I do not in any way own Harry Potter or High School DxD

Chapter 1

If someone had been watching the final battle between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter they would be hard pressed not to feel awe at the power the two were throwing around. One was throwing around spells meant to break bones and cut flesh with enough power to cause craters and gorges in millennium old magic resistance stone. The other was tossing around some of the darkest magic known to wizarding kind. Spells that would literally boil the blood of the target as well as melt the area of impact like a corrosive acid were being blocked be shields so thick one might think them more solid then energy.

An observer would have had to fight just to stand when these two connected spells since the impact alone cause cracks in the stone floor. They might have felt fear as cords of energy as thick as a grown man's arm met in the middle of the two. They might have also felt anger as the one they supported seemed to be loosening ground against the younger of the two.

Unfortunately for one of the two battlers there just happen to be such an observer hidden among the ruins of the once proud school of witchcraft and wizardy. Said observer choose to act right when the younger wizard had victory in his hands.

Harry Potter could almost feel victory within his grasp. His opponent, one of the most feared dark lords of all time, was slowly losing ground. It was small at first. A spell that would normally be blocked with little effort was straining the older wizard and shields that once looked like they could stop a dragon cold were looking much less solid than normal.

Then finally, just like in the graveyard, Voldemort's killing curse and Harry's disarming curse connected. Unlike last time though, Harry could tell he was just a little strong then Voldemort. The Dark lord fought to push the warring curses from getting closer but no matter what he did there seemed to be no stopping the young wizards spell.

Then it happened. Some may call it instinct or some form of gut feeling, whatever it was, Harry knew he had to cut off his spell mere feet from victory and move. Even then Harry ended up taking a piecing curse in the shoulder. It was much better than taking it in the heart like the observer wanted but still costly in the overall skim of things.

Lord Voldemort seeing a change to steal victory from the jaws of defeat sent a bludgeoning curse at the distracted wizard. Said wizard ended up taking the curse to the stomach and was flung back into a pile of rubble. This unintended detour had the unfortunate side effect of relieving Harry of his wand. The wand was then summoned by the older wizard before it could hit the ground.

Seeing the young hero beaten and windless gave the observer the needed confidence to leave his hiding spot and approach his master. Reaching the Dark Lord, said servant knelt to the ground and began to praise him, like any good servant would. "My Lord, you have won. I knew you could defeat him. There was never any doubt."

Lord Voldemort did not react outwardly to the praise, he never really did, but inwardly he was quite pleased with the events that had occurred. It seemed like the goal he had been working for the last decades and a half would finally come to completion. He could finally kill the boy that had been a thorn in his side for more than a decade. Still, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, the Dark Lord decided to indulge in one of the few pleasures he had. Taunting a enemy right before he killed them.

"So Harry Potter. This is how it finally ends. Everyone knew this would eventually be the outcome. All anyone could ever do was delay the inevitable. Your mother and father, your godfather Siruse, even poor old Albus were only hurdles to crosssssss." Voldemort hissed with glee. "Any last words before I send you to your family."

Still somewhat dizzy from the bludgeoning curse to the stomach. Harry tried not to slur his words as spoke to the one person he hated more than anyone else. "Your finished Voldemort. It might not be right now but it will come. All the horcruxs you made have been destroyed. You're the final piece left and it is only a matter of time before your gone too." Harry smiled viciously as he spit in the Dark Lords direction. Even as he said this, Harry was trying to think of some way he could beat the Dark Lord. So far his options seemed pretty bleak.

The smile that had been on Voldemort face vanished once he heard the news about his horcruxs. What replaced it was an rage so hot it seemed to burn his very soul. Not even caring to taunt his opponent any longer the Dark Lord raised his wand and shouted, "Aveda Kadava."

The moment carry saw Voldemort raise his wand Harry knew this was it. He ether had to think of a way to stop Voldemort or die. It was fortunate for Harry that while his conscious mind could not think of an answer his subconscious mind knew the danger he was in and worked to fix it. To do this it activated a device that laid deep in his soul. A device that had only been activated one time before and had then be suppressed by a fragment of another soul.

If someone would have been paying attention then said person would see an amethyst gem suddenly appear directly on Harry's forehead. They would then see what appeared to be black liquid ooze from either side of the gem and snake their way around his head forming a band. It so happened that no one saw this strange phenomena due to the fact that everyone present was focused on the Dark Lord.

