Digital Magic

Harry had ducked into the nearest empty classroom he could find, uncaring of the amount of dust and not caring if he spooked one of ghosts that haunted this one. Dropping to his knees, Harry finally exhaled, trying to calm his racing thoughts and magic. 

He didn’t understand why Ron had to be so damn jealous all the time! Why couldn’t he just be happy with his own life?! Ron was a pure blood wizard, and had a whole family of support and love. Ron had a bed and could fall asleep wherever he chose without fear. 

There were times Harry didn’t think he’d wake up from the previous night’s beatings. It was pure luck he survived the summer at all. 

Ron had no idea how lucky he was. 

With Elecmon, Harry hadn’t suffered as much. Elecmon often snuck out, fetching wild berries and herbs to heal Harry, sustaining his life any way he could. He even helped with his chores, which infuriated Vernon. 

On the off chance Vernon did throw him in the cupboard, Elecmon always got him out. 

“There you are!” 

Harry got up only to see Tai in the doorway. Tai must’ve followed him through the castle without any thought of his safety or what might be lurking within the castle itself. 

Stupid Tai, as Sora would say, smiling at their leader. Matt would throw his arm around Tai, pulling him into a playful headlock. 

Harry sighed, dropping to his knees once more. He missed his friends-he missed his family. 

Missed playing soccer with Tai and Davis…missed Izzy and Yolei explaining computers to him (and the surprise when they found out his magic affected Izzy’s baby)….missed the way Hikari would just know when it got too much for him…how Ken would understand and how passionate Matt and TK were about their grandfather’s help….how they took him in without a second thought. 

No one had thought he was a freak, he had magic and that was a thing (No Izzy, aliens still aren’t a thing, sorry), how he was the chosen one ( he didn’t think Mimi could yell that loud and feared the day she ever met Dumbledore) and it was collectively acknowledged that the Dursley’s were the worst type of people. 

Tai and Matt had to hold back Davis and Ken from punching Vernon that day. Hikari had to hide both of their digivices to stop them from forming Omnimon and staging a rescue. 

Tak pushed off the doorway, joining Harry on the floor, his arms coming to wrap themselves around the smaller boy. 

“I know, I miss them too,” 

“Can we stay a bit longer?” 

Tai said nothing, just held him tighter until Harry was ready. 

—————————————————————

Tai was sure of one thing-Izzy would have a field day if he ever got the chance to study the Sorting Hat. He’d thought it was a joke ( Elecmon loved jokes and usually Tai was the unsuspecting victim more than not) when Professor Mcgonagall pulled the oldest hat he’d ever seen. It was more shocking when the seam split apart and started talking. 

“Come on up here, Mister Kamiya! Don’t be shy! You aren’t the child of courage for nothing!” 

Tai nearly tripped on the way up, only his reflexes from soccer saving him from a nasty face plant on the stonework. 

McGonagall beckoned him to sit, before placing the hat on his head, his hair making it a bit difficult. “My word! It’s almost as bad as Mister Potter’s!” McGonagall exclaimed in a whisper. 

Tai laughed, automatically shutting his mouth when Mcgonagall raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Now what a startling amount of courage you have, Mister Kamiya! You know you aren’t the first muggle I’ve had in my chair-certainly the strangest one!”

What in the world? Are..you in my head?

“You are smart! But not for Ravenclaw!”

I don’t understand…how?

“I am a sentient magical being, old and powerful and very much a part of this castle as she is of me. You do know that the digimon was not normal, not by any means.”

You know?

“I am old, not yet out of touch with the world! You were destined to come here as much as Harry was destined to be a digidestined. Mister Kamiya, you must be prepared-what is coming is not for the faint of heart-“

Hey! I’m the leader and I’ll protect Harry with my life if that's what it takes!

“I expected nothing less from the child of courage, now it better be Gryffindor!” 

Tai hadn’t realized he’d even closed his eyes at all, opening them to a thunderous applause. Getting off the stool, he watched as his clothing switched from his usual school uniform into a Hogwarts one, trimmed in red. 

When Harry took his seat next to Harry, across from Hermione, the food finally appeared. Agumon, ever the glutton, immediately began to eat. The two digidestined laughed, especially seeing how the other Gryffindors gave the small dinosaur his space when eating. Some of the older years erected shields to avoid splatters on their uniforms. 

