Harry Potter and the Antiquity Link

Chapter 16

Gaman

Tuesday was calm at school. The classes were unremarkable, there were no student demonstrations of anything, and Harry didn't see Murata, except from a distance, at lunch. The first years were generally friendly and polite to him, and he spent most of the day with Yasunori, Yosuke, and Yusuke.

Wednesday was similar; Harry wasn't learning much of substance from the classes, but he was getting a better understanding of Japanese culture and how it affected how they did magic. He found that between classes, he was often asking his new friends why this or that spell was done this or that way, and he realized that culture actually had a lot to do with how magic was done. Such a thought would never have occurred to him before.

After the last lesson, it was only fifteen minutes until Harry's appointment with Takenaka, who had asked to meet Harry in a relatively secluded spot. "He probably doesn't want anyone watching the two of you," said Yasunori as he walked with Harry to the meeting point to be sure Harry found it.

"But not because I'm a foreigner, right?" asked Harry.

"I don't think so, since the whole school saw him shake your hand after you talked. He said he takes dueling seriously, so I'd guess he just doesn't want what you learn from each other to get out. If it wasn't in this kind of place, you might get an audience, which he doesn't want."

"Can't say I'd be too crazy about it either, so it suits me fine."

"Were you going to ask me something? Just when the last lesson started?"

Harry paused to remember. "Oh, yeah. The professor had said earlier in the day that next week, we'd start working on group spells. I wanted to ask more about that. In England, we don't have group spells, so I don't know how that works."

Yasunori's mouth hung open. "You don't have group spells? Unbelievable!"

Harry grinned. "You know, I'm starting to learn the Japanese word for 'unbelievable,' since people around me keep saying it. It's 'shinjinai,' right?"

"Close. It's 'shinjirarenai,' but we usually say it fast, so it would sound like what you said. 'Shinjiru' is 'believe,' and--"

"'Nai' makes something negative," finished Harry. "I've figured that much out. Anyway, no, we really don't. I think people in England would be equally amazed that you do have group spells. How do they work?"

Yasunori grunted. "I was going to say that it's not something I can explain in a few minutes, but it may be that I can't explain it at all. We start learning it in first year of the regular magic school."

"Well, it'll be interesting to see how I do with that. Probably not very well, since I've never done it before."

"After what you did this week, everyone'll be watching you, to see how you do."

"But, hey, no pressure," Harry muttered.

Yasunori looked at him quizzically. "I think there's a translation problem. What you said was that you shouldn't worry, but what I said before that kind of suggested that you should worry. So..."

Harry chuckled; it seemed like at least ten cultural differences came up every day. "I was using... sarcasm isn't quite the right word, it's too strong... oh, yeah, I was being facetious. Does that translate?"

Yasunori nodded. "Yeah, it does, but it's something we hardly ever do. Well, Yosuke does it occasionally, but he's unusual. Is it common in England?"

"Yeah, pretty common. I'd ask you why you don't do it, but you probably don't know."

"No, I don't. You should probably ask my father--"

Yasunori cut himself off as Harry looked to their right and saw, twenty meters away, Murata and three of his friends heading towards them. Harry didn't know if they'd seen Yasunori. "Go, get out of here," he urged Yasunori.

"No, I'm staying," said Yasunori.

"Yasunori, come on," insisted Harry. "I told you I don't want anything happening to you because of me."

"So, I should run away while you're in danger? Would you do that?"

"I'm not in danger! I can kick their asses!" Harry whispered; Murata and the others were less than ten meters away.

"Then it's no problem," pointed out Yasunori.

Harry rolled his eyes, wanting to argue further, but knowing there was no time. He turned to Murata and the others, suddenly remembering Malfoy, always looking so smug with Crabbe and Goyle. Except here, he thought, I have overwhelming advantages that they don't know about. My challenge isn't defeating them, it's doing it without giving in to the temptation to humiliate them like I did last time. Of course, beating four of them is going to humiliate them, but there's not much I can do about that.

They stopped five meters away, at approximate dueling distance. Harry decided to pretend that it was a chance encounter. "Murata-san, what a surprise to meet you here. I'm afraid I haven't been introduced to your friends."

"Potter. Apologize!"

Not looking at Yasunori, Harry whispered to him, "Now, here's where I would usually be using sarcasm." To Murata, he responded, "Well, as I said before, that's something we need to discuss. For example, are you willing to admit that you provoked me?"

"I am willing to listen to you apologize."

"Well, see, we can't have a discussion if you keep saying the same thing all the time," said Harry, unable to resist a little sarcasm. "Look, if you'll just put your wands down and discuss this, it'll be better for everyone."

One of Murata's friends wore a smug grin. "Why would it be better for us?"

At least they won't be able to say I didn't warn them, thought Harry. "Because I'm going to beat the four of you, and that'll be a little embarrassing for me, but much more for you. So, I really hope you'll agree to discuss this. I don't want it to get worse than it already is."

One of the four looked as if he might have believed Harry, but the others chuckled. "Whatever caused that scar must have addled your brain," cracked one.

Harry grinned. "It did, actually, for a while. But I'm better now. C'mon, think about it. You don't want to be known for losing this bout. We'll talk about it, we'll both apologize, we'll shake hands, or bow, or whatever it is you do, everything'll be okay. How about it?"

Murata pointed his wand at Harry; his friends did so as well. The way in which they were pointed reminded Harry of how the Japanese Aurors had pointed their wands when they'd captured him a week ago. Harry realized that this must be a group spell, which would probably make a circle and immobilize anything inside it. Knowing there were probably several ways to stop or disrupt it, he chose the one that came to his mind first.

"One, two..." counted Murata; clearly, the spell would be cast on three.

"Expecto Patronum!"

"Three!"

Magic shot out of the four wands as Harry's stag burst forward from his wand and dashed toward the spot where the four spells were meeting. The four spells seemed to be making a twisting motion, like a corkscrew. Harry wondered if they would meet and twist as one, but he never got the chance to find out. The stag plowed into the spells, not blocking them, but disrupting them and sending them on different paths. Harry was able to step out of the way easily.

