A witch. Harri Potter was a witch. Even surrounded by proof of magic Harri still found it hard to believe. Just as that same proof made it exceptionally easy to accept as her new reality.
For the second time Harri found herself inside Gringott's Wizarding Bank, approaching a goblin teller. She felt absolutely terrified, especially when the being set it's glare down upon her. Then she remembered why she needed to do it.
"Yes?"
"Can you do an exchange from gallons to pounds, please?"
~
Growling, Goku forced his arms up above his head. Heavy stones surrounded him, tried to crush him with their weight. He might be tired, he might be hungry, but he wasn't about to let himself falter in this situation. Dust choked him, force him to take shallow breaths that burned his lungs. Teeth grit so tight his jaw gave a dull ache. His entire body shook from the effort. Never before had he moved so much weight all at once.
A cry ripped out of his mouth before the stones could fall upon him a second time and suddenly he was able to suck in some much needed fresh air. It was dry and burned his throat but it was welcome.
The afternoon desert sun beat down on him with as much heat as a raging fire. Yellow sand as far as he could see radiated heat in visible waves that rose from the ground in a way that reminded him of the ocean he'd left behind all those weeks ago.
Bending over somewhat and catching his balance, Goku coughed up the dust he'd been forced to inhale and grimaced at the dry air that replaced it. His body felt over heated, and not just from the sun, like his own blood had begun to boil as it passed through his limbs. He brought up a shaking hand to his gi and felt inside his top. Sides now significantly smoother than they had been when he'd initially punched it out of the back wall of his Grandpa's hut, the small piece of egg-shaped wood was examined for any signs of damage. When none was seen a sigh of relief left him and he replaced the piece of wood to where it was safe, and looked up.
There the desert bandit stood with his back to Goku. Long curly black hair reaching the white sash at his gi's waist. Anger bubbled up within the tailed boy as he noticed how the bandit had cornered Oolong- a second companion that had joined on the adventure, though unwillingly.
"Hey!" Goku called out, coughing one more time as he forced his way out of the rubble of stone around him. The bandit turned but the look of surprise on his face as he spotted Goku quickly disappeared in favour of haughty condescension.
"Alive are you?" The bandit called back, "it would have been wiser of you to run while I thought you were dead. Of course, I'll have to finish the job properly this time."
"Yeah? Why don't you just try it." Goku bit back, scowling. He stopped two arm lengths away and shifted in the sand to a well practiced fighting stance his Grandpa'd taught him. "I'm no coward. I was just warming up!"
"Goku, you don't have to do this!" Oolong suddenly called out, but the fear that made his voice warble only made the boy's frown deepen.
"That's right!" Came the high squeaky voice of a blue cat. It floated in the air somewhere in the shade of another desert stone formation where Goku could barely see it. "Just give Yamcha any and all dinocaps and you can be free to go!"
"Don't bother with the persuasion, Puar." Yamcha called over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Goku. The teen moved into his own fighting stance opposite the tailed boy, a smirk appearing on his face. "He's already made up his mind."
"That I did." Goku agreed, tensing. Yamcha yelled, spreading his arms and fingers so that they were splayed like a wolf's head.
"Wolf Fang Fist!"
But Goku was ready for him this time. Letting one of his legs slip in the sand, Goku ducked under the hit so that he could get through the taller teen's guard and give a straight jab into the white writing over the sternum on Yamcha's green tunic. Wind forced out of his lungs Yamcha gasped as he leaned forwards. Goku took immediate advantage, spinning in place so his tail would smack across Yamcha's face without remorse. Too winded to even cry out Yamcha tumbled to the sand in a heap.
Despite being the one still standing, Goku let out a low groan. His stomach gurgled like the raging monster it was, eating him from the inside out. How long had it been since he'd last eaten? A day? No, they'd been walking in the desert for a little longer than that and Goku hadn't eaten since they left the forest beyond the river. It reminded him of Harri, who'd sometimes spent weeks in that cupboard without eating. Both he and his Grandpa had counted each day that she told them she didn't get any food. He couldn't have imagined how she'd done it, knowing how much he needed to eat to feel healthy. Being forced not to eat for so long in the desert made a brand new respect fill him for his friend.
Yamcha was up again and suddenly Goku found himself down on his back, being tripped as the teen moved to stand. Focused back on the fight Goku rolled to avoid being stomped on- he had a feeling Yamcha's heel wouldn't feel very nice with how it left pock holes in the sand when it missed him. At the last moment, Goku made to roll in the opposite way and quickly caught Yamcha's boot in his hands when he'd gotten under his leg properly. Quick as a snake Goku brought up a leg to unbalance Yamcha before the teen could try and escape. They were both on the hot sand then, glaring at one another, but Goku managed to get up first this time. He backed away to put some space between them.
"Ugh!"
Snapping his head up, Goku spotted Bulma. The blue haired teen had been napping in the shade, having had thrown a fit about hunger and thirst and dinocaps and how she hated the desert in general. Now the teen sat up, tired eyes glaring at him from across the sand.