That had been nearly a week ago. 

Despite not having any magic, Tai had proven himself in more than one class and behaved like the typical student during History of Magic-falling asleep within minutes. Unfortunately, Tai had been antsy since there was no soccer team-a sentiment shared by Dean. 

Dean, who liked the other boy and loved that they shared a sport, quickly wrote to his mother for a package. Hogwarts may have quidditch, but he could still teach them a thing or two. 

—————————————————————

The owl order came in during dinner time, delivered by two surly looking owls who nearly dropped the package right into the mashed potatoes. Harry apologized and quickly shrunk the package down, pocketing it until later. In terms of clothing, Tai had what he came with and a Hogwarts uniform; Wood had transfigured a pillowcase into a set of pajamas for him as well. 

It wasn’t much and Harry knew that eventually the transfiguration on the pillowcase would wear off, leaving Tai with next to nothing. 

Just as Tai had done years ago, Harry had bought Tai some wizarding clothing-Dragonhide boots, pajamas, casual pieces and dress robes-something that had been on the list this year. He’d gotten him a trunk as well, plus school books and other things. 

“What’d you order?” Neville asked, noting that Harry didn’t even unwrap the package. 

“It’s a..surprise,” 

Neville smiled softly, “Good for you, Harry, just make sure you’re happy as well,” 

“I am, I really missed them,” 

“Was it really different?”

Harry nodded, “To them, I wasn’t the chosen one, I was just..Harry.” 

Neville smiled and continued to eat, understanding more of the small Gryffindor than he ever had before. 

—————————————————————

Tai had nearly balked when Harry had finally resized the trunk and its contents. Agumon stared at Harry, his jaw hanging open. 

“Harry? How…?” 

“We’ll have to visit Gringotts to show you properly, but my parents left me a vault of money to use. Trust me, this wasn’t a problem,” 

Tai wisely said nothing, which made Harry laugh. Neither Agumon nor Elecmon was going to say anything about the blush that burned brightly on Tai’s cheeks. 

—————————————————————

No matter the weather, Tai was always up early because the coach made them run extra drills on Saturdays. It was no surprise that Tai was up before the sun, as was Harry, who never had the luxury of sleeping in. Cooking for the Dursley’s was a time consuming task. The two boys quickly gathered their clothing and headed into the bathrooms to shower and get ready for the day. 

Dressed in wizarding clothes-which Tai found was fireproof-the two headed down to Hogsmeade. Elecmon and Agumon followed behind them, enjoying the breeze and the warmth of the early fall. 

Harry watched as Tai stretched his arms above his head, his sweater pulling up, exposing a strip of toned stomach that had Harry nearly walking into a lamppost if not for Elecmon’s quick thinking in pulling him away. Mumbling thanks to his partner, the quartet continued their way through Hogsmeade. 

Harry introduced Tai to wizarding sweets-sugar quills, ice mice, Bertie Bot’s every flavor beans (Agumon got a Quaffle Flavored one, declaring it tasted exactly like a soccer ball), and some of the best chocolates he’d ever had. They decided to stock up on some treats for the rest of the digidestined, knowing that sweets would hopefully tide Hikari’s anger a bit. Plus it would be hilarious to watch Gatomon go after the ice mice. 

“So what were you fighting exactly?” Harry asked as they turned the corner to get to Tom’s. 

“Not sure exactly, it didn’t look like any digimon we’ve fought before,” 

“Hmm, that’s odd, maybe it’s new? Like that one on the internet you told me about?” 

“Yea but Willis made it, so unless there’s another kid making digimon out there, we’re outta luck,” 

“Hopefully that’s not the case this time, I doubt my professors will give us time off to go save the world,” 

Tai laughed, nearly doubling over as he walked. He’d heard the stories from Dean and Seamus-how for the last four years, they hadn’t had to worry about end of year exams, because the famous Harry Potter managed to save the wizarding world during the last weeks of school. Hermione had been miffed at the thought of her carefully made study guides going to waste but it hadn’t stopped her from making them each year. 

Ron still hadn’t spoken to any of them, keeping his distance and silence. Harry gave him until the holidays to crack. 