The stag continued forward, straight for Murata. Four pairs of eyes became very wide as they scrambled out of the way, two heading left and two right, in rather undignified fashion. Wow, that was too easy, thought Harry. I didn't think they'd panic at that.

He almost ran forward to get a better shot, but decided that he didn't want to take their attention away from the Patronus and onto him. His first Full-Body Bind found its target, and Murata's arms clamped to his sides; he toppled over onto his back. The others were just starting to notice this when Harry's second shot hit another one; the Patronus was now well past them, it had to be becoming clear to the others that it had never been a threat. Harry now ran forward; he quickly took out the third as the fourth started to run away. However, he ran straight, making it easier for Harry to hit him; he should have swerved around while running, thought Harry. Soon he was down as well.

Harry sighed, and turned to look for Yasunori, who seemed to be gone. Where is he? Did he run off after all? Harry then heard an odd, high-pitched noise coming from behind a nearby bush; he couldn't say what it was, except that it was a human voice. Walking over, he saw Yasunori crouching behind the bush with his back towards Harry, rocking forward, torso and head moving up and down quickly, supporting himself with his right hand on the ground.

Wondering if Yasunori had panicked too, Harry walked around and crouched in front of Yasunori. "Yasunori, it's..."

Seeing Yasunori's face, Harry understood: Yasunori was laughing hysterically, trying desperately to stifle the sound. He took a deep breath, now holding his stomach. "Oh, my God... that was so funny... couldn't let them see or hear me, but oh, my... their faces..." He burst into another fit of silent laughter.

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of funny," Harry agreed, keeping his voice low. "Too bad it wasn't a tiger. They would've had to change their underwear."

Yasunori laughed yet again. "Oh, Harry, don't do that, I'm trying to stop."

"Sorry," Harry grinned. He waited silently for another minute while Yasunori brought himself under control. Suddenly realizing there was another way, Harry pointed his wand at his fallen adversaries and said, "Muffliato." Turning to Yasunori, he added, "They can't hear us now."

Yasunori stood, exhaling heavily a few times; he finally seemed to be getting over it. Just then, Harry saw someone approaching from the direction in which he'd been headed.

"Potter-san, I can see that it's going to be very interesting to practice with you. Clearly, one can never know what to expect."

Yasunori stood straight, almost coming to attention; Harry smiled. "How are you doing, Takenaka-san?"

"Takenaka-san, I am Yasunori Sato. I am very pleased to meet you," said Yasunori, bowing deeply. Harry realized that the reason for the excessive (to him) formality was the two-year difference in their ages.

Takenaka nodded politely, but clearly felt that the gap in their ages meant he wasn't obliged to return the introduction. "I am well, thank you," he responded to Harry. "To be honest, I was disappointed with that. Like Sato, I did feel it was quite funny, but I had hoped to see how you would deal with the four of them in a more... conventional way. Did you do that with the intent to embarrass them?"

Harry sighed, hoping he hadn't just made things worse. "No, I didn't. It was just what came to me. I think any way I won was going to embarrass them pretty bad."

"That is true," agreed Takenaka. "Are you going to return their wands?"

"I don't understand."

"There is a custom in schools," explained Takenaka, "that if someone attacks you in a way that is inappropriate--for example, a junior attacking a senior, or a group attacking an individual, as was the case here--if you wish, you can take your attacker's wand and deliver it to the headmaster. The main purpose is to bring the matter to the headmaster's attention; the purpose of bringing the wands is to force the attackers to go to the headmaster to retrieve their wands. When you deliver them, the headmaster may ask you questions under verification about what happened. If the headmaster is satisfied that your actions were appropriate, when your attackers report, he will do the same with them, then take whatever action he feels is appropriate. For what it is worth, I would advise you to do so."

"Why?" asked Harry.

"Who knows what they will say to other students," replied Takenaka. "They could say, for example, that you attacked them with a conjured wild animal, or other such fabrications. Doing as I suggest will make the facts known, at least to the headmaster."

Harry paused. "I understand, but I'm just afraid of making this any worse. I'd just ignore this if I thought it would be the end of it, but it may not be. Yasunori, what do you think I should do?"

Slightly startled to be asked, Yasunori immediately answered, "I agree with Takenaka-san. In addition to what he said, there is the fact that... this is another aftershock. My father would think it's very important that the authorities know all the facts of every incident, so they can respond appropriately."

Again, Harry sighed. "I suppose I can't argue with that. I'm sorry, Takenaka-san, our practice will have to wait a bit. Would you like to walk with me to the headmaster's office?"

Takenaka nodded. "I was a witness, so it is appropriate that I go."

"But you," Harry said, pointing at Yasunori, "get out of here, don't let anyone know you were here, and go home. Okay?"

Yasunori looked slightly offended. "Harry, you and I are equals at this school. You don't have the authority to order me."

"I don't say it as your senior. I say it as someone who's worried about your safety; I don't want you in danger because of something I did. In my culture, we sometimes speak emphatically like that to friends when we're worried about them."

Yasunori's expression softened. "I understand, but I make my own choices. If I suffer for them, it's not in any way your fault. Do you understand?"

"Okay. But could you please do what I said?"

Yasunori grinned. "I'll think about it." With a bow to Takenaka, Yasunori walked off in the direction of the Portkey stations.

Harry walked over to the fallen attackers and relieved them of their wands. He considered taking advantage of Murata's immobile state to once again ask him to consider making peace, but decided against it; if Murata hadn't listened before, he probably wouldn't listen now. He and Takenaka headed towards the castle and the headmaster's office, which was on the seventh floor.

"Sorry about all this," said Harry, glancing back at Murata and the others; the spell should be wearing off in about twenty minutes, Harry estimated.

"Again, you apologize to me, not to him," Takenaka observed.

"Yeah, I'm funny like that."

Takenaka gave him a sideways glance. "Either that phrase did not translate well, or you said something very peculiar."

"Well, I did say something peculiar, to you, at least. We often make small jokes, or not-so-serious comments. We like to be spontaneous."

"Were you being spontaneous," asked Takenaka casually, "when you decided to break into an extremely high-security vault?"

Ah, so he's heard. "No, but I was being spontaneous when my friends and I hopped on a dragon to get out of there. That wasn't part of the plan." Takenaka offered no immediate response. "Now, do you know why I don't want this getting around?"

