"So you're saying that somehow you transported me here?" I asked as I followed Harry Potter.
The candlelit room turned out to be a basement. From there we climbed into a large but rather gloomy house. Gray light seeped through windows covered by heavy curtains. The place smelled of dust and cobwebs. I hoped it was simply early morning in this world, because I really didn't want it to look like this all the time. The furniture was covered with gray sheets. Harry sat in an armchair and gestured for me to take the sofa.
"You see, Naruto... I'm a wizard."
"Yeah, you said that, but I didn't understand what the word meant," I admitted. "What are wizards?"
"People who can do magic... Damn it! I'm not allowed to use my wand until the end of summer." He looked at me guiltily. "Kreacher!" Harry suddenly called loudly, and with a soft pop a half-naked, skinny, bald mutant of a rather repulsive appearance appeared before us.
Huge ears nearly hanging down to his shoulders, narrow eyes, an enormous hooked nose mashed into his face as though someone had hit him there with a brick. I'd seen all sorts of things in my life. All sorts of things had swallowed me, too... I wasn't squeamish. But the strange, wrinkled, scrawny dwarf made me feel vaguely disgusted—until I looked into his eyes. Whatever he was, he was old, and old age deserved respect. I had known one old man, after all... Besides, despite his ugly appearance, I sensed some hidden power in him. A summoning animal of a species unknown to me? Or perhaps not an animal?
"What does Master Harry require?" the creature rasped without taking his eyes off me.
"Kreacher, bring us something to eat," 'Master Harry' muttered, glancing at me, and the strange dwarf vanished.
"That was your magic?" I asked sourly.
Not especially impressive, except for the part about food.
"You... weren't frightened of him?" the skinny wizard asked in confusion. "When I first saw a house-elf, I nearly soiled myself. And the way they appear and disappear—doesn't that impress you? It's odd he didn't call you anything, though. Usually he mutters and insults everyone. He only started calling me 'Master Harry' after Sirius died." His expression darkened.
Kreacher appeared in the same place. He carried a tray holding several boxes, and I noticed the chopsticks immediately.
"Chinese food?" Harry asked in surprise. "Though..." He looked at me. "That actually makes sense."
The boxes contained noodles with spices and meat. Not bad. Perfectly edible. Judging by the wizard's astonished expression and the way everything kept slipping from his fingers, he was eating with chopsticks almost for the first time. It seemed Kreacher had decided to please me rather than his master.
"Magic is making something appear from nothing," Harry explained while we ate. "I have a wand that helps me cast spells. Well... I'm still learning. There are different kinds of magic. Combat magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts... There's Transfiguration, where you turn a table into a pig, for example. There's magical medicine... There are Charms, which can make a person fall asleep, or break out in spots, or laugh, or feel pain and die..." His face fell.
"So it's all about the wand?" I clarified. "Wizards can't use this magic without one?"
"More or less. A wand channels our magic." Harry scratched his cheek. "One of the most effective defenses is to knock your opponent's wand out of their hand with a spell. But there are potions too, and they can affect people in all sorts of ways. They can make someone fall in love with you, poison them, or turn them into someone else. Some adult wizards can also do wandless magic... Oh! Hermione said there's mind magic too. People can read your thoughts or influence them." He rubbed the scar on his forehead.
"I see," I sighed. Apparently this world had its own ninjutsu, medical ninjutsu, and genjutsu. He had said almost nothing about taijutsu or fūinjutsu, though.
"So your world has magic too?" Harry asked in surprise. "You're very calm. Have you been to other worlds before?"
"Well..." I scratched the back of my head. "If a world of talking toads counts, then yes."
"A world of talking toads?" Harry's eyes, which turned out to be almost as green as Sakura's, doubled in size.
"Yeah. But you should tell me about your godfather who disappeared. And about the situation in this world in general, so I can figure out how to help you."
"How old are you, Naruto?" Harry asked quietly.
"Turned sixteen not long ago."
"I'll be sixteen in a month." He became thoughtful. "I'm an orphan. Until I was eleven, I lived in a cupboard under the stairs at my relatives' house. Then, when I was eleven, a letter came from Hogwarts telling me I was a wizard... and it turned out I was famous. When I was just a baby, there was an evil wizard here—a Dark Lord. People are still afraid to say his name aloud. He heard part of a prophecy about me, that I would kill him, and decided to kill me first." Harry rubbed his scar again.
"I was a year and a few months old when Voldemort killed my parents and then tried to kill me. Something happened—or went wrong—and he died instead, leaving me with this scar. After that he tried several times to return. I've lived my whole life under the weight of that prophecy. And every time, I defeat him. Last year he came back, using me and my blood. He was resurrected, and I told everyone, but no one believed me. They said I was lying to make myself popular. The newspapers called me the Boy Who Lies. Only Headmaster Dumbledore believed me, along with a few of my friends and my godfather Sirius. This house became the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, which fights the Dark Lord. After returning, he went into hiding. This summer my friends and I decided to... find the prophecy, because there were only rumors about it and what everyone knew was incomplete. We broke into the Ministry of Magic, but the Death Eaters—Voldemort's servants—were already waiting for us. There was a fight, and Sirius fell through the Veil in the Death Chamber while saving me," he told me quickly, as though I were rushing him.
