away, the goblin sneered at him and snapped. "Please do not waste my time, it's rather precious."

Taking a deep breath, Harry glanced at McGonagall who was glaring at the being and who nodded at him. "You have nothing to fear, Mr. Potter."

Slowly raising an eyebrow, the goblin snorted. "If that is who you are."

Harry licked his dry lips and then placed his hand inside the mouth even as he felt frightened. Then the goblin took the key and placed it into a slot at the top and waited. "Um, now what?"

Eyebrow raised, the goblin scoffed. "Now, do you swear that you are Harry James Potter, son of James Fleamont Potter and Lily Marie Potter, nee Evens?"

Confused, Harry nodded. "I swear that I am Harry James Potter, son of James Fleamont Potter and Lily Marie Potter, nee Evens."

Several moments passed and then there was a click as the eyes opened fully and examined them. After five seconds though, they went back to being nearly closed and the key rose out of the hole on top. The goblin seemed rather put out by it all and snorted as he took the key and practically yanked the stone device away before placing it back under. Clearing her throat, Nagato narrowed her eyes. "Out of curiosity... if he was not who he said he was, what would have happened?"

There was a bloodthirsty grin on the goblin's face. "If the magic was not a match for what was in the key, then it would depend on how fast he could move... but he would have at least lost his fingers and most likely his hand..." Then he narrowed his eyes. "And then his freedom at the least as Gringotts looks down on such things."

Feeling Harry lean back into her, Nagato glanced at the quietly furious McGonagall before looking back in time to see the goblin touch a stone on his desk. She only had a moment's warning before looking up at the sound of water that splashed onto the group and left the humans there soaked before Harry spat some out. "BLAZING BLUE BLISTERING BARNACLES!"

Hands folded in front of him, the goblin just hummed. "I'm sorry, just the last security precaution." He didn't look sorry in the slightest as he continued. "The water is magical and strips away all forms of disguise, just making sure that the rest of you were not... hiding... anything..."

Slowly, the goblin trailed off as he locked eyes with Nagato who was beyond being furious even as McGonagall dried Harry and then herself and Hagrid. In fact, the goblin could see his paling reflection in those red, glowing orbs before Nagato hissed. "May we withdraw from this place, now?"

Gulping, the goblin nodded and rung a bell which caused another one to run up. "Griphook, please escort our... customers, to their vault."

After giving the vault number, and as they walked out of sight, the goblin slumped a bit as if he was a puppet with his strings cut. Bringing a shaking hand up to his chest, he could hear them continuing to talk. "... By rights of treaties signed after the last Rebellion, the goblins were given a lot of leeway with protecting our gold I'm afraid. But I shall talk with Albus and will issue a protest for how we were treated even if it was all legal."

In Nagato's voice before they went out of sight there was barely hidden rage. "I see... then it is such a shame then as I was asked to verify whether or not the JMSDF should open a vault using the pearls that was given to us. According to materials gifted to us, it would have been roughly a thousand galleons..."

That caused the goblin to pale even further as he noticed the others now looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Oh... Glabsnack."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not impressed with their visit so far, Nagato looked down at the mine carts in front of them with a frown before examining the tunnel. "And this is?"

Griphook, looked back at them and kept his face neutral before nodding. "Gringotts provides transport to and from the various vaults. The carts in front of you is that method as otherwise it may take most of the day to reach the vault in question."

Despite her foul mood, Nagato nodded and watched as Teruzuki got into one of them before picking up Harry and setting him in her lap, her arms secure around his waist. Hatsuzuki and Akizuki soon joined her on either side, one hand gripping the side of the cart and the reaching across for their hand to lay on Teruzuki's arms. Nodding, Nagato got into the cart just behind them with McGonagall with a shaky Hagrid in the final one. "Now then, I wish to get this over with."

The Battleship could feel McGonagall wince beside her, but only felt some pity for her as she could tell nothing was going as planned so far. For a moment, it looked like Griphook wanted to say something, but then he turned back to the controls and started the carts down the track. It was then that Nagato noticed that those coming out of the returning carts looked shaken and only had a moment to wonder why. "Very well then."

Which was exactly when the carts entered into a massive cavern and the tracks seemed to drop off right in front of them. Her eyes widened and she felt all her fairies freeze and knew that the same thing was going on in the Akizuki sisters. They drew close to the edge and the abyss seemed to gape in front of them...

And then they were over the edge and wide eyed as the cart screamed down the tracks in front of them. Inside of Nagato, her fairies were panicking as they reached speeds that a Battleship was never meant to go as vaults whipped past them and they took hairpin turns. Gulping down, Hagrid somehow managed to call out. "Can' this thing go any slower!?"

Looking back, Griphook shrugged. "Sorry, Sir. One speed only."

However, Nagato narrowed her eyes as her fairies, those that were calmer, noticed that the speed picked up a touch and that they hit the turns a little bit harder. Meanwhile, in front of her, Teruzuki tightened her hold on Harry as she stared forward. "I thought that the cart chase in that American movie with the whip was impossible!"

Beside her, Akizuki just shook her head as she noticed a burst of fire and thought that she had seen something reptilian in the light. "I thought so too!"

Thankfully soon though, the carts slowed down and stopped in front of a vault door as Griphook placed it into park. "And here we are, Vault number 687, belonging to one Harry James Potter." Getting out, he came to a stop in front of the door and held out his hand. "Key please."

Handing it as his mother walked up behind him, Harry just watched as a group of visible mechanisms turned with the twist of the key and then the door opened to reveal piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins as a green mist drifted out. "All this... is mine?"

Even Nagato had a shocked look as she began to calculate just how much was there. Meanwhile, McGonagall just nodded. "Your family was very rich, Mr. Potter. Extremely so and when your parents died, they left that to you."

Thoughtful, Harry frowned before he looked up at the adults. "Um... how am I supposed to carry it?"

Walking forward, Nagato picked up one gold coin and flipped it between her fingers. "That is a bit of an issue..."

Just as Griphook was about to comment, McGonagall reached into her pocket and pulled out a pouch which she gave to him. "Here, consider this an early birthday gift. It has an expanded inside and strengthened outside so it can hold a large amount."

Unsure, Harry began to put handfuls into it as Teruzuki stayed close. Soon enough though, he had what he needed and just watched as the doors closed behind him.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Having re-entered the bank lobby, Nagato noted that the teller that they had spoken to was now gone. But more worryingly was the group of goblins walking across the floor toward them though they paused at her glare before continuing on. "How many I help you?"

The leading goblin cleared his throat and gave her a tight smile. "Ah, Mr. Potter's entourage. I wish to apologize on behalf of Gringotts about the behavior of one of our tellers and what had happened. He was being a bit... overenthusiastic in regards to security. We take such things very seriously here after Gringotts and there has been numerous times that someone has gotten the unfortunate idea to try and claim Mr. Potter's inheritance through various means."

Eyes hooded, Nagato gave a brief nod. "I see... that was still not much of a reason for the... treatment... that we received. Most undiplomatic as we come from another nation to here."

If anything, the Battleship did not like the look in the goblin's eyes. "Yes, well... in such cases misunderstandings happen, I am sure that you know." He then clapped his hands together. "And he also recently lost some family members to a group of beings such as yourself down in Egypt after all. Horrible, horrible business I assure you, not that it's really any excuse."

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato glanced at McGonagall who was confused for a moment before said Professor's eyes widened. 'Hmm...' She then turned back to the goblin before humming. "Rather odd as I myself have not heard of any such thing. And I assure you, such a conflict would be well known among us shipgirls of the world."

When the goblin flinched, Nagato knew that he understood what was the underlying message, though there was a moment of surprise at the thought that Nagato may not have known. "Quite, very odd that as the shipgirls in question appeared while Gringotts was performing it's normal business and proceeded to attack the goblins involved without warning. Perhaps they are examples then of those disgusting Abyssals on the sea then... In either case, I am sure that now that you know perhaps things might change."

Thinly smiling, Nagato just inclined her head a little bit. "I shall look into this, of that you can be sure." She didn't finish the rest out loud. 'And not for the reasons that I am sure that you are thinking.'

Now smiling triumphantly, the goblin nodded. "I see, I see... very good then. Hopefully the misunderstanding that happened will not harm any future and... productive relations between us. I am sure that if you have need of transactions that they will go much better."

At the from nod from Nagato, he gave a grin before turning and going to walk away, only to pause at Nagato's next words. "May I ask what will happen to the teller from before?"

Pausing, the goblin hummed for a moment before nodding. "He already quite regrets how he treated you. Now, if you would excuse us..."

Unknown to the goblins though, Nagato's sonar fairies were listening in on their conversation as they walked off and recording it. 'Hopefully, we'll find someway to translate it.' They continued to do so until they were outside the bank and walking down the steps of the building. Once they were out of earshot of the goblins at the door, Nagato turned toward McGonagall with a raised eyebrow. "Shipgirls?"

With a sigh, McGonagall shook her head with her lips pursed tightly. "There was an treasure hunting expedition by Gringotts into Egypt a few years back where some ancient shipgirls appeared."

It took a moment, but then Nagato's expression became one of distaste and she knew that there was a similar one on the Akizukis and Harry's. "Treasure hunting... you mean tomb robbing."

Simply nodding, McGonagall sighed. "Yes, it's rather distasteful, I agree with you. But then, the muggles themselves have only stopped such as an official business several decades ago and they still often turn a blind eye to it. But yes, they were retrieving gold and other treasures from the tombs when the shipgirls in question manifested and proceeded to attack them. I... hesitate to say that it was a slaughter on the side of Gringotts, but..."

Akizuki just snorted. "Yeah, I can imagine."

Then Hagrid piped up. "They're still down there, them shipgirls. But th' Egyptian wizards and such don' like the goblins and so told them sod off when they demanded that they do something."

Her tone dry, Nagato barely moved her head. "Yes, I can't imagine why." She then frowned a bit as she looked him over. "Are you okay, Hagrid-San? You don't look very well."

Giving a burp, the giant man shook his head. "Nah, I hate them carts, always make me feel sick."

Blinking, Teruzuki shrugged a bit. "They were actually kind of fun in a roller coaster way... though it was not nearly as bad as being in a typhoon in the middle of the Pacific." However, at seeing Hagrid turn a bit more green, she gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry..."

Much to her surprise though, Hagrid just waved her off. "Don' worry 'bout it..." For a moment, he paused and then looked toward McGonagall. "I think that I might head over to the Leaky Cauldron and get something ta settle my stomach, if it not be too much trouble."

Amused, McGonagall waved him on. "Go on, Hagrid. We got one stop before we go there ourselves since we were not able to do exchange some of the items in Miss Nagato's possession." Once Hagrid walked off, McGonagall nodded to the group. "If you'll follow me, I knew someone who is in the business of brokering of sorts."

Intrigued, Nagato followed the middle aged witch with the three Akizukis once more falling into formation before they entered one of the side alleys off of Diagon which caused the Battleship to frown, though she glanced at the other alley across from them and narrowed her eyes. Mainly because that alley looked rather dark and dirty. "May I ask what that place is?"

Knowing the place in question, the professor sighed. "That would be Knockturn Alley, it's a place that... is rather dark, to say the least. The sort of place that one goes if they do not care about certain rules or morality, if you catch my drift."

Nagato certainly did and then looked around the one that they were in. "And this place?"

With a chuckle, McGonagall nodded. "This is Diurn Alley, it's more the place for artisans to sell their wares, though the broker that I am taking you to mostly set up here for his own amusement."

A glance at the sign of the store they were heading into, Nagato frowned. "'Blood Monies'? Rather... interesting name."

Once more, the middle aged witch chuckled. "Castus has a rather... unique sense of humor."

When they walked in, the first thing that they noticed was that all the windows were covered in black curtains that blocked out the sun. Though the store itself was lit up by lanterns hung from the ceiling while behind the desk there was a pale man watching them. Suddenly spotting them, he flashed a smile that contained fangs. "Minerva, my old friend. And how are we today?"

Smiling, Minerva walked across the distance and shook his hand. "Castus, a good morning to you." She then gestured at the group which had the Destroyers cluster a bit closer protectively to Harry. "May I introduce Nagato, Akizuki, Teruzuki, Hatsuzuki and Harry Potter. They have need of your services this morning."

Head inclining his head, the man smiled. "Welcome to my humble shop. Now, how may I help you?"

After a few moments, Nagato finally blinked. "You wouldn't be a..."

The smile on the man's face became a grin. "Vampire? As a matter of fact, yes."

Much to his amusement, Harry's face lit up in a smile as he chuckled. "Diurn Alley, a vampire... okay, that's pretty funny."

His eyes seemingly glowing in laughter, the vampire laughed. "Well, I for one thought so!"

It took a moment, but the others also realized what he meant and began to chuckle themselves before Nagato pulled out a metal box from her pocket. "Well then... I have some items to exchange for money if possible."

Gently taking the box, Castus opened the box and then raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Pearls... and pieces of mother of pearl. Yes, I think that we can come to quite the deal being as these are currently rather rare... And the prices for them will be quite good if we contact the right people."

On Nagato's face there was a genuine smile at that.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking out of the broker's office, McGonagall watched as Nagato shoved the large safe box under her shirt, the object disappearing as if it was never there. "A rather... useful skill that."

Nagato only nodded as she looked up at the sky with a frown as she gauged the time. "It can be at times. Though unfortunately we cannot do it with people."

That got her a nod from McGonagall before Harry then spoke up. "Um... so where are we going to next?"

Pausing, McGonagall looked around the small side alley before humming in thought. "While normally, I would bring you to Ollivander's wand shop... since we are here anyways there is something that you might be interested in." Glancing toward Nagato, McGonagall nodded some. "You were worried I believe with contacting Mr. Potter while he was at school and vice versa, I believe."

Slowly, the Battleship narrowed her eyes. "That's correct. I don't believe that your normal, uh, method would be as effective as some might think in our case."

With a slight chuckle, Minerva shook her head. "No, I suppose that normal owl mail would not be all that effective." Coming to a stop, the witch nodded toward the store in front of them. "May I introduce you to Traveling Spaces. I believe that they will be exactly what you are looking for."

For a moment, Nagato pursed her lips in thought before Hatsuzuki spoke up softly. "Won't Hagrid-San wonder where we have gotten off to?"

All McGonagall did was nod and smile. "You are quite right." She pulled out her wand and then made a motion. "Expecto Patronum!" There was a glowing, silver streak that shot from her want then then hit the ground before forming into a silver tabby which looked up at her. "Hagrid, we are currently in Diurn Alley at Travelling Spaces where we shall be waiting." With another motion, the cat ran off as McGonagall nodded. "There, Hagrid will now know where we are."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry just followed the direction that the cat had taken off in before looking at McGonagall in awe. "What was that?"

Softly smiling, the Professor nodded as she slipped her wand back out of sight. "That, Mr. Potter, was a Patronus. The charm used is very advanced but can defend against certain types of creatures or, as you saw, carry a message to someone."

Curious as to what it defended against, Harry frowned as his mother became thoughtful. "I can see where there might be a few uses for a spell such as that."

With a final nod, McGonagall entered the shop but, unlike the previous one, this shop was brightly lit with pictures covering the walls of various far off destinations. One of which Nagato realized was just outside of the Sydney waterfront in Australia and she was about to walk on when she stopped and looked again to make sure that she was not seeing things. Because there, out on the water, were several shipgirls heading out on a patrol as the Sun began to set. "I see that you're enjoying our picture."

Turning, Nagato found herself looking at a women in her thirties with blonde hair. And then she noticed that said woman had a twin who had black hair instead and frowned. "Hello..."

Eyes wide, the woman held out her hand which Nagato shook. "Sorry about that, I'm Abeona Portunes, and over there is my sister, Adiona... the names run in the family before you ask being what we specialize in."

Looking away from a picture of his own, which was that of some place in an American desert, Harry blinked. "What do you mean?"

A smile on her face, the woman did a twirl and then vanished with a pop before reappearing closer to Harry, not noticing the Destroyers stiffen. "Our family specializes in magical transportation. Not just of items, but also of pictures such as you can see." Then her eyes widened as she noticed the scar. "Harry Potter... I... oh wow..."

More then a little uncomfortable with her stare, Harry shifted so he was a bit further behind Akizuki. "Transport?"

Shaking off her awe, the woman nodded. "We can transport both people and goods as a matter of fact."

Thoughtful, Nagato glanced at McGonagall who looked back and then returned to her conversation. Seeing that, Nagato frowned. "How far exactly can you transport an item and how big?"

For several moments, Abeona frowned deep in thought before she shrugged. "Depends on how much and how far."

While still somewhat concerned, Nagato glanced to Harry. "Internationally and anything from packages to people."

Sucking her teeth, the witch hummed. "Well... packages are easy and cheap. Just use a Vanishing Owl Box. People are trickier due to size though... a Vanishing Cupboard would be able to do that, but we haven't made any of those since the last war."

If there had been anything that she learned on this trip, Nagato had learned to be somewhat open minded. "Vanishing cabinet?"

