AN: Harry's sword fighting style doesn't exist in reality. While Kendo is a very real martial art, it doesn't suit the needs of this story. I went with the movie-fu shown in Kill Bill, and also popularized in films of the 1970's.

PROLOGUE

The Basilisk was dead, and Tom Riddle's diary destroyed. Harry stood next to Ginny Weasley in a daze with Gryffindor's sword in one hand and the remains of the diary in the other.

Ginny's fretting over the possible reaction of her family, washed over Harry as he regarded the gem encrusted sword in his hand. The basilisk had been killed, but it was a pyrrhic victory at best. He only escaped the embrace of death, due to the lucky happenstance of having a phoenix on hand.

'I'm so useless…' Harry looked up at Ginny's tearful face. 'Was I truly all that stood between her and death? Is this some kind of sick joke?'

"Harry, i'm s-*sob*-so sor-ry!" the girl could barely speak through her sobbing. "It's all my f-faauuult!"

"No, it wasn't." Harry shook his head, and looked at the room around them. "They should have known. Dumbledore… Why didn't he stop this?" His eyes rested upon the carcass of the giant snake.

'This can't happen again. I obviously can't trust the adults to protect me or my friends.' Harry's face took on a determined expression. 'I have to be stronger… smarter.'

"Come on, Ginny." He turned, shoved the diary into his pocket and gently pulled the girl along towards the door. "Let's get you out of here."

- DTFA -

From the moment Harry had walked out of the Chamber with Ginny, he had been in deep thought about how to better himself. Thinking back, he really should have known better than to allow Ron to dictate his class schedule. Easy O's weren't going to save his life, and Divination wasn't going to help him protect a flobberworm. Which is why he was knocking on Professor McGonagall's office the day after the petrified students had been awoken.

"Mr. Potter?" The aging woman in tartan robes greeted with a concerned look. "Do you need something?"

"Err… Yes, Professor." Harry began. "Is it too late to change my electives for next year?"

A hint of a smile pulled at the professor's face. "Of course not. Why don't you come in, and we can discuss it over tea?" With a wave of her hand, she ushered the boy into her office.

- DTFA -

The summer was off to it's usual charming start. His loving family had regained their confidence and had every intention of making him understand how worthless they thought him to be.

"BOY! If you think for one moment that you are going to laze about - " Vernon Dursley was many things, but reasonable was not one of them. " - all summer, like the worthless little layabout you are, you're in for a rude - "

"ENOUGH!" Harry had reached his limit and shouted directly in the fat muggles face. "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLYING, AND I WILL NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

This had a rather interesting effect on Vernon, such as that he jerked backwards as if slapped. He was staring silently at the boy in front of him and his face had contorted into something resembling confusion. Harry's reaction to his usual tactics had not given the expected result. Far from it, indeed.

Harry was not giving the walrus time to react or gain the upper hand. "I. AM. NOT. YOUR. SLAVE!"

Vernon's confused expression deepened. Clearly such a concept did not compute. The Harry he knew was meek. Quiet. Obedient even. What is this?

"Things are going to CHANGE around here, and if ANY of you, try anything at all, you'll WISH I had turned you into cockroaches!" His voice had taken a snarling quality as he reached the end of his sentence. Harry then turned on his heel and walked out of the house.

The messy haired boy had made it half way down the block, before he heard the muffled shouts of his muggle uncle. " - not even allowed to do your freakishness! You come back here, boy!" But he easily ignored the blustering. After-all, who was Vernon Dursley next to someone like Lord Voldemort?

Eventually, Harry's aimless wandering had brought him to the local mall. Pushing through the doors, he relished in the rush of cool processed air. The halls and stores were neat, and tidy. It was quite frankly the antithesis of Diagon-Alley. In other words: Boring.

Walking along the corridor, he paused in front of a repurposed grocery store. Where the checkout lanes were once located, now stood a check-in desk, and a row of treadmills. Beyond that, were large matts, and against the back wall were long wooden sticks and swords. In the center, several pairs of people wearing body armor and masks, dueled each other with the long wooden sticks he had seen on the walls.