So it came as quite a surprise that Voldemort's curse after launched itself from his wand was not absorbed into its intended victim thus ending his life, but instead bounced off said victims chest and was returned with the same force back at the caster. The look of surprise on Voldemort's face never left even as his body seemed to evaporate into the air.

Both Harry and the unnamed Death Eater stared at the place the Dark Lord stood only moments ago with equal levels of shock. In fact, it took more than five minutes before ether of them had the forethought to do something other than stare. Surprisingly it was not Harry who moved first but the unnamed Death Eater. Said Death Eater turned to look at Harry who in turn realized that he was not out of danger yet and prepared for confrontation. This was unneeded however since the moment Harry focused on the Death Eater he decided to high tail it out of there.

Watching as the Death Eater run as fast as his robes would allow, Harry began to think on the strange event that had just happened. 'What just happened. I know the Killing curse could be blocked by solid objects but there has never been a shield that could reflect it. How did it happen anyway. It never ran into anything to stop it. It just seemed to be going one way one second and then the next it was going in the exact opposite direction. I need to talk to Hermione about this. She will know what happened.'

With a goal in mind Harry climbed down from the rubble he was thrown on and onto the level floor of Hogwarts. It was a task much easier said than done given the fact Harry still had a hole going all the way through his left shoulder. Once standing Harry moved over to where Voldemort had disintegrated and picked up his holly wand. Casting the few healing charms he knew, Harry fixed his should as best he could. Once satisfied Harry looked down to spot the elder wand not even a foot away from him. Not wanting one of the Death Eaters to find it, Harry reached down and grabbed it before placing it in the wand holster he normally left his holly wand in.

Harry made his way back to the main part of Hogwarts. As he progressed through the outer edge of Hogwarts the full weight of what he had just done hit him. 'It's over. It's really over. That maniac is finally dead. All we have to do now is clean up the last of the Death Eaters and we can finally live in peace.'

It was a strange concept for Harry. It felt like such a long time since the last time he could relax and let his guard down. The last time he remembered being truly relaxed was during his third year at Hogwarts right after they had caught Wormtail and began discussing the possibility of Harry living with Sirius. Ever since being entered into the Triwizard Tournament and the subsequence resurrection of Voldemort there had been what feeling of impending doom that just would not go away.

During his internal monologue Harry finally reached the entrance hall of Hogwarts. Seeing the large doors still standing even after most of the castle was in ruins gave Harry a sense of relief. To him it showed that while the castle may have been damaged it was still far from being destroyed. Pushing one of the large double doors open, Harry was greeted with a scene that filled him with dread. It seemed that the Death Eater that was present at their Lords death had not fled to part unknown but instead seemed to have rounded up the rest of the Death Eaters that were still alive. More than twenty Death Eaters greeted Harry at the entrance of Hogwarts and most of them had already started casting spells the moment they saw him.

The moment Harry had opened the door to Hogwarts and identified the Death Eaters Harry was moving to find cover. Luckily for Harry, he had only opened half of the double doors so the other half was only a few feet away. By the time Harry had jumped behind the large wooden door a dozen different curses hard already passed through where he once stood. Once Harry had hit the ground another dozen fells had already started blasting the thick wooden door. The door may have been thick but the combined might of over two dozen wizards was able to blast through it in a matter of seconds.

Large sections of the door started breaking off and before Harry could so much as crawl away he was pelted with chunks and bits of a millennium old oak door. Even as he was pelted Harry wondered why he was not hurting more then he already was. Some of those chunks had been as big as his head and had been blasted at some considerable speeds. At the very least he should have had a cut or two from the shrapnel those blasting curses had caused. Unknown to Harry the amethyst gem that had been the center piece of the metal head band he had been wearing had changed into a diamond.

One of the smarter Death Eaters, realizing that the dust that had been kicked up by their curses was blocking their target from view, decided to bring their target out. Using a move he had seen an auror do back in the first war, said Death Eater summoned the robes Harry had on. Having no way to resist the pull of the spell Harry ended up sliding all the way to the foot of the Death Eater that had summoned his robes.

Harry didn't think he could think of a worse situation then he was in now. Lying on the ground with over two dozen Death Eaters surrounding him and Harry no longer having the protection of Lord Voldemort wanting him to be taken alive. Yes indeed, Harry found himself in another impossible to escape situation that would normally meant certain. In the back of his mind Harry realized that he found himself in this sort of position a lot. Still, not one to go down peacefully the moment Harry stopped sliding he raised his wand and started casting spells as fast as he could.