Nodding, Abeona pointed toward what looked like a wardrobe, except quite a bit fancier then what Nagato usually saw. "We made them during the war with You-Know-Who alongside our father..." She blinked away some tears and then swallowed. "They come in twins really. One steps inside and closes one door before waiting and opening the other, at which they step out through the twin. It was the perfect way to get around the normal way of blocking escape from You-Know-Who, which is why he targeted our father and murdered him... we barely escaped through our own you see while father was supposed to be the last one through, but destroyed it rather then let the Death Eaters use it to get to us."

Eyes softening, Nagato shook her head. "You have our condolences, your father was a brave man."

There was a watery smile on Abeona's face as she nodded. "Thank you, and we know that."

Waiting for several moments, Nagato turned back to the cupboard. "I take it though that there was a reason that not more had them?"

A sigh escaping her as she calmed herself down, the witch nodded. "Each one takes a rather lot of time to build, six months minimum depending on distance. The further the distance, the longer it can take to build and enchant." Then she straightened her back. "But the Vanishing Owl Box is much easier and we routinely make international versions. Like their larger cousin, the owl is placed inside by the owner and the door slipped down. After a few seconds, the door on the other side will be pulled up and the owl can then step out and fly off to where they have. We make them for various customers with interests in countries besides their own or the Ministries."

There was a frown on Harry's face as he crossed his arms. "Um, what if someone doesn't have an owl? Does it still work then?"

While chuckling, Abeona gave a nod. "Yes, because the same mechanism will open it to the other end. As long as someone notices it, they can just pluck out the letter or package. We can even sell you something with an expanded inside to use for bulk transport. Not much, maybe a hundred pounds, but it works."

For several moments, Nagato was quiet as she ran through the implications of what she had just been told as well as the fact that she was told that some of the "Slush Funds" could be used for useful items she saw for herself. Looking at Harry, it only took her a few moments. "How much for one of the owl boxes..."

Abeona just smiled.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The bell above the door rang as the group left the shop with Nagato looking down into her bag at the two items within it. Both resembled large bread boxes in some ways, though she was thankful that she did not need to wait. As it turned out, they had a cancelled order which they had competed for a family there in Britain that they were going to use to communicate with a fellow member in New Zealand. However, seeing as the member in New Zealand had died just before the order was completed, the family had cancelled and received their money back.

And while Nagato was saddened for the reason behind her luck, she was thankful for it and sent a silent prayer to the kami for the person who died. Mainly because now she would be able to stay in contact with her son throughout the year. "Now then... that's out of the way."

Hearing a sound though, they looked up and blinked as Hagrid came walking up with a grin on his face. "Well, 'Ello there. Sorry about takin' so long... but I decided to get 'Arry here a small birthday present."

Eyes wide, Harry blinked. "You did?"

A chuckle escaping from the large man, he pulled a cage out from behind his back and everyone leaned in to see a beautiful snowy owl inside looking back at them. "Yup! I figured that yeh would need a pet and, well... toads are nice and all and so are cats, but not much use."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Harry looked up. "What about Shiromizu though? Couldn't I take her?"

McGonagall sighed a little bit and nodded. "You could, though having a snake in Britain nowadays can have... unfortunate implications for the wizard or witch in question. There are also those students who I might not trust in the same general vicinity as a snake... As well, Hogwarts is in Northern Scotland and outside the Common Rooms and dormitories, it can get extremely cold in winter." Then her eyes twinkled in a way that resembled a certain old wizard. "Of course, with the items your mother got, I doubt that anyone could stop it if she was to, ah, visit you. Not that I am suggesting any such thing, of course."

Amused, Harry grinned back. "Of course."

Dusting off her skirt, McGonagall ignored the smiles directed at her and began to walk off. "Well then, next stop is the most important, I believe. And that is to get your wand from Ollivander's."

It was only a few minutes before they reached Ollivander's and walked into the dimly lit shop. Almost immediately, all the shipgirls as well as Harry stiffened at the feeling of the energy within the room. Some of it felt positively ancient. Looking around though, Nagato frowned as all she saw were boxes in various places. "Now where is the shopkeeper."

Much to McGonagall's surprise though, the Akizuki sisters suddenly moved into a new formation and whipped around to glare at a surprised Ollivander. Soon though, his expression melted into one of curiosity. "Interesting... I have not had a shipgirl in my shop before, let alone four."

Glaring at him, Nagato scowled. "How?"

He only chuckled and waved his hand. "You have a feel much different then a normal human, my dear. In fact, now that I think about it... perhaps you are not the first in my shop."

Slowly, Nagato's glare melted into one of confusion. "You met another shipgirl?"

Moving toward the window, Olivander looked out at the alley. "Hmm... yes, she had a feel very similar to yours, and yet... different. Almost as if it was asleep." Then he slowly turned and looked at Harry directly. "It was your mother, Lily. Ten and a quarter inches, willow and quite swishy. Perfect for the charms that your mother often used it for." Seeing Harry's surprise, Ollivander smiled. "I remember each wand and person that come through my shop, a curse of a perfect memory. In fact, I sold the wand that gave you that very scar upon your brow. At the time if I had known what that wand would go out into the world to do..." However, he shook off the thought and began to look at the wands he had. "Never mind the past, I suppose. Now then... what sort of wand."

As he moved, Nagato cleared her throat while Ollivander used a measuring tape on her son. "I have been wondering something in regards to wands, Ollivander-San."

Even as he disappeared behind one shelf, they could hear him hum as they suddenly realized that the measuring tape was now moving on it's own. "Of course, of course, I am always open to discussions involving wands no matter the length."

Despite how odd she found that, and how she could hear the fairies on her laughing at the wandmaker's statement, Nagato waited until he had given Harry a wand and told him to wave it. Though she winced as a vase shattered only for Ollivander to grab the wand and head off to another spot. "Would it be possible for my son to have two wands?"

That caused Ollivander to pause as did McGonagall and Hagrid who had been talking. "Two wands you say...?"

Not quite sure what the problem was, Nagato nodded. "Yes, I noticed that most have one wand and they are rather easily broken."

Staring at her piercingly, Ollivander finally nodded. "Most believe that the Ministry limits one to only one wand, at least among children. And to a certain extent that is true as the Ministry does not like one to have more then one wand. However, they are by law supposed to know which wand belongs to which wizard or witch since having your wand snapped is a punishment. After all, they can be used to cause harm or even death. In any case, the Ministry would know, in the case of children at least, if a second wand was being used after the first is snapped. And that carries a jail sentence to say the least. The true reason, is much more basic then that."

Eyebrow moving upwards, Nagato tried to ignore how Harry set some papers on fire, though the Akizuki sisters winced. All Ollivander did was put out the flames with an unconcerned air and look for another wand. "How so?"

The old wizard raised a finger as he continued to test wands with Harry, heedless of damage. "The first wand used for a person will usually be the best suited for them. Now, as a child grows and ages, their magic changes as they become an adult, minutely, true. But it still changes. This does not mean that a wand will have much issue, because they are already it's master. A second wand on top of the first becomes problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it would not have the fit of the first and secondly, as the child's magic changes, that fit would degrade even further. In extreme cases, the influence of both wands can make both unsuitable and thus affect one's spellwork in the end. At best, it's a waste of time. And at worst? It could do damage to one's ability."

All Nagato did to that was slowly nod. "I see..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Standing outside of Ollivander's shop after an informative, though disturbing, talk about Harry's wand, Nagato hummed as she went through a booklet. Beside her, McGonagall raised an eyebrow in interest. "I was not expecting you to be so interested in wands."

There was a slightly amused expression on Nagato's face before she glanced to where Harry was examining his wand. "Perhaps, but I am military. And in my view, one should always have a basic understanding of one's weapon beyond pointing it in a direction and pulling the trigger."

If anything though, McGonagall's eyebrow raised further. "A wand is not a weapon."

All Nagato did though was shake her head. "It can kill and wound. Perhaps a tool that can be used as a weapon." Lips pursed, McGonagall left the argument at that, though the Battleship understood that the Professor disagreed with her. However, Nagato just turned back to the booklet, one of several. Inside it detailed the most common woods and cores as well as what such meant in regards to the wizard or witch separately. What caught her attention though was under the holly section where it mentioned wands made with Phoenix feathers. 'Hmm... so normally holly and Phoenix feathers do not work because their natures don't mix... but those that Master them are the type that one should stay out of the way of. Interesting.' Taking the booklets, all of which cost less then a Sickle, along with the wand care kit, Nagato shoved them under her shirt where they disappeared. 'Akashi should be pleased though.'

More then a little confused, McGonagall frowned. "Where did they go?"

Raising an eyebrow, Nagato shrugged. "I had them placed inside of my hull and put away."

Furrowing her brows, the witch frowned. "Your... hull?"

Slowly, Nagato nodded as she watched the alley around them. "I am a ship and as such we have holds in which to store items." For a moment, her expression became a grimace of remembrance. "Thankfully, as there was this one time where I was dragged along on a shopping trip in America..."

Rubbing his beard, Hagrid nodded some. "Mighty useful tha'."

For her part, and not quite sure what Nagato meant, though having a good guess about it, McGonagall nodded only to stiffen at a silky voice. "Well now, Deputy Headmistress, rather surprising to see you in the alley today."

Turning, McGonagall's lips thinned as she looked at the blonde haired family in front of her. "Lucius, Narcissa, young Mr. Malfoy. I could say the same of you."

However, it only made Lucius smirk while Narcissa placed her hand on her son's shoulder. "We're here to put in a order for Draco's wand. A custom one as it's so difficult and time consuming to test all the ordinary ones for one with a small amount of fit. Hopefully it'll be ready in a few days."

Glancing at Nagato as well as the Akizuki sisters as Harry was hard to see in the middle of the three Destroyers, Lucius frowned as one corner of his lip turned upward. "I don't think that I need to ask why you are in the alley, Professor. After all it seems that you're currently busy introducing some... people... to our world."

At that, Nagato's hackles raised, but the only sign of that was her eyes narrowing before she spoke with a voice like silk sliding over a sword. "Am I to understand that there is a problem?"

Lucius just smirked a bit. "No, just saddened that some don't understand how our world works or, rather, should work." He then began to walk past, only to stop and look over his shoulder. "Just one last thing, Professor."

Teeth gritted together, McGonagall let out a soft hiss. "Yes, Lucius?"

He rubbed one finger along the snake head on his cane. "I would like to warn you and your group about a rumour as you're fellow humans. Apparently there might be some of those.... shipgirls in the alley. Do be careful as they can be quite violent as some of our fellows can attest."

Much to his surprise, Nagato gave him a serious nod. "I see... thank you for the warning, we'll be on the lookout."

Even though something about her expression caused Lucius to feel as if the woman in front of him found what she had been told to be hilarious, he dismissed it. With that, he turned and walked toward Ollivander's. "Come Draco, we shall find you the perfect wand."

Completely disbelieving what had just happened, Harry poked his head out from beside Hatsuzuki. "Uh... Mum?"

All the Battleship did though was sigh and shake her head. "Don't worry about it, Harry. He's not the first, nor the last to have that sort of attitude..." For a moment, she paused and looked over at McGonagall. "Though do you know that man?"

Scowling, McGonagall nodded with a sigh. "I do."

Hagrid though, had more to say on the matter. "Tha' was Lucius Malfoy. Was a Death Eater he was an' some say he was one of You-Know-Who's right hand men."

Narrowing her eyes, Nagato felt her Fairies opening a file and inserting some photos. "I see..." Glancing around the alley though, she shook her head. "I would like to know more, but not here."

Just then, there was a series of growls that caused people to look around in confusion. Seeing the blushes on Nagato's face as well as those of the Akizuki sisters, McGonagall let out a soft chuckle. "Perhaps we should leave for the Leaky Cauldron for some breakfast."

Finger against her bottom lip, Akizuki looked at Harry. "I've never had a lot British food before..."

Harry just smiled up at her. "Don't worry, it's pretty good. And I can help pick if your unsure."

That got him nods from the three Destroyers. But before they could start moving, Nagato coughed and gave a pointed look to his wand. "Before we do that. Do you want me to carry your wand for you?"

Blinking, Hagrid stared at her in utter befuddlement. "Why would 'e need yeh to carry it for him?"

Simply raising an eyebrow, Nagato looked up at him. "Harry doesn't have any way to carry it besides in his hand..."

As his mother trailed off in thought, Harry knew what she was thinking and looked over at McGonagall. "Um... how do wizards and witches carry their wands around anyways?"

Caught off guard by the odd question, the professor frowned for a moment. "Most just stick them into their pockets, in particular their back pockets. Though most of the students will carry them in their bags and more then a few witches will place them in their handbags."

With a rueful chuckle, Hagrid nodded. "Aye, though I've seen some slip it behind the ear."

Both magicals realized the utter silence that met them and found Harry and the shipgirls to be just staring at them. Frowning slightly, McGonagall hummed. "Is there a problem?"

It took several tries, but Harry finally managed something. "It's just that... um..."

However, Nagato placed her hand on his shoulders and shook her head. "Never mind, it's nothing..." inside her head though, she shuddered a bit. 'Do not let the Americans know. Texas especially.' Shaking off the thought of what the Dreadnought would do if she knew how weapons were being stored, Nagato cleared her throat. "Is there any other way?"

McGonagall frown grew a bit, but she nodded. "There are wand holsters, of course. But they're usually custom made and this close to school... I am not sure if the order would be made in time with all the ones that they might have gotten from some of the graduating class." Then she smiled slightly. "However, I can create one that will last a few hours if that would help."

Much to her bemusement, Nagato seemed relieved. "Thank you."

Waving her own wand around, the professor nodded as she conjured a wand holster. "You're welcome." That done, she put away her wand and handed Harry the holster, which clipped onto his belt. "And there we go. I warn you though, that will last eight hours though we'll have you back to your home by then, I am sure."

All Harry did though was nod before he looked up at her. "Thank you, Professor McGonagall."

Unknown to the professor, Nagato was internally groaning. 'Why... just why... these people make no sense!'

 

[darthcourt10]

Omake: Revenge of the Admirals

Oh, have an omake in regards to what happened when Nagato stated the last bit in the snippet:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Unknown to the professor, Nagato was internally groaning. 'Why... just why... these people make no sense!'

-+-+-+-

*You have logged into #HoardChat SmaugCruiser*

SmaugCruiser: Did anyone else just have their Admiral start cackling for no reason?

LonelyQueen: I am currently watching Hartmann do so, yes.

HomeOnTheRange: Settle as well here in Pearl.

SaneTrafficCone: Richardson too.

TheMighty: Ugh, don't get me started on mine. He just fell out of his chair for God's sake. What about you, Windy?

TheMighty: Windy, you there?

Windy: Right, sorry about that, I was laughing myself alongside Williams and I don't know why... it was as if it was in regards to someone feeling like we do.

LonelyQueen: Must be a human thing.

SaneTrafficCone: Maybe you should take a vacation, Gale. I mean...

Windy: Yeah, like that is going to happen...

Connie: You should actually see SecNav, I'm taping him for later.

HomeOnTheRange: You better send me that!

Windy: ... Are you actually talking about blackmailing SecNav.

Connie: No, just bringing it out to embarrass him.

Windy: ...

BumblebeeBotherer: Excuse me for a moment, Ladies... I need to see the First Sea Lord...

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking toward the Leaky Cauldron's Diagon Alley entrance, Harry glanced around nervously. "Are you sure that it's not going to be like... before?"

There was a very slight smile on McGonagall's face as she nodded. "I am sure, Mr. Potter. In fact, it would not surprise me if those who had been there when we first arrived are long gone if only to tell their stories of meeting you." She then let out a small sigh. "Though if it does worry you, Tom does have private dining rooms for meetings which I am sure that he would allow for us to use."

Nagato's eyes narrowed a bit. "He better after what happened."

A minute later, they entered the pub and Tom looked up, only to be silenced by a glare from McGonagall. "Tom, we wish for one of your private rooms, if you would."

Glancing at Nagato and seeing the two red eyes glaring back, Tom nodded. "Of course, Professor. if you would follow me?"

With a stiff nod from the two women, they followed him into a small room and Nagato gave it a glance around before giving him a look. "Thank you."

On Tom's face, there was a slight frown, but he nodded. "You're welcome, and I'm sorry about what happened earlier with..." He gave a glance around and leaned in. "Young Harry here, I was just shocked."

Eyes softening a little, the Battleship gave him a small smile. "Understood, and you're forgiven for it."

With that, Tom left and they all sat down at the table as they looked over the menu with Akizuki drooling slightly. "All of this looks so good..."

Her sisters nodded with Hatsuzuki swallowing nervously. "It really does..."

Meanwhile though, Harry frowned as he looked over the menu and shook his head. "What's butterbeer? And... isn't rationing an issue?"

For a moment, McGonagall paused but Hagrid answered the first question for her. "Butterbeer's a drink, 'Arry. A lot o' children like it, I know that I did when I was a knee high..." Trailing off, he looked down at his knee and then shrugged. "O' a sort, o' course."