"How can anyone get any sleep with all this racket?!"
Just like that Yamcha fell back to the ground, skin so red Goku was certain the teen had acquired a sudden sunburn. With a gasp Puar flew over to the hover car that she and Yamcha had arrived in and drove it to be between Yamcha and Bulma. Curiously Goku watched as Yamcha scrambled to get into the vehicle, like his life depended on it.
"This isn't the last you've seen of me, Son Goku!" Yamcha called over his shoulder like some movie villain, even as the hover car kicked up so much dust it might as well had been a mini sand storm.
Even as he waited for the sand to settle Goku shook his head at the absurdity. Harri had read books to him before, ones she'd snuck under her cupboard under the pretense of too much homework from her school Professors, and the line Yamcha had just used was one of the favorites said by villains in several of them. All at once Goku's mood suddenly plummeted. He put a hand over his heart where the wood for the Mirror safely sat.
"Was that a boy?! What was his name? Why did you let him go, Goku?" Bulma demanded, looking between the two companions with her.
"It's not like I'd eat him if I won." Goku pointed out, stomach gurgling again as he made his way over to the teen. "Why wouldn't I let him go if he didn't want to fight?"
There was a thick silence that followed which Goku ignored. He sat down heavily in the cool shaded sand and let out another groan. "So hungry."
Nervously Oolong shuffled towards Bulma so that the blue haired teen was between him- an ampothramorphic pig- and Goku.
"That was Yamcha the Desert Bandit." Oolong eventually answered Bulma, side-eyeing Goku as he spoke. "He's, apparently, deathly afraid of girls."
"What?!" Bulma screeched and Goku didn't even have the energy to wince at the sharp sound. "No. That's impossible. I know because we locked eyes there for a moment and we definitely had a moment. You know?"
Another quiet groan left Goku as he listened to Bulma ramble on about seeing Yamcha next. Then she seemed to pause, as though something didn't make sense.
"Yeash, is your hearing as bad as your attitude?" Oolong grouched, causing Bulma's face to go very red with rage, and stuck a finger in his ear. "I said he was a bandit, didn't I? He wanted our dinocaps."
"Dinocaps?" All of Bulma's rage seemed to seep out of her then. "We don't have any of those, no wonder he left..."
"Well..." Oolong gave a shake of his hand, earning a raised brow from the blue haired teen. The pig then sighed, "I have my own right here."
Oolong proceeded to produce a capsule from his pocket and show it to Bulma. The teen looked furious.
"YOU'VE HAD THAT ALL ALONG AND MADE ME WALK ANYWAYS?!" She screeched loud enough to make Goku roll away to hold his ears and groan in protest. Bulma didn't notice.
"It's not like you asked if I had any dinocaps on me! I'm not about to offer up my own stuff when you are the ones that dragged me along with you!" Oolong defended but clicked the capsule button and threw the device anyway. With a loud 'BANG!' a dark blue double decked mobile camper appeared within a cloud of smoke.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Bulma exclaimed as she dashed right in, "air conditioning!"
Oolong rolled his eyes at the antics before he looked over at the prone Goku. "Hey kid, you coming in too?" A stomach gurgle was the only response. "I have food in here that I could give you."
"Really..?" Goku questioned, pushing himself up onto his elbows and narrowing his eyes at the pig. "What about not wanting to share?"
"I never said that I didn't want to share." Oolong pointed out, a little annoyed. "Just that I'm an unwilling tag-along on this adventure and that no one asked me what I wanted to do."
"You were being mean to those villagers." Goku reminded, "how else were we going to make sure you kept your promise when we left? Especially when you lied so much at first?"
A long defeated sigh left Oolong then, "yeah, yeah, I guess so. Look, do you want to eat or not?"
"And you want to share this time?" Goku made sure to ask.
"I already said so, didn't I? Common." Oolong gestured to follow and Goku was quick to get up to do so.
Inside the camper the air was cool and a lot less dry, which was soothing for the throat. There was a set of stairs going up right in front of the door going in, but Goku bypassed said stairs in favor of the booth beside a fridge. Bulma had laid herself out along half the seat but Goku found that there was still just enough room for him to fit too. Oolong had already opened the fridge, revealing several small silver packets labeled as different things. The pig grabbed three different packets, put one each on a separate plate, then opened what looked to be a drawer under the counter.
"Is that a Reformer?" Bulma asked with surprise, "that's one of dad's latest updates to tech. Even I don't have that in my stuff yet."
"I signed up to test it out." Oolong stated as he closed the drawer after putting all three plates within.
"But that's only available to-"
"Shareholders. I know."
Goku blinked dumbly. The other two stared at one another in silence, Bulma with shock and Oolong with a smug satisfaction. A 'DING!' sounded and Oolong opened the drawer again. Instead of the silver packages, the three plates were now filled to the brim with food.
"Woah!" Goku exclaimed with awe, "that's brilliant! Did it make all that from those tiny silver things?! How did it do that?!" A thought came to him then and Goku eyed the plate put before him, "is it really safe to eat?"
