Disclaimer for entire fic: I do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling and I am merely playing with her world.

This fic is dedicated to all the people that read and/or reviewed my previous two fics in this series.

The first half of the summer holidays passed rather pleasantly. Since James really didn't want to keep his disguise on the entire summer, he decided to let Dobby in on the secret. The house-elf was very awed to discover that James Lydell-Black was really Harry Potter, and after his initial shock, promised to keep it a secret. He then settled comfortably to his duties in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and kept Kreacher in line.

Mr. Weasley won the Daily Prophet Galleon Draw, amounting to seven hundred Galleons, and used most of it on a trip to Egypt to visit Bill for his family (though some was saved to pay for school supplies for his children). Hermione and Kyle went on a holiday to France with their parents, and Mari went with her relatives on a trip to Japan. Su and Wen-Jing went to visit relatives in China, Luna and her father on a trip to Sweden to search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, and several other members of Unity left Britain for their holidays as well.

Since James wanted to see Japan with Mari, Sirius and Remus took him, Stuart, and Stella there for their holiday. James stayed in his natural self, except for his scar, which remained on his back, since it was very unlikely that anybody would recognize him as Harry Potter without it on his forehead. They first went to Tokyo, where they were given a tour of the Japanese Ministry of Magic and introduced to Reiko Kishi, Minister for Magic. She was thirty-years old, but looked five years younger, despite a few lines around her eyes, and was nice. She spoke English with very little trace of an accent and actually conducted part of the tour herself.

One of her personal staff was introduced as a werewolf, to Remus's delight, and Minister Kishi said, "Unlike Britain, the wizarding community of Japan does not have any prejudices against werewolves. Though we don't have very many here. We have far more kitsunes and a version of vampires in Japan." Seeing James's puzzled look, she added, "Kitsunes are a magical being that can take human form or fox form. Like a werewolf, except that they can change at will and aren't dangerous, though they can be rather tricky."

Remus then revealed that he was a werewolf. Minister Kishi raised a brow. "And I suppose the British Ministry makes things rather difficult for you to find employment, Mr. Lupin. Well, if should ever need a job and don't mind moving to Japan, I'm sure a position can be found for you here. In the meantime, some pressure can be put on the British Ministry to pass laws making things easier for werewolves if they wish to have good relations with Japan."

James, who found the prejudice against werewolves in Britain quite unfair, was happy to hear that things were different in Japan. Spotting his happy expression, Minister Kishi continued, "That's not to say that everyone in Japan likes werewolves. As a whole, the wizarding community isn't prejudiced, but there are a few individual witches and wizards who merely tolerate their existence or don't care for them at all."

In the evening, the group had a private dinner with the Minister. The Hirashis and Mari wore traditional Japanese dress, and James was quite surprised to see that Stella wore a kimono as well, a gift from Mrs. Hirashi. She looked quite pretty in the beautiful pale green silk kimono with a pattern of cherry blossoms and cream-colored underrobe and her strawberry blonde hair was done up in a Japanese style. Her face wasn't made up in the style of geishas that James had once seen a picture of in a book, but she did have on some powder which made it pale and red lipstick. If it weren't for her hair color and eyes, she could have passed as Japanese, though she could have passed as a kitsune, since they often had red hair.

Mari wore a blue silk kimono, had a similar hairstyle to Stella's, and didn't wear any make-up. James was struck by how lovely she was. He knew vaguely that his friend wasn't plain, and was in fact rather pretty, but he had never thought much about it. Seeing her in traditional Japanese garb, plus the fact that he was now noticing girls in a new light, made him see her differently. He quickly banished such thoughts from his head, for Mari was his best friend and like a sister and not someone he should consider dating. However, that didn't stop him from thinking of the five other Asian girls he knew (Su Li, Cho Chang, Parvati and Padma Patil, and Mari's cousin Sakura), and realizing that they were all very pretty as well. All right, Parvati and Padma weren't exactly like Su, Cho, and Sakura, but they were of Indian descent, and India was a part of Asia.

The dinner was all Japanese food, and delicious. James was a bit hesitant about eating raw fish, but after his first taste of sushi, discovered that it was actually quite good, and ate more of it, enjoying it immensely. Sirius was also hesitant, but after seeing how much James enjoyed it, had some sushi and ended up liking it too. He also appeared to show some attraction to the Minister, who was smart, rather pretty, and only three years younger than him, but was very careful not to do or say anything that would offend her.