Looking over the menu herself, Nagato hummed. "It doesn't contain alcohol, does it? After all, it states here that it's not for those younger then four."

Softly chuckling, Minerva shook her head. "There is a small amount of alcohol in the drink, yes. But it's so low that one need to be quite small and drink a lot in order to be affected. And us witches and wizards are less affected by alcohol to begin with." She turned away from the still unsure Nagato and looked toward Harry. "As for rationing..." Pausing for a moment, McGonagall gathered her thoughts and then frowned. "Rationing is much less a issue here in the magical world then in the muggle one."

That caused Teruzuki's eyebrows to raise a bit. "Really? Why? Unless..." Giving it some thought, she frowned. "I guess that you could transport food easier from what we've seen..."

Much to her surprise though, McGonagall shook her head. "Not quite. Rather, magic allows for us to increase the amount of food we have available."

Now interested, Nagato leaned forward and supported her chin on her hands. "You can create food?" However, McGonagall shook her head with the air of someone used to this question. 'Which... now that I think about it, I am sure that she is.'

Unknowing of what was going through Nagato's head, the witch frowned for a moment to gather her thoughts before nodding. "Magic, despite everything, does in fact have rules. Mr. Potter will be learning more later on in his education, but in regards to this question, it has to do with Gramp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. In particular, food is an exception to the rules in that one cannot create it via magic. But instead, one can transform it. You can also increase it if you have a little either through magically multiplying it or enlarging it. And if you know where some is and reasonably sure that it is still there, you can summon it. There is an exception though in the form of sauces and liquids though."

It went without saying that Nagato was deep in thought over this before Harry spoke up. "But... what about people who aren't wizards and witches?" At the looks from McGonagall and Hagrid, Harry gestured with one hand. "I mean... there's people over Britain who are under rationing and it would help out!"

Leaning back in her chair, McGonagall nodded. "You are, of course, right. It would be a help though how much of one I am unsure of since there's so many people. However, there are... reasons, why we cannot do so, openly at least. The least of which is that due to the Statute of Secrecy, it is illegal to do anything that may expose magic to the world. Thus, anyone caught would be arrested and charged. We may not like it, but it's there. Now..." She raised a hand to forestall Harry's next words. "That does not mean that there are not those trying to help in that manner. There are and they risk their freedom doing so, though a number of our Aurors..." At the looks, the Professor shook her head. "Our version of police." Once they nodded, she continued. "In many cases, the Aurors will look the other way in regards to those increasing the amount of rations available to muggles as long as they do not do so in a way that they must take notice."

Just crossing his arms, Harry shook his head as he remembered back to his days with the Dursleys. "I still don't like it."

With a gentle look on her face, Nagato reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. Before she could say anything though, Tom returned and took their orders. Within minutes, they all found themselves with their meals in front of them, though Tom was confused as the four shipgirls ordered meals more suited for someone of Hagrid's size. But he shrugged it off, though Hagrid just watched with wide eyes as the shipgirls ate. "Where do yeh put it all?"

Dabbing a little at her lips, Nagato smiled. "Whatever we eat becomes fuel for our boilers, ammunition for our guns and torpedo launchers, and food for our crews... what you know as Fairies."

There was a thoughtful look on McGonagall's face as she leaned forward. "Does the food actually transform or...?"

For a moment, Nagato blinked and looked toward her. "The food becomes oil for some, and coal for the older shipgirls... we have not had any nuclear powered ones come back yet though I am sure that it would be similar. But yes, it does become shells and torpedoes."

Rubbing her chin in thought, McGonagall nodded. "Fascinating... I'm going to need to look into this at a later date, I believe."

The rest of the meal continued with small talk, though the Akizuki sisters were all interested in what they were eating. Harry though pouted as, with a teasing smile, Teruzuki stole some of his butterbeer to try. However, soon enough, everyone had their fill and Nagato leaned back. "Now that we're done eating... could you explain what you meant by that Lucius person having been one of the higher ranked Death Eaters?"

A sigh escaped from McGonagall before she nodded. "Lucius was in fact a Death Eater and one of You-Know-Who's lieutenants during the war. However, when the war ended, he was one of those who escaped prosecution. He claimed to have been under the Imperious Curse, a spell that can control a person utterly and is an Unforgivable..."

Snorting, Hagrid shook his head. "More like 'e bribed his way out of jail."

Just raising an eyebrow, Nagato looked toward McGonagall who pursed her lips but nodded. "That is what is rumoured, yes. And I only wish that I could say that I had my doubts but..." She then shook her head. "In the years since, he's made many donations to certain places such as our hospital, Saint Mungos, and a few charities so most will just ignore him."

Nagato was more then able to see between the lines, but didn't say anymore. "I see..."

Gesturing with a hand, McGonagall then frowned. "He was not the only one, though most of the others have kept out of the lime light as it were, while Lucius is rather politically active. Some Death Eaters though escaped prosecution by turning and informing the Aurors about other Death Eater... though those left the country in a hurry."

All the shipgirls did was snort at that. As McGonagall continued to explain though, she did not know about all the notes being written up inside the shipgirls by some of their fairies.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

With no one in the Nagato family quarters, Shiromizu was looking toward a quiet night. However, she suddenly awoke and looked out from her home with a frown on her face. 'I wonder what...'

Not even a moment later though, she heard a bemused voice speak up. "You can come out now, Shiromizu-San, I wish to speak with you." Frozen in place, Shiromizu let her tongue flick out and she could taste the scent of fox in the air. More then that though, she could also taste the power that hung in the air. "Ara, ara, don't tell me that you're afraid of little ol' me now.~"

Knowing that the jig was up, Shiromizu poked her head out and watched Haru who lazily watched her back. "{I would be a fool not to be frightened.}"

Simply laughing, Haru shook her head. "No, you're right about that. Rather smart of you." Her eyes twinkled a bit in amusement as she smirked. "Now then, how about you come fully out of that home of yours and we can talk a little. After all, Nagato and Harry-Chan are out on their shopping trip, Hoppou is at Tenryuu's, and Rose is with Haruna. That makes this the perfect time."

Heart thudding in her chest as she realized that if it came down to it, she was dead, Shiromizu looked around. "{I don't know what you could want with a snake such as myself.}"

Then she felt her heart nearly stop as Haru leaned forward. "Really now? You're going to try and play pretend with a kitsune?" Leaning back, her expression softened some. "You have nothing to fear, you have my word. And we both know there's far more to you then being a snake."

Still nervous, Shiromizu made her way out of her tank and shifted into her other form. "Happy?"

Once more laughing, Haru nodded. "Yes, very much so." Then she became thoughtful as she looked over Shiromizu. "Hmm... you look to be thirteen for a human... younger then I had expected for one such as you."

Utterly confused, Shiromizu frowned. "What do you mean by that... and why do you want to talk?"

Now it was Haru's turn to blink and mutter to herself. "You mean you... no, you don't. Of course you don't. How amusing, far be it for me to explain that yet." Seeing as Shiromizu was about to speak, Haru held up a hand. "As for why... would you believe that I came across an Itachi earlier."

Furrowing her eyebrows, Shiromizu frowned. "An Itachi...?"

Slowly, Haru nodded with her next words causing Shiromizu to freeze. "Well, yes. It seems that you have someone out there that wants you quite dead... or rather, brought to them in order to be made dead, they don't seem to care much in either case."

With a glance around, Shiromizu swallowed. "I..."

However, she was stopped as Haru held up a hand. "I don't care to get into your past, so don't worry. And between myself and several others, whoever it is won't get you."

Blinking, Shiromizu bowed. "Thank you... may I ask what happened to the Itachi?"

Suddenly, Haru grinned revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Do you really want to know?"

With a shudder, the snake girl shook her head. "No, on second thought I think that I'm quite alright."

Just snickering, Haru nodded. "Smart girl." Taking a deep breath, the kitsune smiled. "Now then, that does lead into why I am here though as I have an offer that would be to your benefit as well as my niece's in regards to Harry-Chan."

That caused Shiromizu to frown as she tried to piece together what the kitsune in front of her wanted. Unable to, she went with the most likely one to her. "I have neither any want nor need to get involved in that particular situation between your niece and the others around Harry. So neither of you have anything to worry about. As a matter of fact, I am waiting for when he gets old enough for the real fun to start."

For several moments, Haru stared at her and then laughed. "You, you think that I'm here to warn you... no, no, no. Nothing of the sort, though that does mean that I think that I like you a lot more now since you seem to enjoy what will happen as well." Her expression then became more thoughtful as she leaned forward. "Tell me... do you know about what happened to Harry-Chan's parents?"

Much to Haru's bemusement, Shiromizu's eyes hardened as she looked off into the distance. "You mean how his parents were murdered at the hands of a madman? Yes, Harry told me himself as a matter of fact." Hands clinching, Shiromizu let out an angry hiss. "I also heard about how said man was a speaker..."

Thoughtful, Haru frowned as she softly muttered to herself. "That last bit I did not know..." Shaking it off, she continued. "Well, that is good as my own niece also knows and Natsumi-Chan is convinced that whatever Harry-Chan's destiny is that awaits him, it somehow involves this Voldemort creature."

Intrigued, the serpent looked at her more directly. "And you?"

Rubbing one claw against her chin, Haru frowned. "I suspect much the same to be quite honest. Though how a human might have survived such a thing as this Voldemort is... worryingly." Then she shook her head. "However, thanks to that, Natsumi-Chan is determined that Harry-Chan will not face him alone without her being there to back him up when she can. Hence, she's asked for more training from me after Harry-Chan has left for this school. Needless to say, I am quite proud of her and I know that her family will be as well once they hear."

Shiromizu smiled at hearing that. "Well, kitsune are known for their loyalty to those that they care for. Though... sometimes I do worry about what may happen if she..."

Having realized what she was about to say to the kitsune in front of her, Shiromizu froze only to be shocked as Haru chuckled. "If she does not win his heart when the time comes? Ah, I can see how one will worry about that. However, I have my doubts that we need to overly worry much about that, amusement potential aside. And from what I have read, even if she does not get together with him, she will find him to be one of her best friends for life. And vice versa quite honestly, their red strings of fate are entangled too much for that."

Slowly, Shiromizu frowned. "I see... though I must ask why you come to me in regards to training for her. After all, I... am not that experienced, compared to one such as yourself."

After a few moments, Haru snorted and her eyes glowed in laughter. "Are you calling me old, young one? Though I suppose that you are right seeing as I am over four hundred years old. However, what I have come to you is for a favor." Seeing that Shiromizu was utterly confused, Haru shook her head. "My niece needs someone to train alongside as a partner, to push her and be pushed in turn to become stronger. I cannot do so as the gap between us is far too large, however..."

Eyes widening, Shiromizu pointed at herself. "You want for me to train beside your niece?"

Humming, Haru nodded. "Correct. You both are at a similar level unless I am mistaken and training will help you hone your own abilities... which may help with whoever it is that keeps sending yokai to try and capture or kill you."

Despite what her kneejerk reaction was, Shiromizu considered what she was being told before frowning. "And what could you teach me?"

Once more, the kitsune Miko in front of her laughed as she spread her arms. "Many things! Us kitsune may be known mostly for our abilities in illusions, however once you get to my age, we know much more. After all, in order to disguise ourselves and enter in our roles that we play, us kitsune must know how to act in those roles. A merchant along the highway is one thing, pretending to be a samurai? One must know how to handle weapons with proficiency. Visit a dojo? We must know martial arts for our acting. The kindly magician who has arrived to take care of the troublesome fox bothering the local villagers? Not only must one be able to convince them that you are not that fox, but you must also know how to perform human style of magic. Us kitsune pick up many, many skills over our lives."

Shiromizu stared at Haru in utter disbelief which made the Miko grin widely before the snake-woman shook her head. "Unbelievable..." Then she gave her a searching look. "So you are offering to teach me such things alongside Natsumi-San? And in exchange I..."

Nodding, Haru nodded. "Become her training partner. If I know Natsumi-Chan, and I would like to think that I do, you training alongside her will push her to do her best. Meanwhile, that in turns pushes you to do your best. Together, the two of you will become far stronger then you might alone..."

All that Shiromizu did was stare out the window with a frown. "I see... Why not a shipgirl though?"

Simply chuckling, Haru shook her head. "They have skills outside what would be appropriate for Natsumi-Chan besides a few such as Junyou or Ryuujou. I suppose that you could learn a few things from them, but..." Just shrugging helplessly, Haru shook her head. "I think that we both know that's not much use for you."

The kitsune waited as Shiromizu thought about it as the minutes passed before, finally, the snake nodded. "I... accept. You're right and also, what sort of friend would I be if I did not repay the kindness shown to me by Harry by not learning so that I can stand beside him if ever needed."

Clapping her hands, Haru nodded. "Wonderful! And if you want, I can put in a word with the samurai at the tunnel here on base."

Just blinking, Shiromizu mumbled to herself. "A samurai...?"

Amused, Haru nodded. "Well, he's long dead now, but I've spoken with him and he does not mind taking on a student or two to pass the time and unlike most like him? He's not all that bad."

Hearing that, Shiromizu stared at Haru while wondering what she was getting into much to the kitsune's amusement.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Frowning thoughtfully, Nagato flipped through the pages of the book in front of her and narrowed her eyes. "Interesting..." Of course, that was when she caught sight of a red book on the cart beside her. Glancing around, she picked it up and began to read through it around the middle. Almost immediately though, her eyes widened and her face went red at what she was reading. "Oh my..."

However, she jumped as Harry poked his head around the corner. "Mum?"

Quickly, she hid the offending book behind her and cleared her throat. "Yes, Harry?"

Giving his mother an odd look, Harry soon shrugged it off and raised the small canvas bag. "I've gotten all my books for school and, um... a few extra?"

Slowly, Nagato raised an eyebrow at him. "Extra?"

Uncomfortable, Harry shifted a little. "Some books on, um... curses and jinxes? Nothing really bad, I swear!"

For several moments Nagato just stared at him before she smiled. "I see no problem with that."

Relaxing, Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just that Hagrid didn't want me getting them but I kind of had... I mean, I snuck them past him."

Nagato only snorted though as she guessed what had really happened. "I see... well, I don't see any harm done. Now, I'll be just a moment."

Once he was gone, she looked at the red book and bit her lip. In the end though, she placed it back with the other red books on the cart and began to walk away. Just as she was about to exit the aisle, a panicked wizard followed by a witch rushed past, with her scolding the younger man. "How could you leave a cart of Carmella: Happy Crimson Reunions out in the open like that!? Especially with Hogwarts students around!"

The wizard only sulked a bit. "S'not my fault! I just found one of the copies we had of The Invisible Book of Invisibility! We've been looking everywhere for them since we lost them because they're invisible! Besides Hogwarts students won't really be showing up for another day or so."

Hearing the sound of a hand meeting someone's head, Nagato sped up a bit as her face burned. "That doesn't you daft fool! Besides, those books are not to go in this section! Anyone could have found them!"

By the time she reached the front desk though, her blush was gone and she was considering something else that made her bridge crew scratch at their heads. 'Why would someone write an invisible book on invisibility...?'

Waiting for her though was McGonagall who raised an eyebrow at the books in Nagato's hands. "I didn't know that you were interested in history."

Just humming, Nagato paid for her books with a distant expression. "I find history rather fascinating really." Then she held up two books. "I can't wait to have a look at these though."

Leaning in, McGonagall nodded. "Ah, yes, 'Dreadful Denizens of the Deep' and 'Merpeople:
A Comprehensive Guide to their Language and Customs'. I can see how those might be useful in your line of work as it were."

As they were walking out of the bookstore, Nagato smiled. "They will come in very useful, I think."

Even though she couldn't help but think that she was missing something, McGonagall nodded. "I must admit, it's rather refreshing to see a parent newly introduced to the magical world take such an interest in it. Though why you bought two Wizarding wireless sets is beyond me."

Despite the slight pang of unease at her subterfuge, Nagato only shrugged. "I would like to know about the world that my son is in. As to why I bought two? Just in case one breaks." Internally Nagato continued. 'When Akashi examines it more closely.'

Meanwhile, McGonagall nodded some. "Quite forward thinking." After a few moments of thought, she nodded. "I do believe that we have gotten everything that Mr. Potter needs for the school year."

Glancing at the list in her hands, Nagato gave a smile. "I think that you're right." Then she blinked and looked around. "There is something that I have been meaning to ask you though... and you have already done quite a bit with stating that we would have a Portkey for the first of September..."

Upon seeing the serious expression on the Battleship's face, McGonagall just nodded. "It wasn't anything that was too much, but I can see what can be done."

Stopping, Nagato took a deep breath. "Would it be possible to arraign a way to come here to Britain sometime in Mid-August?"

That caused the Professor to frown a little. "I... don't see any real issue with it myself, but may I ask why?"

For several seconds, Nagato watched Harry before she let out a sigh. "It will be the time of the Obon festival back home in Japan."

Confused, McGonagall furrowed her eyebrows. "Obon Festival?"

Having realized what the problem was, Nagato's expression softened. "It's a... holiday of sorts, dedicated to commemorate one's ancestors who have left this world for the next. One of the things done is to visit the graves of relatives."

