A passage between parallel universes is supposed to be one way? Mariko wasn’t so sure of it when one day she actually crossed one during one of mommy’s testing runs when she wasn’t looking . . . . and came back. This shocked mommy when she noticed the first time Mariko walked and disappeared through the machine with an opened portal to . . . . . . somewhere while she was running tests and shouted Mariko’s name only for her to poke her head back to the lab with a “What?”
Mommy was quite speechless to see Mariko half in between the portal, she checked the readings and was shocked at the results. This portal was one of the most volatile one she had to work with and suddenly it went from most unstable to the most balanced in a matter of minutes.
“It’s . . . . it’s stable? But how?” she was typing on her terminal like crazy, “if I can somehow process this information to the data banks then perhaps we can establish a permanent connection?”
Too curious (or rather unaware of the possible danger) Mariko slipped back into the portal, crossing over what appears to be a tunnel of purple light until she came what seems to be the end, into what looked like an alley. She made her way out onto a fog covered street of cobblestone. Despite her being barefoot on the stone Mariko was too busy observing the strange new place around her. Tall stone buildings, tall metal street lamps, iron fences and the street signs had funny letters she couldn’t read. People walked the streets but . . . . . they were wearing such odd clothes and strange vehicles were parked along the road. Did she do it? Was she in another world? Not even realizing where she was going or that people were also beginning to stare at her too, Mariko stepped onto the road and by the time she got to the middle of the road . . . . . .
HONK HONK!
Another vehicle was driving towards her and screeched to a stop, the person driving stuck his head out from the side and was shouting at her in a strange language. She didn’t understand what he said and merely stood on the road when the man stepped out of the vehicle going up to her still shouting, but when she didn’t say anything the man grew angrier. He grabbed her by the collar of her blouse and raised a hand as if to slap her. Seeing as what he was going to do, Mariko held up her arms and before she realized it, she felt the clock hand spikes manifest from the ground, knocking the man back releasing her and a few spikes even went through the man’s vehicle. People screamed and the man shouted staring at the spikes, upon this distraction Mariko turned and ran away. She didn’t care that she was barefooted on the cold pavement nor took notice of any loose slivers of stone cutting her feet. She ran and ran, passing many people when someone suddenly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into an alley.
“いいえ！” she screamed pulling against whoever grabbed her.
“Hush child,” a voice said, even if she didn’t understand, “That was quite a stunt you pulled.”
Her eyes (probably yellow by now) were blinded by tears but she looked up to whoever pulled her into the alley. He was a young man with auburn hair and a short beard, wearing a grey coat and hat, he didn’t look angry like the last man, instead he was smiling kindly to her.
“Don’t be afraid child, I won’t hurt you,” he said as he knelt in front of her.
“何を言っているのかわかりません,” she said.
“Ah, don’t speak English do you? Probably don’t understand me either then,” he said.
“わかりません.”
“Sounds . . . . . Japanese is it?” although she doesn’t really look Japanese, not with that pale skin tone, hair and eye color. He’s never seen such bright yellow eyes before, “おはようございます,” he said, hoping he pronounced it right.
But the recognition in her eyes told him yes she was speaking and is perhaps Japanese, but his vocabulary was . . . . . very limited, especially when she started speaking in Japanese. And to his surprise her yellow eyes changed to a pale silver. What magic is this?
“ごめ, ごめ, but I do not speak Japanese very well I’m afraid,” he said before looking down and seeing the red stains on the stone and her feet, changing eye color aside, “But first let’s get your feet fixed up.”
She looked down as she raised her feet up, finally noticing the bits of sharp stone embedded in her skin and bleeding; she didn’t realize her feet had been cut, possibly from being too focused on running and now felt the pain coming.
“痛い!” she said, her eyes changed again to a dark maroon red color.
The next thing she knew the man lifted her up and sat her down on a barrel. She realized this while he knelt down before her as he pulled a . . . . stick (?) from his long coat pocket.
“Now then let’s get these out of you,” he said taking her right foot in his hand and raising the stick with the other to her foot.
Without a word he waved it around her foot and in an instant the stone slivers in her foot vanished and before long the cuts in her skin mended together and the wound healed before her eyes.
“何？”
The man gently smiled at her before focusing on her other foot, removing the slivers and healing it too.
“There all better now, but you shouldn’t be walking barefoot now can we?” he said before waving the stick again and a pair of shoes materialized on her feet.