"Of course," Takenaka agreed. "My mother's English friend spent over an hour talking about you. I would not wish to be a household word, as apparently you are. I can see the appeal of going someplace where I was not known."

Harry grunted. "Now I'm famous here, just for a different reason. I wish I hadn't done that damn spell to Murata. Not that I feel bad for embarrassing him, but all it did was make me the center of attention."

Takenaka shook his head. "You would have been anyway. It was the fact of your foreignness that inspired Murata's insult, because as a foreigner, you are different, and stand out. Japanese are uncomfortable with what is different, and strive to not stand out. You would have drawn much attention had you been as meek as a rabbit, and Murata would not have been the only one to harass you. At least after what happened, no one else will try."

"Let me ask you something. If you were me, would you apologize?"

"No," responded Takenaka instantly.

Harry was surprised. "You answered that awfully quickly."

"I have thought about it, and also, I told my mother about these events after her phone call. She was appalled at Murata's insult, feeling it reflected badly on all Japanese, and hoped you would not reach broad conclusions about us. Murata's insult... let me ask you a question. In your country, are you more polite to strangers than to friends and family?"

"Yes, we are."

"As are we; it is very natural. Directed at a Japanese, say, a new student, Murata's insult would be crude, stupid, and socially insensitive even if the student were younger. Directed at a foreigner, by definition a guest in Japan, it is rudeness of the highest order. To apologize without reciprocation would essentially say that there was nothing wrong with what he did. Also, to apologize now would be to give in to bullying and intimidation. Based on your past, it is easy to guess that you would find that unacceptable."

They had arrived at the castle, and they started up the wooden steps. "They should put an elevator in here," Harry joked.

"I have to make this walk every day, of course," responded Takenaka. "If they hear anyone complaining about it, they say it is good for our physical condition. By the way, how did you do with that yesterday?"

Harry chuckled; his class had, to his surprise, spent three hours the day before focusing on physical fitness. "Poorly. As I explained to my classmates, who thought it was very funny, my school didn't emphasize physical fitness at all. There were only two students in worse shape than me, and I'm not in terrible shape or anything. They've just been practicing, and I haven't."

"Indeed, I can hear that you are out of breath already," said an amused Takenaka, as they reached the fifth floor.

"Was kind of busy last year," huffed Harry. "Fighting Dark wizards... breaking into vaults... escaping capture... not much time for exercise."

"Instead of making an excuse, it is better to vow that you will not need to make the excuse in the future."

"Is that a Japanese proverb?"

"Yes, it is. It was meant in humor."

Harry chuckled, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I get it. It would... probably be funnier... when you know the proverb."

"Undoubtedly," agreed Takenaka. They had reached the top floor, and walked down the hall to the headmaster's office, in one of the corners. To Harry's surprise, the door was open, and unlike at Hogwarts, no guard existed.

"Headmaster," said Harry from the doorway.

Okada motioned them in. "Potter-san, Takenaka-san. What brings you here?"

Harry told the story, trying to include as much pertinent detail as possible. After he finished, he handed over the wands; Takenaka explained that he had witnessed the altercation from a distance.

"Ah, Potter-san," exhaled Okada. "This does not bring me great joy."

Harry appreciated the understated humor, but kept the smile off his face. "No, sir, I wouldn't think so."

"What is the intended purpose of the spell which creates the image of the animal?"

Harry explained; seeing their blank looks, he added, "Don't you have dementors here?"

Takenaka shook his head. "I have heard legends of such creatures," said the headmaster. "But they are very old legends, and cannot be taken literally. If such creatures ever existed in Japan, they abandoned it long ago."

"I see. Well, anyway, I used the spell here because it was pretty guaranteed to mess them up, but not actually hurt them."

"I do not think they will appreciate your consideration," said Okada dryly. "They would no doubt rather be injured than embarrassed in such a way. Potter-san, I am sure that you are telling me the truth, but when they come to retrieve their wands, I would like to be able to tell them I know the story, and that you swore it was true under Verification. Will you agree to do so?"

"I'm sorry, what is Verifica--oh, is it that white thing?"

Okada had pulled it out of a drawer. "Yes, the white thing." Takenaka grinned, apparently at Harry's inelegant description.

"Yeah, sure," agreed Harry, reaching for it. Harry answered a few questions, then gave it back to Okada, who apologized for asking him to use it. "I will urge Murata to talk to you, and make peace on terms involving an apology on both parts," said Okada. "And I will strongly urge him not to attempt any further attacks on you."

"Thank you, sir," said Harry, wondering if in this case, 'urge' was simply a polite way of saying 'order.' He and Takenaka finally went off to practice.

* * * * *

As Harry expected, Sato was unhappy to hear about what had happened; again, he had heard about it at the office rather than from Harry. Harry knew that Okada had been requested by the Foreign Ministry to promptly report any incidents involving Harry, and that the Culture Ministry had requested to be informed as well. Sato didn't say it directly, but Harry got the impression that the Culture Ministry was more or less saying 'we told you so' every time there was an incident involving Harry. Sato explained to Harry that a substantial part of the problem was that the Patronus was such an unfamiliar spell, and that some Japanese didn't react well to what was unfamiliar.

Part of Harry was surprised--life is full of unfamiliar things, after all--and part felt that he shouldn't be surprised. Through many conversations, incidents, and experiences, Harry was beginning to form a broad picture of Japanese life and people. He felt that for the Japanese, it must be very comfortable: nothing surprising or unfamiliar, well-understood rules, formality, rituals, and safety. But for him, it would be smothering. It stifled individuality, creativity, initiative, and diverse opinion. In one dinnertime conversation, he told the Satos about house-elves--as it turned out, the Japanese didn't have them, and had only vaguely heard of them--and then told them about Hermione's S.P.E.W. campaign at Hogwarts. He explained that nobody had cared or paid much attention, but nobody had told her to stop, and the school had no reaction. Harry guessed, correctly, that if it had happened in Japan, someone would take the student aside and explain to her that this sort of thing was just not done. Sato said that was true, but that in addition, anyone who did such a thing would be viewed with some suspicion by those around her, and would get a reputation as someone who tended to rock the boat. There would be a conversation with her parents, and a close eye would be kept on her. For what had to be the fiftieth time that week, Harry shook his head in amazement.