"They sent me back to the Dursleys," the boy continued. "But the next day I received a letter from the Black family solicitor. It said I had become the owner of this house. My relatives drove me so mad that in desperation I shouted for Kreacher, remembering that the house-elf had passed to me with the inheritance. And he came. Elves are very powerful magical creatures. Kreacher brought me here, then confused my relatives so they think I'm still there, punished and locked in my room until the end of summer."
Harry fell silent, pressing his lips together.
"It turned out that after the master's death, the house closes itself to outsiders. I wanted quiet, peace, and time to think about everything... so I didn't tell anyone I was here. My friends... they have their own lives in summer, and it's as if everyone forgets about me. I don't know how to explain it. Then I found the Black family library and that grimoire... and summoned you."
"How long has it been since your godfather fell through the Veil?" I asked.
"Twelve days." The boy went visibly pale.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, surprised by his reaction.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm an idiot..." He lowered his head. "I completely forgot that nothing in the magical world comes without consequences. I'm still partly a Muggle. It didn't occur to me that the moment I received the solicitor's letter, magic had recognized Sirius as dead... which means it's true. He really did die there."
"In my world, people believe that if you're protecting those precious to you, it's acceptable to die for them," I said, unsure how to comfort him. He was practically grown, but now he was sniffling as though he might burst into tears.
"Still, I'd like to see this Veil of yours. I can send a clone through it to find out for certain."
"A-a clone?" The wizard stared at me again.
"Yeah. Or several." I nodded. He looked so disbelieving that I felt like playing a joke on him. Besides, all this gloom and misery was making me sick.
"Kage Bunshin Sexy no Jutsu!"
I created three girls, but, taking pity on a boy grieving for his godfather, I didn't make them naked. It would have felt awkward in front of the originals, too. Ino was the only one I left mostly unchanged. Everything about the blonde was already perfect: long hair tied in a high ponytail, and a body that was both revealing and delicious. I 'dressed' Hinata in a short top and shorts, since she was forever wearing shapeless, closed clothes as though she were freezing in our subtropical climate. Her chest was excellent, and despite her eerily colorless eyes, the Hyūga clan princess was a beautiful, aristocratic brunette with loose hair down to her waist. Sakura's chest I made a little larger. She couldn't see it anyway, so I was free to fantasize. I also restored her short pink hair to the shoulder length she'd worn as a child.
Ah, the girls were a sight to behold...
"Hi." Ino winked and immediately began 'working on' the wizard. No kunoichi could compare to our beauty at that. I remembered how she had tried to seduce Uchiha Sasuke when she wasn't even twelve—baring one shoulder, letting down her hair, and shamelessly fluttering those blue eyes. Not that any of it could get through to that Sharingan-obsessed avenger... Ah, now I was getting nostalgic.
After I returned to Konoha, Ino immediately reeled me in... We had quite a time. I showed her a couple of 'techniques' too. Three years of traveling with my perverted godfather Jiraiya had taught me enough to pleasantly surprise her. Heh-heh...
"N-Naruto?" Poor Harry began to stammer and turn red, shifting his gaze from one girl to another.
"You can touch them. My clones are quite solid. As long as you don't injure a vital organ, they won't disappear. These are my girlfriends back home, by the way. I gave the clones their appearances."
"Nice to meet you, Harry Potter. I'm Haruno Sakura, a kunoichi and medic-nin. I love kittens and Sasuke. And if you have a problem with my appearance, Naruto, I'll hit you hard enough to smash your stupid skull!" the clone said in a very convincing imitation of Sakura, radiating a very real Haruno killing aura.
Goosebumps ran down my back. Damn it, why had I made Sakura?
"You're very beautiful, Sakura," Harry said timidly, calming the clone.
"What?! Look at her properly, Four-Eyes," Ino snapped, immediately dropping her seductress act. "Her forehead is enormous! And her real chest is flat as a board. Naruto gave her those melons."
I dispelled the Harem Technique before a fight could start. When my clones and I had nothing to do, they sometimes behaved strangely.
"Impressive," Harry managed.
"They're not always like that," I reassured him. "My girlfriends are just a little... Well... When there's an actual mission, they're serious."
"Wait..." He frowned, rubbing his forehead scar again. "That pink-haired girl said she was a ninja!"
"Uh-huh. I already told you I'm a shinobi."
"So shinobi means ninja?" Harry asked for some reason.
"Yes."
"We have ninjas too—or rather, Muggles do. That's what wizards call ordinary people. Ninjas lived long ago in the East. They wore masks, threw little metal stars, and killed people. They were good at fighting, with swords and with those sticks on chains... I forget what they're called."
"Stars like this?" I took a shuriken from my pouch. Harry picked it up, studied it closely, and cut himself on the tip. He hissed and stuck the finger in his mouth.
"Are you an idiot?" I asked. "What if it was poisoned? Many ninja coat their weapons with poison, and you cut yourself, then licked the wound on top of it."
The green eyes behind his spectacles became like those of a beaten dog, and his face took on a faint bluish shade. When I was twelve, our captain had played the same 'joke' after I got hurt. I'd never forget how fear twisted my insides. But I had remembered the safety lesson for life... and afterward tried not to let myself be caught off guard.
"Relax your butt. There wasn't any poison," I said, taking pity on him.
Apparently, although the locals possessed something like chakra, they relied far too much on their wands. If Harry was representative, then as a whole they behaved like civilians. Or was this particular Boy-Who-Was-Supposed-to-Defeat-Everyone the only one so easily rattled?