In the Court of the Monkey King (Harry Potter x Dragon Ball)

[Shippou]

"He lies!" The cold hissing voice echoed through the chamber.

Quirrell's face twisted in anger, "Tell me the truth Potter!" He flicked his wrist and Harry felt himself be violently dragged into the air by his shoulders, spun around to face the fallen defence teacher and slammed hard against the glass of the Mirror of Erised, pinned to it like a fly in a web.

"Let me ssspeak to him face to face," the high cold hiss came once again.

Quirrell paled slightly at that, "But master, are you sure you're strong enough?" He asked frightfully to the air, as if expecting to be struck down for his questioning.

"I have ssstrength enough for thisss."

Harry felt his stomach drop out from beneath him, as Quirrell raised his hands to his purple turban and began to unwind the fabric. 'No.' He begged in his mind, 'stop it, I don't want to see this!'

But Quirrell paid no heed to Harry's internal screaming as he impassively unraveled his head covering revealing a completely smooth pale scalp. Then he turned and Harry felt his heart seize up in his chest at what he saw.

Red eyes glared out at him from the back of the defense Professors' skull, burning with undisguised hatred. Slit snakelike pupils hovered above an almost none existent nose which was itself just a pair of vertical slices in the skin. A thin gash curled up into a cruel smirk as the obscene mockery of a face drank in Harry's horror.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort said coldly, "we finally meet again."

Harry said nothing, not trusting himself to speak, his heart was torn between fear and fury. This was the creature that had sent countless people to their graves with nary a care and had done things so monstrous that an entire civilization feared to even speak his name. That alone would have been enough to make even the bravest person turn and run, yet he was also the reason that Harry was an orphan. He'd murdered his parents in cold blood and tried to do the same to Harry. And even in his failure Voldemort had condemned him to ten years of a living hell with his relatives. Harry narrowed his eyes into a defiant glare. No matter what he'd never give this monster the satisfaction of seeing his fear.

"Silence hm?" The creature chuckled to itself. "Are you trying defiance, or is it fear that holds your tongue. No matter. Better wizards than you have tried that, and all loosened their tongue eventually." It smirked to itself, "I must admit it has been a while since I have had a captive audience Harry Potter. I would so love to indulge myself, but alas we don't have the time. I admire your bravery boy. Your mother was brave even as she tried to protect you, yet she fell before me as all have before her. But she needn't have died, she was only trying to shield you. if it weren't for you, she would still be alive. A foolish woman."

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK ABOUT MY MUM THAT WAY!" Harry spat breaking his silence glaring death at the monster speaking about murdering his mother so casually.

"Ah, but I but you didn't let me finish. The Stone you hold is the key to bringing her back."

Harry froze suddenly highly aware of the heavy feeling in his pockets.

"Yes," the snakelike voice crooned. "That stone is the key to fulfilling both of our greatest desires. Together we can bring your family back. I will give you back everything taken from you, and a place at my side when ascend to my rightful place above the filth of this world! And all you have to do is give me the Stone!"

'Desire,' the word rang deeply in Harry's head, and he despite his situation felt a sliver of amusement. 'Erised,' he snorted, realizing something for the first time. 'It was desire spelt backwards.' He was pinned to the Mirror of Desire, the very mirror he'd seen his parents in. Professor Dumbledore's warning about the mirror now came back to him sharper than ever. 'This Mirror provider neither knowledge or Truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they've seen. The mirror will be given a new home tomorrow, I trust you will not go looking for it.'

Harry bowed his head, tears of shame prickled at the corner of his eyes. He had been so stupid; it was a trap; it had been a trap all along. The Mirror would have trapped Voldemort and Quirrell, allowing the strongest wizard to ever live to deal with them at his leisure. And hadn't he just bungled it up wonderfully, Harry cursed himself as he wriggled in his invisible bindings. Had he just been a little smarter, a little stronger than he wouldn't have been in this mess. If he wasn't so weak then the monster in front of him wouldn't have had the opportunity to get the Stone.

Unless. Harry felt the cool glass of the mirror against his back, could the Stone be returned to the mirror? He'd pulled it out somehow hadn't he, could he put it back. Harry had just enough slack in his bonds to slip his hand into the pocket containing the Philosophers Stone. His fingers closed around the smooth red gem; he was dead either way. But if this worked at least Voldemort wouldn't have a chance to get his body back.

"I find myself losing my patience boy!" Voldemort snarled his red eyes gleaming in the chambers dim light. "Perhaps you need a demonstration of my power? CRUCIO!"

Quirrell's arm snapped up in a twisted gesture, and all at once Harry's world was pain. Excruciating agony, ripped through him like lightning. His muscles burned, and his blood boiled in his veins. His limbs contorted as his body twisted agonizingly in his mystical bonds. Distantly over the rushing sound of blood in his ears Harry thought he heard someone screaming. No not someone, it was him! After what felt like an eternity yet was probably mere moments the pain suddenly ceased. Harry gasped, sucking in air violently through a raw throat. The metallic taste of blood tinged his saliva as he coughed, his invisible bindings unable to even let him slump forward in relief from the pain.

"Now do you understand Potter?" Voldemort sneered. "There is no good and evil here, there is only Power and those with the strength to take it."

Harry didn't reply as he continued to breathe heavily, his fingers curling ever more tightly around the Stone in his pocket.

"Well," Voldemort's high cold voice rang in his ears with a false veneer of calm, "What is your answer!?"

With effort that felt as if he were rolling a boulder up a mountain, Harry lifted his head. Slipping the stone out of his pocket, sweat beaded on his brow as he stared into those red snakelike eyes defiantly. "Come and get it!"

He slammed the Stone against the glass behind him, it didn't slip in like he had hoped. Instead, the sound of cracking glass sounded through the chamber as a bolt of red lightning crashed from where the Stone had met the Mirror!

The wraith's eyes widened in horror, "What do you think you're doing boy!" Harry glared at him and smashed the stone against the Mirror again. The mirror cracked again and the sound of thunder rolled through the room as great bolts of red lightning flashed out from where the stone met the breaking glass. Whatever was happening between the two powerful Magical objects it was not something the dark wizard wanted.

Harry smirked and slammed Stone down again.

One of Quirrell's hands lashed out to stop him, a bolt of yellow light flashing from his fingers only to be met by one of the flashing scarlet lightning bolts with a loud boom. Quirrell's face paled, "Master?!" He called out fearfully, "What is this magic!?"

"NO QUESTIONS! STOP HIM! STOP HIM YOU FOOL!" Quirrell's body launched itself across the room and seized him by the throat as his other had scrabbled to take the stone from Harry's hands. Pain seared through Harry's scar and for a moment he nearly dropped the stone as he screamed in agony. He wasn't the only one who did.

"AAAH!" Quirrell reared back, falling to his knees in pain. Harry brought the stone down again, eyes wide as he took in Quirrell's hand. The skin blackened and blistering before his eyes. Even with this in sight Harry brought the Stone down again, Harry could feel the cracks in the glass creep up behind his back, the lightning and thunder now joined by the sound of roaring wind. A great pressure was building up behind him, Harry didn't know what was happening but anything was better than Voldemort getting his body back.

"STOP HIM," Voldemort's high voice screeched, "SEIZE HIM!"

"But Master," Quirrell's' agony filled voice was barely audible above the gale. "M-My hands," He cradled the blistered and rapidly blackening limb pitifully.

"THEN KILL HIM! KILL HIM AND BE DONE WITH IT!"

Quirrell rose to his feet his seizing Harry's throat once again, healthy hand raised to cast a deadly curse!

As the familiar agony of his scar ripped through him, Harry brought down the Stone one more time.

All at once the world seemed to stand still. No lightning flashed, or thunder boomed. Time itself seemed to hold its breath.

The Mirror shattered!

Immediately the invisible bindings holding Harry to the glass vanished and he instinctively seized the Mirrors frame.

An explosive roar echoed through the room as a Great Wind blew through the broken Mirror. It filled the room with a great suction centred on the now empty frame of the Mirror of Erised, like water swirling down a plughole.

The wind pulled Harry's lower body into the now empty gap where the glass had been, his fingers gripped against the frame as he held on for dear life. Harry looked down at his feet and swallowed; where he should have seen the back wall of the Chamber there was great expanse of blue. Almost as if he was looking down at the clear sky.

Quirrell was instantly ripped off his feet and sucked through the empty frame, at the last possible second his good hand grabbed a hold of Harry's pant leg. Harry could help but yelp as the sudden weight made his already precarious grip slip even more.

"I WILL NOT BE DENIED POTTER!" Voldemort screamed over the raging wind. "I WILL HAVE MY DESIRE; THIS WILL NOT STOP ME!"

