To Live is the Rarest Thing

Chapter 15

Their portkey deposited them in a terminal off Majikusutorito, Japan’s equivalent to Diagon Alley, at around six in the morning. Of course, Harry and Tom were still on UK time so for them it was evening. The first thing they did was book a room in the nearest magical hotel, ran by a husband and wife team who were delighted to discover that these two westerners spoke fluently Japanese. Once inside their room they got some sleep for a few hours to help them adjust and hopefully avoid a full-on jetlag.

Right before noon they got up and went out to sample some of the amazing street food. The smells wafting from the stalls around the magical street, the people around them, the language…it all translated to a feeling of coming home.

It wasn’t the first time Harry had experienced this sensation, not in the slightest. During their many lives it often happened that visiting a certain place, or hearing people speak a certain language, gave them a warm sense of belonging out of the blue.

Harry released a deep sigh as he stood in the middle of the street trying to decide what to eat first.

“Takoyaki,” Tom said, answering Harry’s dilemma for him. Tom, too, looked like he’d just come home, his expression completely relaxed and open, his dark eyes full of gleaming happiness.

“Yeah, all right,” Harry agreed and dragged Tom with him to the nearest stall selling these delicious balls of fried batter, filled with a piece of octopus and more, and served covered in mayo and bonito fish flakes, amongst other things. They shared a six-piece serving between them, quietly moaning at the familiar flavour which they’d both not tasted for quite a few lives.

Next they split a generous serving of okonomiyaki between them. Harry had made this savoury pancake with lots of cabbage and thinly sliced pork and egg at home for his dogfathers once, but he’d lacked the Japanese mayo and the special sauce and bonito flakes, so while it had been tasty, it hadn’t exactly been the real thing. Now, though, they got to indulge in an authentic version of the dish.

They finished their impromptu lunch with some chicken yakitori, grilled over a charcoal fire, and for dessert they split three differently filled taiyaki between them; pastries with red bean paste, custard and chocolate.

“I’m stuffed,” Harry proclaimed after finishing the last of his Japanese pastry.

“So am I,” Tom agreed, wiping his mouth on a paper napkin. “I suggest we find a travel agent on the muggle side to arrange the rest of our trip.”

Walking from the magical street into muggle Tokyo was an experience. The magical side was, like Diagon Alley, rather quiet and peaceful compared to the bustling muggle city around it. Traffic everywhere, neon lights and large billboards, not to mention the sheer amount of people in the streets was many times that of the visitors in Majikusutorito.

“You know,” Tom said conversationally as they walked across the sidewalk in search of a travel agency. Being as tall as Tom was came in handy sometimes, since he could look over just about anyone around him to spot what they were looking for. “I’ve been thinking.”

“Oh no,” Harry said while he gave Tom a worried glance. Those were the kind of words that meant Tom had a plan for something or other. Whatever it was, Harry saw his peaceful next six months until starting their Hogwarts Mutiny plan in earnest go up in smoke.

“You’re going to love it,” Tom said with a wide grin, doing nothing to settle Harry’s gloomy outlook. “How about we introduce our solution to make electricity work around magic to the wizarding world at large?”