When Harry returned from Hogwarts after Ron got his new pet owl, he had no idea what was in store for him. First his uncle starts his summer off with an ominous look and then tells him he would be in summer school with Dudley.

Now usually this wouldn't be so bad, since Harry quite enjoyed school. But they would be in same class, and that meant he had to keep his grades down normally. But this time it would be different. He had a secret weapon for this issue. He would agree to the classes, but he would not keep his grades down to make his cousin looked better.

Harry looked at his uncle, and said point blank "I'll agree to the class, but I won't keep my grades down for Dudley. Or help him with his homework unless he asks for it."

Vernon snarled, "You dare...?"

"Would you like me to inform my godfather about this?"

"You don't have a godfather."

His smirk was entirely too predatory.

"Oh, but I do. He's an escaped convict and he likes to check up on me. Unless you want a fully trained wizard with no issues casting spells in full view of the neighbors?"

Vernon paled. That was the last thing he wanted! He silently nodded in agreement, if only to keep this 'godfather' from showing up on his front lawn.

It turned out that the summer school had a program for those who had high enough grades.

And Harry qualified with the highest marks. Dudley on the other hand had the lowest, even with Harry's help. And Harry did help when his cousin bothered to ask for it.

Since he had the highest grades in the course, he was given a slip for his uncle to sign.

"What's this? Another piece of rubbish for that school of yours?"

"Not quite. You sign this, I leave the house two months early and you don't have to deal with me for the rest of the summer. Interested?"

"Is this a joke?"

"Not a joke. You sign this, drop me off at London in two days, and you won't see me for at least a year."

Vernon read it over, saw nothing magic related, and signed it without thinking twice. If it meant getting the freak out of his hair and house for at least a year, he would agree to it. Not like it was his problem once the brat was dropped off.

The next day Harry had managed to shrink his trunk without his wand, which apparently wasn't detected. Hedwig was safely in her cage and waiting to leave.

The day after he turned in the sheet, he made sure he would have a week before he had to leave for Japan. Which meant he had an entire week to himself, with no one to know where he was or how to find him.

He couldn't wait!

His first stop was Gringotts for funds. Griphook was the one to spot him.

"Mr. Potter. How unexpected to see you without an escort. I assume you have business with the bank?"

"Yes. I need some muggle funds for a trip I will be taking within the week."

"Follow me please. I need your signatures for a few things."

Harry followed without asking what he needed a signature for, and was surprised when he went into the office. His eyes were drawn to the impressive swords and armor on the walls. Griphook was pleased by his admiration.

"What do you need, Griphook?"

What followed was the most informative and revealing chat he had ever had. Harry had a will written up, with the goblins as the executor. He learned of his other vaults, and had them sealed. And much to his surprise, he discovered his grandparents muggle company.

Griphook took the funds to pay for the card which could be used in both worlds straight from his trust vault. Now he could buy new clothes.

Harry stepped into the airport, excited. Sure the wait for his passport was a pain, but the fact he was going on a long vacation was worth it. Hedwig was catching on to his excitement, because she had a pleased look in her eye. Inside his pocket was his trunk, his moleskin wallet and new card, and enough muggle funds to get him through the flight. He had left word with Sirius that he would be in Japan for a month, in case his godfather wanted to join him.

His lodgings were already taken care of, since the school was paying for it. He only had to attend some lectures at a genius school for a month, and if he passed the entrance exams, he would be allowed to stay. Besides, Griphook mentioned Japan had excellent magical tutors.

Planes, Harry thought, should be destroyed. The sixteen hour flight to Japan had been hell on his backside. Poor Hedwig must have frozen in the baggage compartment!

(Sure enough when he retrieved her, she was giving him a very evil look.)

He looked and spotted the person who would escort him to his new apartment. So long as he maintained a high enough grade and kept the place clean, he would be allowed to live alone. Fortunately they even allowed pets, even if they were a bit unusual.

Once he was settled, he pulled out the charm Griphook had gotten him so he could learn Japanese faster. So long as he wore it, everything he said would come out in Japanese, and everything he heard would come in as English. At night it would feed him the words spoken to him while he slept, until he could speak without it.

The bloody thing had cost an arm and a leg, but it would be worth it.

His first task was letting his poor owl out. He looked at his beloved companion and said "Can you remember where this place is?"

A hoot in confirmation. He grinned.

"In that case, I'll see if I'm needed today. If not, we'll explore! You can ride on my shoulder if you like."