"LET GO OF ME!" Harry screamed back, kicking at the Defense Professors grip.

A further scream of rage filled the wind and a great black shadow erupted from the man's body, rushing upwards it tried to fight against the wind, two great red pits bored into Harry's eyes from within the darkness as it tried to escape the Mirrors pull. Another searing pain rocked its way through Harry's skull leaving him seeing white stars behind his eyes. It was all he could do to maintain his death grip on the mirrors outer frame, a single slip up and he would be sent plunging into the void below.

Whatever power the Shadow had on his scar though was nothing compared to the pull the Mirror was exerting, and inch by bloody inch it was dragged further and further away into the blue below. "THIS ISN'T THE END POTTER," the Shadow howled, "THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING! I WILL TAKE EVERYTHING YOU LOVE! I WILL MAKE YOU WATCH EVERYTHING YOU CARE WITHER AND CRUMBLE BEFORE YOUR EYES!!! AND ONLY THEN YOU WILL DIE! SCREAMING!!" With a final ear-splitting inhuman screech Voldemort's Shadow was swept away into the blue beyond and out of sight.

Quirrell looked down at the blue void below them staring after his master, and then back up at Harry his eyes filled with wonder.

Suddenly he laughed, "YOU COULD HAVE HAD IT ALL! IMMORTALITY, WEALTH AND POWER BOY! AND YOU JUST THREW IT ALL AWAY!?"

"WHAT DO YOU NEED POWER FOR!?" Harry shouted not really thinking as he kept trying to pull himself up over the edge of the mirror. He felt his heart skip a beat as his grip slipped further in the attempt.

It was no use the suction was too strong, and with the weight of a full-grown man latched onto his leg it was all he could to keep his fingertips from slipping any further. The faces of his friends, Ron, Hermione, Neville and countless others flashed through his mind. All of them would have been in danger, if Voldemort was allowed to return. Even the Dursleys with the way they hated him didn't deserve what Voldemort would do to them. He had to protect them. All of them, and if he had to go so be it.

A ripping noise drew his attention back down. Quirrell's face had gone pale as he watched the fabric of Harry's trouser leg begin to tear. Looking down the formerly possessed man laughed again, the hints of hysteria appearing as he realized his fate.

Suddenly he snapped his gaze back up, locking eyes with the boy he'd only moments ago tried to kill. "Harry," he said, his voice calm and eyes clear for the what seemed like the first time. "I… I'm—."

With a final tearing sound, the fabric gave way and both Harry's teacher and the demon possessing him were gone.

Harry breathed out harshly, it was over. He looked out into the chamber one last time; he didn't have much strength left in his fingers. Tears began to well up in his eyes, it wasn't fair. Why did he have to go, why couldn't he hold on to anything good in his life? First his parents, now Hogwarts and his friends. Was he that weak? What good was power if you couldn't save yourself?

Just then a loud shout reached his ears and he watched wide-eyed as a familiar white bearded wizard struggled through the flames. Professor Dumbledore had arrived.

But even the greatest wizard alive was powerless against the forces Harry had unwittingly unleashed.

Instantly caught up by the wind Professor Dumbledore conjured a large spike which he slammed deep into the stone floor. The old wizard looked around the room with a mixture of horror and wonder, without an anchor he would have been just as powerless to resist the mirrors hunger as Voldemort had been. Harry caught the headmasters' blue eyes, and immediately knew what would happen. If anyone tried to move any closer, they would be torn from what footing they had and hurled into whatever place the Mirror of Erised had thrown Voldemort.

"HARRY!" Dumbledore shouted, "HOLD ON!" His hair and beard whipped around violently in the wind.

Harry looked from the headmaster to his fingers, they were bone white and his muscles were screaming with the strain. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to make it in time, and would probably suffer Professor Quirrell's fate if he tried to move from where he was anchored. He looked back and met the old man's blue care filled, fearful eyes; is this what it was like to see a grandparent for the first time, Harry wondered.

Harry closed his eyes knowing what he had to do, tears gathered at the corner of his eyes.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough, sir." He opened his eyes, letting his tears fall into the void below.

"HARRY?" Dumbledore shouted again, fear filling his voice. "HARRY NO!!"

He let go.

And Harry Potter fell into open sky.

=====================

Welcome to my new crossover. This is something I've thought about writing for years but until now I haven't had the motivation to try it out. Hope you enjoy, I'm currently working steadily on next few chapters so I'll be posting the first proper chapter once those are finished and edited. Not sure what the update rate will be, but I'm trying a different more planned out approach compared to the past seat of the pants way I've written so hopefully it'll be more consistent.

 

[Shippou]

The chirping of birds was the first things Harry heard as he ascended back to wakefulness. He groaned but didn't open his eyes, had one of the older students left the window open again? A light warm breeze whispered across his face, it was surprisingly pleasant and much warmer than what one would have expected from the Scottish Highlands, even during the summer. Harry let a small smile cross his face as the golden warmth spread across his body. "Mm, just a few more minutes," He mumbled.

Alas sleep didn't seem to wish to return, eyes still shut Harry sighed stretching out his arm for his glasses that normally lay on his bedside table. When his arm only met open air Harry frowned, that was odd they should have been there. He waved his arm around feeling for the table, when his hand met wooden floor Harry paused. Blinking blearily Harry opened his eyes. While the place was very much a blur to him, he could tell that this definitely not the First year Dormitory.

Squinting he barely make out that he was lying in a small room atop a what felt like a very thin mattress, a single blanket had been draped over his body, just enough that he wouldn't have been cold during the night. A large square mismatch of color on the wall told him that it probably the door. A round window hung over his head letting in golden sunlight, giving everything the familiar mystical quality that accompanied early morning.

Where the heck was, he? Harry scratched his head in confusion. His sudden movement must have dislodged something as something white and damp peeled away from his brow, swiftly falling into his lap. Picking it up Harry blinked, it felt like a wash cloth. Why did he have a folded wash cloth on his face?

As he was thinking, the door he'd noticed earlier flung itself open. A blurry blue and black smudge stood there carrying something very large and silvery over their shoulder. Harry blinked as the figure stood there looking at him in surprise. He stared at it and it stared back at him.

"Oh, hey!" The blob said cheerfully, the voice was clearly male, sounding as if he was somewhere around Harry's age. "You're awake."

Hesitantly Harry nodded, "yeah." He was still not quite sure what was going on, shouldn't they be panicking at a stranger appearing in their house?

The blob dropped what it was carrying with a loud fleshy sounding thud. "You've been asleep a long time. I was beginning to think you were dead." He said it so innocently and cheerfully that Harry couldn't help but flinch.

"Oh," the voice sounded a bit sheepish now, "are you still hurt? Hold on I think I still have some herbs that could help."

The blob walked on in and started rummaging through a brown blob near the door. "Yup, these should have you fixed up in no time. Whatever they had found they immediately took over to a brown square in the middle of the room and proceeded to do something Harry couldn't quite make out. Only a few moments later he felt something round being shoved in his hands.

"Go on, drink up. Grampa always said medicine should be taken as quickly as possible."

Harry looked down, even without his glasses he could recognize a cup of water anywhere. Not wanting to appear rude he gulped it down as fast as he could. "Bleh!" Harry coughed and sputtered at the horrible bitter taste; it was medicine alright. Only that could have such an awful flavor. 'Oh yuck,' Harry screwed up his face, it even left his tongue all chalky.

His host laughed at his reaction falling into a sitting position across from him.

Harry sputtered again wishing for something, anything to wash the taste out of his mouth. "Ugh, That was awful." He said wrinkling his nose.

The blue blob laughed again, "Yeah. Grampa also said that if medicine tastes good then it's not medicine."

"Your Grampa seems to say a lot of things," Harry groused, glancing around squinting.

"Why are you doing that?" The blue and black smudge asked.

"Doing what?" Harry responded trying to focus, the eyestrain was beginning to give him a headache.

"Screwing you're face up like that?"

Harry couldn't help but snort slightly at the observation. He had seen a couple pictures of himself without his glasses and he definitely looked a little weird without them, "Because can't see a thing without my glasses."

The figure cocked their head to the side, or at least Harry thought they did, "Oh, are you blind?"

Harry shook his head, "No, but everything is so blurry it makes my head hurt. Have you seen them?"

"Seen what," the blob moved as if scratching its head.

"My glasses!" Harry snapped a little, before wincing in instant regret. The headache beginning to fray his patience. Suddenly the pain receded, Harry blinked in surprise. Not only the headache but other aches he hadn't even realized he had, were now… gone. 'Wow,' he thought, 'that's good medicine.'

"Um," the blurs voice drew his back his attention, they sounded completely unaffected by Harry's outburst. "What do they look like?"