But at the same time, he had seen things that belied the overall picture he had formed. Yasunori had at first seemed reserved and formal, but in getting to know him by spending a lot of time together, Harry had seen humor, annoyance, and the range of emotions that he saw in most people. He was a different person with his friends than with his family. Takenaka was a little outside the Japanese norm, but not so far outside to be a threat or problem. Yosuke had a lot of the characteristics Harry knew well in Fred and George, just kept mostly under wraps; Harry had spent some time entertaining the three Y's (as he had come to think of Yasunori, Yosuke, and Yusuke) with stories of Fred and George's antics. And not only the three Y's, but other first years, were interested in hearing Harry talk about England, Hogwarts, and the Weasleys; even things that were mundane to him were fascinating to them.

There was a spirit, he felt, bubbling under the surface, at least for some people. These people were a lot like British people deep down, but they knew what their society would and wouldn't tolerate, and they kept their visible feelings and actions within the 'correct' limits. But what about Yasunori's parents, who appeared for all the world to be model Japanese citizens? Had they always been that way, or had their spark of individuality been snuffed out a long time ago? Harry knew he would never know, but he became curious about how Japanese felt, deep down, about the kind of society they lived in. Kaz surely couldn't be the only one who felt strangled by the 'chains of society.'

The book he was halfway through reading shed some light. The American, Stanton, did his best to conform, to follow all the rules, only to constantly find that despite his best efforts he was often breaking some social norm or another. There were dozens, maybe hundreds, of intricate unwritten rules; even some Japanese broke them from time to time, but they were forgiven if they were good citizens in general. Stanton often felt that the attitude of others towards him was, 'he's a foreigner, so he can't understand;' they didn't say it in so many words, of course, but it was what he felt. Reading with interest, Harry couldn't imagine why someone would try so hard to fit into such a culture; it seemed akin to trying to fit into the smallest box one possibly could, then being unable to move at all. He would try to control his impulses, try not to do anything that he knew would be strongly frowned upon, but he would not try to behave like a Japanese. He would not care what anyone thought of him, or that they thought he behaved strangely. I am who I am, he thought. If they don't like it, they can throw me out of the country.

Even so, he also felt that the place was good for him right then. He was tired of Dark wizards and goblins and dementors, tired of people asking and expecting things of him, telling him he owed it to society to do this or that, all the obligations he felt had been thrust upon him. I may get stares here too, but at least they don't want anything from me, except that I don't rock the boat. Right now, I have no problem with that. My boat's been too rocky as it is for the past year. A serene boat sounds just fine.

* * * * *

Harry stood with the three Y's in the large, grassy practice area behind the castle. Eight groups of four surrounded the professor, making a rough circle with the professor at the center. It was overcast, rain seeming imminent; Harry wondered how much rain would have to fall before they would go inside.

"We will spend this week reviewing group spells before moving on to the main part of the summer's course," the professor was saying. "Always remember what you learned so long ago: harmonize your spells. Come from the same place. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Feel your work as a group, come together as a group." As the professor droned on, Harry wondered if he would ever reach a sentence that didn't sound like a cliché. His fellow students also seemed bored; they had clearly heard such sentiments many times before.

Ten minutes later, Harry still had not heard anything that he felt would help him do what he was supposed to do. At one point, an entire sentence from the professor went untranslated by Harry's device. Wonder what that's all about, he thought. Is it really possible to say absolutely nothing with words?

Rain started falling; lightly at first, becoming steady and strong after a few minutes. Harry looked around for some sign that the class would be moved inside, but the professor continued talking, and the students listened without interest, but appearing unaffected by the rain, What's with these people, thought Harry. They don't come in out of the rain? Well, they may not mind getting drenched, but I do. He unobtrusively pointed his wand up, and activated the spell that put up a magical, invisible umbrella. At least it's invisible, he thought, so it won't be so noticeable.

A few seconds after it went up, Yusuke glanced at him, then did a double-take, nudging Yasunori and looking at Harry again. Yasunori casually moved behind Harry and whispered, "Stop doing that! We're not supposed to be doing any spells while the professor is talking!" Harry wondered how they knew, then realized that while the umbrella was invisible, the effect on the water that hit it was very visible, and might even be noticed by the professor if he looked closely enough.

Surprised at Yasunori's insistent tone--this was more sharply than he had ever spoken to Harry before--Harry was annoyed enough at the prospect that he didn't immediately do as Yasunori said. Turning his head and covering his mouth as casually as possible, he whispered, "You mean, you just stand here and get soaked? What are you supposed to do about the rain?"

"You put up with it!" responded Yasunori; Harry heard only the word 'gaman' in Japanese, and realized he'd heard it a lot, but not always with the same translation. Sighing, he deactivated the spell just as he saw someone from the nearest group looking in his direction. If this was England, he thought, the students and the professor would be asking me to teach them the spell. But no, they have to get wet even though there's no good reason to do so...

Similar annoyed thoughts occupied Harry for the next twenty minutes, as the professor continued to say nothing in the least enlightening. Finally, they were free to begin practicing. Four groups faced one direction, spread ten meters apart, as the other four faced the other way. Harry was soaked to the skin, as he assumed everyone else was.

As soon as they were fairly far from the professor, Harry said, "You know, we have this great device in England, called the 'umbrella.' You really ought to look into it."

Yosuke chuckled; Yasunori looked annoyed. "We have umbrellas," said Yusuke guilelessly, which made Yosuke laugh more.

"He was being sarcastic, Yusuke," said Yasunori. To Harry, he asked, "What's the big problem with getting wet?"

Harry looked at him incredulously. "It's uncomfortable. Isn't it for you?"

Yasunori shrugged. "It's not so important."

"But what's the point of not using it, when you can?"

"I don't know. To show that we can endure it, I guess." Again, Harry heard the word 'gaman,' and had to try hard to stop himself from saying that that was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. "C'mon, let's get going on the spells. Everyone else has already started."

"That's because they're not having debates about umbrellas," said Yosuke.

"They should be," muttered Harry. "Okay, how do we do this?"