Sucking in a breath, McGonagall pursed her lips. "So you wish to bring Mr. Potter back to..."

With a nod, Nagato softly frowned. "To visit his parents' graves, yes. I think that he's more then old enough for that and it might give him some more closure."

Her own expression softening, McGonagall softly whispered to the shipgirl beside her. "I shall see what I can do. But I see no problems." She was silent for almost half a minute. "It's still standing there you know."

Blinking, Nagato looked over at her. "Hmm?"

McGonagall looked up at the taller woman. "The house where... it happened." Turning back to watch Harry talking with Hagrid about something, the witch continued. "They've preserved the home, as it was on that day since then. It's a national monument of sorts, though no one is allowed inside of it. I am sure though that no one would have an issue if Mr. Potter decided to enter however."

There was a frown on Nagato's face as she nodded. "I see..."

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Walking beside her son, Nagato smiled a bit at him. "So you got everything that you wanted?"

Harry just nodded as he looked up at the Battleship beside him with a smile on his face. "Yup! Hopefully they like them."

All Nagato did though was shake her head though as she chuckled. "I think that they'll all enjoy your gifts for them."

Meanwhile, Hagrid shook his head in utter confusion. "Still don' know why yeh wanted dragon meat? Not many want th' kind of meat yeh know." He then leaned down a bit. "Gives one bad breath, it does."

However, Harry and the four shipgirls just gave each other amused expressions before Teruzuki snickered. "You don't know Akagi-San."

It was then that Harry frowned in thought and turned to his mother. "Um, did you get whatever you wanted, Mum? I mean, while we were looking at some gifts, you went said that you needed to get something."

There was the slightest bit of a blush on Nagato's face before she coughed into her fist and became stern. "I did find what I wanted, yes. Though I think it's best that what I got remain a mystery for now." Memories of the red books caused her blush to deep a little bit, though Harry himself only gave her a confused nod. 'Now how to get Mutsu's copy to her in a way to get maximum embarrassment...'

Not quite sure what was going on, how why Nagato was snickering in a way that spelt trouble for his Aunt Mutsu, Harry slowly nodded. "Um... okay." Then he spotted something and tapped Nagato on the arm before pointing. "How about we go there for our last stop, Mum."

Looking in the direction that Harry was gesturing, Nagato felt a smile on her face. "Hmm... Florean Fortscue's Ice Cream Parlour?" A glance to the three Akizuki sisters showed them staring with wide eyes and slightly heavy breathing. "Any particular reason?"

With a smile on his face, Harry jerked his thumb at the three Destroyers. "Well... they took time out of the day to escort us, so they deserve a bit of a reward..."

All three Destroyers blushed and Akizuki waved her hands around in the air. "Y-you don't need to do that! We enjoyed ourselves!"

Just raising an eyebrow, Harry wagged a finger at them. "Well, I think that you deserve it." He then paused for a moment and shrugged. "Anyways, I want to see if he'll be able to give us some to take back."

For a few moments, Nagato was silent before she softly nodded. "That... would be something." Turning towards McGonagall who was watching in bemusement, she frowned. "You did say that the amount of food wasn't an issue, right?"

Her bemusement increasing, McGonagall nodded. "Correct, and I do believe that Florean does in fact have buckets of ice cream that he sells."

Needless to say, all three Destroyers just stared off into the distance with awed looks on their faces. "B-buckets...?"

Slowly, McGonagall smiled. "I believe that he sells up to one gallon in size, yes."

When a shudder ran through the Destroyers, McGonagall turned to an amused Nagato who bit her lip. Not getting an answer from her, she looked toward Harry who grinned. "Destroyers really like ice cream." He then grabbed the hands of the three Destroyers, with Akizuki's and Hatsuzuki's hands in one of his and dragged them off. "Come on!"

Following at a much more sedate pace, Nagato only shook her head. By the time she sat down though, she looked up to see Akizuki and her sisters come to the table with pouts and she raised an eyebrow as she looked in the direction that Harry was in. "Is there a reason that Harry is over there?"

If anything though, Akizuki's pout increased. "Harry-Chan told us to come over here and wait while he got us our ice creams."

Nagato, knowing her son, just smirked at them. "I see."

A few minutes later, Harry walked to the table with two large serving tray in his hands which he set down which had one small sundae and a much larger one. "Here we go."

Eyes wide, Teruzuki pointed at it. "I... wow!"

For her part, McGonagall raised an eyebrow at it. "Ah, you got one of the party sized sundaes."

That caused Akizuki to look between the sundae and the witch. "Party sized...?"

Slowly nodding, McGonagall smiled at the look on the three Destroyers faces. "Correct, they're made for four people to share."

Her hair flaps moving as if they were ears and stars in her eyes, Hatsuzuki pointed at herself. "Th-this is for us?"

Much to their surprise, Harry was looking behind them and Nagato held back a chuckle as he answered. "No..." At their confused and slightly crestfallen faces, Harry pointed behind them. "Those are."

Looking behind them, the Akizuki sisters eyes widened and their jaws dropped at the sight of the three party sized sundaes before they were placed in front of them. Pointing at herself and then her sisters, Teruzuki swallowed. "Are-are these for us?" At his nod, she clapped her hands together and gave a small bow alongside her sisters. "Thank you."

Even though he was confused at the amount of ice cream ordered, or how the three waifish girls could put away that amount (or why he wanted to stuff them full of ice cream for some reason), Florean just nodded. "I hope that you enjoy your sundaes. And Mr. Potter?" The young wizard looked up from where he was preparing to dig into his own ice cream. "I'll have your orders ready by the time that you leave."

With a smile on his face, Harry nodded at him. "Thank you!"

Beside him, Nagato only nodded though she watched Hagrid walk over with a sundae of his own. "I'll pay for them when we pick them up." Taking a spoonful of her sundae, she put into her mouth and held back a groan. 'Oh yes... I can see Teitoku being happy with these supplies...'

The three Destroyers just nodded and thanked the older wizard before they began to dig in with gusto with happy sounds coming from them.

 

[darthcourt10]

Barricade

The month after Harry left for Hogwarts, was a very quiet month indeed for the base. Not simply because of Wanko upholding her bargain with the Admiralty, and thus nearly halving the strain on both the base and Japan itself, but from the notable lack of spontaneous laughter amongst the destroyers, subs, even a few cruisers and battleships. Not to mention both a Kitsune and a Nune-onna...Yami-no-kami...Tatsu? Nobody in the know was sure what Shiromizu was, as she wouldn't talk about her past, but everyone did know that both of them were missing their friend most dearly.

That, and one tiny, lonely installation. Adrift in a world not her own, and the only one of her kind on the base.

While never exactly put into words by Admiral Goto within earshot of Nagato, it was a known, if unspoken fact that there were guards watching Hoppou nearly round the clock even prior to Harry's heading overseas to study. Guards which quietly doubled in number, and now always numbered a cruiser or large amongst them, as the little princess raged against the world for the first few weeks. Even her adopted mother was hard pressed to put her foot down, as the little one very likely had enough power hidden in her tiny form to outright knock the proud battleship silly. But time, as with many things, slowly eroded that rage, to mere spates of anger, to quiet pouting and irritation, and so on.

Until, once again, the little one once again took up her nickname of the lonely outpost of the north.

Two weeks in, and the watchers begun to notice a trend. Day after day, the little Abyssal would climb either to the top of the clubhouse she shared with DesDiv6 and Natsumi, or somehow manage to find a way to the rooftop of the battleship dorms. And each time, she'd stare off towards the north, with an intensity only another kanmusu could understand. The fidgeting hands however, anyone with an older sibling who'd gone off to deployment for the first time, or had left them behind for college, was easy enough to spot.

And so word slowly trickled back up the chain of command. A guard mentioning an opinion to a sympathetic cruiser, that cruiser - after glancing in herself - quietly saying a few things to her officer boyfriend, and up, and up, until it reached the desk of Admiral Goto. An admiral, who, coincidentally at the time, was set to meet with the carrier division less than ten minutes later. He also had a rather bubbly battleship close at hand, and being the Machiavelli he was, quietly pointed out that she'd been abusing her unofficial position just a tad bit too much lately, and that there was another battleship on base who really deserved to get a weekend off to spend time with her family. Although that wouldn't happen immediately, so why not sit in on the carrier's meeting for a few minutes?

So it was that not-so-secret plans went into motion, several fairies were volunteered - willingly no less - and coffee plus paperwork were both emptied and filled in equal proportion.

Thus it came to be, no matter how hard she tried to push it away until a flat order was dropped on her, that battleship Nagato, found herself with a full weekend pass to one of the most enchanted places on earth, that wasn't actually under an enchantment no matter how much Walt Disney might otherwise suggest, along with a delightfully surprised Hoppou, happily making propeller noises with a hyper-realistic, if miniaturized 'Reppu' as she held it aloft while sitting across her mother's shoulders. The dreariness would return, in time, but for today, it also went on vacation. One far away from that small family.

[image here if it doesn't load]

This chapter is out of canonical order of Harry Lefert's chapters, but obviously takes place only after Harry Potter-Nagato has left for schooling.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Looking up at the large man beside him, Harry smiled brightly. "Thanks for staying for my birthday, Hagrid."

There was also a smile on Hagrid's face though it was hidden behind his massive beard. "Well, couldn' say no ter a personal invite, 'Arry." Scratching at his beard, he added in a lower voice. "Wish that I had thought ter bring a cake is all."

However, Harry just shook his head. "That's okay, besides you already got me Hedwig."

Glancing at the owl which perched comfortably on top of one of the Destroyer's heads, who she was told was called Inazuma, McGonagall widened her eyes slightly in surprise. "You already gave her name?"

Only nodding as he searched the slowly growing crowd of shipgirls, Harry scratched his head. "Um, yeah? It was in one of my history books that I was reading this morning." Suddenly, his expression lit up and he began to wave. "Wanko!"

Confused by this, McGonagall and Hagrid turned only for the witch to pale at the sight of the massive Abyssal Princess walking toward them. Part of her also noted the Re class beside her with a grin on both it's faces. "Hello.. Little Brother. Happy birthday..."

Blinking, Harry just tilted his head to the side. "Little brother?"

Wanko only nodded. "Yes. Hoppou has already... stated that you are... her big brother. Therefore... since I am... big sister, you... are little brother."

Shrugging it off, Harry just gave her a hug as Hoppou bounced around happily. "Cool!" Various shipgirls looked uneasy about the Abyssals, but they had been told what to expect well before hand. Upon seeing how both Wanko and Revina were acting though, they relaxed some. Meanwhile, Revina gave out a laugh. "Yeah! Awesome bash you guys put together here! Oh, yeah, happy birthday squirt, another year older, another year closer to de-ow!"

Even as Revina rubbed at her head where Wanko had smacked her, said Abyssal Princess was glaring at her. "Enough."

It was then that she spotted the two magicals and blinked, only for Harry to start dragging her over to them. "Oh, right, did Hoppou tell you about me going to Hogwarts?"

Nodding, Wanko was staring at Hagrid as he was the first non-Abyssal she had met who was her own height. "Yes... Hoppou told us... all about it." Now in front of the two magicals, Wanko gave them both a nod. "Hello... I am Wanko, Harbor Princess."

A tight smile on her face, McGonagall tried her best not to show any fear. "I am Professor Minerva McGonagall."

Taking the offered claw that was larger then her hand, McGonagall shook it. Then Wanko offered a hand to Hagrid who shook it with a pleased grin on his face. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper o' the Grounds and Keys at Hogwarts." Before Wanko could say anything he chuckled. "Aren' yeh a pretty one?"

Much to Harry's surprise and Revina's amusement, Wanko blushed. "You... think that I'm... pretty?"

Slightly confused, Hagrid nodded after glancing toward Harry. "Sure yeh are."

Eyes wide, Wanko just poked her claws together. "Ah... thank you?"

Feeling something pull at her sleeve, Wanko looked down to see Hoppou there. "He told Hoppou all about dragons! And even has a pet giant tickler!"

Just blinking, Hagrid took a moment and then laughed lightly. "Oh! Yeh are talking about the giant squid!" Still shaking his head, he turned toward Wanko who seemed interested. "Got 'im off this chap in Oklahoma. Was breeding these giant octopuses for 'is lake or some such and tried it on some giant squid. Little fellow likes the Black Lake though he sometimes scares students, likes playing tug of war even!"

Tilting her head to the side, Wanko looked him over. "It does not... scare you?"

With a chuckle, Hagrid shook his head. "Nah! Mos' just misunderstand 'im is all. Like dragons!" Sighing, he shook his head. "Blimey, I would love to have me a dragon."

Claw pressed against her chin, the Abyssal just listened as Hagrid continued to talk. 'Very brave...' Once more though, she compared their heights and frowned thoughtfully. 'And so tall...'

That said, she found what he was saying about magical creatures fascinating, though she also noted that the witch looked uneasy by her. Then Wanko shrugged as it was not her problem.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Cleaning up a little after Harry's birthday was done, Rose was about to grab a plate when someone else did. With a blink, she turned and looked to find Haruna there which caused her to smile. "Thank you."

The Battleship just nodded. "Haruna is happy to help Rose-Chan." She then gave a slight wink. "Besides, Haruna cannot let her friend clean all this up."

Softly giggling, Rose just smiled at her and nodded. "Still, thank you." Both of them continued their work before Rose hummed. "Did you enjoy the party, Haruna?"

With a smile on her face, Haruna blinked. "Of course, Haruna did. Haruna really does like parties with how everyone is always so happy."

Her own eyes bright, Rose nodded. "I've always enjoyed a nice party. Though I do think that Revina enjoyed the party much more."

A sparkle was in Haruna's eyes as she placed the plates into the container to be washed later. "Haruna noticed, and you know what else Haruna noticed?" When Rose shook her head, Haruna smiled. "That Wanko-San kept staring at Hagrid-San thoughtfully."

Tilting her head to the side, Rose's smile grew. "She did, didn't she? But then, I suppose that he is the first man that she has ever seen who is of her own size..." Sharing a look with Haruna, Rose burst into giggles before fanning herself. "Oh, look at me, I think that I might have had a bit too much to drink."

Moments later, she felt Haruna wrap her arms around her waist. "But Haruna likes Rose-Chan when she's giggly. It makes Haruna happy and Rose-Chan seems to sparkle."

Blushing, Rose shook her head. "You're just saying that."

However, Haruna shook her head with a mock serious look on her face. "Of course, Haruna isn't!" She then hummed and placed her chin on Rose's head. "What was Rose-Chan's favourite part?"

Curious, Rose tilted her head back some and looked up as Haruna looked down. "My favourite part?" At Haruna's slight nod, Rose tapped her chin in thought as her other hand came down and gently placed itself on top of Haruna's. "Hmm... I think that it was the dancing!"

That caused Haruna to blink. "The dancing?"

Rose hummed as she gave a nod, her other hand coming down to join its twin on Haruna's clasped hands. "Oh yes! While I didn't recognize some of them, I do enjoy a good dance."

Seeing the far off look in Rose's eyes, the shipgirl tilted her head at the tsukumogami. "Rose-Chan?"

It took her a moment, but Rose came out of it and shook her head. "Sorry, just... remembering the past."

Expression gentle, Haruna gave her a small squeeze. "The past?"

Once more that far off expression was on Rose's face. "My... second Mistress, Mistress Violet Jessop. She married into the Evens family you know." Taking a deep breath, Rose's fingers ghosted across Haruna's hand sending a shiver though the Kongou sister. "She was a dance instructor. Absolutely loved to dance and was a dance instructor during the 1920s. I remember her... teaching her daughter, Dehlia, how to dance while I sat on the table. Oh, such fun it looked."

Her own eyes becoming distant, Haruna mumbled to herself. "Haruna can imagine."

Tilting her head back, Rose's eyes seemed to glow. "And sometimes... sometimes Mistress Violet would bring her students over and would have a lovely tea party. They would laugh and talk, happiness warming the air as if it was water for a tea."

Once more squeezing her gently and feeling the much smaller body against hers, Haruna sighed. "Sounds wonderful, Rose-Chan."

Thoughtful, Rose hummed. "Can you dance, Haruna?"

Caught off guard by the question, Haruna blinked. "Can Haruna dance?" At the nod, she frowned. "Haruna... has never thought about it... but Haruna thinks that she can dance. Though Haruna is not sure if it's the same kind as Rose-Chan was talking about."

Slowly, Rose nodded before she twisted around so that she was facing Haruna who flushed a bit. "You know..." Her arms now wrapped around the blushing Haruna's neck, though there was also a dusting of red on her own cheeks, Rose continued. "When I was just a tea set, when I... became aware. Do you know that I thought back to that time and found that I wished that I could dance?"

Staring downwards, Haruna licked her lips and shook her head. "No... Haruna did not know that."

A moment later, another shiver ran through the Battleship's body as she felt Rose's fingers wiggle behind her neck. Each of them just barely touching. "But now... I have arms, legs... a body." Haruna found herself nodding as she felt the tsukumogami's warm breath ticking her lips, the smell of tea reaching her nose. "I think... that I would like to dance. Very much so. Would you like to see?"