'You've got to be kidding me,' Harry thought despairingly. "They're like two metal poles attached to two circles. Small enough to fit on my face." Harry said trying his best to describe them as simply as he could.

"Oh," the blur clapped his hands together in realization, "you mean those window things you had on your face." The other boy, at least Harry assumed it was boy from the sound their voice, got back to their feet and walked over to what looked like a high table, a blurry orange ball shape seemed to be its only sort of decoration.

Barely a few seconds later the other boy came back and held out his hand to Harry, "Here you go." He sounded so utterly perky that Harry couldn't help but laugh as he fumbled the wire frames from the boys' grip. Slipping on the familiar lenses, he breathed a sigh of relief as the world swam back into view.

Blinking several times Harry took in the room properly for the first time. It was a simple one room building as he had assumed. He'd been laid just below the only window into the house through which bright sunshine beamed through. The wide set of double doors at his feet acted as the only entrance and exit to the outside world, warm air and birdsong now sweeping in through its open frame. Across opposite him was what seemed to be the only sleeping area, a small squat four poster bed. A small part of him wondered why hadn't been put up there but he squashed the selfish thought away, if he'd been there where would anyone else sleep.

Speaking of which. Harry turned and looked up at the boy who until now had been the blue and black blur.

The other boy looked back at him with a wide smile, "Better now?" He was a stocky looking kid, with an extremely thick set of black hair that was so spiky that it put Harry's own set of messy hair to shame. He was dressed in a set of what looked to Harry like a blue pair of pyjamas tied off with a long strip of white fabric that worked as a belt. If it wasn't for how bright his dark eyes were, Harry would have said he looked like he'd just crawled out of bed.

Harry smiled back at him, "Yeah, better. Thank you."

The boy stretched out his hand to him, Harry took it and with a little difficulty managed to get to his feet. To Harry's utmost surprise the two of them were the same height easily meeting each other eye to eye. From his position on the floor Harry had thought the other boy to be shorter than him. Harry broke first, casting his gaze around the small room. Where the heck, was he? last thing, he could remember he'd been… he drew a blank. He had been with Ron and Hermione he knew that much; they had been doing something… something important? What was it? And why wasn't he freaking out? Harry knew enough that waking up in a strange place with no memory of how you got there was something that you be freaking out about.

"So, I don't mean to be rude or anything." Harry began, hesitantly rubbing at the back of his neck "but who are you? And where am I?"

The black-haired boy's smile broke into a large grin, "Me? My names Goku. Son Goku. What's yours?"

"It's… Harry." Harry replied, a sudden niggling feeling at the back of his head. As if he'd forgotten something important.

The other boy… Goku snickered a little.

"What?" Harry asked feeling a little weirded out.

"Your name," Goku laughed. "It's weird, it's sounds like hairy."

"Hey!" Harry poked Goku in the chest, "Harry is a perfectly normal name. If anything, Goku is the weird one."

Goku smiled brightly clearly not meaning anything by his teasing, "If you say so."

Harry crossed his arms and couldn't help but pout a little, "Hmph, you're a weird guy." He insisted.

Goku crossed his arms back behind his head and chuckled again at Harry. "So, how did you end up in that pit?"

"What, pit?" Harry relaxed his arms as he stared at Goku in confusion.

"Yeah," Goku crouched down, trembling slightly as his eyes sparkled with excitement, "I thought it was shooting star like the ones my Grampa told me about. It raced across the sky like a big ball of smoke, then it landed in the forest south of here. I followed it and found this huge trench in the rock," he spread out his arms out as far as they could go, as if trying to get across the size of what he'd seen. "All the trees were on fire until the rain put them out. I followed it and at the end was you in a big hole in the ground."

Harry felt his eye widen as Goku told his story, "Really?" He said faintly.

Goku nodded excitedly, "You must be really strong, if you can do that."

Harry closed his eyes placed a hand on his forehead, none of that story made any sense, but Goku didn't look like the type to make stuff up on the fly. How had he ended up here, how had been falling—

"You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me —"

"Books! And cleverness! There are more important things — friendship and bravery."

"Let me speak to him face to face!"

"Come and get it!"

"SIEZE HIM! SIEZE HIM!"

"Master my hands—"

"THIS ISN'T THE END—"

"—JUST THE BEGINNING!"

"Harry?! HARRY NO!!"

Harry's eyes snapped open as everything that had happened the last several months rushed back to him in a torrent. The mystery of Nicholas Flamel, the Philosopher's Stone, and the battle with Quirrell! All of it flooded back like a terrifying breaking of a dam. He'd fallen through blue sky but somehow survived… which meant… which meant…

'Voldemort!'

"GOKU!?" He jumping forward he grabbed the other boy by the lapel of his blue vest, staring terrified into the other boys' dark eyes. Fear flooded every inch of his body. "Where are we!? How long was I asleep!? Did you see anyone else with me!?" Abstractly Harry knew he was freaking out, but if there was even the slightest chance that Voldemort and Professor Quirrell were nearby… he needed to run. And Goku did too.

Goku frowned and to Harry's shock effortless pried away Harry's death grip. "Harry? What's wrong, I didn't see anyone else."

Harry tried to snatch his hands away from Goku but the other boys surprising strength held him fast. "You don't understand!" Harry said rapidly, his eyes darting frantically around the small building. Half expecting the dark sorcerer to burst through the window at any moment. "He could be here any second!"

"But you were the only person there," Goku protested. He cocked his head to the side in clear concern and confusion. "You've been asleep for days, I thought you were never going to wake up."

"You don't get it I—" Harry paused as Goku's words registered in his head. "Days?!" Harry repeated wide eyed, his voice sounded oddly small to his ears.

Goku nodded slowly, carefully relaxing his grip on Harry's hands and took a step away as though dealing with a panicking animal. "Yeah. You've been asleep for a long time. I guess you hit your head on the way down."

"Days?" Harry repeated again. His mind felt all muddled up, strands of thought slipping through his fingers before he could even process them. He'd been asleep for days and neither Voldemort or Quirrell had attacked. He instinctively grabbed for his wand only to freeze as his hand brushed over where the familiar thin rod of wood would have been. Should have been! Harry slapped his hands across his chest and sides desperately hunting for his only line of defense... his hands brushed against his waist and over a large round object. Harry froze, his breath catching in his throat. Hesitantly, he slipped a hand into his pocket and let his fingers enclose around the thing, slowly he drew it out and stared in wonder.

A large red uncut gemstone rested in his palm. It was warm to the touch, burning with an inner light. He had it! After facing Voldemort, after the Mirror, he somehow still had it. He still had the Philosopher's Stone! A sense of relief flooded through him, his muscles which had frozen in terror, suddenly relaxed. He fell to his knees, exhaling with a sharp gasp. He'd done it! The Stone was safe and… he was alive.

He was still alive!

"Nngh," Harry felt a lump catch in his throat and he brought the Stone to his forehead, the throbbing from before now moving to a place behind his eyes.

"I won," he whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm alive."

He couldn't stop himself as the tears began to fall. It started with a single cracking sob of relief. Gritting his teeth tried to hold it back but now given an opening it was relentless. Clutching the Stone to his chest Harry let himself bawl like a baby. It was not a clean cry, tears mixed with snot as they poured down his face, his wails inter-spaced with drastic fits of hiccuping. He had been so scared! He didn't want to die! He didn't want to die! His chest burned as he tried to suck in air between his sobs. He was alive! Out the corner of his blurry tear-filled vision he saw Goku drop down next to him, the other boy placing a hand on his back as fat hot tears poured down his face.

The crying continued on for what seemed like ages, but was probably only a few minutes. Finally, however the tears seemed to abate a little, allowing Harry to draw in a sharp shuddering breath.

"Feel better?" Goku asked, somehow looking a not looking at all embarrassed by what he'd seen.

Harry felt his cheeks burn in humiliation; the other boy must think of him as a baby, crying his eyes out like that. He wasn't some little kid that cried at the drop of a hat. Crying didn't help, more often others just tried make him shut up. He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve; "Y-Yeah," he hiccuped. "I-I'm good."

Goku nodded sagely, "That guy you were talking about, he must be like a really strong monster or something to scare you like that."

Harry bit his lower lip to stop it trembling, screwing his eyes shut to prevent another set water works at the thought. "Uh. Uh huh."

"Well, I've not seen a guy like that anywhere," Goku said cupping his chin thoughtfully. "If he was going to come after you, he'd have done it already I think."

Slowly Harry nodded; the other boy's logic made some sense. If he'd been unconscious for as long as he'd said, then Voldemort would have had an easy target.

Goku grinned at him, "You hungry? I was gonna make me some breakfast before I saw you'd woken up."

