In My Perfect World
By: JA_Japster
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is copyrighted to JK Rowling. "In My Perfect World" is the product of JA_Japster and should not be reproduced in any shape or form without my prior consent.
Chapter Two
The Hunters
As Harry descended down the stairs, he noticed that the source of light in the otherwise pitch black house came from a small glowing orb that hovered over Lupin's shoulder, casting a solitary ray of light over his former teacher. As always, Lupin looked dangerously fatigued, but this time the circles under his eyes seemed darker than usual and his robes hung loosely to his body as if he had lost weight. Nonetheless, he still smiled broadly as he warmly shook Harry's hand.
"Hello, Harry," Lupin said. "I trust you've enjoyed your summer?"
Harry shrugged noncommittally, and Lupin gave an appreciative laugh. "Don't worry. We'll be on our way to the Burrow in a matter of minutes." Harry only nodded. Lupin frowned and asked, "Is there something wrong, Harry?"
"No I'm fine," Harry replied quickly, but a sharp look from Lupin immediately told Harry he did not believe a word of it. "Well, I guess I kind of thought that Ron and Hermione would be here. That's all."
An uncomfortable silence filled the living room, broken only when one of the masked figures dropped the Dursley's television that they had been inspecting. He -Harry was sure it was a he judging from his deep voice- muttered a quick apology and with a meaningless hand gesture, the television floated back up onto its perch, only now with a deep crack in its monitor. The wizard didn't seem to notice though, or if he did he was doing a good job ignoring it, and sheepishly rejoined the rest of his masked brethren. One of them reached over and hit him.
Harry turned back to Lupin and was surprised to see him looking distinctly uncomfortable as if unsure how to best relate to Harry some tragic news. A sudden terrible premonition dawned on Harry and a dozen different horrible thoughts rushed to mind, and without thought, he grabbed Lupin by the front of his robes. "What happened to them?" He demanded. "Was it Death Eaters?"
Much to Harry's relief, Lupin chuckled softly. "No, nothing like that, Harry. There's just been...a complication I suppose. You'll see once we arrive at the Burrow. Now, will you mind releasing me Harry? I'm afraid I bruise quite easily these days..."
Harry flushed, and quickly released Lupin. "Sorry," he muttered embarrassedly.
"Don't worry about it. Now, I'm sure you're quite curious as to the nature of my companions." Lupin gestured to the group of robed figures. Harry confirmed he had been. He certainly hoped that they weren't anything more than some sort of lame entertainment Lupin had arranged to lighten Harry's spirits, because so far the only impression he had gotten from them was that they deserved to be in some sort of circus, with or without their comical animal masks.
"Harry, meet the Hunters." Lupin introduced. "Your escorts for this evening."
Harry groaned inwardly. Leaning over, he whispered to Lupin, "Uh, professor, are you sure about this? I mean, couldn't you have gotten Aurors or something? They seem kind of..."
"Incompetent?" volunteered Lupin loudly. Harry cringed.
"Well...yeah. No offense." Harry added hastily for the benefit of the Hunters.
Unperturbed, the man who had dropped the television muttered, "None taken." He was now busy prodding the Dursley's electric fireplace curiously with his finger, much to the ire of his companions.
"Yes, Harry," Lupin said with a dramatic sigh. "They are incompetent and clumsy but despite all their many apparent flaws, it is with much embarrassment that I can say they are also some of the best wizards in the Ministries employ."
Harry just stared blankly. He recalled vaguely the conversation he had held with the Minister of Magic the year before at Dumbledore's funeral. It had ended less than cordially, but somewhere the Minister had alluded that he would give Harry extra protection during the summer. If this was the aforementioned security however…
"Knew he had it in for me," He muttered darkly.
Despite the flurry of criticism and insults being thrown in their direction, the Hunters appeared quite at ease. In fact, they were no longer paying attention to Harry and Lupin. Instead, two of the Hunters were staring out the window, keeping watch; the other was sitting on Uncle Vernon's favorite chair with their muddy boots propped up on an expensive teak coffee table, and the last of the group was still poking at the fireplace with an almost childlike fascination.
Biting his lip, Harry tried to keep from making rash, unfair judgments on this lot. He remembered when he first met
Tonks he had been far from impressed. Time, however, had shown him how wrong he had been. Not only had Tonks become a
quirky, but enjoyable friend, she had also proven herself as a valuable ally and proficient witch. Maybe this group,
these Hunters, might also have some hidden worth.
"Damn!" The man who had been staring into the fireplace yelped. Somehow, the Dursley's electric fireplace had ignited, setting his sleeve ablaze. Cursing fluidly, he quickly extracted his wand and prodded the burning cloth. A jet of water shot out, extinguishing it, but leaving the acrid stench of burnt clothe and singed flesh lingering unpleasantly in the room.