His first spell, a reducto, found the face of the Death Eater that had summoned him. His second spell, a cutting curse, found the torso of one Death Eater and the chest of another who happened to be standing behind the first. Harry was only able to get off one more spell before the other Death Eaters realized that the one they had been trying to was no longer behind the dust cloud they had created but right smack dab in the middle of them. By Harry's fourth spell the Death Eaters had changed targets and began casting again.

It was right after Harry had cast his fifth spell that the first that the first curse of the Death Eaters reached him and pandemonium ensued. Right before the Death Eater's curse made contact with his body the diamond on his head band changed back to amethyst. Once the gem changed the curse that had been less than an inch away from him changed direction and went right back to the sender. Not even a second after the spell changed direction another curse reached Harry and did the same thing. Most of the Death Eaters never realized that they had been killed by their own curses. It took 7 seconds after Harry had casted his first curse to when the third to last Death Eater had be slain.

The final two Death Eaters had been on the very edge of the group so did not have a line of fire and therefore did not use a spell. They could have had a change afterwards but seeing twenty-five Death Eaters mowed down by what appeared to be one wizard scared the right out of the revenge craved mindset and into an "Oh Merlin, he's a monster run!" type mindset.

Once again Harry was so stunned by the turn of events that he paid little attention to the two fleeing Death Eaters. 'What the bloody hell is going on. That's the second time this has happened. The spells just seem to change direction the second they hit my body.1 I have got to talk to Hermione about this. There is no way this is normal.'

While Harry meant to ask Hermione about the strange events that had occurred during the two battles he did not get a change to until later the next day. The strange phenomena was pushed to the back of his mind as he helped with clean up that was left over from the battle and the going on of the next day. It seemed that many of the survivor wished to celebrate the end of the war and the death of Voldemort. Others were morning those that had perished in the final battle so were separating themselves of the celebration.

Harry really didn't know how he should be feeling. On one hand, the war was finally over and they could now go on with their lives without the constant threat of death every day. On the other, so many people had died to make this possible that it seemed wrong to cheer and be happy when so many where not here to take part. Overall Harry just felt numb.

This feeling of numbness was the main reason Harry had secluded himself away from the rest of the survivors. He didn't want to join the celebration due to the fact he could hardly bring himself to smile and he didn't want to join the mourners because Harry couldn't bring himself to cry. So here he sat in the empty Gryffindor common room just wishing he could feel something.

Hearing the portrait door open, Harry turned in his chair to see Hermione stepping through. Giving her a once over, Harry realized that she had recently been crying. Harry glanced at his best female friend with envoy. Wishing that he too could feel something other than this detached state.

"Ron, still with his family." Harry asked already knowing the answer.

"Their your family too." For someone who had just been crying probably not even ten minutes ago her voice was surprising even.

All Harry did was turn back in his chair and watch the fire that was a permanent fixture in the Gryffindor common room. He knew Hermione was speaking the truth but there were times when Harry felt he was looking in on a loving family and not actually part of it. It was nothing they did to cause this feeling and it after made Harry angry with himself for feeling so.

Taking his silence in stride Hermione asked, "So you said you wanted to speak with me."

"Yes, something happened today during my battle with Voldemort and later when some Death Eaters ambushed me." Harry then began to explain just what had happened earlier that day. As he talked Hermione sat down in one of the adjacent chairs in front of the fire.

Once Harry was finished with the retelling of the day's events Hermione leaned back in her seat. "So the moment any spell came in contact with you they bounced right back at the caster. Even the killing curse?"

Harry only nodded in response. Such an event was practically unheard of. There was only one other time that said curse ever did something other than kill the person it came in contact with. Ironically the exact same people were involved in both cases.

Hermione pondered what she had just been told before speaking, "Did you feel anything before the curse hit you? Anything at all."

Did he feel anything? Well of course he felt something. He felt panic at having a killing curse heading straight for him, he felt desperation for a way to get out of the way, and he felt anger at himself for not being able to kill Voldemort before he killed anyone else. Unknown to Harry, as he was trying to remember all the things he had been feeling right before the killing curse hit him, black liquid seemed to erupt from his forehead and circle around his head. It was only Hermione's sharp intake of breath that let him know something was up.

Raising an eye brow at the shocked look she was giving him, Harry took out his wand and conjured a mirror. Said mirror almost slipped from his fingers when he noticed the black metal circlet sitting on his head. Raising his hand Harry touched the circlet to see if it was really there. To his surprise his hand came in contact with cool metal once it reached his forehead. "What is this thing? Where did it come from?"