Yusuke frowned. "Didn't you hear what he said?"

"I heard it, but it gave me no hint about what I should do. Was it really useful for you?"

Yasunori answered. "Not really, but mainly because we've heard it so many times. When I was ten years old, it seemed to make more sense. It took a while to learn how to do it."

"How long did it take?" asked Harry.

"Two or three years."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, good."

"Why is that good?" asked Yusuke.

"He was being sarcastic again," said Yasunori.

Yusuke frowned. "You do that a lot. It's a little confusing. Do they do that a lot in your country?"

"Yes. We get very sarcastic when we're wet." The others just looked at him; he sighed. "Yes, it's very common. Almost everyone does it, and some people do it a lot. I do it less than most people. I guess you don't do that here?"

"It's very rare," said Yosuke. "It's kind of too strong, people would think it doesn't show respect for who you're talking to."

"Ah. Well, I assume you guys know I don't mean it like that. So, can anyone give me a little help on this?"

The other three exchanged blank stares. "Well, let's just start doing it and see how it goes," suggested Yasunori. Looking at the other groups, Harry saw flashes of light coming at the end of spells; they were supposed to be using a spell that, when successful, created an expanding circle of light that quickly disappeared, like a balloon blowing up quickly and then popping.

Yasunori spoke. "One, two, three!" They all fired, and Harry's Gift told him that he was going to have a hard time with this. The others' spells took on the same corkscrew pattern he'd seen from Murata, but more elongated, as if someone had pulled the corkscrew from both ends. The three spells moved together, Harry's faster spell having already shot past them. They curled around each other, forming what looked like one much tighter corkscrew, then exploded into the ball of light, dying quickly. Harry's had already done the same thing, a second earlier.

"Well, I think we know what happened there," said Yosuke.

"I'm a little surprised, actually," said Yasunori. "Yours is almost as big as ours." Indeed, Harry had noticed that his light had been perhaps three-fourths as powerful as the others' combined spell.

"How did you do that?" asked Harry, forgetting for the moment that they'd already said they were unable to explain. Again, they shrugged. This is going to be a long morning, thought Harry.

* * * * *

The rain didn't let up, but at lunchtime, everyone walked into the cafeteria through a passageway that was both a shelter and a magical dryer; he walked into the cafeteria completely dry, but no less annoyed at having had to endure the rain all morning.

To his further annoyance, it was still raining steadily when lunch was over, and the second half of the lesson would take place outside as well, as it concerned flying. Trudging out to the field, he kept his comments to himself, having already tested the limits of his companions' tolerance by making several more comments about the rain during lunch. He had then further annoyed the three Y's by suggesting that they stay inside until the last minute, even though all of the other students were heading out to the field, meaning that they would be conspicuous by their relative lateness when they did come out. To Harry's 'so what?' attitude, Yasunori pointed out that it had already been explained to Harry that Japanese hated to be in situations where everyone was looking at them, especially when they were purposely doing something different than the others were doing. Heaven forbid we should be late for standing out on the field getting rained on while we wait for the professor, Harry muttered as they walked.

And yet again, the professor talked in a way that expressed to Harry no new information whatsoever, even though he was very interested in flying and in whether the Japanese had an unusual take on it. If they do, he thought, I'm clearly not going to find out about it from this guy. This is supposed to be a special tactical school, and they have a teacher whose lectures are so vague that you don't learn much more than that brooms fly, and this is a good thing. Then again, we do have Binns, so maybe it's a universal thing.

A four-wheeled cart wheeled itself out onto the field, stopping near the professor, who paid no attention to it. Assuming it contained the brooms, Harry was surprised to see that it in fact held a few dozen thick, hollow bamboo poles, about five inches in diameter and five feet long. Wonder what those are for, he thought. Are they going to build something, or is it some kind of strange fighting thing? God only knows, in this country.

Mercifully, the professor finally finished the lecture. "Everyone take a broom; you will have fifteen minutes to practice before we begin." Students walked up to the cart and started taking the poles, one to a person.

Finally, Harry realized what was going on. Dumbfounded, he exclaimed, "Those aren't brooms!"

Many students within range of his voice chuckled. "What are they, then?" joked one.

Yasunori said what was just coming into Harry's head. "Translation problem. Whatever you use to fly doesn't look like that, but the device used your word because it's the equivalent thing. It's the same function, even if you wouldn't recognize it."

"How do you fly on this thing?" Harry asked as the others took their 'brooms.'

"This ought to be interesting," said one student to a friend, in a voice so low that Harry wouldn't have heard it except for his improved hearing.

"You'll get the hang of it," Yasunori assured him. Harry approached the cart; there were only three left. He picked up one and held it vertically in front of him, looking at it, wondering how it worked. He moved it a little closer to his face, and it suddenly rushed toward him as would metal to a magnet, whacking him in the face, the lower part resting against his stomach, parallel to his spine.

Everyone who was looking laughed. Only mildly annoyed at being the subject of such humor, in an accusatory way, Harry asked Yasunori, "Why didn't you tell me it would do that?"

"Sorry," said a grinning Yasunori. "We're all so used to it, I wouldn't have thought of warning you about something like that. Once it gets to within, I'm not sure, maybe 20 or 25 centimeters of your torso, it clicks into place; you have to make a pretty strong effort to push it away. It's attracted to your body."

"To your heartbeat," corrected Yusuke, whose pole was similarly attached to the front of his body, from the top of his chest to a few centimeters from the ground.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," agreed Yasunori. "Not that it matters, it's not necessary to know that. Anyway, you fly it by leaning one way or the other; it'll go the way you lean. When you're in the air, it'll be between your legs, like this," he went on, demonstrating. "Squeeze it between your legs in a forward direction to go faster, and in a backward direction to slow down."

Harry saw his classmates jump, then fly into the air. "You jump in order to take off?"

Yasunori nodded. "And you land by touching the ground; when you do, it recognizes that you don't want to fly anymore, and it falls away from your body. So, are you ready?"

"What do you do with your hands and arms?"

"There's nothing for them to do; they're free."

Interesting, thought Harry, so intrigued by the device that he'd forgotten about the rain. "Okay, here we go." He had moved the pole down so that it reached his neck from the ground; he was ready.