Harry opened his mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by a sudden loud gurgling noise. Looking down at his belly Harry heard it rumble again. Harry blushed as Goku laughed at his treacherous stomach noises. Looking back at the other boy, Harry felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards. "I… I'd like that."

--

Breakfast turned out to be a whole lot of fish, Harry had watched wide eyed as Goku had roasted an absolutely enormous fish over a cooking spit. It was bigger than both of them combined and looked and smelt absolutely amazing. It was more than enough to set Harry's mouth a watering and belly rumbling constantly. Guess sleeping for days on end gave one an appetite.

On serving however Harry had found another difficulty he had to grapple with, "Why are these so hard to use?!" Harry asked, his eye twitching as another piece of fish slipped out from between the two sticks in his hand.

"No, no. You hold them like this, see?" Goku said patiently as he demonstrated for Harry once again. Suppressing a groan of frustration Harry readjusted his fingers for the third time as he tried to get a grip on the delicious roasted fish between the two wooden sticks. Goku made it look so easy as he practically inhaled his meal like a vacuum. The other dark-haired boy seemed to have a bottomless appetite. The fish that Harry had initially assumed was to last Goku for days, looked to be more accurately be described as a light morning snack as he went back for seconds, thirds, and fourths, and he didn't seem be slowing down or even being close to full. He had thankfully been considerate enough to serve Harry first, if he hadn't Harry didn't think he'd have managed to get anything out of the fish at all.

As the flame seared meat slipped out from between the sticks yet again, Harry finally threw in the towel. "It'd be easier to just eat with my fingers," he groused.

"Yu musha wull." Goku said through mouth stuffed to bulging.

"I'm sorry?" Harry asked, he fought down a snicker as he took in Goku's heavily puffed out cheeks. He looked a little like a squirrel after having gotten to the nuts.

Goku took a moment to swallow before repeating himself, "You might as well. It's gonna go cold if you keep trying." He promptly went back to stuffing himself full.

Harry looked back and forth between his bowl and Goku, before finally shrugging a picking up the fish with his fingers. At least his failed attempts at using the implements had given the fish time to cool down enough he didn't burn his fingers.

The two of them ate in companionable silence, the quiet only broken when Goku set his bowl down to refill it. The fish had been practically stripped to bone at this point, but Goku seemed determined to pick it clean. Harry let his gaze wander to the surrounding area. It was honestly quite beautiful; craggy mountains of pale stone soared over head, reaching high into the clouds even as vast swaths of forest coated them in a lush green down. The Sun beat down on them hotly, but they were cooled by the breezes that rolled in on them from the deep forested valleys below. And in the distance, he could hear the strong sound of great rushing rivers and waterfalls. Someone could have been forgiven for thinking he'd found paradise.

"Hey Goku," Harry said drinking in the wondrous world around him. "Where did you say we are? You mentioned you live here with your Grampa, right?"

Goku let his bowl drop with a clatter and patted his stomach happily. "Ah, that hit the spot." He let out a loud satisfied sigh as he leaned back a little looking up at the sky.

Finally full he turned his head to look back at the small one roomed building behind them. "Actually, Grampa died a long time ago."

Harry felt his breath catch in his chest, "Wait? You're an orphan?"

Goku turned back to look at him confused, "what's an orphan?"

Harry hesitated; he didn't want to assume anything but the idea that two orphaned kids would find each other in the middle of nowhere was kind of ridiculous. "It means you don't have parents. A mum and dad? I mean you said your Grampa looked after you?

Goku nodded, "Yup. Grampa found me in mountains as a baby."

"But you must have questions about your mum and dad, right?" Harry asked, he just couldn't wrap his head around the idea that someone could be casual about having no parents, surely, he was at least a little curious.

Goku shrugged, "I dunno, I've never really thought about it." He seemed remarkably unbothered about the subject.

Harry opened his mouth to question the other boy further but thought the better of it and shut his jaw with a clack. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said eventually.

The black-haired boy smiled sadly, "It's alright. As long as I have Grampa's treasure he's not really gone."

Harry forced down the questions that statement brought up; it was probably a good idea not to annoy the person who rescued you. Instead, he repeated his previous question, "So where are we then? It's really pretty."

Goku followed Harry's gaze across the distant mountains. "I think Grampa called it Mount Paozu. I've lived here all my life, and yeah I guess it is rather pretty."

Harry took a deep breath, Mount Paozu was not a name he'd ever heard of in either the magical or muggle world but it was not as if he'd ever been very good at geography. Still if Goku knew where England was compared to here, he could at least start looking for a way home.

"Goku," Harry asked hesitantly, "have you ever heard of a place called England, or Britain."

The other boy scratched at his scalp as he thought, "No, don't think so. Don't remember Grampa mentioning anywhere called that."

Harry deflated slightly at that, where ever he was it looked like he was a long way from home. Then again, he thought suddenly, Goku did say he'd lived on Mt. Paozu all his life. Maybe if he could ask someone closer to a city or something he'd get better directions. Ron, Hermione and everyone had to be very worried about him, or worse think he was dead.

"Do you know anywhere I can find other people; they might know." Harry asked taking a sip of water from a clay cup Goku had dug up for them.

Goku shrugged looking apologetic. "Nope, sorry. Grampa mentioned these places called cities where loads of people are, but I don't know where they are."

Harry felt himself deflate even further. Great just great, he had no clue where on earth he was or how to get back home and the best information he had was that there were cities somewhere out there. A sudden movement behind Goku caught his eye, and something long brown and furry swept into view.

Harry spat out his water in shock as he saw it, "What the heck is that!?!" He jabbed a finger at the furry thing.

"Huh?" Goku looked at where he was pointing curiously, before grinning at it. "Oh. That's just my tail."

Harry looked between the furry appendage and Goku's face incredulously, "Y-You have a tail?!?"

"Well of course I do. Why wouldn't I?" Goku said cheerfully oblivious to Harry's shock, "Here, take a look." He stood up and turned around allowing Harry to see the furry thing wriggle and wave about behind him, Harry followed it down to where the tail ended disappearing into a hole at the back of Goku's pants.

Harry opened and closed his mouth several times but the words just wouldn't come. He rubbed at his eyes in disbelief, nope the tail was still there. He didn't know why he'd been so surprised. After seeing a man with a second face on the back of his head, a tail shouldn't have been that shocking. "Goku? Why do you have a tail?" He said eventually.

"Why don't you?" Goku asked innocently as he turned back around, still acting as if all of this was completely normal. "Did you lose it when you fell out of the sky?"

"I—" Harry paused, he honestly didn't know how to respond to that. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have a tail. And no one else he'd met had had one. Well except for Dudley after Hagrid had finished with him, Harry felt himself smile slightly at the memory. Still, he didn't think it was a normal thing for someone his age to have. He'd hadn't seen other boys on the quidditch team with tails in the locker rooms. Were there types of Wizards out there who had tails?

"Well don't worry, I'm sure it'll grow back." Goku continued apparently taking Harry's silence as affirmation.

"Y-yeah…" Harry responded in a slight daze, "sure…?"

Goku nodded as if what they'd discussed was a completely normal conversation before crouching down and stretching out his legs. "Well, I got to go. I'll see ya later."

"Go? Go where?" The question came out sounding far more vulnerable and fearful than Harry had intended and he mentally smacked himself. Goku was nice but he couldn't expect him to hang around all the time. It wouldn't be fair to him.

And it wasn't like he was in any danger now, right? Harry swallowed nervously at the thought. He hated it but the thought of being alone right now was enough to make his stomach feel all watery.

"Oh, just some morning training." Goku said casually stretching his arms behind his head.

Harry cocked his head to the side curiously, "what kind of training?"

Goku grinned widely, "Martial Arts training what else?"

"Can I come?" The words were out of his mouth before Harry could register them.

Goku blinked in surprise, before suddenly bounced on the balls of his feet excitedly. "Sure, you can! You wanna spar with me?"

'Spar?' Harry thought, 'was that like fighting or something?' He glanced over the other boys' burly frame and suppressed a shiver as the memory of Dudley and his gangs regular Harry hunting games swam to front of his mind. Goku wasn't remotely like Dudley thankfully, but Harry had had enough of larger boys beating him to a pulp when they caught him to last a life time.

"Uh, no thanks," Harry scratched the back of his head embarrassed. "I can't throw a punch to save my life."

"Aww," Goku pouted in disappointment before looking Harry up and down, "alright. I guess you are kinda skinny."

"Hey," Harry cried out, "I'm not skinny. I… just haven't hit my growth spurt yet. Okay!" He knew he was small for his age, but Harry wasn't unfit like others might have been. Running from Dudley and Quidditch practice the past year had seen to that.