Hedwig promptly sat on his shoulder. Once he discovered his orientation would begin tomorrow, he left.

The city was amazing. Much cleaner than London after a rain, he felt completely at ease. The people were nice, if a bit odd (he chalked it up to cultural differences) and the sights! He had never seen such amazing things!

Spotting a series of steps that lead to an interesting gate, he went up. No one stopped him, so he guessed it was a public place. He found himself in what appeared to be a temple. He walked up to a counter where they sold what looked like charms, he looked them over.

"What is the difference between these?" he asked politely.

An old man pointed them out individually, then told their use. When he pointed a luck charm, Harry decided to buy it. His luck was always horrid.

He noted a girl with long black hair watching him closely. When she was about to take something from her pocket, he froze. Somehow he knew this would end badly.

"Evil Spirit Disperse!"

Without warning the girl threw a long strip of paper with odd writing on it at him. It hit his forehead and stuck. Something inside his head shrieked in pain, then vanished. The paper fell to the ground and he was very confused.

The girl looked him over in surprise.

"Is that how you normally greet people or am I just special?" he quipped finally. Hedwig began chiding the girl, angry that she had attacked her master.

He heard a muffled snort of laughter, before a girl with (were those meatballs on her head?) started laughing.

"That's how she greets some people," the new girl finally said.

The first girl glared at the second.

"What's your name kid?"

Harry thought fast, and decided to change things right off.

"Raven. Raven Potter."

"I'm Rei Hino. The laughing idiot is Usagi Tsukino."

Harry went back to his new apartment with his groceries. Hedwig had turned out to be a godsend, since she lead the way back. He spent the rest of the night studying, and went to bed around midnight.

It took less than a week for him to grow used to the place. Much to his relief, he passed the exams and was now attending Mugen Gakuen.

While he found the classes challenging, he loved every minute of it. His magical tutors had begun to break him of his habit of using a wand, something he was glad of. Hedwig seemed to be enjoying Japan as well.

Harry went to the registry two weeks after getting used to the way things worked in Japan. He filed for a change of magical schooling. His reply a week later informed him that it had been successful, and he was no longer a student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

So what if the name change had taken a little longer than he liked? He was free of the school and it's issue of mysteries.

The only real connections he decided to keep were the twins, and even that was difficult until he found a pair of diaries which talked to one another. It was through them that he learned of the Dark Mark after the Quidditch Cup, and the tournament.

He was sincerely glad he took the chance in coming to Japan. Otherwise he would have ended up in that tournament.

Raven was sitting on a bench in the park, relaxing after a difficult day of tests. Why they insisted on testing his English knowledge he had no idea, but he didn't complain about it once. He remembered fondly with amusement when they had accidentally assigned him to an English language class. He had proceeded to speak the translations perfectly, much to the shock of his teacher. Immediately after the man had sent him to another foreign language class, which was much more interesting. So what if it happened to be a dead language?

He heard voices and opened his eyes. A girl with pink hair was arguing with a boy her own age. In the boy's hands was a ball that looked like a cat's head. From what he could tell it belonged to the girl.

"Give it back Aino!"

"Make me Rabbit ears!"

She tried in vain to retake her ball, and the boy jeered at her.

Raven growled. He hated bullying of any sorts, and often got onto Draco if he saw the boy harassing Neville. Getting up, he went to intervene. Without warning he swiped the ball from the boy who was not happy.

"Give it back Yankee!"

Raven glared at him.

"For your information, brat, I am not a Yankee. I happen to be a Brit."

The boy tried to take the ball back, but Raven kept it just out of his reach.

He looked to the little girl and asked "Is this yours?"

She nodded and glared at the little boy. Her eyes widened when a certain owl came and landed on his shoulder.

"This is Hedwig. If you are polite she may let you pet her. Otherwise she has a tendency to scratch with her claws."

The little girl approached cautiously, and held still when Hedwig gave her an appraising look. She hooted, and did an odd walk onto Raven's hand. The girl reached out to the owl, who allowed her to pet her feathers.

"They're so soft."

"They should be. I gave her a bath this morning," joked Raven.

The boy grew tired of picking on the girl and left to play with some other children. The girl, however, stayed behind. Raven gently took Hedwig and placed her on the child's shoulder.

"Here's your ball. What's your name?"

"Serenity. But you can call me Rabbit."

"I'm Raven."

Rabbit smiles, then points to her ball, "This is Luna P."

