Title: The Digital Meets the Magical
Prolog: The Owls Fly
Author: Dragon Starbo
E-mail:
Rating: PG, will change as the chapters go on
Disclaimer: Don't and will never own Digimon or Harry Potter. I just get a kick out taking someone else's creations and seeing how horribly I can screw with the fans' heads.
Author's Notes: Um, yeah, so here I am again. Take two – or three, really. This fanfic was horrid before. Spelling errors, simple info mistakes, and way too many gaps in logic for anyone to get interested much (the kind of fanfics that I hate). So, after a few months of thinking and researching, I have come up with an improved version of this fic.
Because I don't want to deal with a lot of characters, I've limited the amount of Digi-destines in this fic. Well, the others will be mentioned, but the main characters are:
Matt – Ishida Yamato – age
15
T.K. – Takaishi Takeru – age 12
Kari – Kamiya Hikari –
age 12
Davis– Motomiya Daisuke – age 12
Ken – Ichijouji Ken – age 12
Cody– Hida Iori – age 10
I'm trying to please the readers (why else would I write fanfics?) but also keep in mind that I've been working on this plot for some time and if there seems to be errors in logic, remember it's just the prolog and the more chapters I write, the more it shall become clear. Well, maybe . . . Please, enjoy and if it still bugs the heck out of you, let me know. (Or if you like it let me know in a review, please. Okay, I'll stop rambling now.)
Prolog: The Owls Fly
"Man, my life is so boring right now!" Takeru sighed as he stared out of the window of his second bedroom, in his second home. His second bedroom was really his father's study, because he had turned the third bedroom into it a long time ago. Takeru had a dresser for his clothing and a futon for his bed (which was put away every day so his dad can get in there and study).
He was spending some time at his father's apartment, to shake things up. True, it was a longer commute to school, he was woken up sometimes by his father's loud snoring, and he was so sick of Yamato's "special" cooking that Takeru had to hold back tears when he smelt his older brother cooking. However, it was a change. Since the last battle of Chosen Children, where they were seen over the world, things settled down very fast. Takeru enjoyed his summer vacation, but then school started up again in April and it was a sickening mundane routine. Breakfast, school, dinner, bed; marking the days like the poles telling you that you've ran a quarter of a mile on the track.
At first, it was a pleasant change from running off to another world and putting his neck on the line. He was a normal kid again, and even though everyone knew about the last battle, after the media died down in their extra-exclusive in-depth stories about the Digital World, no one really brought it up outside of the Chosen Children amongst themselves. Takeru enjoyed how he stayed through the whole lesson without the thought of sneaking off to the computer lab afterwards to battle some evil; it was so nice to know his weekends were free time to do what he pleased.
Then it became harder and harder to stay focused in his classes, to not pace the floor on the weekends and nights when there was nothing to do. He spent a lot of time with his friends, individually and in groups, so he wouldn't be alone and bored. He went to nearly every band practice of Yamato's. And he would linger around shops and parks. Takeru did everything he could, but had to face the truth:
He had become use to being a Chosen Child.
This was a desperate thought for someone who was thrust back into a normal life. But what could Takeru do? Dump all of his responsibilities and run back into the Digital World? . . . If only . . . No, the only times he went back into the Digital World, nowadays, was to enjoy a picnic with his friends. There was nothing left to defend or help set straight. The Digimon are very capable of handing the smaller, petty crimes of stealing and such and it was really only the big, bad villains that gave them any reason to call upon the Chosen Children.
"If only . . . If only there was something! I don't want to put any innocent lives at risk, but couldn't there be . . . SOMETHING TO DO IN THIS BORING LIFE!" Takeru slammed his head against his book, not caring that it produced a slight ring in his ear. This action felt kind of nice, knocking some frustration loose. He hit his head against his math book and whined, "Bored! Bored! Bored! Bored!"
Just then there came a tap at the window. Tap, tap, tap, tap. At first, Takeru wasn't sure who was making the noise – him or the window – but looking up, he realized that there was an owl at his window with a letter tied to its leg. It was the largest owl Takeru had ever seen, its brown wings were nearly stretched as far as his arms could.