" - to Yukimura's Kendo! Are you interested in signing up for lessons?" Harry snapped out of his trance and realized that someone was talking to him. At the front desk, a college aged asian girl was grinning at him in amusement.

"Sorry.." Harry blushed. "It's just so… err."

"Your first time seeing it?" She prompted.

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

The girl giggled. "It's called Kendo. It's a popular sport in Japan that dates back centuries." She explained. "It evolved from the combat forms that Ancient Samurai were famous for."

"Wow.." Harry breathed.

"Oh, gosh! I'm so rude! My name is Kira!" She blurted awkwardly. "What's your name?"

"Harry Potter."

"Kira, what have I told you about flirting on the job?" A man wearing a white Gi had appeared next to Harry without him even noticing. His voice was deep and strong with a guttural lilt typical of his Japanese accent. Despite the appearance of his white receding hair and wrinkled skin, he looked very fit.

Kira only gawked in indignation.

"I apologize for my granddaughter." He smiled mischievously. "Whenever she sees a handsome boy, she just cannot help herself!"

"GRANDPA!"

The man laughed warmly, and then looked Harry directly in the eyes. "I'm not in the habit of pressuring potential clients, but if you would like a tour…" He trailed off suggestively.

"Err… I don't want to impose…" Harry was nervous. Despite his kindness, this man was very intimidating, and he felt like his nerve had flown away.

"Not at all! Come along, young Harry." Wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulders, he guided Harry into the dojo. "My name is Shigeo Yukimura, and I am what is called a Kendo Hanshi. Or Master."

The older man continued to patiently explain the art of Kendo and what was taught at the dojo. In the end, Harry knew he was hooked.

- DTFA -

The mall was quiet at this late hour, with the only light coming from Yukimura's Kendo. At the front desk, Master Yukimura was filling out paperwork, and comparing the forms with information shown on the computer screen in front of him. Behind him, Harry was going through a series of solo forms with a blade.

Even after two weeks of attending classes, Harry felt uncomfortable with the normal loud shouts and grunts that were expected during matches, so remained silent as he practiced swinging the sword. While his blade work was consistently accurate, he still needed to build his upper body strength and endurance.

"Harry." Master Yukimura had put down his work, and stood from his chair.

Immediately stopping, Harry bowed to the older man. "Yes, Master?"

"Something has been niggling in the back of my mind since you arrived this summer." Yukimura began as he approached. "I want to know the real reason you came to me."

Harry looked wide-eyed at the Kendo Master. He couldn't possibly tell him the truth, let alone expect the man to believe him.

The elder looked kindly upon the boy. "I have seen many things in my long life. The look in your eyes… It does not belong on a boy so young. You have seen… experienced… terrible things."

Harry looked at his feet and nodded. "Y-yes, Master." His voice barely above a whisper. "I want to stop being scared."

Master Yukimura looked pensively for a moment, before nodding to himself. "I will teach you."

Eye's shooting up to the man's face, Harry hesitantly responded. "Teach me what, Master?"

"What you need, is not something that I teach to the public." The master clarified. "Going forward, you will learn true sword fighting."

- DTFA -

The morning of his birthday, Harry heard news that could very well be the best gift he had ever gotten from his "family".

Marge Dursley had been arrested for running an illegal puppy-mill. And if the accusations made by the Bobbies were true, she was guaranteed prison time for attempted murder while resisting arrest.

With a skip in his step, and a grin that split his face, Harry Potter left the house for sword practice. Today was going to be a good day, indeed.

- DTFA -

The evening before he was due to board the Hogwarts Express, Harry packed his belongings and cleaned up his room. On the floor in front of him laid a long box lined with a soft red velvet. The velvet was embroidered with white Japanese characters and figures of samurai in various poses.