The other boy giggled at his reaction; Harry crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out at him petulantly before letting himself smile slightly. The other boys' cheerful demeanor made it practically impossible to get mad at him, and Harry couldn't help but lower his guard and relax in his presence. His cheer was almost infectious.

Standing up Harry dusted himself off, "Can I watch at least?" He'd never seen a proper martial artist before; he'd only caught a few glimpses of some fights on the television a few times before Uncle Vernon had switched to another channel muttering about foreign sports.

"Heh, why not?" Goku turned about face, his monkey-like tail waving happily behind him, "follow me."

--

As it turned out Harry had needn't worried about being left alone, Goku's training area was only on the other side of his house from where they'd eaten. The area was well used if the tightly packed dirt and scuff marks on the ground were anything to go by. A single large tree which stood by lonely and set apart in the middle of the clearing, had what looked like large dents in the bark. As if it had been hit by frequent heavy objects.

"So… what are you trained in?" Harry asked Goku curiously, the other boy was doing stretches again in the middle of the clearing.

"Oh, Grampa taught me Kung-fu, Karate and some other stuff." Goku said bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet before falling in an odd standing position; his legs spread wide, one hand extended in front of his face, the other held firmly at his waist.

Harry leaned against the back wall of the house and crossed his arms. He didn't want to admit it to Goku but neither of those terms really meant anything to him. Still, it would be kind of cool to see it in action, if Goku was actually a Martial artist like he said. Harry remembered boys at his muggle school trying to look cool by pretending to fight on the playground. They usually ended up just getting laughed at when they tripped themselves up and ended up eating gravel.

"HEEYAA!" Goku shouted as his fist snapped out in a sharp jab. He followed it up with a flurry of blows so fast that his hands were practically a blur. Harry felt his eyes widened a fraction in surprise, were people supposed to be able to move like that?

Goku started adding kicks to the sequence as his motions grew faster and faster. Moving in a circle his motions practically flowed together like water, it was less like fighting a more like a dance. Each movement of his arms switching in perfect sequence to a kick followed up by another punch. Not a single bit of effort was wasted, every step coming down in such a way as to line up Goku for his next strike.

As quickly as he started, Goku stopped. He wasn't even breathing hard; the entire sequence had taken barely a minute and had taken the other boy in full circle back to where he had begun. Part of Harry wanted to break into applause but if watching older students at Hogwarts had told him anything it was that you never interrupt someone when they were focused like Goku was now.

The other boy closed his eyes and breathed out heavily through his nose, with a grunt he shifted his stance, both legs now straight with both his fists curled up at either side of his hips.

Suddenly Goku shot forwards as if launched from a canon, he ran his arms swept behind him towards the lone tree in the clearing. Before Harry could blink, his feet had already taken him halfway up the trunk. A cry erupted from Goku's lips and he kicked off of the tree at the apex of his climb. Launching himself backwards as he twisted in the air… one… two… three times! He landed with a soft thud barely a foot away from where Harry was standing. A perfect landing from a triple back-flip.

Harry couldn't help but lean forward and gape at the display, 'What the--? H-how the heck did he do that?' It was like something out of Dudley's comic books that he read when he thought Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia weren't looking.

Goku wasn't done yet though. With another loud cry he started running at the old tree once again. Only when he was almost half way there he leapt into the air, traveling towards the tree he shifted himself so that he was flying towards it with one foot outstretched. He struck the tree with a loud crack! Jumping back again with a single flip this time, Goku spun around to face Harry. An extremely wide and proud grin spread across his face as he held up two fingers up in a victory salute.

Stunned Harry couldn't do anything but stare as with a loud groan the large and solid looking tree that must have stood there for decades toppled over with a crash that made the earth shake, sending up a large cloud of dust.

Goku brushed his hands off and he turned to inspect his handiwork. "Wow, that one took a while to go down." He walked over and lightly kicked at the trunk before nodding to himself, "Yup, this'll make some good firewood."

"Bwuuh…" Harry wheezed in disbelief; his eyes as wide as they could possibly go. His mind racing to make sense of the display of strength he'd just witnessed. How had Goku done that? Just how strong was he? How the bloody hell did he get that strong!? The only thing Harry had seen that had been even close that strong was the twelve-foot Mountain Troll he and Ron had saved Hermione from at Halloween. But Goku was only a little bigger than Harry himself and yet had sent the tree crashing to the ground with a single kick. 'Does training really make you that strong?' Harry wondered in awe.

"H-how did you do that?!" Harry shouted bouncing the balls of his feet, an odd feeling of excitement filling him.

Goku turned back to him looking slightly confused, "Easy. I just kicked it really hard."

Running over as fast his feet would take him, Harry looked between the monkey-tailed boy and the broken tree stump. Goku had managed to kick it so hard that the stump had just snapped in half like a dry twig. "Just how strong are you?" Harry asked, utterly fascinated. He'd heard of Martial Arts people being able to break blocks of wood with their bare hands but he'd thought that was just the in movies. He remembered catching glimpses of stuff like that when Dudley had been flipping channels, but this was a bloody tree. Looking at the trunk Harry estimated that his arms wouldn't even reach halfway around it's circumference, and Goku treated kicking in half like it was nothing. Harry ran his fingers through his hair in a daze, it was like learning magic was real all over again.

Goku shrugged modestly at the question, "I dunno. Grampa was even stronger though; I could never beat him in a fight."

Harry gaped at him. Stronger than that? He dropped to the ground cross legged feeling completely stunned. He gazed up at the other boy in wonder, "What else can you do?"

Goku tapped his chin as if thinking. "I can break rocks," he said brightly.

Harry opened his mouth to clarify himself when he was interrupted by a sudden feeling of pressure in his gut. Blushing he leapt to his feet, "Uh, Goku? You don't happen to have a bathroom around here, do you?"

The other boy looked at him questioningly before looking around the clearing. "What's a bathroom?"

A slow chill swept up Harry's spine at those words. "It—it's a," Harry fumbled over the words as he tried to suppress his growing need. "It's room where you go do your business. Your private business." He said finally placing extra emphasis on the word private.

Goku continued to look at him blankly.

Squeezing his hands over his lower gut, Harry growled in frustration as he involuntarily started wiggling in desperation. "Look I need to pee! Okay!" He snapped.

Goku's face suddenly lit up in understanding, "Oh! Why didn't you say so? There's a river down that way," he said pointing south behind him. "I use it all the time."

It was better than nothing and Harry made a run for it, throwing out a quick thank you out behind him as he dashed as fast as he could in the direction Goku had pointed. As he did, he could have sworn he heard Goku say, "Weird, why didn't he just go here?"

--

Harry let out a long sigh of relief, shivering slightly as he redid the top button on his trousers. It had been a very close one but he'd made it to the river without embarrassing himself. Turned out that the river was a lot further down the mountain than Goku had made it out to be. "Lousy place, with no toilets." He grumbled to himself, though he probably shouldn't have been surprised with how small and out of the way from civilization Goku's home was.

Speaking of home, Harry looked out at the wilderness before him. The loud sound of birdsong chirped all around him. Breathing in deeply through his nose, he took in unfamiliar yet wonderfully warm scents. Smells he had no words for, only that they were enough to set his mouth a watering slightly. He'd said it earlier but the place was truly beautiful. With the clear blue river flowing down through the valley and the vast greenery surrounding it on both banks, it was both similar and very different to the sights Harry could see on the Hogwarts grounds.

Both with lush grass and forest stretching as far as the eye could see in certain directions, with clear water in the other. Yet this was a far warmer and much more humid place than the north of Scotland. Already Harry had had to strip his shirt off and wrap it around his waist to try and cool himself down. His upper body now bare, Harry could still feel the heat of the bright sun beating down on him making him heating his skin just enough to make him uncomfortable and make sweat bead upon his brow, it was almost how he imagined it would have been like to be in those tropical pictures he saw in Aunt Petunia's magazines back home. And if the sun was any indication it was still only morning.

A hooting sound drew his attention up to the treeline above, a pair of brown monkeys looked down at him with curious large eyes. The smaller one hooted what sounded like a greeting at him, prompting him to wave back in response. The larger immediately grabbed the smaller monkey and deposited it on their back before scrambling up a tree and out of sight. Harry couldn't help but giggle a little. If that wasn't a sign, he was far from home he didn't know what was. The smile fell from his lips as he recalled the events that had gotten him here. Ron and Hermione must either be killing themselves with worry or think he was dead. And Professor Dumbledore…

"Harry?! HARRY NO!!"