"Well whatever that thing is, it is probably what caused all the magic to bounce back at the caster." Hermione gave the new accessory a curious look. Nothing she had read ever mentioned magical artifacts that appeared from thin air. "Do you mind if I test it?"

Absently nodding at Hermione's request Harry still had most of his attention focused on the item on his head. His attention was diverted by the sharp glow of the curse Hermione had sent at him. Out of habit Harry tried to dodge but since he was sitting down and only a few feet away from the caster he did not make it far. Right before the curse, a stinging charm by the looks of it, reached him it suddenly reversed course and headed right back at Hermione. Again unknown to Harry a amethyst gem appeared at the center of the circlet.

The yelp that Hermione let out when she was struck by her own charm brought the first smile Harry had worn all night. Trying to hide her embarrassment, Hermione once again studied the strange object that seemed to have appeared on Harry's head. "That's interesting. I wonder what the significant of the jewel represents."

"Jewel?" Harry asked curiously. Not getting a response Harry raised the mirror he still held to look at himself. Noticing the jewel, Harry asked, "When did that get there?"

"It appeared right before my curse hit you." Standing up and moving a few more feet away from him, Hermione asked, "Can I try a few more curses, just to get an idea of what all it could do."

"Knock yourself out." Harry hoped she did not take that literally.

Hermione then proceeded to cast most of the minor jinxes and curses she knew. No matter what spell was used nothing seemed to get past whatever barrier the circlet on his head had produced. Hermione ended up spending as much time dodging her own spells as she was casting them.

"Well it does not seem like any spell that leave a visible trace will get through so let's try something that is not visible." Not giving Harry a chance to reply, Hermione cast a simple switching spell at Harry. Checking himself over Harry found all his bits and pieces in their correct spots. Shooting Hermione an inquisitive look, the girl replied by raising her left hand. When she did Harry noticed that her thumb and index finger had been switched.

Quickly undoing the spell Hermione commented, "Well it does not seem to matter what type of spell is used." Hermione's excretion then took on a more exited look. "This is big Harry. There has never been an object in the magical world that could repel magic on this level. The closes thing that has been invited is magic resist clothing created with the hide from magical beasts. Even then it only stops a few mid-level curses before being damaged. If we could study it then we may be able to duplicate what is happening."

"Well whatever we do it can wait until tomorrow. It's almost twelve and it has been a long day. I'm pretty sure it's not going anywhere for the time being." As if to mock him the black metal seemed to recede behind the amethyst be for the gem to disappeared. Noticing this Harry concentrated on an image of the circlet which seemed to call in back onto his forehead. Giving Hermione a sheepish look he added. "Well it won't go anywhere we can't call it back from."

Hermione looked like she wished to argue but eventually resigned to waiting.

It was lunch time in the great hall of Hogwarts. Many of the survivors were still staying at the castle even though it was now safe to go back home. Almost all the dead had already been buried and those few that had not were being preserved for burial at family grave yards. Many of the injured had already been healed thanks to the amazing knowledge of Hogwarts residential nurse. Those few that needed more care had been sent off to Saint Mungos.

Harry was currently sitting with Hermione discussing what experiments they might try to learn more about the magical circlet that appeared on his head. Well it was mainly Hermione discussing what they would do and Harry nodding whenever it seemed appropriate. He always found it funny how Hermione got so excited when something new and unexplained would pop up. Not to say Harry didn't want to learn more about it but Hermione took wanting to learn to new heights.

Just about the time they had finished their meal the doors to the dining hall swung open. What walked through was someone Harry had hoped to never see again for the rest of his life. Dolores Umbridge strolled through the door accompanied by two aurors. Getting a bad feeling Harry discreetly withdrew his wand.

Dolores and the two aurors stopped in front of four great tables present in the dining hall and pulled out a scroll of parchment. "Hem-Hem," all the people who had been present during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts cringed at the well-known fake cough. "By decree of the Wizengamot, Harry Potter is to be placed under arrest for the murder of 26 upstanding British citizens."

You could hear a pin drop just after the declaration before the great hall exploded in noise. It seemed that every one was trying to get their opinion in but in the process no one could be heard.

Not having any way to hear more, Harry used a cannon ball charm to get people to quite down. Once the noise had dropped to a reasonable level Harry turned to Umbridge. "On what grounds where this charges brought up?"