“Ah!” Mariko exclaimed (her eyes changed yet again this time a light orange color) as she raised her now shoe covered feet and wiggled her toes; the shoes felt very comfortable.
“どうもありがとうございました！”
The man hummed, if he recalled it was a ”thank you” she was saying, he smiled.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, though it was doubtful she understood him. He hoped perhaps his actions would be interpreted enough, he pulled a small pouch from his pocket, “would you like some candy?”
From the pouch he took out some small light brown cubes, “Here, try it, its fudge.”
Mariko looked at the candy, she never seen fudge before.
“Try it, it’s good,” he took one and popped it into his mouth, “See?”
Seeing the man eat one, she tentatively took one and took a small bite, tasting the sugar and milk, her eyes turned bright green and popped the whole thing in her mouth.
“Mmmm,” she said.
“Taste good? Here,” he gave her the whole pouch which she accepted and ate one after another with a smile on her face.
Now that she calmed down it was time for the next part, her name. But how to ask?
“My name is Albus Dumbledore, what is yours?”
She blinked at the question, her eyes remained light orange and not understanding what he said no doubt, “Name, your name?”
She blinked again, obviously this language barrier is a problem, lets try a different tactic.
“Name,” he said and then pointing to himself, “Albus Dumbledore,” then he pointed to her, “Your name?”
She looked at him for a moment before saying in a slight accent but in almost fluent English, “Name,” she said.
“Yes, your name?”
“Your name,” she said, obviously she had parroted his words but most likely didn’t understand them.
In any other circumstances he would have been quite impressed by her ability to repeat words she most likely never heard of before with near perfect clarity. If he didn’t know better he would have thought English was her first language.
“Name,” he tried again, pointing to himself, “Albus Dumbledore.”
“Albus . . . . Dumbledore,” she said pointing to him.
“Yes,” he said then pointed to her, “Your name? Name?”
“Name,” she said, hesitating for a moment giving him the impression she still didn’t understand his question when she finally said, “Hakubi Mariko,” pointing to herself. Finally they were getting somewhere.
“Hakubi Mariko?” he asked, by her confirmation it was her name, they sound Japanese if ‘Mariko’ seemed an odd last name when it did sound more of a first name. Then he vaguely remembered it was Japanese custom for the last name to be spoken before the first. Meaning it would have been ‘Mariko Hakubi’ in British or western customs.
“Mariko?” he asked, she nodded, “It is a fine name.”
She smiled for a moment when she appeared dizzy and held her head like she was having a headache, that moment Dumbledore felt something . . . . . odd, like something was peering inside his . . . . . mind? Whatever it was, it wasn’t Legilimency, or at least he doesn’t think so since didn’t feel like it anyhow. When she held that position longer than it seemed healthy, despite the mysterious unease Dumbledore grew concerned for the child when she finally seemed to have come to her senses, shaking her head as if shaking off whatever ailed her and looked at him strangely. The moment she came to, that unknown sensation he felt vanished as quickly as it came. What was that? But before Dumbledore could say anything else, several other men in trench coats appeared by the alley entrance, Dumbledore let Mariko down from the barrel and pulled her until she was behind him.
“Dumbledore,” one of them, possibly the leader called to him.
“Auror Travers, good evening,” he said pleasantly, “what can I do for you today?”
“We have reports of a Breach of Secrecy, several Muggles witnessing the use of magic in the area,” said Travers.
“But then I assume any witnessing Muggles had their memories altered already,” said Dumbledore.
“They had, but we have yet to locate the source of the breach, however before they were Obliviated, some Muggles said it was caused by a young girl and her magic was . . . . . strange.”
“You don’t say? Strange how?” Dumbledore asked.
“We’ve examined the remains of the magic; strange protrusions from the ground resembling . . . . clock hands, one of them went through a Muggle’s car, nothing we’ve ever seen before, you wouldn’t know anything about that do you Dumbledore?”
“Now what makes you think I would know anything about that Travers?”
“When strange things, even by our standards happen, you’ve had an odd knack of turning up nearby, so I ask again professor, you wouldn’t know anything about this?”
By this point Mariko (still munching on fudge and eyes light orange again) who still didn’t understand what was being said between these two men, peeked out from behind Dumbledore enough for the other man to take notice.
“And who is this professor?”
“And who is this professor?” she said, Dumbledore knew Mariko was only copying.
“Sir, she matches the description we got from the Muggles,” one of the other men quipped.