Harry shook his heads. No, maybe they were just idiots.
"Don't judge them too harshly," Lupin said with a smile, having figured out what Harry was thinking. "They may not look it, but most of them were members of the Aurors or were hit wizards before joining up with the Hunters. They certainly don't look pretty, but they have it where it counts...or so at least Minerva tells me."
He looked up at a clock that adorned the Dursley's fireplace. "Well, we should probably leave before an opportunity arises to test the credibility of our escorts."
"Too late," Said one of the Hunters who were standing by the window. "We got company."
"What?" Exclaimed Lupin. He ran over to the window, and Harry gazed over his shoulder out into the street. Everything seemed normal. The neighborhood was deserted at this time of night, and with the electricity out, it was also blanketed in darkness so thick that it was hard to see more than a few meters ahead. Harry squinted his eyes, peering into the night for signs of the intruders that the Hunter detected.
"Where?" Harry whispered. Oddly enough, there was no fear in his voice. He felt quite calm even when faced with the prospect of facing off with Voldemort's Death Eaters yet again and it had little to do with the little reassurance Harry's escorts inspired. Maybe he was just getting used to these small life and death skirmishes that had plagued his life ever since his fourth year in Hogwarts.
"By that stop sign," replied the Hunter, pointing out the window. Sure enough, a second later a shape broke away from the veil of night and scurried to hide behind a tree nearby.
"There's only three of them," Lupin muttered to himself. "And they're not giving off a very powerful aura either."
"Not the Dark Lord then?" asked one of the Hunters, almost disappointedly. Harry glanced at the speaker. It was the Hunter with the Raccoon mask. Smaller than the rest of the Hunters by at least a head, the small wizard, or the Raccoon as Harry unconsciously labeled him, reclined lazily on Uncle Vernon's chair.
Lupin gave the Raccoon a sharp look. "We should be grateful that it isn't. No, these must be some newly initiated Death Eaters, probably out to earn themselves a name."
Harry laughed grimly. What these Death Eaters did not know was that Voldemort had reserved Harry's death for only himself, and anyone who dared go against his orders would pay accordingly. These fools were out to expecting to be praised for killing Voldermort's arch nemesis, but the reality of it was that just by showing up at Number Four Privet Drive this night they had unknowingly signed their own death warrants.
The Hunter by the window who wore a Fox mask turned around and addressed the rest of the group. "Three Death Eaters," they said, and Harry was momentarily surprised to hear a woman's voice coming from behind the mask. "Who wants to take them?"
"Hold on a minute," Lupin interjected swiftly. "Our priority is to get Harry to safety, not to engage these Death Eaters."
The female Hunter shook her head. "Kill them now and we won't have to worry about them later. It'll make getting Potter out of here easier if we don't have to think about Death Eaters raiding the house."
"No," replied Lupin fiercely. "Are job is to get Harry first! You can come back to do your killing after that is done!"
But the Fox was no longer listening. She surveyed her team, glancing at each member for a second, and then concluded, "Raccoon, you take this one."
"Why do I always get the easy ones?" The Raccoon complained as he sat up. Lazily, he stretched and then hopped to his feet. "How come Kira and Jerome get to do the fun stuff?"
"Code names on the field only, Raccoon" The Fox snapped. "And get going."
With a sigh, the Raccoon muttered, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," and ambled over to the door. He threw it open noisily, and strolled out into the night. A moment later, the rest of the Hunters, Lupin, and Harry followed him.
Spread out in the middle of the street were three Death Eaters clad in black robes and pale white masks that covered their faces. Their wands were drawn, and they didn't appear the least bit surprised to see six wizards waiting for them. One of them laughed unpleasantly when the Raccoon stepped forward to challenge them.
"You chose the wrong house to attack," The Raccoon told the Death Eaters. "It's protected by very powerful magic you see."
"Potter's protection that his Mudblood of a mother bought him expired an hour ago, fool." replied one of the Death Eaters. He stood out from the other two, and the way he spoke for them identified him as the unofficial leader of the raiding party. "And now all of your time is up too."
"I'm not talking about Harry's mothers magic. I'm talking about myself."
The Death Eater cackled scathingly. "What are you going to do midget? How are you going to stop us? How are any of you going to stop followers of the Dark Lord? We are some of the closest of his companions, and I guarantee you your powers are nothing compared to ours."
"So des ka," The Raccoon said. He nodded his head slowly as if finally understanding the answer to some elusive question. An unforeseen gleeful smile formed underneath his mask, and his whole body began to shake with silent laughter. The Death Eaters exchanged confused glances, staring in puzzlement at the seemingly mad wizard who kept chuckling to himself without bothering to look at the wands leveled at his face. Finally, the leader, having finally lost his patience, growled in annoyance and pressed his wand against the Hunter's head.