Harry felt a chill run down his spine in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature. He had to get home; he couldn't just abandon everyone like that. But he had no idea where he was or how to get to the cities that Goku had mentioned. Mount Paozu as Goku had called it, looked to be as far from civilization as you could get. And if the use of chopsticks at breakfast had been any indication, then it was a miracle that he and Goku could even communicate properly. Huh, he'd have to ask Goku how he knew English now that he thought about. No, he'd just say his Grampa taught him it. It was real pity that the man wasn't around anymore, he'd probably have been a bit more helpful than Goku had been.

Harry mentally slapped himself at the thought, "Don't be ungrateful." He muttered aloud, "He didn't have to help you at all." And it was true, Goku didn't have to take care of his unconscious body for several days like he had, or feed him afterwards. If anything, Harry owed him for that much. But even still, Harry looked around at the forests around him. It was no use; he couldn't see anything out past the valley from down here. For all he knew there could have been cities just on the other side of the ridge.

Harry cupped his chin in his hand and thought for a moment. Maybe if he climbed the tallest tree, he might get a glimpse of what lay beyond the valley. He smacked his fist into the flat of his palm assertively, yeah that's what he'd do. Once he had a better idea of his bearings, he could go and ask Goku for some supplies and then make his way to the nearest city for help.

With a plan now in mind Harry smirked, wiped the sweat from his brow and walked into shadows beyond the tree line without hesitation. After all he'd dealt with the Forbidden Forest before, how much worse could this one be.

--

As it turned out much worse.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!" Harry screamed as he ran through the jungle, a snarling drooling monstrosity hot on his heels.

Dashing as fast as he could Harry desperately leapt over lose rocks and turned up tree roots, the slightest misstep would make the difference between eaten and not-eaten.

"I thought you guys were supposed to be extinct!" Harry shouted as he barely kept ahead of a pair of large saber like fangs in a set of viciously snapping jaw. The beast who clearly didn't like being informed about its apparent lack of existence roared angrily.

It had seemed to be going so well, Harry had found a fairly large tree whose boughs had looked high enough that he'd be able to see out over the rest of the valley. Unfortunately climbing a tree in a climate like this was a far different prospect from climbing one to escape a yapping bulldog in suburban England.

Harry had lost his grip somewhere around a quarter of the way up and had rapidly become the victim of the treacherous force known as gravity. Thankfully something soft had cushioned his fall.

Unfortunately, that something had turned out to be an extremely irate Sabretooth Tiger, who'd quickly decided that Harry would make a tasty afternoon snack!

Even if Harry had had his wand, he didn't think that anything thing he knew could do more than irritate the violent ball of fur and teeth. All that was left to do was run, and now Harry knew he was completely lost. Still being lost was better than being in the belly of the beast.

Harry yelped again as he just narrowly avoided the tigers' sharp claws, he was tiring out he knew. It was honestly shocking that he'd kept ahead this long. His legs pumped faster than he could remember, easily out doing his records from when he had tried to escape Dudley and his friend's back at School. Then again Dudley might have been a fat pig, but at least he hadn't been trying to eat him. Or at least he hoped he hadn't.

Even so, something had to give or Harry would soon be Tiger chow! Harry leapt over another exposed tree root and tried to think of something. There had to be a way out of it, climbing trees wouldn't work. He was pretty sure cats were good climbers.

Suddenly out the corner of his eye he saw it, a faint glimmer of sunlight breaking through the treeline. Harry smirked, 'perfect'.

"Hey you dumb cat!" Harry shouted over his shoulder with far more bravado than he felt, "come get me if you want a taste of me!"

He darted to the side, tearing away from the tiger and towards the slight glimmer of sunlight beaming through the trees. The tiger snarled again clearly not in the mood for playing with its food and skidded as it turned to follow.

'Almost… there.' Harry thought as his heart pumped frantically in his chest to keep his legs moving. The glimmer of sunlight was getting brighter as he closed in. If he could just get through the tree line then… 'Oops.'

The Sabretooth burst out into the light of day a ground shaking growl vibrating in its chest. It sniffed loudly as it searched for its missing prey, there was nothing there. Just an empty cliff side outcropping, yet the monkey thing had clearly gone this way and it was both annoyed and hungry.

A sudden breeze from the cliff side brought a familiar scent to the Cat's sensitive nose. Smirking in a way that only felines can smirk it casually loped its way over to the cliff edge overlooking the rocky bounds of the mountain below. Peering over the edge it met the gaze of a creature with two large green eyes, the monkey thing, desperately clinging to a vine hanging off the cliff blinked back sheepishly.

Harry stared up at the Sabretooth wide eyed. "Uh… nice kitty?!"

The cat roared angrily at Harry, fangs flashing in the sunlight.

"AAAAAAAHHH!!!" Harry screamed into the cat's face; the beast reared back startled. Clearly it wasn't used to its victims roaring back in its face. Still undeterred though it slashed down at Harry with its claws missing his shoulder by inches as Harry ducked underneath the blow.

"Hey," Harry shouted. "Be careful with those!" He wasn't sure why he was telling a creature that clearly wanted to eat him to be careful, but anything that kept his mind off the fact that he was in deadly danger again he supposed.

A loud snapping noise filled the air, and both Harry and the Cat looked down. The cats missed blow had severed a rather thick thread that had been keeping the vine connected to the rocky cliff face. Slowly Harry looked from the vine to the Sabretooth, even as the Sabretooth looked from the vine to him. If Harry didn't know better, he would have said that it was smiling at him maliciously, but cats couldn't smile… could they?

In a movement too fast for Harry to see the Tiger slashed at the vine. Another snap sounded through the air.

"Oh no." Harry whimpered in a small voice as he felt the vines grip loosen. His heart raced as he watched the green flesh of the vine fray before his eyes.

The Sabretooth swept its claws across the vine once more with a smirk, briefly looking down Harry stared up at the cat flatly.

"Cheater."

With a final snapping noise, the green vine came loose from its moorings. Harry felt his stomach fly up into his chest as he watched the Cats grinning visage fall away from him. He screamed as he fell, watching as the stone edge of the mountainside got closer and closer.

Fear flooded him, he had to do something or he'd end up as paste on the rocks below! Do what!? He had no wand, no broomstick, and he sure as heck didn't have a flying carpet. There was only one thing he could do and that was no guarantee anything would happen.

"HEEEEELLLP!" He cried out as the wind whistled past his ears. He screwed his eyes shut; this was it this was the end.

A loud crack echoed through the air.

Harry's eyes snapped open, he was still falling, but for some reason the rocks below were different from the ones he'd been falling towards. For one thing these were surrounded by trees, and for another they weren't as closely clumped together. Leaving a rather large opening of earth directly below him. Not that that was much comfort, but— Harry hit the ground with a loud thud! His body bouncing several times before rolling to stop.

"Ouch," Harry got unsteadily to his feet clutching his head, "ow." What had just happened? One moment he'd been certain he was going to die from being smashed into a mountain side and the next he'd fallen to the ground from only a few feet in the air. Harry stumbled as he adjusted his miraculously intact glasses.

He giggled slightly, which quickly became a chuckle, which soon became full on laughter that came straight from his core. God, he loved magic, he recalled Hagrid's mention from when they first met, about how you could do magic when angry or scared. Well, you couldn't get more scared than by falling off a cliff to certain doom. "I guess it could have been worse," Harry mumbled in relief. At least he was unlikely to be Tiger chow now.

A loud low rumble sounded out behind him, making the earth beneath his feet vibrate slightly.

Slowly he turned around and felt his heart sink. He looked back at himself, reflected in pair of large yellow eyes which stared at him hungrily from within a large scaly head. The creature raised its squarish blocky head off the ground as it watched him.

'Of course,' Harry thought sarcastically, 'if they have Sabretooth Tigers here, why not a T-Rex.' The beast growl rumbled so loudly that Harry almost felt his bones vibrate. Harry smiled nervously at the enormous creature slowly backing away from its lair. "Um, Hi! So, sorry for interrupting your nap." Harry clasped his hands behind his back as he tried to keep from panicking.

The overgrown lizard licked its chops, revealing dozens of large white fangs each as long as Harry's arm as it slowly rose from its nest. Harry kept moving backwards unwilling to take his eyes off the creature, "I'll just uh… be going… Bye!" The giant lizard roared loud enough to make the ground shake beneath Harry's feet.

For the second time that day Harry turned and ran, a loud cry rose up from behind him and Harry just knew things had gone from bad to worse. "I should have never left Goku!" Harry shouted as the giant dinosaur took up the chase. A loud crash of teeth just behind him made Harry scream as he ran, the T-Rex barely failing to grab the boy in its jaws. Flinching as the toothy maw slammed closed inches from his back, Harry managed to remain just ahead of the terrible creatures' huge jaws. Maybe it was the lizard was still groggy from its nap, or perhaps Harry still a little magic on the go from the fall, either way Harry was happy to remain just out of reach of those terrible teeth.