"Hello, Luna P."

Much to his amusement, the balls chirps.

"This is Hedwig, my owl. She's more like family than a pet."

"Hello Hedwig," said Rabbit. Hedwig hooted, then landed on Raven's shoulder.

That was how he met Rabbit, a lonely girl from another time. That bit she inadvertently let slip, and was more than surprised by his accepting nature. When he met the girl she lived with, the reaction was by far more amusing.

Raven enjoyed talking to Rabbit, even if they had a bit of an age difference. When she mentioned her dream, he made a comment which annoyed her until he explained.

"I want to grow up and be a lady."

"How strange..." Raven commented, then amended that when she gave him a fierce glare, "Strange in a good way! According to the people who keep track of my finances, my dad was the last of a long line of Noble Lords in England."

"Really?"

"Yeah. My official title is Lord Potter in certain circles. Not that I particularly care for all that noble stuff. I prefer being semi-normal to being all high and mighty."

"That is strange."

It never came up again. It was after that day he began to notice odd things happened around his new friend.

Rabbit read with interest about a singing contest for children fourteen and under. But in order for her to enter, she needed a parent's permission.

Getting it was easy enough, but what about her friend? He mentioned he was an orphan, and his aunt and uncle were in England.

Raven didn't mind, as he entered it anyway by writing his father's name. He went with the ruse that the man was too busy at work to come.

The prize for the solo act was a contract if the voice was good enough. The duet competition had a hundred thousand yen prize and a free at home karaoke set.

Rabbit and Raven entered the competition as a duet, and her family came to watch...along with her friends. Including the odd girl from the temple.

They were one of five to enter as a duet. Most wanted the contract instead. The audience would pick the winner, and the runners up would receive a trophy and gift certificate to a music shop. One pair was hoping for the cash prize so they could save up for high school.

Raven found out about this after the second pair went, and decided if he won he would give his half of the cash prize to them. Rabbit and Raven were up, and they had chosen a song that suited them perfectly.

"You're the rhythm that rocks

To the beat that never stops

Be the tick, be the tock

Be the rain as it drops

You're the melody that soars

Fairy's wing, ocean's roar

Sing it low, sing it high

Let's go dancing on the sky!

You're the harmony that shimmers

Like a star, be the glimmer

As the sun gives moon light

Lift the song into flight

When rhythm, melody and harmony meet

It's music by heart,

The magic complete."

The crowd loved the song, and the next duet went up. Soon they had to do another performance, with only their team and the one trying to save up for high school left. Luckily they had another song saved up just in case they had to sing again.

"I'm in my moon phase, my pink days
When everything is okay
I am beautiful, invincible
Perfectly impossible

And nothing in this world can shake me
Trip me up or complicate me
Love is all that motivates me 'cause I

I'm on a supernatural high
I got a supernatural life
You're the reason why
I'm on a supernatural high

I'm on a cool trip, a double-dip
I'm swimming in the thick of it
I'm a free bird, the magic word
The sweetest sound you've ever heard

And nothing in this world can change me
Turn me out or rearrange me
Love is all that matters lately 'cause I

I'm on a supernatural high
I got a supernatural life
You're the reason why
I'm on a supernatural high

Dancing without touching ground
I'm flying on the wings of how
I feel when you're around

I'm in my moon phase, my pink days
When everything is okay
I got a sure thing, the gold ring
I'm waking up my wildest dreams

And nothing in this world can shake me
Trip me up or complicate me
Love is all that motivates me 'cause I

I'm on a supernatural high
I got a supernatural life
You're the reason why
I'm on a supernatural high."

The other duo went up, and received a generous applause. In the end, Raven and Rabbit won by a windfall. Raven took his winnings, and went to the other duo.

"I only entered this thing for fun. If you don't mind me keeping the karaoke set, you can have this for your high school fund you were talking about."

Their jaws were on the ground, but they thanked him. Rabbit gave hers to them as well, since she was from the future and didn't actually need it.

They were congratulated by the girls, who were impressed they won. They did have one question though.

"How did you two sync your dance moves so well?" asked the blue haired Ami.

"We were in sync? I hadn't noticed," said Raven in genuine surprise.

"So where do you come from Raven?" asked a brown haired girl named Makoto.

"England. I'm here on a scholarship that I won for summer classes. Though now that I passed the entrance exams to the school that funded it, I may be here longer."

"What school?" asked Ami.