"Boku wa ureshi des. I guess I'll just have to kill you all then just to be safe," The masked Hunter whispered.
The Death Eater snorted derisively. "You can try from the grave. Avada-"
The ending of the incantation for the killing curse never left the man's lips. The Raccoon suddenly whipped off his cloak into the face of the Death Eater, and before the dark wizard could react, his chest exploded outward in a thick wash of crimson. It had happened so quickly that the Death Eater's shock kept him on his feet for a few precious seconds. His life quickly fading away, the unlucky Death Eater's gazed dumbly at his blood soaked torso where the length of a curved sword had magically sprouted, and then at the small wizard who held its ornamental hilt tightly in his hands.
"Why?" He gasped in amazement. With a vicious tug, the small Hunter pulled his sword free in another mist of spraying blood, and the Death Eater pitched forward onto the street, still unable to believe he was dead.
Harry's could scarcely believe what he was seeing. He did not know how he expected the Hunter to deal with the Death Eaters, but this had not been it. One moment, the dark wizard had been alive with the arrogance so typical of Voldemort's minions, and the next he was dead, his life blood seeping into the street in front of Number Four Privet Drive. Never before had he seen someone kill so swiftly…so callously…so unremorsefully. He tore his eyes from the dead corpse on the ground and looked at the sword wielding Hunter.
The swordsman stood over the body of his slain foe, his blade, still dripping from his latest kill, pointed at the remaining two Death Eaters, extending a wordless challenge. Underneath the robes he was clad in a dark jumpsuit with a white armor plating covering his chest, and atop his head was shock white hair that spiked in every direction. Like his mask, they were drenched in blood. No longer did the Raccoon mask seem comical or cute. Stained with splashes of red, it looked more ominous, more awe inspiring than even a Dark Mark floating through the air.
"You bastard!" screamed one of the other Death Eaters. He raised his wand, ready to send a curse at the Hunter, but the Raccoon was already far ahead of him. Dropping to one knee, the swordsman twirled around, made a blazing fast cut in the air, and then returned his blade into its sheath across his back.
For a second, nothing happened. And then the Death Eater shrieked in agony as the hand holding his wand suddenly peeled away from the rest of his arm. Blood shot out like a geyser from his dismembered hand, and the man's anguished screams echoed into the night. The Raccoon did not let him suffer for long. As the Death Eater kneeled over, grasping the bloody stump where his hand had once been, the Hunter sent his sword piercing through the dark wizard's heart.
The third Death Eater backed away in fear, his wand held trembling in front of him. A jet of green light shot out, but the Raccoon nimbly jumped aside and it slammed into the ground, ripping a crater the size of a fist in the smoothly paved street. Not disheartened by his failure, the Death Eater prepared another curse, but before he could get it off, the Hunter was already on top of him. The Raccoon's sword flashed in the night, and the Death Eater suddenly found himself only holding half of a wand.
Panicking, the dark wizard dropped the useless piece of wood and backed up. He closed his eyes, screwing them shut tightly as if concentrating deeply, and then opened them again. His eyes widened underneath his mask as terror set in, paralyzing his body in its icy grip as his mind struggled to comprehend this startling revelation.
"Can't apparate can you," The Raccoon observed, laughing to himself as the Death Eater continued to desperately try to apparate away without success. "The anti-apparation field we set up the moment you arrived might have something to do with it."
"What?" The Death Eater exclaimed. "B-but that means you can't apparate either! You were supposed to get the boy away from here!"
"We had no intentions of running away if that's what you were thinking. No, even if it meant being trapped here ourselves, we wanted to make sure we could kill every last one of you scum that showed up"
Harry felt Lupin stiffen beside him, and a sideways glance showed the livid rage that consumed his normally passive face. He looked angrier than Harry had ever seen, his fists clenched tightly at his side and his teeth gritting with barely concealed anger. Harry didn't even need to ask why the Hunter's proclamation had invited Lupin's fury. Lupin's orders were to get Harry to safety no matter what, but here their escorts were gambling with all their lives just to kill a few Death Eaters.
The Death Eater looked around frantically for help, whimpering pitifully as if he was begging for a rescue from the white haired swordsman, but there was no compassion to be found in the faces of those who beheld his plight. The emotions of the Hunters were invisible, hidden from the world by their masks, and even in Lupin's there was no trace of sympathy. His eyes were as cold as ice as he beheld the Death Eater, a contemptuous scowl distorting his lips into an ugly grimace brimming with hatred.