"SOMEBODY!?" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping as the tyrannical lizard barely missed chomping down on him again. "ANYBODY! HEEELLLPPP!!!"

Harry zigzagged in an attempt to lose his shadow but the beast was utterly tenacious in its pursuit of him. Its immense size easily allowing it to keep up the chase. Suddenly Harry felt something snag against his foot and lost his balance. His speed sending him flying head over heels as he bounced and skidded to a stop.

Heart racing Harry scrambled to push himself to his feet only for a sharp flash of pain in his ankle to send him gasping to the ground. He swore at himself, he must have gotten caught on a loose branch or stone and twisted his ankle. The thunderous boom of the T-Rex's feet behind him slowed, and Harry flipped himself onto his back just in time to see the giant but surprisingly agile lizard skid to a stop in front of him. The T-Rex roared triumphantly and its head shot towards him to snaffle him up like Dudley would have done a chocolate bar. Harry screamed and flung his hands up in front of his face.

A sound like a large gong rang out in the air, and the creature's head skittered off of something between Harry's hands and its jaws. Harry stared as the air between them faded from the sudden opaque white it had become back too its regular transparency. The beast let loose an ear-splitting roar of pain, shaking its immense head violently from side to side, a dark flow of blood streaming from its nose.

Harry looked between it and his hands in wonder, accidental magic twice in one day. That had to be a record or something. The dinosaur shook its head and looked back down at him, irritation filling its beady little eyes as it tried to figure out what had stopped from devouring its little snack. Snorting it lowered its head again and snarled furiously, Harry scrambled backwards on his hands screwing his eyes shut as he tried to summon another burst of accidental magic. 'C'mon, c'mon. I just need one more!'



"Hey you Big Bully!" An angry voice shouted, Harry's eyes shot open and watched as the T-Rex raised its head, looking for the source of the noise. Looking up Harry saw a familiar figure in blue standing firm in one of the tree branches above their heads, he was in one of his fighting stances from earlier and was holding a long orange staff out in front of him. "You leave my friend alone!" Goku shouted furiously, Harry stared up at him in disbelief. Was he mad?! It didn't matter that Goku was strong, this was bloody T-Rex!

The Tyrannosaur snorted contemptuously at the little creature in the trees, turning its attention back to Harry, who flinched as those large pitiless yellow eyes bore down on him.

"Alright you asked for it!" Goku yelled.

Harry watched incredulous as the other boy leapt high into the air above the dinosaurs' head. What did he expect to do against a thing like that? Knocking over a tree was one thing but this was even worse than trying to fight a mountain troll. He didn't even have a giant club to bash it on the head with.

"NYOIBO EXTEND!"

Harry felt his draw drop a little as the orange staff Goku had lifted over his head suddenly grew almost a dozen meters in a second. "HEYAAHH!" Goku whipped the staff forward with all his strength and slammed it into the monsters' neck with a loud crack! The T-Rex's eyes bulged out of their sockets for a moment as it once again cried out in pain before they rolled up into the back of its skull. It stood there immobile for a long moment, before tipping sideways and crashing to the earth with a ground shaking boom.

Goku landed in front of Harry with barely a sound, the dark-eyed boy was barely out of breath as he looked at his downed unmoving opponent. "Aw, I didn't want to hurt him that bad." He scratched his at his cheek sheepishly before turning to Harry. "Are you okay?"

Harry stared up at him for a long time not trusting himself to speak, "I - I—," He stammered as he tried to find the words, He looked between Goku and the down lizard behind him. "I've been better," he said finally, trying to stand. "How did you…" he cut himself of as a sharp pain shot through his ankle sending him back to the ground with a grunt of pain.

"Harry?" Goku knelt down worry on his face, "what's wrong?"

"My ankle," Harry bit out. "I think I twisted it."

Goku nodded a serious look on his face, "Okay. I'll carry you then."

"You'll what?" Harry began, but Goku had already hooked his shoulders under Harry's arms and with a soft grunt pulled him up onto his back.

Before Harry could say another word, he was off running at a remarkable speed.

"How did you find me?" Harry asked eventually, feeling utterly exhausted after the day's events, questions about how Goku had managed to take down the giant lizard could wait.

"You were taking a long time to go pee, so I went looking for you." Goku said his regular cheerfulness returning. "I followed your scent up the mountain for a while and then that disappeared so I just followed all the screaming back down here."

Harry couldn't help but blush at the explanation, he hadn't thought he'd smelt that bad had he. Surreptitiously he sniffed at himself and winced. Maybe a bath was in order when they got back to Goku's house. "Thanks for the rescue," he murmured, "I thought I was that things dinner for sure."

"Aw, it's fine." Goku responded a bright excited grin on his face, "I mean you looked like you were doing great against that old lizard anyway. BAM POW straight in the schnozz!"

"Who me?" Harry said nervously, "I didn't do anything!" He felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead, had Goku seen that? Harry knew the rules to not reveal magic to normal people, but was Goku really a normal person? He had a freaking tail, whose fur Harry could feel tickling at his chest wedged as it was between him and Goku's back. Not to mention the obviously magical growing staff knocking up against his shoulder.

"Sure, you did," Goku said happily. "You must be stronger than you look, you nearly sent that big bully flying!"

"But that wasn't me Goku!" He didn't want his new friend and rescuer to get the wrong idea, he wasn't strong like the other boy was. He wasn't strong at all, if he were strong Harry wouldn't be here right now. If he were strong, he wouldn't have been so afraid of Voldemort. If he were strong, then maybe people would have liked him for him rather than for something he couldn't even remember… Maybe if he'd actually been strong his parents would still be alive. Maybe if he'd been strong instead of magical, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would have actually liked him.

"Then what was it then?" Goku asked confusion coloring his voice

"It was magic okay!" Harry ground out; there the cat was out of the bag. Or perhaps it hadn't been caught in the first place.

Goku skidded to a stop, "MAGIC!?" For the first time since they'd met, he actually sounded nervous. He didn't drop him, but Harry could feel the way his muscles had suddenly tensed up underneath him. He had an odd feeling that he should be very careful about what he said next. "What? Are you some kind of Witch?"

"No," Harry said slowly, "I'm pretty sure I'm a boy."

"Yeah so? You just said you can do magic?" Goku whined, sounding completely lost.

"Yeah, I can," Harry replied grinning. "But I'm a boy so that makes me a Wizard."

"A Wizard?" Goku whispered curiously, shifting Harry on his back a little he set off again slower this time. "So, if you're a Wizard, what are Witches then?"

"Goku," Harry said in bemused confusion, "Witches are girls."

"Girls?" Goku relaxed a little. "Oh, I've heard of those, Grampa always told me if I ever meet one, I should be as nice and polite as possible."

Harry raised an eyebrow at that, "you've never met a girl before?

Goku shook his head, "Nope, other than Grampa you're the only other human I've met."

That brought Harry up short, the only other person he'd ever met? It sounded unbelievable but considering the vast wildness that Harry had become rather intimate with that day he wasn't surprised. Still, Goku had mentioned his grandfather had died a long time ago. How long had he been living here on his own? Wasn't he lonely?

Suddenly Goku crouched down and jumped. Harry let out a small yelp as they soared up into the tops of the trees where Goku landed with a thud on a thick sturdy branch. "We're almost home." Goku said with a broad smile, "and man am I hungry." He didn't seem to be speaking to Harry now, "I could really go for some bear right now, what do you think tummy?" Goku's stomach gurgled in response. "Ha-ha great!" Goku laughed and started jumping from one branch to another showing off amazing balance as he did.

'Bear?' Harry gripped at the other boy tightly even as he felt his stomach turn at the idea, who ate bears of all things. Surely there were better things to eat out here? Things that were less likely to kill you. "Uh Goku? Is there anything other than bear to eat out here?"

"Huh," Goku turned his head a little in Harry's direction. His pace not slowing for even a moment as trees whizzed by them at high speeds. "What are you talking about? Bear's delicious!"

"I'm just saying, I've never had bear before. I—" suddenly sunlight hit Harry's face as with one final jump they burst out of the forests into a wide open plain at the foot of a familiar looking hill.

Goku landed lightly on his feet and looked back at Harry cheerfully, "We're home!"

Harry breathed a long hard sigh of relief a hint of a sob coming through as he felt the sun warm his skin, if he never went into another forest again it would be too soon. Goku slowly helped Harry down off his back, letting him lean on his shoulder as they hobbled up the small hill to Goku's single roomed house.

Harry took in the buildings slanted roof and solid walls, for a single roomed home in the middle of nowhere something just seemed welcoming about it. Not to mention the immediate lack of Sabretooth Tigers and other creatures that were supposed to be extinct! "You know, you've got a pretty nice place Goku."