Not trusting her voice at the moment, Haruna only nodded before loosening her hug as Rose pulled away. Her boilers thundering away, Haruna felt her mouth go dry as Rose shot her a look full of something. Something that Haruna didn't quite understand and yet did at the same time.

Then... that was when Rose began to dance.

Entranced, Haruna could only watch as the human avatar of Harry's family tea set danced in front of her. At first, it seemed clumsy, as if she was not too sure how everything worked, or fit together. However, slowly, that began to change as if she was highly rusty with what she was doing. Which itself shifted to as if she had been doing it for a while. And soon... to a music that only she could hear, and sometimes with a invisible partner, Rose glided across the floor.

From one style to another she danced. Each time, she would seem rusty or clumsy at the start, but within a short period was dancing as if she had been doing it for years. Of course, one of the dances had Haruna's mouth drop open. She didn't hear one of her Bridge Officers comment that it looked like the Tango, except with one person.

At last though, Rose's performance came to an end and, with a grin that made her face hurt, the tsukumogami came to a stop. Breathing hard, she did a quick hop around to see Haruna staring at her. Face hot, Rose walked forward she quickly hugged the stunned Battleship. "What did you think?"

Working her jaw, Haruna finally managed to speak. "Haruna thinks that Rose-Chan was very good! No, amazing!"

Softly laughing, Rose just nodded not knowing that Haruna could feel the smaller woman's chest rise and fall against hers. "It was as wonderful as I thought! I never knew that I could dance like that!"

There was an odd look on Haruna's face as she reached up and brushed a stray, sweaty hair off Rose's forehead with her finger. "Haruna thinks she knows why."

Intrigued, Rose searched Haruna's face for a clue. "You do?"

Humming, Haruna nodded. "Us shipgirls... we have knowledge and skills that our crew had. Haruna thinks that it was similar for Rose-Chan. That her owners... somehow passed on their skills to Rose-Chan. That is how Rose-Chan can dance like that."

Eyes wide, Rose stared up at her and Haruna could see some tears gather in the corner of her eyes. "S-so my Masters and Mistresses... they..."

One hand cupping Rose's cheek, Haruna's expression softened into one of understanding. "Yes, Haruna thinks that a part of them... is now part of Rose-Chan."

Blinking, Rose gave a sniff before leaning her head against Haruna's upper chest. "A part of them living on through me... I like that."

The two stood there for several moments before, slowly, they began to sway in place. Unnoticed by either of them, Kongou just pulled away from the window and began to walk away.

A soft and yet bright smile on her face.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

The cicadas made their song in the heat as Harry watched Inazuma a distance away. As per usual, Hedwig was perched on the Destroyer's head which caused Harry to frown. "Do you think that she even realizes that she's there, Shinano-Chan?"

A frown on her face, Shinano gave it some thought before she shrugged and looked down at the boy currently sitting in her lap. "Um, I don't really think that Inazuma-San minds one way or the other." Placing a finger to her chin, Shinano slowly shook her head. "I kind of wish that I could balance things like her though."

Nodding, Harry smiled a bit. "Yeah, same here." He then stretched out a bit. "I'm really happy with how the last few days went though!"

Shinano nodded along before she stopped. "Well, um... except for how Iowa-San tried to make a hamburger with the dragon meat you bought... or is that a dragonburger?"

His nose winkling, Harry snorted. "Ugh, don't remind me. I know that Hagrid said that dragon meat makes a person's breath smell bad, but I didn't know it was that bad... though I do wonder where Akagi-Oba got all those mints she shoved into Kaga-Oba's mouth..."

With a blink, Shinano tilted her head. "She did have them out as soon as Kaga-Sama came by." Another thought struck her then. 'I wonder why Kaga-Sama looked so amused by that reaction and that she expected Akagi-Sama to pull out the mints...?' Shaking off those thoughts though, Shinano pulled Harry closer to her as the two enjoyed the shade. "I liked the ice cream though, it was really good."

Now smiling, Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I thought that everyone would like it." Both of the slipped into silence before Harry looked up at her. "Shinano-Chan?"

Humming, Shinano looked down at him. "Yes, Harry-Chan?"

Much to her surprise though, Harry shifted around a bit. "Why were you so sad, the other day?"

For a moment, Shinano bit her lip before she just tightened her hug. "You're going away." That was not the response which Harry had expected from her and it must have shown on his face as she sniffled a bit. "You're going to go away to some school far away and I'll only get to see you on holidays."

Blinking, Harry watched her before he hugged her back. "But I'm only going away for a few months, Shinano-Chan. And... and I'll make sure to write you as often as I can!"

The Support Carrier just buried her face into his hair and mumbled. "Don't care. I still don't like it. What... what if you go away and decide..."

Despite what some might think due to his age, Harry could guess what his friends often thought. Maybe it was due to growing up around them and other shipgirls, or maybe something else, but more often then not Harry somehow knew at times. "I'm still going to keep my promise, Shinano-Chan! I'm going to be your Admiral!"

On Shinano's face, just like all the other times he had said exactly that, there was a blush. "But..."

All Harry did though was tighten his hug. "I promised!" Suddenly, he looked rather nervous which caused the larger shipgirl to blink. "Um, can you keep a secret?"

Eyes wide, Shinano nodded a bit. "Mm-hm?"

Looking around, the black haired boy leaned in once he was sure that there was no one nearby who could overhear. "I want to learn magic and stuff so that I can help you and the others out."

Confused, and her eyebrows furrowing, Shinano frowned. "What do you mean? You help out a lot."

Snorting, Harry shook his head and spread his arms wide. "Yeah, but if I know how to do magic and stuff, then I can really help you out! I'd be like... a Magic Admiral! And since I would know all about magic and be able to use it, then they really would make me an Admiral so I can have you in my fleet. Because shipgirls use magic and stuff."

Despite the rather convoluted logic involved, Shinano had to admit it made some sense. "I don't think that is how it works, but maybe..."

Harry just grinned though. "We'd be so awesome together, just think about it! I've be using magic and you would have your planes. We'd kick so much Abyssal stern!"

Tilting her head to the side, Shinano blinked as the image of her beside a adult Harry throwing fireballs at Abyssals popped into her head. Then, when the Abyssals were defeated, a dragon landed by them and Harry swept her up into his strong arms before climbing onto the dragon- "Gah!"

With a blink, Harry tilted his head as Shinano slapped herself. "Poi?"

Moments later though, Shinano waved her arms around. "I-it's nothing!"

Shrugging it off, Harry got comfortable in her lap again. When he spoke though, it was in a soft voice that had the shipgirl frown. "Um... Shinano-Chan? Can... can I ask you something?"

Part of Shinano was concerned and she pulled him back into a hug. "Mm-hm."

Just taking a deep breath, Harry let it out in a sigh before he played with his fingers a bit. But Shinano just waited until he said something. "Mum... is taking me back to Britain on the thirteenth."

Her breath catching, the shipgirl was about to say something about him leaving early when the date clicked and her voice became a near whisper. "The Obon... you're going to be visiting your..."

Nodding, Harry swallowed as he finished her sentence. "My parents graves... I was wondering if you could come too..."

Eyes wide, Shinano looked down at him and then looked around. Turning her attention back to Harry, she bit her lip before giving a sharp nod. "I-I'd be honored."

Almost immediately, the tension that was in his body disappeared and Harry slumped against her. "Thank you."

The only thing that Shinano did was wrap her arms around him and nod.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

"Desu! Desu desu desu desssu!"

Blinking some of the tiredness from her eyes, Mikasa gave a soft smile to the elaborately uniformed fairy in front of her. "Yes, I realize that it is late, Teitoku. But if this is one of the few ways that I am able to perform my duties for our country, then I shall. And besides..." She gestured around her to the scroll filled room. "Who doesn't like a bit of light reading, Dess?"

All the fairy did was shake his head. "Desu."

That brought a chuckle to Mikasa before she looked at the room deep in the archives. One could only enter with permission from the Emperor, which she had gotten once she had told him why. However, said archives were covered in dust and disorganized to say the least. Softly, Mikasa frowned as she sipped her black tea delicately. Around her, fairies were swarming the shelves. "Hmm..."

Suddenly, one of the Fairies shouted and caught her attention. "DESU! DESU DESU DESU!"

Getting up, she walked over to the shelf in question and removed the folder that the small being had dragged out. "Now what did you find?" Looking at the folder, she noted the title on it. "'Akuzen Kaze'..." Looking up, she frowned as she tried to ignore the shiver down her back. "What caught your interest?"

The fairy just pointed. "Desu."

Frown slowly becoming more pronounced, Mikasa tried to ignore the sinking feeling as she read a little bit. "Nakanotorishima?" Walking back to her desk, she opened the folder and began to read the rest as the clock ticked on. By the time that dawn broke, the folder had been joined by several others and Mikasa just sat there with her head in her hands as she tried not to weep. "Oh kami..."

Even the fairy of her beloved Admiral looked shakened and sickened by what was on those pages. "Desu..."

Just staring forward, Mikasa blinked away the wetness that threatened to spill out. "We both knew how far our nation fell, but this... I don't think that we have strong enough curses for those such as these." Then she took a deep, shuddering breath. "I can only hope that the little ones found peace in the next life."

Hands shaking, she reached over and grasped her now cold tea. One word on the paper sticking out far more then any other as it was in English.

"Obscurial."
________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Kongou walked into Goto's office, she stopped and raised an eyebrow at the sight of Mikasa sitting in a chair and pouring a glass of scotch. The sight of said Battleship actually drinking brought Kongou up short, especially as she gulped down the alcohol and poured herself another. A glance at Goto only got her a shrug as he didn't know why. Of course, that was when Kongou also noticed that Richardson was there with Mutsu and Arizona, who Mikasa kept glancing at, as well as Kaga and Akagi not to mention Haru. "You wanted to see me, Teitoku?"

All Goto did was nod and gesture at a seat. "Please, come and sit down."

Much to the surprise of those who didn't know her as well, Kongou closed the door behind her with a click and then sat down with little fuss. "What's wrong, Dess?"

If anything, the brittle laugh from Mikasa caught her off guard. "Everything."

Clearing his throat, Richardson frowned. "'Everything'?"

Slowly, Mikasa brought out several folders from her clothing and set them down onto the table. Seeing the seals on them, Goto leaned back and shot her a look. "These are-"

Mikasa shot him a look before giving a sharp nod. "Direct from the archives. I had permission from the only one who matters to remove them from the room they were in... this does not leave this room unless the Emperor himself allows for it..." Then she turned to Richardson. "Or your own President."

That caused Richardson to stiffen as he looked at her straight in the eyes. However, when she didn't flinch, he grimaced. "Fuck."

With a snort, Mikasa shook her head. "Appropriate."

His hands trembling a bit, Goto opened the folder to the first page and frowned even as Richardson looked over his shoulder. "'Akuzen Kaze'? Evil whirlwind?"

Leaning forward, Mikasa took a deep breath before placing the scotch on the table and producing several glasses. "As you know, I gained permission to search through the archives for any information regarding the 'Phantom Islands'. Being as I am not suitable for combat, I have not minded, Dess. More then that, it's taken on a more immediate need with what Wanko-San has told us..." She then looked up. "As it turns out, there was a magical side to... Unit-731."

Needless to say, everyone stiffened at that before Kaga cursed on her breath. On Haru's face there was an angry look before she growled. "What did they do?"

Simply placing her hands into her lap, Mikasa closed her eyes. "While some of the islands hidden were private residences, others were under their control. A few were prison camps for magicals captured by them from places as from the fighting going on in Asia and the Pacific, including American ones. There was also mention of at least one shipyard for... 'Experimental Construction Techniques'. A clean name for using magic to enslave workers and force them to work to death... or even beyond it."

Frowning, Goto gave Richardson a look and then turned back to Mikasa. "Beyond it?"

On Mikasa's face, there was a disturbed expression, but she continued. "Apparently there is a way to reanimate the dead... they were basing their work on research in Germany by someone called Grindlewald in using reanimated corpses to help lessen the strain on industry near the end of the war. Mostly for aspects that were highly dangerous."

Richardson just rubbed his face in disbelief. "Jesus Christ... zombies? They were using zombies for..." Shaking his head, he sighed. "God..."

Taking a breath, Mikasa shook her head. "However... I think that the Akuzen Kaze, based out of Nakanotorishima... is the most horrible." Seeing the looks, she swallowed. "Obscurials."

A sharp intake of breath caused everyone to turn toward Haru who was staring at Mikasa in horror. "Please... please tell me that they did not mess around with..."

When the Pre-Dreadnought shook her head, Haru relaxed some only to freeze at her next words. "They found a way to... induce... their creation."

To everyone's surprise, Haru's eyes glowed before her ears and tails popped out. She became more beastal as she roared. "THOSE FUCKING BASTARDS!"

Sharing a look with his American counterpart as the kitsune cursed whoever was involved, Goto waited until Haru had calmed down before he cleared his throat. "What... are obscurials?"

Her paw-like hands clinching and unclinching, Haru growled with her teeth bared in her muzzle. None of them flinched though and slowly her features melted back into something more human. "They are... a form of yokai. They are made when a magical child is abused over a period of years, in particular to force them to repress their magic. This has the effect of, for lack of better words, forcing their magic to turn inwards. A parasite is then formed called an 'Obscurus'. It... devours the child from the inside out while lashing at things around them, often injuring or even killing people. Eventually, it consumes the child, known as an obscurial, completely and utterly. From the one time I saw one, it takes the form of a massive black cloud that just destroys anything in it's path. At this point, it's nearly unstoppable except with large numbers of magicals or waiting until the strain kills the host."

It was Kaga who said the one thing on her mind as she stared off into the distance. "So Harry-Chan could have..."

Haru just shrugged. "I... don't know." From the look on her face, that much horrified her before she shook it off. "If Ryuujou and Junyou were here, they might explain more."

Lips a thin line, Goto shook his head. "I think that I know enough..." He then turned toward Mikasa. "So Nakanotorishima was where they were..."

Softly snorting, Mikasa blinked away some tears. "Performing the experiments? Yes." Letting out a sigh, she seemed almost as physically old as her hull for a moment. "From what I gathered, they started researching them as they expected to face off against Grindlewald and wanted them as weapons. But as Grindlewald was knocked out of the fighting and the Americans pushed us further back..."

There was a stony expression on Arizona's face. "They were going to use them against us."

Even as Mikasa nodded, Kongou leaned forward, her face expressionless. "Operation Downfall."

Just frowning, Mikasa sighed. "That... was one idea, yes. It would have broken that Statute of Secrecy, but the casualties would have been massive among the invading troops... But they decided on doing more as they found a way to contain an full fledge obscurial somehow." Looking directly at Goto and Richardson. "The I-400 Submarines."

Stiffening, Goto gave her an even stare as he growled as Richardson paled. "Where."

All Mikasa did was get up and walk toward the map of the world before pausing. "Each plane could carry two contained Obscurials. One plane for each targeted city..." Taking several pins, she began to put them into place. "San Diego... San Francisco... Los Angeles... Puget Sound... Seattle... They would also have hit the Canadian city of Victoria alongside the previous two." She then looked directly at Arizona who paled. "Pearl Harbor was another target alongside with the rest of Honolulu for just one of the I-400s."

His hand on the shaking Arizona's shoulder, Richardson frowned. "How many dead? Hundreds?"

Much to their surprise, Haru was the one who answered them even as she stared at the map. "No... thousands." Before any of them could say anything, she gave them an horrified look. "For each strike, I would not be surprised if the death toll was in the tens of thousands for each one as the obscurials would just tear their way through the cities for probably hours. Guns wouldn't stop them and neither would bombs or shells."

Voice soft, Mikasa sat back down and held her face in her hands. "They believed that the blows, as well as the threat of more such attacks, would cause the United States to back off and sue for peace."

Goto just stared at the map before closing his eyes. "Those fools... there wouldn't be a Japan after that."

Face expressionless, Richardson took a deep breath. "No, there wouldn't be." He then turned toward Mikasa. "What happened to them?"

Raising her head, Mikasa thinned her lips. "The American magicals invaded Nakanotorishima and then released the obscurials held there before leaving. There were no survivors. As for the rest? They had made an oath on their magic that Japan was going to win the war. But being as they also swore not to harm the Emperor or his family, when the war ended, they died as their magic ripped them apart."

That only got her a nod from Akagi as she glared at the folder. "Good."

 

[darthcourt10]

crazyidiot78

The department of mysteries was a dark and confusing place on the best of days and now it was even worse as it was site of a running battle as a group of students fought against Voldemort and his death eaters. "Damn it," Ron cursed as the spinning hallway of doors changed before he could enter and he was separated from the group again. In any other universe the youngest Weasley son would have been forced to confront a tank of floating tentacle brains. However luck was kinda sort of on his side this time, as he entered a sadomasochistic wet dream of a special room. The dimly lit room was lined on either wall with a variety of implements that were stained with a dark oily ichor. Ron managed to force down the bile rising to his throat as he looked for a way out.