“Her name is Mariko Hakubi,” Dumbledore said.
“Is that so?” the Auror examined her, “yes I can see how she could stick out,” he said as he took one step towards her.
“I’m afraid she doesn’t understand English, she speaks only Japanese, so unless we can find an interpreter you won’t be getting anything from her,” Dumbledore said firmly planting himself between Mariko and the men.
“Really? She just spoke in fluent English.”
“Yes she did, except she seems clever enough only to parrot words and understanding their meaning is beyond her as of now.”
“So how did you know her name?”
“I had to work for it,” he said, “Didn’t I child?”
She must have realized he was talking to her, “わかりません,” she said.
Before anything else was said another Auror arrived dragging a woman with long red hair into the alley.
“Sir!” the man said, “Sir we found this woman walking around the scene, she said she was looking for a girl that matches the description the Muggles gave us.”
“Excuse you, is that any way to treat a lady?” she exclaimed as she wrenched her arm from him.
Mariko peeked out again, her face lit up and her eyes changed back to a bright green, “ママ!”
“Mariko! あなたはどこにいた？あなたはそのように走ってはいけません！”
The woman picked her up and spun her around a few times, both laughing until she noticed the shoes on Mariko’s feet and the pouch of candy. She spoke to the girl, no doubt asking about them when the girl pointed to Dumbledore and said . . . . something. After a few exchanges the woman turned to Dumbledore.
“Ah so then you’re the one who found and gave my daughter her new shoes was it? You have my thanks.”
“She’s your daughter?” Strange there was very little resemblance, if any at all.
“Yes, silly girl wandered off while I was . . . . . .” the woman paused, “Busy, was so worried when I lost track of her. Oh where are my manners, I’m Washu, Washu Hakubi,” she said offering her hand to Dumbledore, “How do you do?”
Dumbledore shook her hand, “Albus Dumbledore madam.”
“Ma’am, are you aware of what had occurred not twenty minutes ago?” Auror Travers made himself known, obviously not in the mood for this.
“No, has something happened?” Washu said innocently.
“Indeed and it seemed to involve your daughter,” he said eyeing Mariko.
“My daughter? How so?”
“Ma’am, your daughter has made a breach of the International Statute of Secrecy when she used magic in front of several Muggle witnesses.”
Washu blinked at the terms, indicating she was unfamiliar and yet at the same time intrigued, “Muggles? Now what might that be? And what is this International Statute of Secrecy?”
“Ah Travers, it seems you may have made a breach yourself,” Dumbledore said with a bit of mirth, making the other man grit his teeth.
“Indeed, first off who are you all exactly?” Washu asked.
Ah well here they go, time to introduce them to the Wizarding World, if only a tad earlier than usual.
“It seems some explanation is in order,” Dumbledore said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Washu and Dumbledore were sitting on a bench in a nearby park, the two adults sat in silence while watching Mariko run about behind the trees, picking at the flowers and eating a new batch of fudge they bought not too long ago. It seemed to become her new favorite sweet.
“So,” Washu said breaking the silence, “you’re a Magical Society of Witches and Wizards?”
“Yes,” said Dumbledore.
“In different countries around the world, Japan as well?”
“Yes.”
“And not unlike your Muggle counterparts of every country, each magical community of said countries has their own government called the Ministry of Magic.”
“Yes.”
“And you live completely separate from the non magical folks or the ‘Muggles’ around the world? Which is probably why ‘magic’ has been considered nothing more than ‘fairy tales.’”
“Yes.”
“And you keep all of this in absolute secret from them?”
“Yes, well for the most part.”
“And I assume there is a reason for that?”
“Many, but to simply put, ‘witch hunts?’”
“. . . . . Fair enough,” she said.
All things considered she can imagine that Muggles would be intrigued at best and fearful at worst of this if they found out that magic exists; if they came to believe it at all. But if they did eventually come to believe . . . . . . . as a scientist herself, perhaps it is better or safer if the magical community did remain secret.
“And what has any of this got to do with my daughter?” Washu asked, though she would already guess the answer.
“Your daughter is of magic, however her magic is unlike anything we have seen; she could do things none of which we’ve ever witnessed before. But I suspect you already knew that,” Dumbledore surmised, “Or at least knew what she was capable of. With what she did earlier, I find it hard to believe that her abilities would have gone unnoticed by anyone, especially a parent.”