"Professor…" Harry whispered. He tugged Lupin's sleeve. "Professor, he's not going to kill him is he?"
No answer came.
"Please…please don't let him kill me!" The Death Eater wailed. He dropped to his hands and knees and crawled to one of the Hunters, the Fox. Grasping the hem of her robes, he began to sob, blubbering incoherent pleas for mercy.
"Professor, this isn't right!" Harry said, louder this time. Again, Lupin did not respond.
The Fox observed the Death Eater for a second like a person looking at an offensive insect and then viciously kicked him in the face, shattering his nose and sending the bleeding dark wizard skidding backwards across the concrete. The Raccoon roughly set the Death Eater upright, and then placed the edge of his sword against the man's neck.
"Lupin!" Harry yelled. "We can't let him do this!"
"Any last words?" The Raccoon asked, ignoring Harry.
"I…I don't want to die…" The dark wizard moaned.
The swordsman shrugged. The blade rose…
No! Harry's mind screamed. This is not right!
He deserves to die…
No! You can't just let him murder him! He deserves a chance…
Would they have given you a chance?
No!
Before Harry realized it, his wand had leaped to his hands. He pointed it at the Hunter's back and screamed, "Stupify!" The curse shot through the air, but just as it was about to hit, almost casually the Hunter flicked his sword behind him and deflected the spell harmlessly into the ground.
"Harry!" Lupin cried, starting towards Harry. He stopped immediately when Harry pointed his wand at him. "What are you doing?" He demanded.
"We can't let him execute this guy," Harry said. He looked Lupin straight into the eye, and with conviction that he really did not feel, he added, "It's not right."
Someone laughed scornfully. It was the Raccoon. He had lowered his sword and was looking at Harry and through the small slits in his mask Harry could see the disdain in the man's eyes. With utmost contempt in his voice, he said, "Morality. Harry, you surprise me. You of all people should hate these bastards the most."
"I do hate them," Harry replied angrily. "But that doesn't mean we should just kill them every chance we get! We're no better than them if we do that!"
"Do you really think they would have shown you mercy, Harry, if they got the chance?" The Raccoon asked angrily. He shook his head. "They'd gladly kill you in a heartbeat, as well as all your friends and their families. Not for honor, not for some half-assed noble ideal like the one you suffer from, but it's because that was what they were told to do. What do you think of that?"
Deep inside Harry knew everything the Hunter said was true, but he refused to be swayed. Gritting his teeth, he aimed his wand at the Raccoon. "We're not killing an unarmed man. Dumbledore would not want it."
"Harry, Dumbledore is dead." said Lupin. Surprised, Harry looked at him. Surely Lupin did not agree with the Hunters. Almost bitterly, Lupin muttered, "It's because he was merciful to men like Snape that he's dead."
"But…"
Lupin had a right to be bitter, a right to be angry, Harry realized. He had lost so many friends to men like the ones the Hunters were ready to execute. Harry's father and mother, Sirius Black, and then Dumbledore…
"We're not killing anyone." Repeated Harry firmly.
A long moment passed. Finally, the Fox sighed resignedly. "We'll do it Potters way this time. Put it away, Racoon."
"Anata baka," The Raccoon scowled, but he stowed away his sword. The captured Death Eater sighed in relief having just evaded death, but it was short lived because a moment later the Hunter smashed his fist into the dark wizard's face. With a choked cry of surprise, the Death Eater collapsed, unconscious.
Harry also felt his body involuntarily relax and he pocketed his wand. Two of the other Hunters moved forward to secure their prisoner, while the rest moved out to ensure that no other dangers lurked out in the woods. Lupin was walking from house to house down the block, casting memory altering spells on their occupants in case anyone had overseen the battle. Harry rushed to meet up with him.
"Professor," Harry asked timidly, walking by Lupin's side. "Do you think I did the right thing?"
Lupin looked at his former student and smiled faintly. "Time shall tell, Harry."
---
Author's Notes:
I had fun writing that chapter. I love adding hints of anime into all my writing (anime is my one absolute obsession) and it should be pretty obvious where they are if you're also an anime oktau. Just having a Japanese speaking guy (my Japanese is terrible; I had to get help from one of my friends. Apologies if it offends the eyes) swinging around a katana in modern day London should be enough to hint that this won't be your normal Harry Potter story, and I guarantee you it won't. I've always believed that the magical world in the books could be expanded in so many ways to encompass other different realms of fantasy, and I strive to do so in my writing. Notice the inclusion of necromancers in the Prologue. Never seen before in the HP novels, fans of Garth Nix or Diablo should be able to figure out what these guys do.
Any critiques, comments, questions, or whichever would be very welcomed. Thanks!