Umbridges smile was just as Harry remembered back in fifth year, sickly sweet. "Two members of the Wizengamot personally saw you slaughter the group of wizard that had come to Hogwarts to help fight off you-who-must-not-be-named. It is sad how far the young are willing to go to keep all the glory for themselves."

Again the hall exploded in noise and again they were interrupted by a cannon ball charm. This time however it was not Harry who had cast the charm but Hermione. "Those "upstanding British citizen" were Death Eater who had come here to kill children!"

Dolores lost her smile at that accusation. "One with your statutes should not make accusations about your betters little girl. Also it was confirmed that nether the witnesses or the bodies of the slain bore the Dark Mark.2 They were all honest men wanting to fight the terrorist that wished to suppress the wizarding world."

And yet again the dining room erupted in noise. This was really starting to annoy Harry. Didn't they realize that no one was going to be able to hear them if they all started to talk at once. The interruption did have one positive effect though, it gave him time to think about what he should do next.

One think he knew was that there was no chance he would actually let them arrest him. The Ministry of Magic was still terming with corruption even with a large amount of Death Eaters. Harry wasn't so naive as to think that all the negative elements of the wizarding world were here at the Battle of Hogwarts or even on Voldemorts side. One thing you can count on with evil is that it never trusts anyone else, even those that are evil themselves.

So that left cooperating out of the picture, so what other options did he have. Harry threw out staying here and trying to fight the corruption of the Ministry. The magical world had just finished fighting one war and there was no way he would put it through another. Plus now with the amount of fame the survivors had for winning the war there was a very big chance they could stop the corruption from the inside. That was a much better solution then fighting another war.

So the last two option were either hiding or running. Given the fact that he had been hiding for the last year that option did not sit well with him. Harry let out a metal groan, why was it that every time something good happened something bad happened right afterwards. Still it might be nice to see someplace other the England. Still he should probably talk to his friends before doing anything.

A third cannon ball charm interrupted his musing. This time it was one of the aurors that used it. "Look this is a Wizengamont decree so all you shut your yaps or we'll arrest you for interfering with official busyness." The tone of the aurors voice reminded him of another auror he had met. Harry couldn't think of his name off the top of his head but they both had that arrogant tone that seemed to say they were better than everyone else because they were working for the Ministry.

Seeing his threat quiet the audience the auror said smugly, "That's what I thought. Now come on boy, we got a nice cell in Azkaban you can wait in till your trial."

Harry's hand twitched when the auror addressed him as boy. The way he said it was almost exactly like the way Uncle Vernon said it. As if Harry was some bit of dirt that had somehow gotten on his otherwise pristine shoes. Still Harry could survive Vernon calling him that then he could survive this man too.

"I'm sorry but I can't do that." Harry said politely. Might as well see if he could get them to leave verbally before resorting to violence. Both aurors looked at him as if he had grown an extra head.

"What did you just say boy." Again his hand twitched when the when the auror addressed him.

"I am quite sure you hear me so I don't think I need to repeat myself. Now you can run along and report what I just told you to your supervisor..." The auror went for his wand but before he could even raise it Harry had his wand pointed at his face. "and I should warn you that I was the one that killed Voldemort so do choose your next actions carefully." Harry almost sighed when Voldemort's name made everyone flinch. Harry guess he couldn't blame them to much since not even a week ago saying the name really did bring his Death Eaters to you.

Gulping slightly at the wand tip at this face, the auror took a step back before turning tail and running. Harry half expected him to turn back around and yell how he would make Harry pay before leaving completely. Thankfully the auror did not swear vengeance on Harry and continued right out of the hall. Glancing at the second auror, said auror just shrugged before turning and following his partner. Harry got the impression that he did not want to be here in the first place.

That left just Umbridge standing in front of the crowd. The toad like woman just sighed dramatically. "It's such a sad sight to see one so young rebelling against the law. I hope you enjoy your freedom because when I come back it will be with more than just two aurors." Finished with her little speech Umbridge walked out of the room.

When Umbridge had completely left, Harry held up his hand to forestall the lecture Harry knew Hermione was about to give. She always did lecture him when she thought he did something reckless and most times she was correct. This time however Harry knew he had made the right decision between going with the aurors and staying here.

"Gather Luna and Neville and meet me in the headmaster's office. Also if you can find Ron and Ginny invite them too, though I think they are still preparing for Fred's funeral. The password is Smarties." Giving her a reassuring smile Harry left the dining hall.