Tom’s bar was simple enough-wood and brick face like most of the shops here, but it was dusty and looked faded. Harry smirked-Tom said the outside gave his bar character. Despite the outside appearance, the inside was charmed to look like an old style prohibition bar-if there was one thing muggles had, was style- and the rooms upstairs were no different-each room was filled with rich dark wooden  furniture and comfortable beds. Harry found that he couldn’t wait until the end of year. Just the knowledge that he and Tai could go back and forth to the digital world put him over the moon. Never having to see the Dursleys again? He’d call this heaven. 

“Tom! We’re here!” Tai called, holding the door open for the others. 

Several patrons looked up from their drinks, shrugging off the strange creatures and simply went back to their drinks. 

“Over here! It’s in the basement!” Tom answered, wiping his hands on a nearby rag, before meeting them. Harry hugged Tom as did Elecmon. Quickly, Tom ushered them downstairs, before poking his head back up, 

“Mac, you’re in charge-you hear me?” 

The gray kneazle yawned before nodding to Tom, jumping on top of the counter, keeping a sharp eye on the bar. 

—————————————————————

Harry stood a few feet away from the computer-unable to believe that Tom had done this, just to make it easier for them. He sniffled, holding back tears. 

“Look, I know it’s old but the lady down at the thrift store said it worked and I got hematite so you can use-Harry?” 

“It’s brilliant, Tom, thank you,” 

Tai and Agumon hung back, letting the two have their moment. 

“Tai?” 

“Hmm? Yea Agumon, what’s up?” 

“Why’s Harry sad?” 

Tai bent down, placing his hand on his partner’s shoulders, “Harry…isn’t sad, he’s…happy, just ah, overwhelmed I guess?” 

Agumon tapped his snout with one claw, tilting his head in confusion, “It's just a computer, right?”

“I’ll explain it later, okay buddy?” 

“Okay!” 

As soon as Tai joined them, they turned on the computer, pleased to find that it was able to connect to the internet and with it, they were able to use their digivices to access Izzy’s laptop. 

“Please enter the passcode? Good old Izzy!” 

Holding up his digivice to the screen, Tai waited until both devices beeped and the screen shifted to show a video portal. 

“Passcode; Tai Kamiya, Digi-Digi!” 

—————————————————————

Izzy and Hikari had been glued to the computer all day after receiving the email from Harry’s Tom. The other digidestined had arrived slowly with only Davis and Ken being the last ones to arrive. They had all sprawled out across the room in various positions on the bed, the floor, and the computer chair. 

The computer beeped and Izzy nearly toppled the laptop over in his haste to grab it. 

“It’s Tai!” 

“Thank goodness! Mom! Dad!” Hikari called out as she scooted closer to the computer. 

Izzy waited until both parents were present before holding up his own digivice to the screen. 

“Passcode accepted; Izzy Izumi, Mon-mon!” 

The video filtered in moments later, showing Tai and Harry’s faces. They could also see Agumon and Elecmon clamoring to get into the video. 

“Tai! Are you okay?!”

“Dude, what happened?” 

“How did you end up-“

“Taichi Kamiya! What on earth did you do?! Hikari told us you’re in Scotland?!” 

“Son, what happened?! The school is calling!” 

Tai flushed a bright red-he had no idea what to say. Thankfully, Harry spoke up. 

“Hello, Mister and Mrs. Kamiya! It’s nice to see you again!” 

“Harry! Oh dear, how are you?”

“I hope he isn’t causing too much trouble at that school of yours!” 

“No he’s not, actually, Tai is allowed to stay until the end of the semester with me. My headmaster approved it when he showed up?”

Kai and Yuna looked at each other, worry evident in their faces. Harry went to a boarding school-for most of the year, how could they afford such an expense? Kai began to calculate their spending and the total expenses so far-they couldn’t do it. 

“Taichi, you-“

“I’m sorry to get into your conversation like this, but you're his parents, yes?” Tom said, as he made his way into the video’s frame. Kai and Yuna were given more room, as the other digidestined moved away, yet still keeping enough of a space so as to listen. 

‘’Yes we are, I’m Kai and this is my wife, Yuna. I apologize for the trouble my son has caused, but-’’

‘’Trouble? Your boy? Nah! If anything, he’s livened this place up! Listen, I’m offering Tai a place to stay, alongside Harry. I’ve got his godfather’s approval and if you’d like, I can offer the same to you.’’ 