Washu was silent for a moment, almost lost in thought, “I am a woman of science professor, magic or anything as such to me should either be nonexistent or nonsense. Universally science and magic weren’t meant to mix.”
“But you do not think as so?” he asked curiously.
“At first I did but scientific progress has always been about finding that new discovery, the willingness to take that first step into the deep, darkness of the unknown. And I would dare say magic is actually quite similar to science in some fashion. After all these spells you have in your repertoire, someone in some distant past had to come up with them through experimentation, trial and error and not, shall I say randomly pulled out of a hat. And I imagine magic has its own set of rules and limitations just like anything else.”
Dumbledore had a thoughtful look, “well when you put it like that then . . . . yes I suppose it does. Although I can name at least five dozen wizards who wouldn’t appreciate magic being compared to science or anything remotely related to Muggles.”
“And I know many of scientists who would feel the same way too. The problem is that when comparing different things, most people focus on the differences rather than the similarities. Preferring to identify the clash instead of the harmony.”
“That is true.”
“As a scientist myself, I cannot say I can entirely understand magic itself nor can I say I know its fundamental workings or capabilities. But when she first showed these . . . . powers, this magic, the potential she could bring . . . . .”
“And she can learn, we have schools around the world where she can attend to one and be taught to harness and control her magic.”
“Can she learn your magic? You said it yourself, her magic is different from yours.”
“Well there is one way to find out,” he said taking out his ‘wand’ he called it and handed it to her, “just have her take this and give it a wave.”
Understandably Washu gave him a skeptical look but said nothing of it, she called Mariko to them and spoke to her in Japanese, most likely to do what he suggested when she gave Mariko the wand. Mariko had an equally skeptical and confused look (her eyes turned orange again) but then gave it a wave any way. She had been facing towards a park lamp and the moment she waved his wand it yanked the lamp right out of the ground. Unsurprisingly this shocked Mariko, watching the lamp fly straight up and it would have fallen in a heap if Dumbledore hadn’t taken his wand back and gave it a wave and making it come down slowly and returned to where it was standing, properly repaired like it hadn’t been wrenched out in the first place.
“Well that settles that,” he said almost cheerfully, tucking his wand back into his coat.
“Which is what exactly?” Washu asked as she was trying to calm down Marilyn.
“She is capable of learning our magic.”
“May I ask how did you determine that?”
“When she waved my wand at the lamp, she made it move.”
“By ripping the thing out from the ground you mean.”
“Yes she did, but the point was not to see if she could do anything productive but to see how my wand would react in her possession. If she couldn’t channel our type of magic or if any Muggle used a wand then my wand would have . . . . . . rejected them.”
“Rejected them . . . . how exactly?”
“Sometimes . . . . . the reaction can backfire so it can be . . . . dangerous and disastrous,” Dumbledore said looking a tad sheepish.
“You’re telling me that a possible reaction of her using a wand could have been hazardous and yet you let her use it regardless; all for the sake to see if she could perform your magic?” Washu asked with understandable anger and worry.
“I had placed safety measures if it ever did come to pass and I am glad it did not. But that was unbecoming and presumptuous of me so I understand if this angers you, I had no intention of letting any harm befall on her.”
Washu glared at Dumbledore for almost five minutes before her stare softened and she slowly let out a sigh.
“. . . . . . I wish I could say as a mother I would never do that but the scientist . . . . If I was told about this long ago and if she wasn’t my daughter . . . . . I probably would have done the same thing. With precautions of course but . . . . . I would have done the exact same thing. So, as one professor to another, no I can’t judge you for that.”
For once Dumbledore had no words for that small revelation; he wasn’t sure what to make of this. Here they were using, or at least the other, under different circumstances admitted she would’ve used this girl as if she were a mere plaything, perhaps it is better Mariko didn’t understand what was going on at the moment, that they were, ‘. . . . . . this poor child,’ he thought.
“Speaking of your daughter, I noticed you and she barely have any resemblance.”
“Ah, that’s because she is actually my adopted daughter.”
Oh, she was adopted?
“So,” Washu said breaking his train of thought, “What now?”
“Well,” he said gathering his composure, “for now nothing, most magic schools do not take students until a certain age.”
“Quick question; just how important is it for her to learn this magic?” asked Washu.
Dumbledore’s face grew serious, “Very important, it is crucial that she is taught to harness and control her magic, to neglect her training could have . . . . . dire consequences.”
“I assume there is more than just ‘dire consequences’ that you are referring to yes?”