"Stay away......." a weak voice called out.

"Who's there," Ron replied turning towards the sound.

"Stay away......" the voice said again drawing Ron's eyes to a sight that would forever change how he viewed his fellow wizards. A pale skinned silver haired woman was restrained to a cross inky black blood leaking out of numerous wounds.

"Difindio," Ron growled aiming his wand at the flinching woman as the spell bounced off her restraints. "Damn it!"

"Why......" the woman groaned softly.

"Alhomora," Ron said as the unlocking charm failed. "Why what?" Ron asked looking for anything that might be able to free the woman.

"Why are you helping me," the woman said as Ron managed to pry one of the shackles off.

"Why wouldn't I," Ron replied working on removing her shackles.

"Because of what I am," the woman said.

"If I didn't help a woman in need my mother, Warspite, and Victory would kill me," Ron said struggling to catch the woman as she fell to the ground.

"But I'm an abyssal a Ta class battleship," the woman said.

"Oh......" Ron said looking at the woman with a smile. "Ok."

"But......" the woman stammered.

"Hoppou is a cute little scamp, Revina is hilarious, and Wanko is totally smitten with Hagrid, what could be so bad about that, so what if some of your distant relatives are jerks. You aren't and that's what matters."

"Really," the woman gasped a bit of color rising to her cheeks.

"So do you have a name....." Ron asked

"Ta class battleship, but you can call me Temeraire," the woman said.

"Ron Weasley its a pleasure to meet you Temeraire, and I think its time we got out of here," Ron said.

"Agreed," Temeraire replied as they limped out of the room.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Softly snorting, Harry stirred from where he had been taking a nap and slowly opened his eyes with a yawn. To his surprise though, Natsumi was there in front of him with a sketchpad held in one hand. "Natsumi-Chan?" When she looked up, Harry shifted a bit from where he had been leaning against the one of the posts for the bridge going across the koi pond of the shrine. "Were you sketching me?"

There was a slight upturn of her lips as she nodded. "I was. Besides, you looked peaceful..." Suddenly she grinned though. "Don't expect me to leave you alone for that too often."

A smile on his own face, Harry just nodded. "Sure, sure." With a groan, he stretched as his various joints popped as Natsumi giggled. "Hopefully it's not too bad."

Pouting, Natsumi shot him a glare. "My drawings are always good, Harry-Chan! You know that!"

That only got a laugh from Harry as he continued to relax. "Yeah, I know that." Getting up, he made his way over and sat down next to her. Just leaning over her shoulder, he examined the sketch of him sleeping with the koi pond in the background. "Kind of wish that I could draw like that, wow..."

On Natsumi's face there was a slight blush before she smiled. "Thanks. But then you got so much going on that I'm surprised that you got time in the first place." Then she looked down at the sketchpad and her expression softened as she proceeded to do some more work on it. "Besides, I like sketching. It... freezes moments in time that would have passed by without warning. Here and then gone..."

Harry blinked a bit and then turned toward her. "Natsumi-Chan?"

Gently, she set down her pencils and then turned toward Harry and he was surprised to find them misty before she wiped them. "It's just... I'm going to miss you, Harry-Chan. I won't get to see you for months."

Eyes wide, Harry hugged her which caused the redness on her cheeks to intensify. "I'll miss you too, Natsumi-Chan. But I promise to write you as often as possible, you know that I will."

Sniffling, Natsumi nodded at that. "I know."

When she gave off a laugh though, Harry just gave her an odd look. "What's so funny?"

Lips turned upwards, Natsumi poked him in the side. "I just realized that with how you'll need to write to me, you're going to get a lot of practice with your calligraphy. " As he groaned, she gave another laugh. "I thought that would be your reaction."

Hearing a growl though, she blinked as Harry took her sketchpad and placed it to the side before pouncing on her. Laughter could be heard from the two eleven year olds as they rolled around in the grass with Harry tickling Natsumi and her trying to retaliate. Finally though, they settled down and laid beside one another, sucking in lungfuls of air before gasps of laughter. Getting that under control, Harry grinned at Natsumi. "You know, I'm not the only one whose going to improve their writing."

All Natsumi did was stick her nose into the air the best that she could before sniffing. "My writing and calligraphy is perfect, unlike yours, Harry-Chan."

Expression blank, Harry had a dry tone to his voice. "How did Haru-San refer to it? Oh, yeah... 'I've seen chickens write better.'"

Natsumi just snorted at him. "You got mine confused with yours, obviously."

Several moments passed before Harry spoke up again. "Um, Natsumi-Chan?"

Blinking, Natsumi turned her head to see him looking at her. "Yeah?"

Much to her surprise, Harry bit his lip a bit before nodding. "You know that I won't forget to write you or anything, right?"

For almost a minute, Natsumi stared at him before she shuffled over and placed her head on his shoulder. "Well, yeah. Besides, you promised." She reached down and grabbed his hand in hers and nodded. "And I promise to write back just as often, though I'm going to be busy as well."

That caught Harry's attention and he looked over at her in interest. "Really?"

Slowly, the disguised kitsune nodded as she hummed. "Yup! Oba-San is going to up my training while your gone..." It seemed as if she was unsure, but continued. "Because, well... I'm going to stand right there by you no matter what. And as a Miko, it's my duty to beat bad things up, right?"

With a snicker, Harry nodded. "Yeah, though I think that we might have read too many manga or watched too much anime."

Just scoffing, Natsumi rolled her eyes. "As if." Once more, the two drifted off into quiet as they stared up at the clouds drifting by above without a care in the world for those down below them. "By the way... I was wondering something." Knowing that she had his attention, Natsumi continued. "Thanks for the gifts, but did you see anything in the magical world that I can use? I've never been there so I don't know myself."

In turn, Harry became thoughtful as he thought it over and then snapped his fingers. "Well, there was some magical paints and stuff. And I read that they can make paintings that move and talk to you."

Now intrigued, Natsumi looked over at him. "They can talk to you?"

Putting his hands behind his head, Harry nodded. "Yeah, it's really weird. Didn't see any myself, but apparently some portraits have the memories and personalities of those in them."

Breath caught in her throat, Natsumi slowly turned to him and blinked. "They... have the memories and personalities of those painted in them?"

The eleven year old blinked as he realized that there was something in his friend's voice, which also cracked, that he couldn't identify. "Um, yes?" At her stare, he became slightly unnerved before continuing. "I mean. according to Professor McGonagall, it's just like you're talking to the actual person after they've died and the next best thing."

On Natsumi's face, there was a far off expression. "I see... and how are they made?"

Confused at how she was really interested in this, Harry scratched his head in thought. "Um... I don't know. But one of the books I was reading said that Hogwarts has some kind of spell. When a Headmaster or Headmistress dies, a portrait appears and after a time 'Wakes' up and animates. According to it, the longer that takes, the more memories that the portrait will have."

Not saying anything, Natsumi just stared at the clouds. 'Maybe...' Glancing at Harry, she smiled a bit. 'He won't leave me then.'

Unknowing what was going through Natsumi's mind, Harry relaxed and the two just spent the hot, summer day with each other. After all, soon enough they would be split up except for letters.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

"Having a bit of trouble there, Ron?"

With a blink as he snapped out of his thoughts, Ron looked up at his opponent. "What?"

Softly giggling, Warspite gestured at the set up in front of them. Four chess boards layered on top of each other with their pieces scattered between three of them. "I was asking if you were having a bit of trouble."

Quickly, Ron moved one of his pieces and shrugged as Warspite hit her timer. "I guess? I mean, this is a lot different then what I've been doing."

A frown on her face, the Battleship considered her next move with a finger held to her lips. "Hmm, yes, Raumschach chess is quite a bit different then the normal variants you've done. And in my mind much better then the other 3 dimensional variants." Picking up one of her pieces, she moved it between two boards. "After all, one needs to think in more then the normal two dimensions of a chessboard in order to play. Much tougher."

Hitting his own timer, Ron grunted as he frowned. "Yeah..."

Several moves passed between the two before Warspite spoke up again. "Are you excited for Hogwarts, Ron? I know that it's only a few weeks away by now."

Blinking, Ron looked up at the odd tone in his much older opponent's, and friend's voice. "Um, I guess?" That got him a few chuckles that caused him to blush, though strangely he didn't get angry as he normally would have if it was someone else. But this was the shipgirl who went out of her way to spend time with him over the past two years. More then that, she had taken him under her wing and actually took him to various junior chess championships. Ron had never known that his favorite game was so popular and the small amount of money he had made had quietened his mother's complaints. "What?"

Warspite held her hand against her mouth until she calmed down and leaned forward in her wheelchair. "Oh, I wasn't laughing at you, Ron. But you did sound unsure just then."

The only response she got was Ron moving his piece as he furrowed his eyebrows. "Just... you know, wondering what will happen." He then scrunched up his nose. "And hoping that I don't get put into Slytherin."

Just humming, Warspite became thoughtful as she planned her own move. "Well, despite the reputation for the place, being sly and cunning is not truly bad. One must be in chess after all... that said, I very much doubt that you would have much need to worry about that." Taking one of his pieces with her own, Warspite nodded. "Perhaps Hufflepuff from what I have been told."

Confused, Ron looked up at her. "Hufflepuff?"

Softly smiling, Warspite waited until he had performed a move and then nodded. "Quite, the House of the Loyal. And you do work hard with the proper motivation or in subjects that interest you."

All Ron did was shrug at that. "Mum doesn't really think that chess is something to work hard at."

With a sigh, the Battleship shook her head. "No, I don't suppose that Molly does. But still, I do not believe that you have much, if anything, to worry about."

There was a smile on Ron's face as he nodded and then took one of Warspite's pieces. "Thanks, I guess." His face then lit up. "Oh! And I already got my school supplies, including new robes!"

Only shaking her head, Warspite rubbed her chin. "Well, that is good. I look forward to seeing you in them before you leave, if you could. After all, I have never seen you in proper fitting robes before... still, it does me good to know that you are heading to school with proper supplies."

Yet again, Ron nodded as the two lapsed into silence before he frowned as the game slowly came to an end. "I'm going to miss our games though. And you taking me to chess championships."

Blinking, Warspite looked at Ron and, for a moment, he thought there was a slight blush before it was gone and she smiled. "I, too, am going to miss our games."

As they continued their game, Ron reflected on that being the truth. He could still remember how he met Warspite two years before after all. It was a 'Take your child to work day' and Arthur had brought Ron along with him on a case close to one of the naval bases. Someone had set up a prank and while his father had dealt with it, Ron had wandered the nearby park when he found a woman sitting at a chess table in a wheelchair. After seeing him watch her, she had invited him for a game. Thinking that he was going to win, Ron accepted.

He was soundly thrashed.

Much to the woman's surprise though, the Weasley stubbornness had come out and found him challenging her to a second game. This time he was prepared and put up a much closer fight that forced them both to work for it. Still, he lost, though barely, but then she had challenged him. It was almost a half hour later that his father had found him and Arthur had nearly had an heart attack at seeing who his son was playing against as a crowd watched. If anything, he had known Warspite from several incidents before. To Arthur's surprise though, she had taken it in good humor and asked if Ron could have a match with her some other time.

Thus, an odd friendship sprung up between the two of them with them often spending hours playing chess against the other, just talking about whatever came to mind. Then starting a year ago, she had started taking him to chess tournaments which resulted in the youngest Weasley son actually having money of his own which he had earned. Needless to say it was a rather large boost to his confidence and self-esteem, not that he knew that.

Soon though, the current game ended and Warspite smirked a bit. "New game, Ron?"

Ron only grinned. "You know it."

Chuckling, Warspite set it back up as she shook her head.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

That afternoon was slightly sombre for Harry as it was the day that was set aside to visit his parents' graves. He still was not sure about that and slightly worried, but he had gone through the motions including having a nap so that he would not be over tired due to the time differences. When he arrived at the spot for the Portkey though, he had to blink at the sight that met him. "Iku-Chan?"

Said Subgirl, dressed in normal and tasteful civilian clothing, just gave him a sad smile as she waved. "Hey there, Harry-Chan."

Confused, Harry looked from her to the others waiting, which seemed to be all of DesDiv6 including Tatsuta, before frowning. "Um..."

Nagato simply smiled and gestured at her. "I asked for her to come, Harry. I thought that you might want your friends here with you when we... visit your parents."

Eyes wide, Harry just stared at her before he turned to Iku and hugged the shipgirl. "Thanks."

All she did though was pat him on the head and run her fingers through his hair. She wasn't about to tell him that it took a while for the subgirls to decide who was going to go with him for their side after Nagato had asked if one of them could come. "You're welcome, Harry-Chan."

When he pulled away, he looked at DesDiv6 as well as Shinano and nodded. "And thanks for coming, I..."

Just scoffing, Tenryuu walked up and gave him a shove toward her Destroyers. "Honestly, you never even had to ask if we were going to support you."

Part of Harry thought that she just looked odd without her usual horns floating beside her head, same with Tatsuta missing her halo. Unnoticed by him, Ikazuchi shared a look with her sister before placing her hands behind her head. "Besides, you can always rely on us!"

Meanwhile, Inazuma just nodded before she frowned and decided to take Harry's mind off of what was going on. "Um... this is going to be our first trip to England so... is there anything that we should know, Harry-Chan?"

However, Harry only shrugged. "Um, not really? I mean, maybe speak English but that's about it."

Before the conversation could get any further though, there was a sound and they turned to see McGonagall there with a rope in her hands. At seeing the number of shipgirls though, she frowned. "I'm afraid that I wasn't expecting this many to transport..."

Frowning, Nagato glanced at the rest of the group before turning back to the Professor. "Too many?"

Much to her relief though, McGonagall only shook her head. "No, not at all. Just surprising is all..." Shaking off whatever thoughts she had, McGonagall nodded. "Now then, I won't tell you what to do, but... I'm afraid that I won't be the one guiding you around Godric's Hollow today, unfortunately." At their looks, she sighed. "I am needed to escort some muggleborn students and their families around. However, the one who will be showing you around is completely trustworthy, you can trust me on that."

Still unsure, Nagato only nodded with a frown on her face. "I see, well I suppose that there is nothing for that."

On McGonagall's face there was an apologetic look before she held out the rope. "Once more, I am sorry about this. Now, if you could each grab hold of the rope, we'll be off to Godric's Hollow, just don't let go." After they had all grabbed the rope, McGonagall cleared her throat. "Vicky's Barnacles."

Tenryuu was about to comment on that when they disappeared and soon found themselves in a tunnel that swirled around them. It seemed to take minutes before they dropped out and hit the ground with the shipgirls stumbling a bit, though Hibiki kept Harry from falling over. Looking at her, he gave her a shaky smile. "Thanks."

A slight blush on her cheeks, Hibiki just nodded. "You're welcome."

With a grunt, Akatsuki patted herself down as she grumbled. "That is not a very lady-like way to travel!"

Looking around, Tatsuta glanced at the sky and did some quick calculations on the time. "It is a very quick way though, look around."

Quietly, they did so and Shinano gave a soft squeal. "It looks like one of those villages from a storybook." At their looks though, she blushed and scuffed her foot. "S-sorry..."

Before Nagato could comfort her, a voice spoke up. "That's perfectly okay, my dear. I've heard much the same from others."

Turning, the group could only blink at the sight of an old man who seemed to checkmark everything on the checklist for how a wizard should look. Raising an eyebrow, Tenryuu frowned. "I take it that you're our guide?"

Simply ignoring the frown on McGonagall's face, the man chuckled as his eyes twinkled. "Correct... I am Albus Dumbledore and allow me to welcome you to Godric's Hollow."

 

[darthcourt10]

Tristar

let's step back, step back in time not long after Harry was adopted.

---------------------------------

She was Wo there where many like her but, she was Wo the standard carrier of many of the Abyssal flotilla today she had a job a very important job. That job was currently being hampered by the rather sizable hole in her chest, of course that didn't matter she had a job to do. The sound of cannon fire and the screaming of fighters would not stop Wo for her job was important possibly the most important task a Wo had ever undertaken. Even as important parts of her leaked out creating a ever growing pool of abyssal blood she carried on with her job the weight in her arms quiet possibly the most important thing. Her golden viewfinders scanning searching for a place to hide the most important thing, the mud and refuse. Behind her she heard the barking of Light cruiser guns she ignored it. She placed the important thing in the refuse and ever growing wreckage the Wo clawing into the mud pulling it down covering the important thing it's mitten reached out but Wo did her job.

Wo did her job hiding the most important thing standing she took a shell to her conn tower leaving only half of it remaining. She did not care the most important thing was hidden the Wo could hold her head high the most important thing could rebuild make a new fleet Wo could fall happy.

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

Raising her eyebrow, Nagato gave him a level stare. "Albus Dumbledore?"

Part of the Battleship was impressed that the man in front of her met her gaze evenly and without flinching. "That is correct, Miss Nagato. If you wish though, I am willing to talk about certain subjects if you wish."

Now that surprised her, but Nagato only nodded. "Very well... though I am surprised that you are here. We have heard that you are a very busy man these days."