"What the heck?" Takeru opened the window and the bird flew in, amazingly keeping its balance as it folded its wings in and swooped inside the room. It circled and landed onto his futon, hooting importantly. Takeru, cautiously, approached the bird and took the letter from its leg. "Where did you come from?"
The owl gave him a look as if to say, "Just read the letter."
Takeru looked at the envelope and gazed at it in wonderment. In Japanese, it had his full name, father's apartment address, and the city and, of course, the country in which he lived. What struck him was the fact that it also said, "Study room/Third bedroom."
Sitting down on the floor, Takeru felt his gaze blur and unfocused as he tried to comprehend this. Someone, from who knows where, has sent him a letter by an owl and knew exactly where he would be. Was it an evil digimon trying to catch him off guard? Why by owl? Surely a digimon would use e-mail . . . could a digimon get into their world, train an owl, and send him a letter? What if it was a joke by Davis or Tai or his brother? But who trained the owl to deliver letters?!
"Ouch!" Takeru was brought out of his trance. The impatient owl had pecked him and was now pecking the corner of the envelope. "All right, already . . . Sheesh."
Working around the red-wax stamp, Takeru opened it to find a piece of parchment. ("Owls and parchment? Maybe I ate too much of Yamato's Meat Surprise last night.") Unfolded, the parchment was filled with Japanese writing, very clear and neat, as if it were typed, not written. Takeru read it aloud:
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, 1st Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Takaishi Takeru,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts has opened its gates to foreign students this year and hopes for your attendance.
A representative will come and explain all to you upon your response to this letter. We hope to receive your owl shortly.
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress"
"What?!" Takeru re-read it, scanning for signs of the words "Fooled you! Hehe!"
He took another look at the bird, and bolted out of his room. He had to speak to Yamato about this. Surely, if this was a joke, he'd know. If it was an evil digimon, he should be able to figure it out. Yamato would help him figure this out and then –
"Ow!"
The brothers had collided in the hallway. Funny, Takeru hadn't taken more than five steps, but it felt like he had ran for much longer than that.
In unison, the brothers held up their letters and said, "I got this weird letter! . . . You too? . . . Oh, good, I'm not going insane."
"Or at least we're not going alone," Yamato gave a half-smirk. He got up and held out his hand to Takeru.
"Heh, yeah." Takeru took his brother's hand and pulled himself up. "So. There's an owl in your room right now, too?"
"Yep. I just hope it doesn't leave any other surprises."
"Do you think this could be some evil digimon? Or someone was playing a trick on us?" Takeru breathed. He wasn't ready to expect the fact that he just got a letter inviting him to a school to teach him magic.
"How can it be an evil digimon? If it knew were we lived, wouldn't it make more sense to attack us in our sleep? Besides, none of our digimon have notified us of a threat in the Digital World. As for a joke . . . maybe, but it seems too extravagant for our friends, doesn't it? I mean, the trained owls, the old parchment . . . it's really not that funny and they can do much better."
"Yeah," Takeru sighed. He was glad for the second opinion. "So, what are we going to do now?"
"I say we write them back."
"What?!" His eyes sprang as wide as they would go. "Are you serious?!"
"Of course! Look, how else are we going to find out more about this? The letter doesn't give enough information for us to make a good judgment about this. And, c'mon, haven't you always wanted to do magic?"
"I thought being a Chosen Child was enough weird stuff for me."
"Hey, I wonder if any of our other friends got these."
And, as if in some play or fanfic, the phone rang.
Takeru pick up the phone with a hushed "If it's Jun, I'm not here!" from Yamato.
"Hello? Ishida residence."
"TK! YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST FOUND IN MY ROOM!! AN OLW! I'VE GOT AN OWL! I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD GET A PET OF MY OWN, BUT NOW I'VE GOT AN OWL!"
"Daisuke! Calm down!" Takeru shouted into the receiver that he held at arms lengths away. "Look at the owl again. Is there's a letter attached to it?"
"YEAH, THERE IS!" There was some rustling, hooting and then silence.
"'Hogwarts School of Witch . . .' TK, was this your idea of a joke?"
"No, I got one, too. So did Yamato." Takeru felt it safe to put the phone back up to his ear.
"Evil –?"
"Kill us in our sleep."
"Ah, true."
Yamato hit the speaker button and said, "We should contact the others, to see if they got one of these."