He jumped, and was suddenly accelerating into the air. It was a very strange feeling, to be flying without needing to use a hand to hold onto a broomstick. At a hundred feet he leveled out, his body now roughly horizontal. "Any reason I can't fly upside down?" he asked Yasunori, who was now flying near him.

In answer, Yasunori turned upside down and flew for a few seconds. "No reason, except that it's a lot harder to see where you're going. You can't fly backwards; it'll always go in the direction your head is pointing." Harry gave it a try for a few seconds, and saw what Yasunori meant. It still felt strange that there was nothing he needed to hold onto; it was hard to shake the feeling that he would just fall off, as he would on a broom.

Yet at the same time, it felt exhilarating. Not only because it had been more than a week since he'd been on a broom, but because his hands were free. This is like flying, he thought, like Voldemort could do. He maneuvered randomly, left and right, up and down. "This is great!" he enthused to the others.

"Even though it's raining?" cracked Yasunori.

Harry knew he was being made fun of, but didn't care. "This is different. This actually can't be avoided, so I don't mind."

Yosuke flew close to him and spoke to the group. "Okay, we're going to do some flying patterns. Just watch what we do, and try to do the same thing. This is group flying, so the important thing is that we all do exactly the same thing."

"Tell me," said an amused Harry, "when is it not important that Japanese all do exactly the same thing?"

Yosuke gave him a 'very funny' look. "It's even more important here than it usually is. Okay?"

Harry grinned. "Got it. Okay, go ahead."

They flew in patterns for fifteen minutes. Yosuke, the leader, would change patterns every few minutes; it usually took Harry only a few seconds to adapt to the new pattern, and he focused on maintaining as exact a formation as possible, even paying attention to his distance from the others.

After they landed, Yosuke looked at him appraisingly. "You're very strange. Either you're really good at something, or really bad at it. There's no middle ground with you."

"Thank you for the compliment," said Harry, with a straight face.

Yusuke spoke. "It wasn't a--oh, I see. Sarcastic."

"A little bit," said Harry. "Part of it was a compliment, but the part that isn't is true, so I don't mind. We can accept criticism more easily when it comes from friends."

"Well, so can we, of course," replied Yosuke, looking pleased that Harry had referred to him that way. "Anyway, you picked that up extremely fast. Oh, he's ready to talk again."

They listened to the professor, who explained that each group would now practice group flying through a set course in formation, then flying a set course in formation while doing group spells. To Harry's surprise, eight red paths suddenly appeared in the air, each one about four meters wide, three meters high, and two hundred meters long. Each started near where they stood on the field, twisted and turned, and ended near the ground, not too far away.

After the professor finished speaking, Harry's friends added that the magic areas had sensors, and could judge how well a team kept in formation by measuring the distance between each person. After practice, each team would do it one final, official time. To his teammates' surprise, their team finished second in keeping formation. They were not surprised to finish last in the group spells competition, as Harry couldn't join their spells.

"And lastly, the endurance competition," said the professor. Harry yet again heard the word 'gaman.' "Discuss this with your teammates; if anyone has a medical condition, they should not take part."

The four huddled together. "Harry," said Yasunori, "you may not want to do this, but we hope you'll give it a try. In this one, we fly in formation, passing a ball from member to member; if one person holds the ball for more than five seconds, we're finished."

"That sounds easy," said Harry.

"I wasn't finished. The track we fly through has a spell put on it that causes pain to anyone who flies through. And... not a small amount of pain. It increases the longer you fly. Nobody can finish the two hundred meters; the question is how far you can get."

Bewildered, Harry was mute for a few seconds. Finally, he exclaimed incredulously, 'What's the point of that?"

"To endure," said Yusuke earnestly. Again, 'gaman' came out. "To show that we can, and to fly in formation under adverse circumstances."

Again, there was silence as Harry looked back and forth at the other three. He shook his head. "You people are absolutely crazy."

Tolerantly, Yasunori responded, "I understand why you say that, and you're allowed to not go if you don't want to. But this is very important. What the professor said about medical conditions was just for appearances. Everyone is expected to do it, and it's very prestigious."

"Prestigious?" Harry repeated.

Yasunori nodded. "Yusuke is well-respected around the school, mainly for this. We've done this twice a year since age 10, and the team he's on usually wins. The reason this is important is because it's a team activity; it shows that you'll endure for the sake of your teammates."

Harry sighed. They were making it hard to say no, but the last thing he needed was severe pain; it reminded him a little too much of his time with the goblins. "What happens when you can't take anymore?"

"You fly outside the red zone, and the pain stops," said Yasunori.

"If English parents heard a school was doing this, they'd scream in protest. The teacher would be in big trouble."

"Here," said Yasunori, "parents are proud if their children's team does well."

Harry could see by their faces that it was important to them. "All right. I can't say how far I'll go, but I'll do it."

Yasunori nodded his appreciation. "Thank you, Harry. Unlike the usual cultural-difference cases, here I can definitely understand why this is strange for you. We appreciate your trying. Okay, the formation should be Yusuke on the left, then me, then Yosuke, then Harry. If someone in the middle drops out, whoever's on the right moves over. We still get judged on staying in formation; we lose if we break formation obviously, except if the person is leaving because they can't take it anymore." Harry heard 'gaman dekinai,' or 'can't gaman,' for 'can't take it anymore.' He'd heard the word so often he was beginning to think of this as the 'gaman contest.'

"What kind of pain is it?" asked Harry.

"It's different every time," said Yosuke. "So you can't mentally prepare for it."

Naturally, thought Harry. Boy, these people are strange. Well, at least I can get out any time I want to. He turned to look where the others were looking; one team had already started. In the distance, he saw one flier leave the red zone, soon followed by another, then another. Five seconds later, the zone disappeared, and the last flier returned and landed. All four were breathing heavily; it was easy to tell from their faces that they'd been in severe pain.

"Sixty-two meters," said the professor casually. "Next team."

"Yusuke will set the pace," said Yasunori to Harry. "You're disqualified if you go faster than fifteen kilometers per hour."

"How far do teams usually get?" asked Harry.

"What we just saw was about average. A hundred meters is really good. I don't know what the record is, but sixty years ago, one team did a hundred and fifty, which is amazing."