A sad chuckle escaped from the old man and she could have sworn that he looked much older then what he had. Then Nagato blinked and it was gone. "It may be true that I am always rather busy these days, but I once I heard that you were coming I made some time..." In his eyes, the twinkle went out. "If anything, I owe Mister Potter that much as well as to answer what questions I can."

Once more, Nagato searched his face before nodding. "Very well."

Looking between his mother and Dumbledore, Harry coughed. "Um... why would hearing about me coming here cause you to come?"

Dumbledore now turned toward the younger boy and felt his eyes widen slightly. From what Arabella Figg had told him, Harry had looked near identical to his father with glasses. The boy in front of him still resembled James Potter, but there was quite a bit of Lily showing already and not just in the eyes. Slowly, Dumbledore's expression softened. "Besides what I owe you for the darkness of your... early years, I was actually born here in Godric's Hollow and grew up, though that was over a century ago. I am quite knowledgeable about the area and your family." He paused for a moment and then nodded. "I have also heard that you wished to visit your parents' cottage. It is protected by spells which would inform certain people if someone tried to enter the property. As I am one of the few with unfettered access, I felt it best to come and help you with that if you still wish to do so."

Eyes wide, Inazuma looked up at the older man. "You mean that Harry-Chan's family has been living her for a century!?"

Much to her surprise though, Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head. "No, in fact Mister Potter's family has lived here for several hundred years. The Potter family is a very, very old one dating back to the 12th Century I believe." Stroking his beard, he nodded some. "In fact, part of the reason that I chose this spot in particular was that it is one of the pieces of land owned by Harry's family."

His jaw dropping, Harry looked around and blinked at the pasture around them which looked down toward the village below before he spotted what looked like the ruins of a home not too far away. "This... is mine?"

Just nodding, Dumbledore hummed. "It is." Then he gestured at the ruined home which all of them noticed looked like parts of the stone had been melted and others looked like they had been hit with explosives. "That home once belonged to your grandfather... But your parents abandoned it when they went into hiding as it was too well known and the Death Eaters destroyed it because they at first thought that was where they were. When they realized that your parents were not staying there, they destroyed it to send a message."

Due to her much taller height, Shinano noticed another building that was partially hidden behind some brush and pointed at it. "Um, what about there?"

Glancing in the same direction, the old wizard suddenly smiled. "Ah, that is a bastle house. It is a fortified building that the Potters had built several centuries ago for livestock and to protect against the Goblins after one of their rebellions, but it was ignored by the Death Eaters as the Potters only used it for storage more recently and they had to flee when the Aurors and others arrived. I personally had sealed it off to protect what is inside, so if you wish, I would be more then willing to let you inside."

Thoughtful, Nagato looked down at Harry who looked back up at her and then clasped her hand tightly. "I think that it would be best if we wait on that. None of us know how... we shall feel later."

With a hum, Dumbledore tilted his head forward a bit. "My offer will remain open, of course. You only need to contact me and I would be willing to open it up." Giving a nod, he gestured at the path which lead down to a short, stone wall that had a wooden gate. "Now then, this path will lead us directly to the village proper." Keeping back as Harry pulled Iku and Shinano forward by grabbing their hands as Inazuma and her sisters followed, Dumbledore softly smiled. "It does my heart good to see him so happy."

A voice that had an odd tone that almost sounded amused spoke up. "Odd, considering how his childhood went at a place you put him in."

Blinking, Dumbledore turned to find Tatsuta giving him a smile that for most would have sent a shiver up their backs. However, Dumbledore only nodded. "It may surprise you, but I do agree with you." He gave a nod to a nervous McGonagall who steeled her expression and then nodded before vanishing with a pop. "I only wished that I had better choices at the time..."

Eyes narrowing and her voice one of steel, Tenryuu glared at him with her one eye. "Explain."

Slowly nodding, Dumbledore did so as well as his reasons and by the time they ended, they were already out the gate and heading down toward the village proper which it turned out that they were on the outskirts of. Mulling over what she had been told, Nagato frowned. "So... Harry's mother invoked some form of magic based on her love which used the sacrifice of her death to protect him and continue to do so. But for it to continue to work, you either needed to put him with someone that would unconditionally love him, or with blood. And the first was near impossible with how people felt about him..."

Having seemed to be all his true age, Dumbledore nodded. "That is correct. If I had any other choice, I would not have placed him with his aunt. In fact, I had many times looked into family which might have taken him in during the years since that night, but there were always problems."

All Tenryuu did was curse under her breath. "That is some fucked up shit right there."

Much to Nagato's wry amusement, Dumbledore only nodded at that. "I agree with you full heartedly." He then turned Nagato and gave a small bow to the surprised Battleship. "And I must thank you for what you have done for him. You have done what this old man could not and ensured that he had a happy childhood, if a bit odd."

With a hum, Tatsuta smiled. "Yes, only a bit odd."

That got her chuckles from both Tenryuu and Nagato. Meanwhile, up ahead, DesDiv6 shared a look as did Shinano and Iku. All six had clearly heard the adults' conversation and had their own thoughts, though they were not about to say anything quite yet. Shaking that off though, they began to look around the small village with slightly odd looks, Akatsuki clapping her hands together. "It really is something like out of a storybook!" At the amused looks, she straightened some and then coughed into her fist. "O-or one of those books about elephant English ladies!"

Lip twitching, Ikazuchi snorted. "It's 'Elegant', Nee-San." Putting her hands behind her head, the Natural Born shipgirl continued to look around in interest. It was then she spotted what looked like an obelisk in the middle of the village square as they entered and blinked. "Uh... there's something wrong with that..."

Nearly as one, the group came to a stop and zoomed in their rangefinders, Shinano frowning a bit. "What's... a monument to the Afghanistan War doing here?"

They all nearly jumped as Dumbledore spoke up from behind them. "Ah, appearances can be deceiving, I'm afraid." He then motioned them forward. "Shall we? I believe that Harry should see this."

With shared frowns, they slowly walked forward and, as they did so, the monument changed. Coming to a stop, Nagato stared at the couple holding a baby and then down at Harry who was looking unblinkingly. "Is this...?"

 

[darthcourt10]

Harry Leferts

At the back of the group where he stood watching, Dumbledore nodded. "Mister Potter and his parents? Yes."

Seeing him wave his wand, Tatsuta frowned. "What did you just do?"

The old wizard only tilted his head slightly toward Harry who took a few steps forward. "A spell to give us a little bit of privacy."

For his part, Harry didn't even hear Dumbledore as he continued to run his eyes over the features of the messy haired man and the kind looking woman beside him. His eyes hungrily devoured each bit that they could see. "I..."

Walking up beside him, Nagato reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder gently. "So these are your birth parents." Looking over the statues herself, she looked over her shoulder. "How accurate is it?"

Softly chuckling, Dumbledore only nodded. "Extremely. They used photographs and a stone master to carve it." His eyes then took on a far off look. "It looks just like them in fact."

As Dumbledore spoke, Harry slowly reached out with a trembling hand and then placed it on the lap of the man, looking up into his face. One so much like his own as he felt tears prickle at the corners of his eyes. "They look so happy..."

From where she stood, Tenryuu just nodded. "Yeah, speaking as a parent I know the feeling." Her head then turned to her daughters as she smiled. "I feel the same way each time I look at you girls."

Needless to say, that got embarrassed expressions from DesDiv6 which she chuckled at while Shinano just looked at Lily Potter's statue. "Your kaa-san was a very beautiful woman, Harry-Chan..."

Beside her, Iku nodded as she hugged Harry from behind. "And your Tou-San was really handsome." She then ruffled his hair a bit. "I can see where you get it."

With flush cheeks, Harry just nodded. "Thanks."

Nagato meanwhile looked it over before turning and looking over her shoulder. "Would it be okay if I took a picture? I assume that it would turn up..."

Stroking his beard in thought, Dumbledore frowned. "Hmm... It would be okay, however it doesn't turn up on non-magical photographs I'm afraid. Part of the spells that hide it."

However, Nagato only shook her head. "I have other methods then just my phone."

Bemused, the older man watched as what looked like a flash went off behind Nagato's eyes before his attention was caught by Inazuma looking up at him. "By the way... why is it hidden as a war memorial?"

The smile on Dumbledore's face became saddened as he shook his head. "Well, it is a war memorial. After all, it represents all the families like Mister Potter's which were torn apart in the war... but as to why it is hidden? There would be many questions if there was a statue of Lily and James placed here by the muggles. After all, many of them knew the two. So it was felt it was for the best to simply hide the memorial."

On Harry's face there was a slight smile before he took Nagato's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I... think that we should move on, Mum."

Glancing at the monument, Nagato gave a nod and then smiled. "Okay then, Harry."

Nearly as one they moved on, though Harry gave one last glance back at the memorial to see it once more turn into an obelisk not seeing Dumbledore cancel the spell. Then he looked forward to see that they were heading toward a graveyard and steeled himself as he felt his stomach drop. Beside him, Nagato didn't even flinch as he tightened his grip before Dumbledore held open the gate to the cemetery. Swallowing heavily once they were all inside, Harry looked around at the gravestones, some of them being quite old. "Um... where are they?"

A gentle expression on his face, Dumbledore nodded. "If you would follow me?" It was several minutes before Dumbledore stopped and gestured at two white marble graves. "Here we are."

Frozen, Harry felt his breath catch in his throat and he stood there as he looked at the two graves. Then he felt a much larger hand take his and give it a squeeze, which caused him to turn and see Shinano there beside him. She didn't say anything, in fact she didn't have to. Neither did any of the others as he could feel them there with him. "Here."

Looking up, Harry noticed that Nagato was holding the bouquet that he had put together and with shaking hands he took it. Slowly, he walked forward until he stood in front of the graves and then slowly kneeled. "Mum... dad... I... I'm here. I'm here to..." Reaching up, he wiped at his eyes and sniffled a bit. "I wish that I knew you, you know?" With a glance over his shoulder, Harry gave a watery smile. "My mum brought me... I mean, my adopted mum, Nagato. But she's a great mum and takes care of me... and.. and I have some friends here. Like Shinano-Chan, Iku-Chan, Inazuma-Chan, Hibiki-Chan, Akatsuki-Chan, and Ikazuchi-Chan. They're great friends too. And I got some awesome aunts, like Aunt Tenryuu and Aunt Tatsuta as well as..."

Unnoticed by him, Hibiki who stood to one side of him widened her eyes and shot a look down before she slowly backed away. Partially to give him some space as he spoke, but also so he could whisper to Nagato. "Uh, Nagato-San?"

Her eyes being pulled away by Hibiki, Nagato leaned down. "Something wrong?" It was then that she noticed that the other Destroyers by Harry also shot looks downwards and frowned. 'I wonder...'

Nervous, Hibiki looked around and frowned. "My sonar picked up something..." That caused Nagato to give her a look which she flinched at and then looked extremely embarrassed and ashamed about. "We always kind of have them on when escorting..."

After a few moments, Nagato nodded as she remembered that shipgirl sonar was less sound and more something spiritual which meant that normally it should not have picked anything up. Not to mention that the Destroyers were often so used to having it on that it became second nature to do so even when just walking around. "Yes?"

The next words out of Hibiki's mouth caused her to freeze. "There's... a wreck there. Under Harry's Kaa-San's grave."

Slowly, Nagato turned toward the grave in question and stared at it. "I see..."

It was then that she noticed that Harry was waving at her and slowly walked forward until she was beside him then kneeled down. While her own sonar was not on, she could still sense the feel of a wreck underneath her. "Mum? This is my adopted Mum."

With a deep breath as the others moved back, Nagato gave a nod as she looked at the gravestones. "Hello, Lily-San, James-San. As our son said, I'm his adopted mother, the Battleship Nagato. I hope that you don't mind that or me calling him ours. Harry... may not be of my flesh, but I consider him my son in all that matters and I hope that you approve."

Blinking, Nagato swore that she felt a shock on her fingertips that were touching the ground before it passed. Shaking it off, she continued to talk to the graves as Harry took her hand and squeezed it tightly as tears rolled down his cheeks. Her own were just as wet as she told the graves all about Harry, even as the boy in question leaned into her. Neither noticed nor cared that Tenryuu gently moved the others to give the family some privacy. And once they were done, both of them felt much lighter as if a burden was taken off them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Her arm around Harry, Nagato blinked and looked up as Tenryuu held out a drink to the two of them. "Thank you."

As they took it, the Cruiser only shrugged. "No worries." She then tilted her head off to the side. "There's a bakery there that the girls are getting some stuff at so we can have a small snack, looks pretty good actually."

Seeing Tenryuu's look and understanding it, Nagato just smiled. "We're doing okay."

Just taking that as it was, Tenryuu jerked her thumb toward the bakery. "I'll head on back and give the girls a hand, okay?"

When they both nodded, she headed off as Harry snuggled into the hug. Finally, he spoke up. "Mum?" Getting a hum in return, he continued. "Is it bad that I can't help but wonder about if..."

Nagato finished his thought. "If your parents didn't die?"

For a few moments Harry was quiet before he whispered. "Yeah..." He then looked around. "I keep imagining growing up here and stuff. Coming home to my birth mum making food, playing with my dad... maybe even having some brothers and sisters. But... isn't that wrong? I mean, I'm happy with what I got and if they hadn't, you know... then I wouldn't have met you or any of the others."

Much to his surprise though, Nagato gave a chuckle to that. "I would be surprised if you didn't have those thoughts... Especially as I've had much the same." There was an odd look on her face as Harry looked up at her surprised, her expression almost wistful, as she shook her head. "I think though, you would have grown up here very happily in such a case."

Several minutes later, Inazuma came running up with the others behind her as she had a worried look on her face. "Um, we brought some snacks..." Looking at Harry, she reached over and hugged him. "Are you feeling better, Harry-Chan, nanodesu?"

Blinking, Harry slowly nodded as he hugged her back. "A little bit."

Much to Nagato's surprise, Tatsuta cracked one of her eyes open a bit. "If you want, we can leave off visiting the cottage."

However, Harry just gave her a shake of the head. "I think that I want to see it, now more then ever." Looking up, he bit his lip as he looked over at Dumbledore. "Um... Sir, can I ask a question?"

A smile on his face, Dumbledore nodded. "Of course. And if it's about the wonderful pastries that Miss Dickson makes, they truly are a treat."

Just blinking, Harry soon shook it off. "Um, no, but I'm sure that they're good if you say so..." Taking a bite out of one of the pastries, he soon swallowed it. "I was wondering about what was on their gravestone, about how the last enemy to be defeated would be death."

Pausing for a moment, Dumbledore slowly turned thoughtful. "There is a meaning behind it, yes. In regards to your parents, it means that there is a life after death, and life beyond death as well. That even after a death has happened, life will go on and those we care for will continue to live."

Thoughtful, Iku rolled that around in her mind for a little bit. "I like that, it's wise."

Harry blinked as he felt a hand in his and looked to the side to see Hibiki there holding it. There was even a blush on her face as she did so and gave it a squeeze. "It's very khorosho."

Simply tilting his head to the side, Harry nodded. "Yeah... I guess that it is." The next few minutes passed with them enjoying their snack before they were finished and Harry hopped off the bench and looked around. "Um... can we..."

Nodding, Dumbledore let out a breath. "We can, it's in this direction."

Almost ten minutes later, the group came to a stop in front of a ruined cottage. The lawn and gardens had long since gone wild with the lawn now containing waist high grass and the odd bush. Looking around, Akatsuki frowned. "Why didn't anyone fix this place up?"

With a soft smile on his face, Dumbledore stepped forward and suddenly a sign sprang out of the ground which caused Harry and the shipgirls to jump back before they leaned in to read it. Scratching her head, Ikazuchi looked from the sign to the ruined building. "Wait... so they left it like this as a monument to Harry-Chan's family? And what happened?"

Meanwhile, Shinano frowned a bit. "Um... should people have written on the sign?"

Running a finger along it, Harry just smiled as he read some of the messages. "I kind of like it, actually."

Dumbledore nodded as he waved his wand at the gate in a complicated gesture. "Quite, I've enjoyed reading some of the messages myself." Then he reached over and opened the gate. "There, now we can go inside without fearing anyone coming."

Behind him, the group followed right up to the door where they paused, Harry taking a deep breath. "This is..."

Her hand on his shoulder, Nagato thinned her lips. "This must have been where he entered that night."

Taking Harry's hand in hers, Iku just nodded while on his other side, Inazuma did the same. And then they stepped inside the former Potter residence.

 

[darthcourt10]

Tabac Iberez

Spoiler: Replace the word "Vultures" with "English" and you get a good impression of Yavuz.

Istanbul burned.

Istanbul, once Constantinople, once Byzantium, once the axis of the world, once a city of peace and prosperity. No matter now, as it burned with an insidious hellfire that threatened to consume the city. From the Hagia Sophia to the Hippodrome, fire brigades tried to save the city and barely held their own. If it had been in absence of the ruinous fleet, they would have saved Istanbul.