"So, this mean I don't get to keep the owl?"
"I don't think your parents would let you, anyway, Dai'."
"Awwwe. Fine. I'll contact 'Kari," the depressed voice of Daisuke ended in a click and the dial tone.
"Do you think he'll be all right?" Takeru knew how important a pet was to him nowadays, though he had suspicions that Daisuke was just trying to cope with same boredom that Takeru felt in this live.
"Duh, this is Daisuke we're talking about here. I'll go call Jou, Izumi, Mimi, and Sora. Daisuke will talk to Taichi when he calls Hikari."
"Okay. I'll call Iroi and Miyako."
All of the Chosen Children, aside from Mimi who was in New York, decided to meet at the park to discuss the letters and owls. They met in a large tree's shade and the letters were past around. They also found out that in the envelopes there were a smaller envelope and a piece of parchment, clearly meant for their response. The owls, surprisingly, found their ways to the park and sat in the tree, "chatting" among them.
"So, how come Yamato, TK, Iroi, Ken, 'Kari, and Dai' got a letter and we didn't?" Taichi moaned.
"That should be obvious," Jou replied. "They're the only ones who have magic."
"Wha –! Are you saying you believe this, Jou?" Iori asked.
"Well, we already ruled out all of the other possible choices. This is the only one left that makes any kind of sense."
"But I don't get it!" 'Kari said. "We've never done magic in our lives . . . unless you count when we make our Digimon digi-evolve, but then everyone should have gotten a letter, not just a few of us!"
"Yes, that is strange thought," Koushirou mused. "Other than what's Digimon related, has there been other weird occurrences in your guys' lives?"
"You mean, other than being a sibling to Tai?" Hikari asked.
"Hey!" Taichi said, but only got giggles from everyone else. He half-glared at everyone. "Oh, sure, take the cute one's side."
The Chosen Children who got the Hogwarts letters racked their brains in hopes of finding a memory where they did anything magical. Daisuke said that he once got an A on a math exam, and there was one time where Yamato had ran five miles to escape a horde of fan girls without messing up his hair. Iroi got past his Grandpa's defense a few times without knowing how, TK did a back flip off the high dive –
"This isn't helping!" Yolie sighed. "Those are unordinary, but there's nothing magical about them."
"Yolie is right," Koushirou said, concentrating hard. "I find it strange that some of us have developed magic all of a sudden. Even stranger that there's a school out there that teaches about magic."
"Do you believe in magic, Koushirou?" Ken inquired.
"It's not a matter of whether or not I personally believe in it," he stated.
". . . That didn't answer my question."
"Oh, c'mon, guys!" Daisuke threw up his hands. "Let's just get this over with and write the responses!"
"Dai'!" Hikari jumped. He had been sitting very close to her, as they were a couple now and he had nearly smacked her.
"Sorry, 'Kari, but I'm just so damn bored of all this talking! How else are we going to find out more about this? Send the representative already!"
"That's what I said!" Yamato grinned, making Daisuke grin. He still looked up to Yamato and Taichi as roll models and getting praise from them was one way to make his day.
"But what about our parents?" Iroi asked. "I think my mom should know about this."
"We'll send the responses and then tell them," Ken perked up. "They can meet the representative with us and then we all can decide whether or not this is a hoax."
"I think my mom will be mad if I do that."
"Yeah, and your mom won't let even let you check it out," Daisuke pointed out. "I know my parents won't. If this isn't a hoax, we have a chance to learn about something that we thought was fictional! I say a little yelling from our parents is worth the risk!"
This seemed to be everyone's thought, as those with letters pulled out their extra papers. The owls, seeing that they finally have decided on something, swooped down and landed by the kid they sent the letter to. It was clear that these were professionally trained birds and the same breed, as they were all large and of many different hews of brown dancing on their feathers.
Good, ol' reliable Jou had pens and string for everyone and in a short five minutes, their letters in more words or less said, "We wish to speak with the representative before we decide whether or not to go to Hogwarts. Thank you."
As soon as the last letter was tied to the last owl's leg, the bird flew off. The children watched them fly until they became little dots.
"I still want to know who trained those birds," Takeru mumbled.
End of Prolog: The Owls Fly