Yuna and Kai looked at each other for a moment, sighing, both of them considering the options. They knew that Harry’s boarding school was a magical one-he’d been open about that from the start. Harry was also a digidestined and Tai wouldn’t leave him alone, not now. Tai was too honorable for that. 

‘’Taichi?’’ Kai asked, waiting for Tai to show up. 

‘’Yea dad?’’ 

‘’Is this a digimon thing or a magical thing?’’ 

Tai and Harry looked at each other, ‘’We arent sure actually,’’ 

Yuna sighed, her face falling a bit, ‘’Taichi, I know there are certain things you can’t stay away from, the digital world for one. All we’ve ever wanted for you is to be safe and you go right into danger-ever since you were little Tai. You were always protecting everyone, so please try to keep yourself safe,’’

‘’Taichi, we’re trusting you on this, okay? Please be safe and try to not get blown up,’’

Harry laughed, knowing that he meant his mishaps in Potions, rather than anything else.  “I promise he’ll be safe,” Harry added. 

“Tom? How-“

Tom raised his hand, “Ma’am, don’t worry, niether your son and Harry won’t be charged a knut under my care,” 

Once Kai and Yuna finalized the rest of the school year with Tom, they left feeling slightly more content, but still wary. The two left the room, leaving the children to their own devices. 

Despite the children saving the world at eleven and ten years old (nine in T.K’s case!), they (and the other parents) were terrified every time something digimon related came up. Now of course, this time, it included magic as well! Harry had been honest with them from the start, even at the risk of his own government coming after him, but to his surprise, no one did. There were no owls, no letters, no house elves-Harry couldn’t understand why. He wasn’t going to complain, but Izzy had assumed it was because of their digivices, possibly emitting some form protective barrier around them and their families. 

They hadn’t questioned it at the time. Tai had considered it lucky, while Matt had hoped that they wouldn’t get in trouble with Harry’s government. Harry had told them about the backwards view the wizarding world had on their own people-he didn’t want to think about how they would be viewed. 

‘’Izzy, do you think you’d be able to connect the two portals?’’ Hikari asked. 

‘’I should be able to but it’s gonna take some time,’’ Izzy said, ‘’Yolei, would you mind you helping me out?’’ 

‘’Not at all, Izzy’’ Yolei answered, already thinking of several ways to connect the two portals, despite the distance and the magical aspect. 

The two groups of digidestined continued to speak, until most of the group began to filter out-Sora for tennis practice, Cody for kendo practice, Matt for band practice, etc-until it was only Hikari, Tai, and Harry left. 

‘’Tai, you are being safe right?’’

‘’Yea! Harry hasn’t let me near the brooms yet!’’ 

Hikari laughed, knowing that Tai would more than likely try to sneak onto one eventually. Harry groaned, wondering if he could ask Sirius for that permanent sticking charm he’d used on his posters back at Grimmuald Place. 

‘’TAI!’’ 

The aforementioned male jumped, before racing up the stairs to Tom, leaving Harry with Hikari. 

‘’You should tell him!’’ 

‘’NO! Are you crazy?!’’ 

Hikari giggled, rolling her eyes-Harry was so damned predictable! As was Tai, for the matter. The two idiots were in love with each other and neither could tell the other. Hikari couldn’t wait until Izzy connected the portals-then she’d personally go and slap them both. 

‘’Doesn’t your school have a dance or something?’’

Harry thought for a moment, ‘’No normally, but this year, dress robes were included and there hasn’t been a schedule for quidditch practices yet,’’ 

‘’Dress robes? Sounds like a fancy affair!’’ Gatomon chimed in, purring at the prospect of a party. 

‘’I guess, but eventually, Dumbledore will say something,’’ 

‘’Word of advice, Harry, Tai is an idiot, but he’s willing to risk everything for someone he loves,’’ 

With that final word, Hikari ended their chat, leaving Harry to his thoughts until Tom called him upstairs for food, before sending them off to Hogwarts. 

—--------------------------------------------

Unbeknownst to the strange quartet, two other magical schools were nearly arriving at Hogwarts; one through the air and the other, by sea. By morning of the next day, it would be clear of two things-Harry had the worst luck of all the Potters and Tai was definitely going to punch Ron in the face.