And yet, in the harbor and Bosphorus the desolate and damned demons threw their iron and fire heedless of the destruction they had brought. No defense pact held the city safe as Crete and the Aegean received their own compunce for defiance in the face of the new world order. The shore batteries had been silenced, the fighter bases suppressed. Now, all that remained were the destroyers and a handful of light cruisers, the flag heaviest among them.

In the Black Sea, a merchant freighter had broken for safety. Half-unloaded of cargo with every civilian it could cram aboard, the last departure from the docks fled for it's life, hounded by destroyers and light torpedo boats.

So there it was, the thing we dread the most. Time had caught up with us. The thread ended. I felt betrayed, and disappointed. Was that really it?

The torpedo boats surged ahead, crude hulls barreling through the waves to assault the belabored cargo ship. Shot after shot missed, but the gunnels ran red with every one that hit. Screaming for the Hungarians, the Russians, Ukrainians, Turks, any who could hear him, the captain called for aid. He was helpless- and then the four inch guns began to fire.

We watch the sand trickle, anxious to see its steady flow. But what we really fail to see is that any minute, the glass might just burst into pieces. You see, it's not about what you take with you, it's about what you leave behind.

The echo of naval guns were heard, dwarfing the puny popguns on the destroyers and torpedo boats. An eleven-inch rifle was no popgun, and the roar dwarfed the guns near a third its size attacking the defenseless merchantman. Abyssal ships, their cankers oozing into the sea broke straight courses as a fog rolled in thick from the west of the Black Sea. One ship was not fast enough, a hit rending it's machinery spaces asunder. Changing their courses, a half dozen of the torpedo boats went into the cold mists. Six inch fire roared out, and another salvo of eleven-inch rounds flew into the wolfpack of light beasts. This time, the only thing that was hit was the water, but now the destroyers proper had to contend with the rolling fog. Howling like mad, they dove in to try and find out what had wrought such a slaughter.

Now, sharp and flat cracks rang out- more four inch guns, but long of barrel and tight of rifle. The destroyers and their torpedoes detonated in droves as their decks of tubes lit off at the high-explosive rain coming from the escort in the fog. Frantic, one turned to launch its twenty-one tubes deep in the fog.

It met an axehead, the sharp blade sinking deep into it's bridge. Striding by to get it, a shipgirl smiled vainly and stuck it behind one of her turrets.

"Come, Midilli. It would not do to be late for our return. So strange, though, to fight the Russians as we come from the north."

Her slight compatriot just smiled, and laughed as she stroked long blonde hair.

"I would not worry overmuch, unless we find a mine. Do you think they mined the Bosphorus?"

For a minute, Yavuz did not reply. Then another.

"Yavuz? Yavuz?"

"There were children on that ship."

"Yavuz, what are you thinking?"

"I am thinking that fifty years of rest is too long, and we have never faced a worse foe."

At this, Midilli blinked and got closer to her good friend. She had escorted her from their birthplace in the north, through the straits and into service with their new home. The two could not be closer. It was at this moment, though, that Midilli saw the bearskin that hung off Yavuz's waist.

"Please... please Yavuz. Come back to me."

The elder battlecruiser laughed and rolled her turrets in their mountings. "And neither fire nor sharp steel could harm them in their rage as they descended through every kind of madness." Considering the poor showing they have displayed so far, I do not fear. Just stay behind me, and howl if you see torpedoes. I will know."

Nodding, the protected cruiser fell in line astern of her leader and gulped tightly. This would be a fierce fight.

----

Midilli had not underestimated the severity of the issues. Yavuz was a maelstrom, leaping and bounding through the waves to fight the enemy, laughing and crying in equal measure as rotten oil and diseased carcasses hit the waves. Behind her, Midilli shot true at all angles, suppressing the plywood hounds and keeping her flanks clear. It was as they approached the mouth of the Bosphorus that resistance incresed, the guns growing to five-point-fives to the laughter of Yavuz. The light cruisers were weak things, their belts barely enough to fuse the sophisticated SAP ammo that Yavuz slung like candy.

"F͆̈́̂ͬ̚o͗̐̑o͍̦͔̬̦̍ͦ͑̏͑l͈̭̳̠ͫ̕s̜̜͇͖̉̽̎̆͢!̳ͤͣͨ ̵͉̥̗́ͮ̈́ͧ̎ͤY̷͇̟͊ͣo͒̐ͧ͌ͦ͑̚͡u͈̜̯̘͇̪̐͛̓ ̰̭̓ͯ͆̀ͦf͔͇͌ͯͦ̇̋ͮį̼͙͕̜̯ͬ̃̏̐̋̌̌ͅg̠̬̰͑̇̓̒̅̿̕ḥ̞ͨ̌ͬͩ̏ͪͮt̤̻̳̤ͯͮͯͨ͐ͨ ̮̃ā̜͓͇̠̑̆̊l̩̣̜͚̿ͦͧ̒ͅo̘͈̠̮̩̥̜̒͐̐n̑͢e͗ͯ̄ͦ̒ͬ,͈͇͚̬̜̯͍̎́̓̽́ ͈̞̹̬̣̔͛͂͌ą̩b͈̮̲̫̪̞̤̀a̟̯͇͌͊͐ͮ̀n͇̈d̸̟͒ͫ͐̊ŏ͇̜̲͖͑̈́̅̆̆ͭ͡n͓̻͙͔͖̳̓ͥ͛ͯẹ̰̪̲͕͑̽͐͜d ̻̙̦̜̝͈ͪ̓ͭ͑̆̽b̀ͅy̠͚̞̻̾͗̑̽͜ ͑ͯͬͭ͠y͚͍͇͈̜̑͒ȍ̸̙̘͎̝͕̽̃̎ͧ̋ṳ͉͈̣̲̌̍r̘̦͚̀ ̟̙͊̄ͤc̘ͩo̸̫̰͊̔̚u̼̻͍͍̝̙̎̒̅̐̊̉͞n͖͙̼̼̪̘͈̆̿̃̽͢t̰̝͉͉̰̮͛̋̌ͥ̑r̛̻̬̹̬͚͛ͯͭ̓y̸̖͇̜͛͒̉ͦ ̭͉̦̲ͥ͊̾̽̾͡á̹͙̫̗͍̫̗͆̄̉ͦ̿nͬ̔ͯ̓̄d̨̻̯͉͆̏̉ͥ̿ ͎̟̮̙̌ͦ̑̓̿͒̇b̦̬̻̳̳̞̭ͫͤͣ͋ÿ̶̱̓ ͈̰̲̑y̠̩̭͟o̻͈ͥ͟u̱̗̯̭̙̪͞r̘͉͈͓̉́ ͇̣̰͈̜ͣ͗̆̅ͦ̚d͗ͯ́̔e͚͚̒͆̐ͣͪͭ͌a̜̫̩̘̯ͥͣͅd̞͊̍ ̠̝̙̾̇̔ͅg͙̑ǫ̰̮ͥ̿̏ͣ̆̋d͉͊̑ͧ̕s̼͓̣̎͐͛̾ͭ̈͛!̤̣̠ͣ̾͊ͬ ͙̳T̉̈͒͆̈̌́h̵ͪͭe͕̼̜̰͙ ͙̣̏͊̒ͪͦě̼mͧͮ̋p̡̦̱͔̗̻̙͈͆i͑̃́r̸̤̪̯̻̙̬̅̂̂̽ͧe ͂̀̓ͥ҉͍̮ÿ́̔͏͍ŏ̪̫͔̝̲̯̗͑u̶͕̠̺̺̖̞͌̃̂͊̂̈́ ̲̜͕͚̖̘̏ͦͤͮ͆͒̀̚s̹̦ͮe̛̮̟͖̮̖͔̣ͪ̂r̺͠v̥̓͋̚ẽ̻̗̟́ͨ͂̇ͬ̚ ͚̫͔̦͈̝̤ͪ͒ͣ͞i͖͓̳̋͐̈́ͪ̽ͩs̍҉̲͖ ͂ͩ̇̒ͦ͋͗ď̢̗̄͗̑ͪ̾̄ĕ̮̞̰̺͖̌͆̈̊̈͜ă͇̪͓͚̺͖̬̐͗ͨ̔ͦd̨͔̭̰̙ͥ͐̾ ̱̪̯̹̫̫͒̓̽̂w̹̝̯̉͛͋ͫ̕i̡̱̓̈́̄t͖̘͎̰̬̞͚̅̾̎́͌͠h̢͆͗ ̹̘͌͗͆͒͑̏ͦa͂̿ͨ͏̤͍͈̻͚ ̤͓̬̯̰̩ͫͧͧc̺ͥ͗̑̇o̾̎̊͊̈̆̌r̞̋̂͋̎p͈s̻̤̮̬͚̫̋̈ͯ̏e̯̗̤̻̣̽͝ ͙̹̭̫̲̳̍̅̐͆ͯͨ̎͠i̙̙͖ͦ̌͋̔̏͒̚ń̴̤͕̰̗̠̺̆̇ ̸̫̗̙̏ͪ̃ȋ̱̘̐͒͋́t͙͍̤͉̻͓ͪ̂͒ͫ̏ͪ͊͟s̺͚̆ͫ ̬̳ͭ̂̏̊ͅͅp͓̌͊̈́͋̆͊͛l̛̜̩̹̩̤̳̦̽a̺͉ͭ̓̾̚c̞̟̤̻̺̓ͣ̌͢ȩ̳̙͎͖̲͚ͣͭ̓̋ͩ̉̚!̤͓̝̱̗̦̲͆̊̑̽ͧ̂ ̱͍̆̿͊͌̚͟I͕̝̓ͮ̚ ̼̎͋͌̓͡w̮͓̯̳̹̪͌̍ͫ̆̄̓͡i̺̾ͣl̳̰̟̱͉̝̓ͥ͐͠l̵͚̞̦̥̀ ͖̦̰͂ͨ͡e̳̍ͧͬn̛̜̹̲̱̦̻̦̈́͒d̨̙̳̘͉̰́ͮ͐ ͫ̒͊͏̞̥͙̗̭̘ỳ̻̙͈̹ͅo͓͕ͣ̓u͕̦̬̯̤̒͆̆ͬ̓͛͛̕ ̃̊̊a̛ṅ̝d̜̘̩̳̹̤̏̇̓ ̻̬͚̳̰̥̜ͤ͐b̼̞͖̩̲͓̔ͦr̵̜̞̘̭ͫ̿ì͔ͯ̑ͥ̾̉͝ͅn̡̮̙͖̤ͥ̃̀g̹͆͘ ͔̩̻͓̣͎̠ͩ̔̈́̉yo͙͍͕̼͚ͧǔ̴̠̺̗ ̢͈̫͍̰͓ͫͩ̆ͯẗ̮̗̻̒ͅͅoͨͫ̒̆̊̌ͩ͏̬͉͈̥ ̤̘̪̐ͩͫͧ̆ͅẗ̸̻̖̗̔ͥ͊͐̉ͅͅh͈̫̐̏̑̏̔͑ͤe͕͖̥͖̭͔ͬ͒ͩ̎ͭͥͪ͞ ͉͚͓͖̹̾̓ͦͪͬ̇Ạ͎̹͕̊b͏̳̫͉y̨̐̾̈́ͫ̍s̾͐̑͗̔̓ͤ҉̥̠͖̻̭͈͖sͫ҉̫̥͚ ̶̤̜̬̳̄m̧̰̺̟̼̽̂͊ͣͯ̊ͅͅy̫̮̍ͯͧs̵͚̗̗͚͚̫͚e̥̰̩̥̍͌͑̾͛̐͡l̢͖̫͇̲͙͉̓̿ͥͥͭͮ͆f̣͕̘͕̮̤̈́̊̌̒!̸̭͖̿̉̚"

In the darkness of the sunset, the blue and black Princess looked like a monster in the Bosphorus. Charging, Yavuz tried to close, firing her turrets in sequence, but the first proper six-inch gun struck her upperworks a harsh blow. Secondaries were lighting the night, but the Light Cruiser Princess fought on, closing the range fiercely. An eleven-inch shell ripped off an arm, but the demon still closed.

"O͕ͮ͗ͤ̔͞u͍͟rͥ͂̈́ͣͥ҉̦͚͚̞̗ ̢̻͍̤͈͔ͩͫ͋̽ͅw̖ͨr͍̳̩̣͓̣̳̈ͯͬͭe̝̞̳͔ͧ͊̊̽ͮ͐͆͢c̲̫͎̭̦̲ͣ̑̑̽͒k̶̞̥̩̜̑͋̍́s̱̲̰͕̗̹̗͐ͬ̋͂̋̎̕ ̻̦̲̩̫̱̟̈ͯ̿ͥw̟͔͔̻̓̆̍i͎͙̰̤͖͚̿ͭ͒̓̃ͨͭ͢l͎̲̟̳̠̀̍ͧͅl͍̭̟̼̘ ̡̼̖̭̞ṡ̶̘̫͊̇͒͐ṱ̨̪̯̓ͯͩ̽͐o̪̘̹͜ͅp͕̫̈̌̌̃̿ ̘͓͕̺̳̮̏͊̋̃͒ͩt̨̰̗̮̞̹̖̽ͮ̈̇̿̑̇h͂͌͐̐͒ͅe͎͈̞͎̟̺̍͂͐ͤ̇͞ ̺̱̟͚̰̦ͮc̸̥̦̬̳͙̆͗ͯͯ̉̑ͬh̳̖̤͍̱͊͒ͫ̂̒a̙̯̻̯̗̟̭ͨ͒ͯ̏̾͑nͪͫ̿̀͂̐͂ň͒҉̗̮̱̝̝̮ȩ̣̺̗͙͎̩͉l̙ͩ̀ͨ͌͐̏ ̝͕̣̱͙ͯ͌ͮ̇̇͜t̰̩̻̬̓̆̓̌͌og͚̗̦̈̃ͥ́͋e̴̼̦̗̹̥̐̓ͭ̂ͅt͈̦͈̊̌ͧ̾ͩ̔͌́ͅh̪͉̹̝͔̝̋ͣ͆ͨ̕eͨͮ͊͡r̻̝̺ͩ̅̈́ͤ̈̉̚!͉͎̱̃ ̩͚͙̬͓͍͌̅J̲͌̑̔̚o̜͕̺̮͈͚̔͗́i̫̯̩̙̖͚̹̊̏̔̀ṇ̢̙̯̰͐ͮͩ ̣͕̩͉͈̥͓ͮm̫ͫ͞e͖͉̮̙̩̾ͬ ̠̈ͣ̑̔n̫̹̫͛̓ͫ̓ͣ̈́͜ͅo̷̭̙w͖̼̼̋ ͍̥̬̯́͆̾̃͡i̵̳̝͔̞ͦ̋ͤ̑ͧ̅ͅn̰̭͉͒ͨ̇̔̾̄̉ͅ ̧͒ͩͪ͊̔̒t̩͚͔̮̼̰̦͂ͩͪͥhͤͫ͑̏ͧ͐e̞̟̣̪͕͉͙ ̑̓͊̍̈́́ͧ͘e̟͖̲̱͈ͦ͛̚nͭ͆̄ͧ̏̿̋dͬ̾̋ͯ̚!̳̩̟̱͓̱͂̐͝"

At that moment, Midilli saw the telltale puffs and splashes. The Light Cruiser Demon had launched her torpedoes in an atempt to take Yavuz with her.

"TURN! YAVUZ, TURN! YAVUZ SULTAN SELIM, TURN! GOEBEN, TURN!"

It took three cries to breech the red haze from Yavuz's eyes, but when they were clear enough to see the onrushing danger, she threw her rudder over while reversing thrust. It was almost enough, even though it rammed her bow into the side of the channel. Breaking her course as well, Midilli narrowly avoided Yavuz's fate of a stern blown near totally off and a bow ripped to shreds by the grounding. Still, as the handful of remaining Abyssal ships broke to a fresh-launched wave of planes from Antolian airfields, Midilli had to smile as she took Yavuz up in her arms sans rigging. As she sailed into port, she smiled. It was good to be back.

 

[darthcourt10]

Tabac Iberez

EPILOUGE
---

As Midilli lounged in the hot tub the Turkish navy scrounged up, she sipped her beer softly and shot a smile over to Yavuz.

"Hey, Yavuz, how's it going?"

The reply was instant, and was accompanied by an empty bottle.

"Fuck you! I thought they pitched this damn thing!"

"C'mon, it's not like it's the first time you've used one!"

Slinging another bottle, Yavuz glared up from her rubber inflatable docks/pool/thing and screamed another obscenity at her squadron-mate. "Damnit, I thought they pitched this stinking thing years ago! Last time, it broke as- uh-oh..."

As the inflatables sprung a leak, Yavuz just swore more and pulled out one of the new tellephone thingies.

"Hello, is this that weird immagrent store on Hourglass and Belkan? Yeah, I'm going to need all your beer. And wine. And vodka. Billing? Well, when you get here I'll cut you a check. If you have kegs, bring them too. Oh, and little thing? Sixty euro tip if you can find me a really good fez. Relax, this is a Navy purchase, and make that two fezzes."