"Mugen Gakuen...I think. I'm still getting used to Japanese."

Ami gaped, and spouted off what she knew about the school. According to her, the mere fact he passed the exams meant he had to be genius level, at the very least. When he mentioned he tested out of Latin, she realized he had a natural lack of languages.

Raven decided not to tell her he had been speaking some Latin for the past three years of school.

It had been a full two months since Harry had left the school, and now there was no sign of him. He thought that the boy would return on his own for another year, but now...

Harry had dropped off the map. In a way he was glad that the boy had not gone to the World Cup, after the fiasco that had happened. Some idiot summoned the Dark Mark and scared off the Death Eaters.

He had only one problem with the fact Harry took the scholarship in Japan. The minute he landed he dropped off the map. Even the owls who delivered the Hogwarts letters refused to take him anything! Fawkes couldn't find him at all!

He did wonder about the letter sent from the Ministry about a fourth year deciding to change their schooling to at home tutors, but since he didn't recognize the name, he allowed it. This P., Raven wasn't his problem.

He sighed. Why did he always have to work for the greater good?

He went back to his attempts at locating the missing boy-who-lived.

Raven stretched, and yawned. This was the longest he had ever slept in. he would have to rush breakfast to get to class on time. He relished the challenge.

Hedwig hooted softly, then went back to sleep. She had been very successful in hunting last night. Raven looked at her and chuckled. Thanks to her, he was the most popular guy in the dorms. (That, and he would find out later his good looks.)

When he originally moved in to the dorms, the place had a bit of a rodent problem that the supervisors had unsuccessfully tried to solve. They had mentioned it to him, and he still chose that dorm. A large rodent population was perfect for Hedwig.

Within a week, the number of mouse and rat sightings in the dorm had dropped dramatically. So had his bill for Hedwig's food. It had been almost three months since he moved in, and now the residents would be hard put to find a mouse or rat in sight.

The people in charge had given him a huge discount for as long as he stayed because of that. And since the dorms were across from the school, it was great.

Raven rushed out to class, and three hours later was exploring the town again. Spotting his usual hangout until his next class, he ducked into the bookstore. After meeting Rabbit, his charm had switched to reading mode, and he was now learning the Japanese lettering system.

He found some new fiction, and left with a full bag again. He had collected a veritable library full of fiction, references and his secret addiction...manga, or Japanese comics. He had a serious love of the Codename: Sailor V comics. He would have loved to meet her.

Raven entered his next four classes. After this he would have his first lesson in animagi training. He had already brewed the potion with his Potions instructor and transfiguration teacher. He had no idea his animal form was a Pegasus with a horn.

Going into the room, he saw a large circle. Reading the designs, he saw that it was meant to help transformation magic.

"Good, you're early. Meditation pose in the middle of the circle."

Raven sat PE style, and went inside his magic. His lessons were more fun now than they were back in Hogwarts.

"Perfect. Bring to mind your animal. See each curve, each line."

Raven saw the form he glimpsed through the potion. A handsome stallion with a silver coat that faded into silver-colored wings and had a diamond hued horn set perfectly in the middle of the head. Emerald eyes stared forward in anticipation of flight. The hooves were liquid gold, the limbs were lanky, as if it had not fully grown into it's body. The tail flicked, an ebony color. It's mane was ebony as well.

"Good, very good! Your visualization is perfect. Now...I want you to direct your magic into your limbs, one at a time. Feel it flow into and through you. Picture your body becoming like it is in your mind."

Raven felt more than saw his body becoming equine, and the room getting higher. When he opened his eyes, the room was at a vastly different angle.

His Sensei was pleased.

"Excellent! You are a natural!"

Raven looked at the mirror the man held up. In his reflection was a perfect silver unicorn with wings.

"Now turn back. Remember how you are as a human. If you can master this on the first try, I might allow you to do it at home without the protection of the circle."

Raven remembered how he looked this morning.

His legs had grown into lanky limbs since coming to Japan. His arms were just as bad. His lightning scar had healed over, wonder of wonders. His hair was untameable as ever, but it had grown longer. His emerald eyes sparkled under his glasses, and his clothes had been pressed for the new day. His new shoes could just be seen under the cuffs of his pants.

With a pop, he found himself fall a few inches to the floor, hard. His instructor couldn't help himself. He started laughing.

"Traitor," said Raven cheerfully.

"Memorize this circle, and practice at home. Other than that, you are dismissed."