It really was nice that Professor McGonagall had given him free access to her office. It would be good to get some advice from Dumbledore about this situation. Walking up the stairs that always appeared behind the stone gargoyle, Harry come to the same room as he always did. The room looked the exact same as it did when Dumbledore was Headmaster which made Harry wonder if Professor McGonagall was ever going to change it.

Looking over to the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistress Harry's eyes zeroed in on the second to last one. The last one held a portrait of Severus Snape which was thankfully empty. Harry might have learned why the man did some of the things he had done but the old hate was still fresh. Harry might be able to forgive him one day but now was defiantly not that day.

Dumbledore seeing who had walked through the door happily exclaimed, "Harry, my dear lad, what brings you here to this dusty office. Between you and me I don't think Minerva likes this office as much as her previous one."

Harry smiled slightly at seeing that even as a portrait Dumbledore was still Dumbledore. "Hello professor. I wish I could say this is a pleasure visit but I can't. It's seems I have had a rather unfortunate meeting with the Ministry today." Harry then went on to explain just what had happened mere moments ago. The old Headmaster seemed to age a decade or two on the spot. It always amazed Harry how just a different poster and expression could change the image of a person.

When Harry was finished Dumbledore spoke, "Oh dear, it seems the Ministry is up to its old tricks again. As I am sure you are aware the Ministry don't look favorably on anyone that has more power than they do and with your defeat of Voldemort that moves you to one of the most powerful figures in the magical world." Dumbledore sighed again before looking at Harry disappointed. "Was it really necessary to kill all those men, Harry."

Harry groaned in exasperation. He knew Dumbledore was going to bring that up. He was all for giving most people second chances but you had to draw the line somewhere. "Ok, first I didn't kill most of them. I recently came into possession of a magical item that reflects magic so they ended up killing themselves and second most of those people were rapist and murderers so even if they did not kill themselves I certainty was not going to lose sleep if I had been the one to do it."

Dumbledore looked puzzled for a moment before asking, "A magical item powerful enough to reflect magic capable of killing? Do you mind if I see it? Such a powerful item has not been around seen since the time of Merlin, excluding the Philosopher stone of course."

Seeing no harm in showing the old Headmaster Harry summoned the circlet. Dumbledore's expression changed from puzzled to shocked. "Extraordinary! I have only seen such an object once before." Dumbledore's turned puzzled again. "Though I thought only Devils could possess such objects."

It was Harry's turn to look puzzled. "Devils?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry perplexed before brightening. "Aw yes, I had forgotten that the Ministry banned any information pertaining to Devils in the early 1900's and given the fact that no Devil would step foot in Britain you would have never come across one. Needless to say, Devils are another type of magical humanoid much like Veela."

Before Harry could ask any more about a magical race that he had never heard about Dumbledore stated, "We seem to have gotten off topic. While wouldn't have recommended resisting arrest what is done is done and we should now look to the future."

Harry wanted to continues discussing just what Devils were and why the Ministry had banned al knowledge of them but relented, "Yes I am think of leavening the country for a little while. I have faith in Hermione and the rest of the DA to clear my name and clean up the corruption in the Ministry a little."

Dumbledore absorbed this information before speaking, "Yes, yes I think that might work. While you were the figure-head of the light side the others have enough political power to make their voices heard. It should only take a few years before most of the corruption is gone. It might also do you some good to get away from Britain. Have you thought about where you might go."

"I was hoping you might have a suggestion." Harry said hesitantly. "I wouldn't put it pass them to drag the ICW (3) into this so somewhere that ether haven't joined or is not on the best of times with Britain would be preferable."

Dumbledore thought for a moment before speaking, "I think the best bet would be to go to Japan. They have a fairly advanced magical world comparable to the United States but are not on good terms with many of the magical European Ministries. They would keep the Ministry from searching for you in their county just to annoy the British Ministry."

"It would be a good place to go if I had any idea how to speak Japanese." Harry said after a moment of thought.

Dumbledore nodded in acceptance before sitting up, "I seem to have remembered something that might help you with your langue barrier. In my youth and even as the Supreme Mugwump I traveled to placed in which I did not know the common dialect. To offset this I acquired a magical item that could translate any word I spoke or heard into a language that was understandable."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "That's convenient. And where could I get such an item."