The seriousness (and does she sense a hint of sadness) on his face indicates that whatever the reasons there was for her daughter to train, it was something not to be overlooked.
“More than you can possibly imagine.”
“Care to explain?”
Dumbledore somberly explained how disastrous it could be if a child of magic does not learn to harness and control their magic for themselves and those around them. It was . . . . . . not pretty.
“. . . . . . . I see. You mention students attend school at a certain age?”
“Yes, students of the school where I teach, Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry, start at the age of eleven. However if you’d like, there is a wizarding school in Japan, Mahoutokoro School of Magic, they take students as early as seven.”
“She is eight,” said Washu.
“Well then she has a bit of catching up to do if we can get her in attendance, but she is clever and I’m sure she can –”
“I want her to go to your school, it was Hogwarts you said? That way at least someone who knows about her . . . . . other capabilities can keep an eye on her.”
Getting an idea what she was going for but then that means she’ll need to learn several other things, how to speak English for one.
“But wouldn’t that make things more difficult, after all if she goes Mahoutokoro she doesn’t need to learn a different language or customs, Mahoutokoro is a fine school, I can speak to some people about her . . . circumstances, they can keep this confidential and –”
“No, the less people who are aware of what she can do the better. I can teach her English and your customs so you don’t have to worry about that. She’s smart, she can learn.”
Dumbledore remained silent for the better of a minute. Not only was sending her to a school in a completely different continent and having to teach her a completely different language and traditions when she could just go to a school right there in her country was entirely unnecessary but this could be a bad idea and he should persuade her otherwise and yet . . . . . . . . . . . the child intrigued him.
“As you wish. So for now, for the time being when she turns eleven, I’ll personally come and bring her acceptance letter. If that is satisfactory?” he asked against his judgment.
“That might be . . . . . complicated.”
“Is it because you live in Japan? That wouldn’t be too much trouble if I can –”
“It’s not’s that.”
“Then how so?”
“Well you see . . . .”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Again Washu and Dumbledore were sitting on the bench again only this time Mariko was in between them dozing off. Dumbledore, brilliant as he is could barely wrap his head around such a claim.
“Is this even possible?”
“It began with a theory but now . . . . .”
“You are from a . . . . different world?”
“A different Earth to be precise but yes, a parallel universe; similar to this one but not quite.”
“And you came here through . . . . . a portal was it?”
“Something like that, but I suppose you can say we made a ‘door’ and a connection or a path in between from our Earth to yours.”
“And you created this . . . . path? This door?”
“It was supposed to be a test run really, it wasn’t supposed to be . . . . . functional at all. Until she,” Washu tilt her head to Mariko, “somehow made it work.”
“How?”
“I’m . . . . . uncertain, but she managed to cross through and came here. I followed suit as you know,” then she remembered something, “oh yes that little . . . . . incident about her using magic in front of Muggles? What happens then? Will those men –”
“They’ve should have Obliviated the Muggles by now.”
“Obliviated?”
“Erased their memories, so as far as they’re concerned her little magic stunt never happened.”
“So then she is off the hook?”
“If you mean she’s not in trouble then yes, as far as the Aurors are concerned it was just an accidental magical outburst and perhaps she ‘just discovered’ her magic. She should be fine, although her strange magic may concern a few. But now going back to our previous conversation, how is she going to attend Hogwarts if you are from another ‘world’ exactly?”
“I can let you know when she turns eleven, after all according to my data this Earth and our Earth seem to run roughly at the same time speed and I think I have enough data to create a permanent connection.”
Dumbledore assumes there is more to that but decides against asking for now, not to mention this was just too extraordinary to be real, “And how will you let me know?”
Washu pulled something from her pocket, “Here take this,” she said handing him an object that looked like a wristband with a small sphere attached to it.
“With this we can communicate with each other,” she said after showing him how it works, “It’s a little outdated model but for the time being it should suffice.”
“I see . . . . .” he said staring at it, “but it is some kind of technology isn’t it?”
“Yes, why?”
“Then I cannot use this or even bring it to Hogwarts, any technology wouldn’t work at the school because of its high level of magic in the air.”
“Hmm, well I’m sure you would think of something professor.”
Of course.
“So then for the time being we should return home,” Washu picked up Mariko who had fallen asleep.
“Oh, well then allow me to walk you back to . . . . how do you get home?”
“Oh I believe the portal we came through should still be around I think,” Washu said, walking out of the park, carrying Mariko.