After dinner, Minister Kishi took James aside privately. "You are a very special young man, aren't you?" Seeing his startled look, she explained, "I have some kitsune blood."

"What do you mean by 'special', Minister Kishi?" he asked cautiously.

"Even without your scar, which I suspect that you have covered up in some way, I can guess who you really are, James-san," she said with a wry smile. "Since kitsunes can detect magic somewhat, and I sense no Glamour Charms or any other spells on you, and you aren't taking potions, I surmise that you are a, what's the term, yes, a Metamorphmagus."

"What are you going to do with that information?" he asked nervously. "And who else has figured it out?"

"Nobody other than my very trusted and most important advisor, who is of mixed kitsune, wizard, and vampire blood and knows when to keep a secret. She will not betray you, and I will certainly not broadcast where Harry Potter is or whom he is masquerading as. I don't think you want people fussing over you because of your fame, since you are disguised. Since you are one of Mari-chan's two best friends, and I like you for you and not as the famous Harry Potter, I would like to offer my support. Not everyone in Britain's magical community is to my liking. Other than most of the teachers at Hogwarts, some people in your Ministry like Madam Bones and Mr. Weasley, the members of Unity, your adopted siblings, and your guardians, I don't particularly care for the witches and wizards in Britain that I know or am aware of. Others too easily sway your current Minister. While I do not object to Albus Dumbledore taking a hand in things, as he is very capable and does things for good, people like Lucius Malfoy worry me. From what Tomi and Yuki told me, he is one of those purebloods that look down on Muggleborns and halfbloods, and uses his money to influence the British Minister into doing things his way. Guidance and advice is perfectly fine, since I had some when I first became Minister, but I never let myself become anyone's puppet or be used by anyone, despite my young age."

"Thank you, Minister Kishi, and I accept your support, though I don't know if I will ever need to use it."

Minister Kishi simply raised a brow. "Ever since Japan decided to open up to the West and allow modernization, we have paid attention to world events. We might not have had any Dark Lords, unless you count the wizard and some of his followers who supported the actions of some of the Muggle leaders of Japan during the Second World War, but we have noticed when other countries have them and study them. That way we can prevent one from appearing in our country. This Voldemort came to our attention twenty-some years ago and our Ministry did some discreet research into him. While I cannot tell you of his methods, I can tell you that we have found out that he carried out a plan to prevent him from dying and succeeded."

"So that's why he didn't die when I defeated him as a baby," muttered James. "He just lost his proper body and much of his powers and is looking for a way to return to power."

"If he should ever return, I promise to offer what aid I can, James," said Minister Kishi firmly. "I don't have anything more to discuss with you right now, so you can go. You may inform your guardians, siblings, and friends that I am aware of whom you really are and that I have offered my help, but please don't say anything else."

"Thank you, Minister Kishi, and I will," said James with a smile. He definitely liked her better than Minister Fudge. She was a strong and very intelligent woman, did not let herself be controlled or pushed around by anyone, was open-minded, and didn't seem to care about appearances or making sure that she remained in office.

After three days in Tokyo, there was a trip to Mount Fuji, followed by three weeks in the countryside and a couple of other cities. James found out that there were exactly one hundred twenty wizarding families that were originally pureblood, but now each family only had one branch that could be considered 'pure.' He was puzzled as to how that could be until Mari explained, "Look, Aunt Yuki and Uncle Tomi are the branch of the Hirashi family that's pure. Ichirou has decided that he wants to be the one to keep the branch pure, so when he's older, he will court the girls his age or a couple years younger of other pureblood branches that aren't closely related to us. The one he falls in love with and vice versa he will marry, and the pureblood branch will continue. Ry can go off and marry a Muggleborn or halfblood witch, and so that branch of the Hirashi family will stop being pureblood. Well, unless he falls in love with a pureblood witch and marries her. If that happens, then he can carry on the branch of the family that's pureblood, and Ichirou won't have to limit himself to purebloods."

Well, it was better than Britain, where certain families like the Malfoys and Blacks insisted on having all members marry other purebloods, or be disowned, and not just any pureblood either. They had to come from respectable families, and not be considered blood traitors, as in the case of Cedrella Black, one of Sirius's relatives. She had been disowned for marrying a Weasley, who while came from a pureblood family, was one that was considered a blood traitor, and rather poor monetarily.