Dumbledore laughed softly. "I am afraid you will have to use the one I obtained since the chances of you finding your own is very close to zero. You see the item is made from a high Devil tooth. Given the fact that today is the first day you have even heard of them I will explain. One of the magical abilities Devils have is the ability to understand and speak all languages. A very useful ability if I do say so myself. Why you would not believe the amount of trouble I could have avoided if I had just been able to understand what I had done wrong. There was this one time in the Philippines involving a tribe of nudist that-"

"Professor," Harry interrupted the old man's ramblings. He was positive that he did not want to know how that story was going to end. "As thrilling as this story sounds I think we should hurry. You know once the Ministry gets word of what I did they will send as many aurors as they have available."

"Quite right, quite right. You are quite lucky that Minerva has not been up here to remove any of my belongings. You see that red wood cabinet in the corner there. In the back you will find a dragon hide backpack. Wonderful invitation those muggles created, much easier to carry all your knickknacks. Nevertheless It will have the Devil tooth along with a pair of glasses that translate written word. There is also some emergency galleons I keep just in case I ever run into an accident. Might I also suggest taking a few books with you. Just because you are out of school does not mean you should quite learning." It seemed even as a portrait Dumbledore was still a teacher at heart.

Heading over to the cabinet, Harry really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when he opened it. With things like magical tents and trunks it should stand to reason that a magical cabinet existed too. As it stands, the cabinet insides looked more like a large walk-in closet then what it was supposed to be.

Stepping in Harry made his way to the back. As he passed rows and rows of Dumbledore old clothes Harry could only shake his head at some of the fashion choices the man wore. I mean really, who wore a canary yellow rob with purple lines that had tiny monkeys climbing up the lines like a ladder.

Finally coming to the back, Harry found the backpack tucked away in what look to be a bookshelf but was no used to hold caring bags and a suitcase. Picking it up Harry found he enjoyed the rough leather under his figures. It was tan in color and big enough to hold an assortment of items. Standing up Harry was about to leave before he noticed what looked like a collapsed tent. Grabbing it to Harry walked back to the headmaster's, or head mistress in this case, office.

"Professor," Harry asked, "I found this tent near the backpack and was wondering if I could take it along too."

Dumbledore looked surprised for a second before nodding, "Oh my, I completely forgot that old thing was still in there. It has been more than fifty years since that old thing has seen the light of day. Alas, these old bones could not take the stain of roughing it as you youngsters say. Yes you may take if you wish, I'm sure it will be more useful to you then it will to me."

"Now you said I should take some books, right? Did you have any specific books in mine or just some books in general." Harry asked.

"Why yes, I in fact did. Over my many years as both a politician and in my younger days as an assistant to Nichols Flamel I have come into possession of a number of rare books. Behind the desk you will find a chest that holds what you need. To open it you need to place your wand on the key hole and trace a patter in the air. They patter you need to trace is a swirl with 4 loops before ending in a five-pointed star.

As Harry followed his instructions Dumbledore continued. "Only two of the books I think you should take have a title. Elemental is a fairly old book that was collaboration between some of the major wizards of their time. It has a large amount of spells listed in it but is also has a detailed explanation on the characteristics of the elements. The other is called Illusions: More than Magic. It contains a decent list of spells but what the book really focuses on is ways to trick someone without magic. I have used it myself to put children and adults at ease when speaking to them."

"The other three books are quite rare so you should be careful with them. One is a plain leather-bound book that looks fairly worn. It is a journal I kept when I was working with Nichols Flamel and contains many of my discoveries and experiments I have conducted. There is also a lot of information on transfiguration that I hope will help you some in your travels. The book with a large cross on it is also one I would recommend taking. This book is usually only given out by the Vatican to their priests and exorcists but I pulled some strings to get it. Holy spells are rather useless against normal people but are the best weapon against Devils. If you were going to stay in Britain you could leave it but since the population of Devils in Japan is fairly high it would be good to have along. The last book is very thin and has an image of a wolf and a man. It is a copy of a scroll found in North America describing a ritual that a tribes shaman would undertake to become an animagus. Their process is much quicker than ours and you obtain more benefits using this ritual then the one Europeans created."

While Dumbledore named and explained each item Harry would find and place the item securely in the backpack. If what Dumbledore said was true then the amount of rare books he had was quite amazing. Harry would bet that Dumbledore had more rare books then two or three pureblood library combined. Grabbing the last one Dumbledore described, Harry placed it in his pack and turned to Dumbledore's portrait. "That's the last one is there anything else you think I should take."