The other boy chuckled scratching his neck, "Yeah, it is pretty great isn't it."

Leaning against the white walls Harry took what pressure he could off his ankle, if he was honest it didn't hurt too bad as long as he didn't stand on it. It would likely be healed in a day or two. "I'm sorry that I caused you so much trouble. You shouldn't have had to stop your training just to rescue me."

Goku just placed both his hand behind his head and beamed at him, "You kidding? That was the most fun I've had in ages! Too bad the fight ended so soon."

Harry felt his own lips twitch upwards into a small grin, nothing seemed to phase this boy. He almost felt a little jealous at his ability to keep smiling.

"Still, I was stupid, and I'm sorry that you needed to do that."

Goku just shrugged, before pulling his arms out through his sleeves, stripping his top off to hang around his waist. Walking over to a large pot near the door he proceeded to splash his face with water several time before cupping it in his hands taking a long sip. Harry watched as he did this, allowing himself to take the other boy in properly for the first time.

He had known that Goku was bigger than him, but only now did Harry realize by just how much. Goku wasn't muscular like the guys in those weird magazines Aunt Petunia like to read when Uncle Vernon wasn't around, but he was stocky and solidly built. While he and Harry were around the same height, Goku had definitely spent time building up his physical strength. It was honestly no wonder he could do the things he did, if Harry decided to punch him it was more likely that he would hurt his hand more than Goku. Hell, Goku probably wouldn't even feel it.

Harry looked down at himself, he himself wasn't unfit exactly but he was still rather skinny. A year of decent food and physical exercise with quidditch training had helped put a little weight on him compared to the scrawny thing he'd been before leaving for Hogwarts. But it was clear that what Harry had only a little of, Goku had in spades.

A small breeze blew past them, goosebumps broke out across his skin sending a shiver down his spine and a chill across his backside. Twisting Harry examined what was causing the cold, immediately his eyes bugged out of their sockets as he felt his cheeks heat up. He'd spent so much time running for his life he hadn't even noticed how close at least one of the creatures he come across today had come to grabbing him.

A giant hole in the back of his pants showed off his backside and underwear for the whole world to see. Harry blushed deeply at the sight; he'd even lost the shirt that he'd tied around his waist to cool off earlier. 'I'm almost completely naked'; Harry thought as his face burned red hot. He'd started off his time here with only the clothes on his back, and now he didn't even have that. Bright red lines swept along his arms and chest from where tree branches and rocks had scraped against his bare skin as he'd ran from the Sabretooth earlier.

"Goku?" Harry rubbed at the back of his head embarrassed as the other boy looked up from where he'd been drinking. "I know you've done a lot for me already, and I'm grateful for that, really I am. But…" he trailed off as he gestured to himself. Goku just looked at him blankly, Harry sighed, "do you have any clothes I could borrow?"

Goku looked at Harry placing a few fingers over his mouth, thinking. "I've got a spare. Dunno if it'll fit ya."

--

Harry pulled the knot of his new belt tight around his waist pulling the soft blue vest closed as he did so. Goku's single spare set of clothes actually fit fairly well, a little loose around the shoulders and chest but on the whole they were actually rather comfy, and he didn't feel like he was sweating himself to death in these. The lack of sleeves was going to take some getting used to though.

The pants were a little baggy compared to what Harry was used to, but they allowed for a lot more movement than his old uniforms trousers had. Unfortunately, his shoes had been just a wrecked as his pants had been, and Goku hadn't any spares, so it looked like he was going barefoot for now. Harry bounced up and down a couple of times, trying to feel how it was to move around in, it was loose but not in a way that felt like it would slip off of him. 'Huh, this actually feels rather nice.' Harry thought himself with a grin.

Goku was laying on the floor watching him while munching on an apple he'd pulled from somewhere when Harry hadn't been looking, "Heh, didn't think it'd fit."

"Better than running around naked, though." Harry responded with a smirk; he found he was really beginning to like the other boy. He just had a weird presence about him that made it easy to relax around him. Or maybe it was the fact that Goku had saved his life twice now, that might have been it.

"What's wrong with that?" Goku asked sitting up with an innocent look, tossing the now thin apple core over his shoulder and into a basket in the corner without a second glance.

Harry returned the other boys smile and proceeded to throw a mock punch in his direction.

Goku casually swayed to the side, dodging the attack with ease before leaping to his feet in one of the stances he used that morning "Nuh uh. You're doing all wrong. Here. This is how you do it."

Harry yelped and ducked away as Goku's fist seemed to flash into existence next to his ear. Only a sudden breeze of displaced air giving any indication that the other boy had moved at all. "Don't do that!"

The other looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, "Do what? You wanted to fight right?"

"I was just playing around," Harry laughed nervously holding up his hands in surrender.

Goku nodded rapidly, clenching his fists in front of him excitedly. "Yeah!? It's fun isn't it!"

Harry dropped his hands as a genuinely bubble of laughter burst out of him at the other boy's excited puppy like expression. "I can't fight you Goku, I'm not strong like you are. I'd probably break my hand if I actually hit you."

Goku shook his head, "What do you mean? You're plenty strong, I saw what you did with that old lizard remember!"

"And I told you that was Magic! Not me!" Harry retorted a little irritated, the other boy just didn't seem to get it.

"Not that!" Goku exclaimed inching forwards, "you were outrunning it."

"And you knocked it out in one go!" Harry almost snapped, "and I would gotten eaten if you hadn't rescued me." He looked down gripping at his upper arm with a sigh, "thanks again by the way."

Goku sat back down, tilting his head to the side in askance, "What were you doing out there anyway."

Following suit Harry felt his cheeks redden once again, "I- I was trying to climb a tree to try and see if I could find way home."

"Home? ...Oh yeah, the cities." Goku frowned slightly. "Where exactly are you from?"

Harry sighed again, "It's… a long story."

The other boy shrugged, "I got time."

Harry closed his eyes and taking a deep breath started from the beginning.

Harry told Goku about how he'd first learned he was a Wizard though mentioned as little about his life before hand as possible. He talked about Hagrid, Hogwarts and how it was a school for Magic. He mentioned the Great Hall and the Welcoming feast, much to the other boy's delight.

He told him about Ron and Hermione, and how they'd become friends. Goku took special interest in getting Harry to describe the fight with the Mountain Troll in as much detail as possible. He spoke about the teachers and the incredible things they taught; he even told Goku about quidditch, something that left them both with a headache when he tried to explain the rules.

Eventually he mentioned the mystery he and his friends had uncovered, of the Philosophers Stone and the initial suspicion of Snape being the thief. Of the challenges they'd faced in their attempt to protect the Stone, and the ultimate reveal of who the real thief actually was.

Finally, Harry swallowed hard and told Goku about the confrontation between himself and Voldemort deep beneath the castle. And what happened next. Harry pulled the bright red stone from his old clothes and placed it on the floor between them. The stone glowed softly with its own inner light, almost pulsing in time with Harry's own heartbeat.

They both stared at it for a long time saying nothing.

"So that's why I have to get home," Harry said finally. "My friends probably think I'm dead or worse, and I have to get the Stone back to Professor Dumbledore, if any one evil gets it, who knows what'll happen!" Harry paused and added slightly bitterly "and if today's told me anything I'm not strong enough to even leave the valley, let alone get home."

"So?"

Harry blinked in surprise and looked up at the other boy, he was wearing an oddly determined expression, "huh?"

"So, you're not strong enough to get out of here. Just train 'till you are?"

Harry crossed his arms skeptically, "And how would I do that?"

Goku placed his hands behind his head grinning widely, "Heh, just do what I do."

Harry smiled softly but shook his head, "Goku, you're strong and all but I can't throw a punch to save my life."

Goku just continued grinning, not saying word.

Harry opened his mouth, then closed it. He clenched his fists on his legs and bowed his head, a burst of laughter forced its way out his mouth. 'Was it really that simple?' He snapped his head up looking Goku in straight in the eye, his own eyes gleaming brightly, "Can you teach me!?"

Goku laughed brightly, "Just do what I do and you'll get strong in no time." A loud rumbling noise suddenly filled the house. Goku clutched at his stomach and groaned, "Oh, so hungry!" He licked his lips and eyed Harry, "You want some bear?"

Harry stared at him blankly, before a smirk slowly spread across his face. "Actually. If it's okay with you… I'm in the mood for Tiger today."

------------------------
A/N: Well here's where the story really begins. I was a bit nervous about this chapter as I wasn't sure if I was getting Early Dragon Ball Goku's voice right, but this is the best I got. If anyone has any advice I'll happily listen to it. The next chapter should be up in two to three weeks at the earliest, that'll give me time to finish it up and give it a first edit, as well as let me start working on the first draft of chapter three.