When July came to a close, Mari stayed with her relatives while the others went on to China. They figured that while they were in Asia, they might as well also visit China, and James did want to see Su and Wen-Jing and meet their family. The only bad part was that it got very hot during the summer, especially in the southern part.

The first week they toured the capital city of Beijing, visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City where the Imperial families used the live, and part of Chinese Ministry if Magic, as Su had an uncle who worked there, though he wasn't very high up. During that week they also went to the Great Wall. James didn't enjoy it as much as he thought he would because of the heat. Still, it was very impressive.

James enjoyed the play he saw, though, which was based on the Chinese legend of Sun Wu Kong, or the Monkey King. Apparently the Monkey King had burst out of a stone one day and became the king of the monkeys when he braved and survived a dangerous waterfall. He then left to study under a teacher who taught him the seventy-two earthly transformations. After some adventures, he ended up in the Chinese version of Heaven, where he stole the peaches of long life, which made him immortal. Finally his antics got to be too much for the 'gods' and 'goddesses' up in Heaven and Buddha was asked to trap him, which He succeeded. After numerous years, Sun Wu Kong was set free and allowed to redeem himself by escorting a Buddhist monk (though he really was more than just an ordinary monk) on his trip to the West with two other companions. (Names translated to Pigsy and Sandy in English.)

After seeing the play, Su bought a English Translation of the book Journey to the West, which contained the entire story of Sun Wu Kong, and gave it to James. He started reading the second he found some free time and had to stifle laughter at something Su's five-year old cousin asked while he was reading. He couldn't understand Chinese, of course, but Su translated, and what her cousin asked was where babies came from. The traditional reply in English-speaking countries was 'the stork brought you', though James had also heard of the 'being found in a cabbage or parsley patch' excuse, 'the doctor brought you in his or her black bag', or 'going to the hospital to get you'. However, Su's cousin was told 'you burst out of a stone like Sun Wu Kong'" which seemed to be the common Chinese answer to the 'where babies come from' question asked by young kids.

After the week in Beijing, they went to a dragon preserve, where a cousin of Su's father worked. James saw some Chinese Fireballs at a safe distance, plus a few other varieties, though no Norwegian Ridgebacks. Not that he minded, since he'd had his fill of them when Hagrid had hatched Norbert.

After the day there, the group headed for Shanghai, with some stops along the way in the countryside to visit tourist spots like pagodas and temples. It was during this journey that bad news reached them. A letter from Neville finally arrived, thanking James, Su, and Wen-Jing for their birthday gifts to him, and added an article from the Daily Prophet. The article was about the escape of Peter Pettigrew from Azkaban, presumably in his Animagus from. There was a spell on his cell to keep him from escaping, but it had to be renewed every year. Apparently the two Aurors assigned to do it this year had thought the other had done it and so the spell wasn't renewed. While Dawlish and Sanders weren't fired, they had been suspended with no pay for two months, and had to each pay a one thousand Galleon fine for their negligence.

Sirius and Remus cursed when they read the article, and would have refused to sign the permission form for James to visit Hogsmeade until Stuart pointed out that Wormtail had no idea who Harry Potter was masquerading as and James said he would be with his friends and would never walk around alone. Sirius gave in, but Remus said he would take the Defense post that Dumbledore had offered him just to keep an eye on things. Snape would brew the Wolfsbane Potion and Sirius would take over as substitute teacher during the full moons.

After the three weeks in China, they returned to Britain. Stuart had been named Quidditch captain for Ravenclaw, which he liked better than being made prefect. The ones in Unity that had been away on holiday returned around the same time as well. Ron was incredibly freckled and Kyle and Hermione were very brown. Luna hadn't been affected by her trip to Sweden, other than being disappointed at not finding any Crumple-Horned Snorkacks.

All of Unity showed varying degrees of consternation at Wormtail's escape and weren't happy to hear that Dementors were being stationed at Hogwarts. They all resolved to learn the Patronus Charm so they could defend themselves against a Dementor if need be, and James promised that he would ask Remus for guidance with it.

After that, the group got ready for their return to Hogwarts, wondering what their year would be like and the new third-year members eager to start the new classes they had signed up for. James had signed up for Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Arithmancy, and hoped that they would be as interesting as they sounded.