“If you are certain,” though he wasn’t certain himself, “here let me –” offering to carry Mariko.
“I can manage thank you.”
“But I think any passerby would disagree if they see a gentleman allowing a lady to carry a child,” in fact carrying a sleep child would seem odd in itself.
She considered it, “. . . . . . Well if you insist.”
Washu gently passed Mariko to Dumbledore who took off his coat, wrapped it around her and gently carried her in his arms; luckily very few people were out on the street, not surprising since it was close to dark.
“I’m curious as to what exactly did she just do, as I said, it wasn’t anything I or any witch or wizard ever seen or done before; it even baffled the senior aurors.”
“. . . . . . . . . I call it Soul Power, or Soul Magic if you prefer,” said Washu.
“So it is magic?”
“Yes, though you did mention it’s much different from yours.”
“Immensely, but what is it exactly? And why is it called Soul magic?”
“I’m . . . . . . still studying its nature and potentials, so my research is not yet complete for a . . . . . proper explanation.”
“Are there others with abilities like hers? In your world?”
“. . . . . . . No, there is no one else like her, she is . . . . . unique.”
“I can say without reservation that I agree, I do hope when you finish or at least have accumulated a great deal of research you would be so kind as to share it?”
Washu laughed, “of course.”
It wasn’t long until they returned to the alley where thankfully the portal was still there and no one was around. And the light it gave off was white Washu noticed.
“Well . . . . .” said Washu, taking Mariko back and returning Dumbledore his coat, “I suppose this is goodbye for now.”
“Yes, well I’ll put her name on our list of eligible students as a Muggle – Born and as I said I will personally come to deliver her letter.”
Muggle – Born, if Washu recalled him explaining briefly, is a witch or wizard born from Muggle parents with no magical blood to speak of in the family, one of three characterizations of Blood Status or Purity of Blood or some such social class nonsense.
“I think she will appreciate to seeing you again, professor . . . . . but until then,” she shifted Mariko to the side to offer her hand to Dumbledore. “It’s been . . . . . a pleasure Professor Dumbledore,” she said smiling.
Dumbledore glanced at her offered hand for a moment before smiling himself, “Likewise, Miss. Hakubi,” he said taking her hand, “I look forward to seeing Mariko again and the pleasure in teaching her I think. Oh one more thing if I may ask?”
“Yes?”
“I noticed several times Mariko’s eyes changed color, first it was yellow when we met, then it changed to silver, then a dark red and for a while light orange. Is that . . . . . normal for her?”
“It is, it’s . . . . . the changing of her eye color is her expressing her emotions, each color signifies a certain feeling; while her natural eye color is silver.”
“So the yellow, the dark red, green and lighter orange?”
“Yellow indicates fear,” she said.
“Makes sense, she was in an unfamiliar place, no surprise she would be afraid.”
“Yellow orange means she was curious or inquisitive about something, green was happiness or excitement.”
Again that makes sense given she was in a different world than her own, she would be curious and she was given candy, it would make any child happy.
“And the dark red?”
“Pain, but she did say that her feet were cut and had splinters in them but you removed and healed her feet, was it then?” He nodded, “Ah then thank you again for looking after her professor.”
“It is the least I can do and what else emotional colors does she change to?”
“Well . . . . . that is something you will have to see for yourself when she starts school isn’t it professor?”
Of course, “Somehow I knew you were going to say that. But for her emotions to be displayed so blatantly, not to mention her eyes changing, she’ll stand out among her classmates, as if her hair and complexion isn’t noticeable already.”
“She already does in primary school, so I’m sure it wouldn’t be much trouble for her.”
Dumbledore wasn’t as certain but, “If you believe so.”
Washu smiled and then with Mariko still soundly asleep entered the portal and as soon as she stepped through it, they both vanished leaving Dumbledore alone in the alley.
“Fascinating . . . . . . .”
He was about to leave himself when he realized something. Washu didn’t really know if it actually works between worlds now that he thinks of it. Then as if on cue the wristband that he was now wearing on his wrist began to ‘beep and blink,’ was he getting a ‘call?’ Taking a moment to remember how to ‘answer’ it just as Washu showed him and before he knew it an ‘image’ of Washu’s face appeared above the wristband.
“Hello Professor Dumbledore,” the image said with a smile, “Well glad to see the connection works, otherwise I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Dumbledore could do nothing but sigh and shake his head awkwardly.