"That means, all four stayed in that long?"

"No," said Yasunori. "Only two have to stay in for it to count. Remember, it ends when one person holds the ball for longer than five seconds; that happens when all three others have dropped out." They watched as the second team finished at fifty-seven meters.

Three more teams went; one team got ninety-three meters, which most agreed would be hard to beat. "Yusuke's done over a hundred before, though," said Yasunori with pride.

"So then our team should win," said Harry.

Yasunori shook his head. "To get that far, it's necessary for two people to do it. If all three of us drop out by fifty-five, we'll end up with sixty, even if Yusuke could have gone further." I should have thought of that, thought Harry.

They were the next-to-last team. Harry stood on the right, Yusuke counted down, and they jumped as one and ascended. After five seconds, they reached the beginning of the zone.

The pain was headache-type pain, starting as a strong headache, and quickly turning into what Harry assumed was migraine-type pain, even though he'd never had one before. He passed the ball back to Yosuke, then gripped his head. Looking to his left, he saw intense concentration on the faces of the others. Looking at them, he had two simultaneous, conflicting thoughts. One was that this was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard of, and the other was that it made a certain kind of sense, in a bizarre way. How much pain will you put up with for the sake of others? He thought of Neville's parents, and knew that such a fate was the risk every Auror took, and they took that risk for all of society. Still, he'd been through more than enough for a lifetime.

The third time he got the ball, the pain was becoming unbearable, and he passed it back, planning to get out. But to his great surprise, as he focused intensely on bearing it, the pain started to ease off. Well, that's strange, he thought; they said it only got worse. It looks like it's getting worse for them, so why not for me?

As Yosuke dropped out and Harry moved over to take his place, it suddenly dawned on him, a burst of intuition he knew he couldn't confirm, but was sure was correct. Auror Leader. One of the modifications, like the seeing spells and good hearing, was that with enough focus and concentration, one could reduce the pain, maybe even eliminate it. It made perfect sense; the Auror Leader no doubt had access to all kinds of valuable information, and no one can hold up under torture for long. You could probably even tolerate the Cruciatus Curse with this.

Harry got the ball from Yasunori, who continued for a few seconds, but just as Harry was starting to pass the ball back from him, he broke formation and headed out of the zone. Now in significant but tolerable pain, Harry quickly moved over and passed it to Yusuke, hoping to do so before the five-second limit. Yusuke was taking deep breaths, focusing intently, and Harry could see why he got so much respect. If not for this peculiar new ability, Harry knew he would be gone as well.

They passed it back and forth, Harry taking care to at least appear to be in serious pain, clutching his head once every few seconds between turns holding the ball. They had reached the halfway point and were heading back. Yusuke, looking like he would scream, finally bowed out after a last pass to Harry. Harry flew for five more seconds, and the red zone disappeared from around him. When he landed, he saw Yusuke sitting on the ground, holding his head, being congratulated by the others; Harry sat next to him. Yusuke looked at him, saying nothing, but the respect was very clear in his eyes.

Harry suddenly felt a burst of conflicting emotions, as if two sides of himself were arguing.

You don't deserve any congratulations, any credit. You were only able to do that because of what that device did to you.

I'm getting credit now for what I did before. That device gave me these things because of what I did in there.

Because you killed your parents.

I didn't kill them. They would have wanted me to do that.

But it still feels that way.

Yes, it does.

You can never be Auror Leader. Their blood is on your hands. These abilities came at the cost of their lives.

And what about the lives I saved, in that other reality?

They were your parents. You can't rationalize it.

I can try.

He looked back at Yusuke gravely and nodded.

* * * * *

"One hundred and twenty-seven meters?" repeated Sato. He had arrived home only fifteen minutes before, and the family had just started dinner. "That's extremely impressive."

"It was all anybody could talk about for the next half hour, until school let out," agreed Yasunori.

"You must be very proud, Harry-san," said Sawako kindly.

"Um, not really," said Harry, who then realized that he was supposed to just agree, even if it wasn't true. Too late, he thought as he took in the surprised expressions of everyone but Yasunori. "Sorry, but it isn't a tradition for me, or something that's important. I did it because I didn't want to let them down, but I don't care one way or the other."

"That's the thing to be proud of," replied Yasunori's mother. "That you would do that for them, and they would do it for you."

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, I understand, but the problem is, I've been through this kind of thing in real life, and it's extremely grim. The last thing I want is anyone suffering for me. It's happened before, and I hate it."

Sawako said nothing, focusing on eating her food; Harry wondered if she dropped the topic because it was veering close to potentially sensitive areas. "Of course, no one wants anyone else to suffer for them," agreed Sato. "It's more that you would for each other. It fosters the feeling of group cohesion."

Harry knew that he shouldn't say more, because he disagreed with them, but couldn't resist adding, "Well, my idea is that there shouldn't be any suffering at all, or at least, no unnecessary suffering."

Sato nodded. "Again, that is understandable, given your experiences. Fortunately, this test is the only way we can test ourselves against such adverse conditions. If everyone had been through what you have, the test would not be necessary." Harry almost responded, 'it's not necessary,' but stopped himself.

"And what made it really strange," said Yasunori, "was that we didn't think he'd make it half as far as he did. We were outside all day, and it rained all day, and he wouldn't stop complaining about standing in the rain--"

"Yasunori!" his mother admonished him. "You shouldn't speak about Harry-san so disrespectfully!"

"I'm sorry, Mother," said Yasunori immediately.

"No, he's right," interjected Harry. "What he said is absolutely true. I kept going on about it. I think I was starting to really annoy them."

"Well, Harry-san," said Sato, "your feeling is, again, very natural for a Westerner, but for us, that he may be right is not the point. When in the presence of elders, he should speak more respectfully, even if he is on familiar terms with you."

Should have known, thought Harry. "Ah, I see. Well, anyway, I assume... by the way, I heard the word 'gaman' a lot today, and a few times it had different translations. I got 'bear,' 'put up with,' 'endure,' and 'tolerate.' What's the deal with that?"