A sheathed Katana blade sat in his hands, as he kneeled before the velvet lined box. Carefully, he placed the sword inside, and closed the lid. His Master had given him his first sword just that afternoon, and had instructed him to practice his forms throughout the school year.

Master Yukimura made it very clear that he was not to backslide, for he would be tested upon his return. Harry smiled wistfully. He would miss the man that had become a father figure. The only one to truly teach him that he was worth something. Wanted even.

With a sigh, the messy haired boy placed the sword box into his school trunk and finished packing.

- DTFA -

"Errr…. Hello, Dobby." A frisson of fear raced through Harry when he looked upon the unstable house elf. "You… work here now?"

"Oh Yes!" the elf's ears flapped about as he nodded eagerly. "Dobby being enjoying the workies at Hoggy-Warts, Harry Potter Sir!" At this Dobby hopped from foot to foot, unable to remain still.

"That's nice…"

"Is the Great Harry Potter being needing something from Dobby?" The elf looked positively /desperate/ to be useful. "Anything at all?"

"Well…" Harry hedged. "Come to think of it, yeah."

Dobby eye's grew impossibly wider. "Really?"

"Do you know a place where I can practice my martial arts?" Harry asked. "I need someplace safe where I won't accidentally hurt someone. Preferably... hidden."

"Dobby being knowing a place!" Dobby started jumping up and down frantically and clapping his hands. "The other elf's be calling it the Come and Go Room!"

"Where is it?" Harry couldn't believe his luck. "Can you -"

Dobby didn't bother waiting for him to finish, and grabbed Harry's hand. With a hard jerk, and the sensation of being stuff through a tiny rubber tube, Harry and Dobby appeared in the 7th floor corridor with an obnoxious popping sound.

"- show me?" Harry finished lamely.

Dobby cringed and chuckled nervously.

- DTFA -

The library was an annoying bustling mass of students. Harry and Hermione had taken over an entire table to themselves, and found themselves defending it with a fierce show bordering on the feral. On one side, Hermione had built a fort of law books collected in her effort to build a case for Buckbeak. The other was occupied by Ancient Runes and Enchanting texts in a coliseum configuration around Harry.

On occasion, Hermione would look up over the top of her mountain of books with a look of pride on her face. Harry, didn't notice this as he was far too engrossed. His latest translation assignment had been completed a half hour ago. The object of his focus, was a crude two part diagram of swirling runes that twisted around an approximation of his Katana.

The messy haired boy was muttering to himself as he jotted down notes and used his wand to adjust the runes written on the diagram. "Anti-summoning…. Hidden in plain view…. Hmmm…. I wonder if i switch these around… intuitive draw…. No, that wouldn't work... Don't want it to stay insubstantial even to me…"

On his diagram, the drawing of the sword would occasionally fade in and out of existence as if demonstrating what the runes would do when activated. "Maybe an activation word? Hmmm… Could it be silent?"

- DTFA -

The night sky was abnormally bright, and was steadily getting more so as the full moon peeked around a cloud. "Oh my - !" Hermione gasped. "He didn't take his potion tonight! He's not safe!"

In front of them, Professor Lupin had begun to convulse, signaling the start of his transformation. Not missing a beat, Sirius whirled around. "RUN!"

But Harry was rooted to the spot. Yet again, he was helpless to protect his friends. He had not been able to finish enchanting his sword, so it had been left in his trunk. 'Still useless…'

Remus Lupin's terrifying and agonizing transformation was now complete. The werewolf creature before them, reared up and snarled ferociously. But the monster was unable to take a step forward. The black furry form of Sirius the Grim collided with it, causing them both to tumble down the hill and out of sight. Growls and yelps were heard in the distance as Harry snapped out of his stupor.

Rounding on a very much awake Peter, Harry jabbed his wand forward with a disarming charm that sent Lupin's wand flying out of the rat animagus' hand. Unfortunately, he was too slow to do anything further, as Peter shrank down to his rodent form and scampered away.