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes but unfortunately it is ether restricted or illegal to own the books in Britain. One is a book on Occlumency called Concealing the Mind. It is one of the first books on the subject and still one of the best. The book is restricted by the Ministry unless you obtain a license. The other is called The Occult. It's a book on Devils written by a Devil himself. It is very important you learn about them since many magical community interact very closely with Devils."

This was the fifth time Devils was brought up and Harry just had to know why he had never even hear of them before. "Professor, you make it seem that Devils are fairly common outside of Britain. Why aren't there any here and why did the Ministry ban any information about them."

"Aw, well you see before the fae left our world they had a contract with the Devils that prevented them from entering Britain. So while the fae may have left our realm the contract is still active and thus Devils cannot enter Britain." Dumbledore explained. "Your other question requires a little more information to explain. It was popular, in the past, to make a pack with a Devil. This pack usually involved the sharing of power between a wizard and a Devil. A side effect of the sharing is that a wizard obtains the ability to do wandless magic. The Ministry's main way of monitoring witches and wizards is through their wands so obviously the Ministry did not look favorably on ways that allowed a person to get around using a wand. I would explain more but we seem to have some guests."

True to Dumbledore's words the door to the office opened up and out walked Harry's friends. Harry was slightly surprised to see Ron and Ginny with them since he figured they were with their family. Harry wondered if that was what took Hermione so long to get here.

"It's about time you get here; I was wondering if you forgot where the Head Mistresses office was." Harry joked trying to ease the tension.

Hermione did not seem to find his joke amusing. "That was very reckless Harry. You knew we could have probably talked it out peacefully. You did not have to threaten an auror to get them to leave."

Harry raises an eyebrow at his friends response. "Hermione you knew how Umbridge is and that auror didn't seem that different the Dawlish and you know what a pain he was."

"Still," Hermione didn't want to relent, "we should be working with the ministry not against it. We just finished defeating Voldemort now is a time to come together."

"Hermione," Neville cut in before she could say anymore. Harry was glad his friend was surer of himself. Before fifth year Neville would have never had the courage to stop Hermione mid rant. "While the defeat of you-know-who did neutralize a large amount of the corruption in the Ministry there is still some left in it. The fact that Umbridge is still in the Ministry is proof of that. I think Harry did the right thing by staying here."

Harry gave his friend a smile. "Thank you Neville. I was thinking the same thing. That is why I have decided to leave the country for a little while."

"What!" Surprisingly it was only Ron and Ginny who looked shock. Harry thought with the way Hermione had started in on him that she would have been a little surprised at his declaration too. Glancing at her Harry saw that she had a knowing smirk plastered on her face.

As if to response to his unasked question Hermione said, "Really Harry, I knew all along you were going to leave the moment you told Umbridge and the auror to leave. You would never endanger your friends in a fight against the Ministry and I know how much you hated hiding his year. Here I got these from your room while I waited for Ron and Ginny to arrive." Hermione then willed out a miniature broom and sack before wavering her wand over it. The two items started to grow until there sat his Firebolt and a sack of what looked like his cloths.

Harry grinned sheepishly at her. Was he really that easy to figure out? Taking the items Harry placed them securely in his backpack. Before he could thank Hermione a wizard appeared in Dumbledore's portrait. After some quick whispers Dumbledore nodded and the wizard returned to which he came.

"It seems the Ministry has decided to act. There appears to be a dozen aurors have just entered Hogwarts and have begun searching for Harry." The portrait said. "I also think you should take the sword of Gryffindor. I will let Minerva know what happened to it."

Nodding Harry grabbed the sword and with a few quick goodbyes and some promises of staying in contact, Harry exited the office. Finding the first window big enough to fit through Harry jumped on his broom and sped off.

Authors note

1. The distance between the spell changing directions and Harry's body is so small that it seems to him they are hitting his body and bounce back.

2. I have no idea what happened to the dark mark after Voldemort was killed but I have read many fanfiction were the mark disappears after Voldemort is killed. This got me thinking about how it would disappear. This is how it works in this story. The dark mark is a magical tattoo placed by Voldemort and kept there by his magic. Now I assume that one's magic will try to destroy any foreign magic present in the body kind of like the immune system does with use. So those who were alive after Voldemorts death still had active magic that got rid of the mark. Those that dies before his death did not have active magic so the mark stayed even what Voldemort was dead.

3. International Confederation of Wizards or the Magical United Nations.