"I'm not surprised," agreed Sato. "'Gaman' is more or less a Japanese concept, one that you do not have. It is the notion that you can tolerate an unpleasant or even painful situation, usually for the sake of relationships, or social stability. For example, an adult whose parents were verbally abusive might wish to avoid his parents, but would instead tolerate the situation for the sake of filial piety. In addition to sympathizing, we admire and respect such a person. I assume that last use of 'gaman' was translated as 'tolerate?'" he asked, giving the last word in English.

"Yes, that's right."

"Whereas, in your society, I believe that man would not only not be respected, he would in fact be criticized. Is that correct?" His wife and mother's faces showed their shock.

"Basically, yes." To Sawako and Maeko, he added, "Not that we don't respect our parents, but we would say that situation isn't healthy. It's bad for him, and his friends would say he needs to get away from them, at least for a while."

Sato nodded. "And your attitude today is an example. Your achievement is greatly respected at the school, but you do not value it; you would just as soon not have done it. We use the word 'gaman' approvingly, mostly in situations which I believe you would not approve of tolerating. Because of this difference in attitudes, the word does not translate well. For us, it is a virtue; for you, at best, an unfortunate necessity."

"So," said Yasunori, "because he was so unhappy about being out in the rain, we assumed it was because he didn't have strong ability to gaman. So we were shocked when he did so well on the course." Turning to Harry, he added, "I should have known, because of what I know about your history. It was just so strange to me, to us, that you were so bothered by the rain."

"I wasn't bothered by the rain," Harry clarified. "I was bothered by the fact that we were standing in the rain for hours when we could easily have been using umbrellas. Or, better yet, gone inside. It didn't bother me when we were flying, because then, we actually couldn't do anything about it. That's the difference."

"I understand that now, of course," said Yasunori. "But you can see why it made us think what we did."

"Yes, I can," agreed Harry. "Like with a lot of the things we've talked about, it's a question of your culture. You would say, 'what a guy, he stands in the rain for hours, doesn't let it bother him.' But we would say, 'what are you doing, you idiot? Get in out of the rain!'"

"In my dealings with Westerners," said Sato thoughtfully, "I have had so many misunderstandings regarding this that I have come to consider that every time I translate the idea of 'gaman,' I am cautious to culturally translate as well, if necessary. They tend not to think we or they should gaman, but that we or they should take steps to change the situation so that gaman is not necessary. Much like Harry-san preferring to use an umbrella."

"But why don't they use umbrellas, at the school?" asked Harry. "Yasunori-san couldn't answer, but there has to be another reason than gaman. Isn't there?"

Sato thought for a few seconds. "I believe it is a custom, behavior that became a custom because of the Japanese tendency to do things the same way. I don't know, but I would speculate that a long time ago, some professor decided that it was a good idea for students to stand in the rain to toughen them up, and to see who would complain. Perhaps a few other professors thought it was a good idea, and everyone started doing it. Now, I suspect that there may be some professors who would prefer to allow the use of umbrellas, but do not do so because this is the way things are done, and changing would be conspicuous."

"In England, everyone would complain," said Harry.

"No doubt," agreed Sato. "By the way, at the office today, I had a talk with the Foreign Minister of your country's government. He wishes to meet with you, and will come to Japan to do so. Would a weekday evening, or a Saturday, be more convenient for you?"

Harry sighed. It had occurred to him that this might happen, but he had hoped it wouldn't. "No."

Confused, Sato said, "I'm sorry, I meant to ask that as an either-or question, not a yes-no question. I meant--"

"I know what you meant," said Harry, realizing he was being rude by interrupting, but not caring. "I mean, I don't want to meet with him."

All Satos looked at him with surprise, then looked away or at their food, trying not to stare. Hesitantly, Sato said, "Harry-san, I am sure that he is simply being solicitous. He told me that he wanted to see if there was anything you needed, or anything he could do for you."

Harry tried to control his anger. "I don't care why he wants to talk to me. I won't meet with him."

Sato appeared truly baffled. "May I ask why?"

"He works for Kingsley."

There was a brief silence. "I do not wish to pry, but I would like to understand why that is a problem."

Again, Harry sighed deeply. "A lot of things happened to me a month ago, not only Voldemort's defeat, but things after that. The last one, the one that made me want to get away from England, is something I couldn't talk about even if I wanted to. Let's just say that it was really awful, and he directly caused it. I don't want to talk to him, or anyone who works for him."

"Was it his intention to harm you, or--"

"I don't care what his intention was!" Harry interrupted, raising his voice. There was a shocked silence. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "Sorry. I don't mean to be rude. But it doesn't matter what his intention was, it's no excuse for what he did. What he did, I wouldn't do to my worst enemy, and if British people knew what he did, he'd be out as Minister in a day. I could bring him down if I wanted to. I haven't done that. But I'm having nothing to do with him, even if he says it's to help me. I don't trust him."

"I... understand." Harry sensed that Sato didn't really understand, but was trying to extricate himself from the topic. "What should I tell the Foreign Minister when I talk to him tomorrow? Does he know the situation between you and the Minister?"

Harry thought about it. "No, I'd bet he doesn't. I'm sure Kingsley told as few people as possible. If it got out, he'd be in serious trouble." He paused again, thinking. "No, the more I think about it, he probably didn't ask the Foreign Minister to do this; the Foreign Minister must have done it on his own. Kingsley wouldn't want to attract attention to the situation. So, he probably doesn't even know. To be honest, I don't care what you tell him. But... tell him that I appreciate his concern, but I don't want to have any contact with the government right now. If he asks why, tell him to ask Kingsley."

Sato nodded. "I will do so. And I am sorry to have caused you any distress by relaying the message."

Harry shrugged. "You couldn't know." At least, thought Harry, he won't be doing that again.

* * * * *

Next: Chapter 17, Ronin: Harry finds it hard to stay quiet in the face of injustice when he discovers that Kaz has been made on outcast from society for what Harry feels is a greatly insufficient reason.

From Chapter 17: "Yes! He understands! Only someone who comes from other lands, who knows what is the natural state of ghosts, who has not been brainwashed by our society, can understand the truth! Oh, young man, what sprang naturally from your lips I have labored for so long to tell others, to little or no avail. We are shackled, chained here by that hideous spell. I tell you, the Antiquity Links are the true 'chains of society!'"