"Sure, kid. Eat right up. Hasn't hurt me any." Oolong answered, "as for the other stuff, ask your companion here. She's the daughter of the guy who invented it."
As soon as Goku had been given the go-ahead he'd dug right in. There was no room for questioning as he focused on his task, his stomach demanding to be stated. Bulma didn't need any questions to start her talking about her father's technology though and simply began to ramble as she picked what she could off the plates before Goku got to it. One thing both Oolong and Bulma found about Goku as they traveled together was just how much the boy could pack away in one seating. A feat that still astonished them to this day.
It was because of this ravenous hunger that Goku seemed to have that they quickly learned not to go between him and what he'd determined would be his next meal. Bulma had tried once, being appalled that he'd eat a tiger they came across, but quickly decided to bite her tongue the next time he ate what he'd killed.
Once Goku had made a point of moving out of ear shot from Bulma's ranting. When she'd continued anyways, he then left Bulma to defend against the 'poor animal' herself. Bulma had run and the animal had given chase. That was when Goku came back into hearing range, though he hadn't done more than follow after the terrified teen until she'd promised to stop her bewailing. It had not been a good day for her.
After the event, Oolong, having witnessed it, hadn't dared to utter a word when they came across some wild boars. The anthropomorphic pig already knew that he wouldn't have survived that encounter without Goku there to protect the two of them.
Maybe that was why, when Goku suddenly froze and stopped eating it immediately caught Bulma and Oolong's attention. He reached inside his shirt gi and pulled out a small piece of wood.
"It worked...!" A small girlish voice reached Oolong's ears, sounding relieved beyond belief. "Goku...! It works!"
The biggest grin Oolong had ever seen was suddenly on the tailed boy's face. And that was saying something as he hadn't seen the tailed boy smile once since he'd met him. In fact, Oolong could have easily said that the boy didn't know how to smile until that moment, way too angry at everything to know the meaning of it. So the pig stared with wide disbelieving eyes at the action.
"Ri!" He greeted happily, tail curling around behind him sporadically in his excitement. He looked at the piece of wood like it was his oasis in this desert. "Ri! I can hear you! I can see you!"
Discretely a sigh had left the blue haired teen. Then Bulma leaned closer to Goku to see for herself. The same raven haired girl could be seen through the Window, staring back at them. She seemed to be sitting with her back against a headboard. Her glasses became askew as she lifted a hand to wipe away the tears gathered in her green eyes.
"It's so good to hear you again...! See you...!" Harri proclaimed happily. For once her tears weren't from sorrow but relief. "I don't know what I would have done if it didn't work, but it would have been quite drastic." She let out a relieved sigh, and leaned forwards to be closer to the Window. "My gosh Goku! There's so much I need to tell you! I don't even know where to start."
When he was finally able to process things again, he turned his attention to the new voice. His brain promptly short circuited again. "Is that a person appearing on a piece of wood?" Oolong asked incredulously.
Bulma was the one to answer him, "yup. It sure is." with her tone still portraying awe.
Goku ignored them both. "Start at the beginning of course," he instructed, "then tell me where you are."
"Right! Perfect! That will give me all the explanation I need for the present I got for you!" Harri shuffled on her bed some to get more comfortable, showing some of the plain but large bedroom she was in. "It's a long story though, you have something to do while you listen?"
As though prompted, Goku's stomach gave off another growl. Abruptly Harri closed her mouth and gave the tailed boy a look. Goku gave her a sheepish grin. He moved two tall glasses in front of him to lean the Window against so he could keep eating.
"That's Oolong." Goku introduced when he noticed Harri's curiosity when the pig moved closer to see what was happening. "We found him taking girls away from a village."
"Uh- what?" Harri looked incredulous. Then she shook her head as though to clear it of thoughts, "okay, well, you need to tell me all about that after my story then. I asked to get my food brought to me later." And Harri looked very smug at this proclamation indeed. "For introduction's sake though, hello to Karate Kid's friends. I'm Harri Potter."
Goku rolled his eyes at her for that but the smile on his face was fond.
"Bulma Briefs." Bulma greeted. The look of disbelief wasn't as prominent this time around as she stared at the Window. "I guess I didn't say hi before, huh? I'm the one that invited Goku on this adventure with me."
"And told him about Grandpa's Dragonball! I remember," and there was a soft upwards pull to Harri's mouth at that.
"I'm Oolong," the anthropomorphic pig cut in then. "How'd you get that cut on your forehead?"
As Harri blinked at the sudden question, Oolong shrunk in on himself at the glare sent his way by the other two present. Or more specifically, from Goku. Nervously Oolong swallowed, shuffled away from the gaze that promised to make him lunch if he dared to overstep again.
"Oh. Well... I guess I should start my story then. It explains that too."
A frown made itself known on Goku's face then; he hadn't liked how insecure Harri looked in that moment.
"You don't have to tell them," Goku assured. "I can talk to you on Nimbus instead."
"Nimbus?" Harri asked, perking up in interest. Before Goku could answer though, Harri was already shaking her head. "Wait, no. One story at a time. I don't mind talking with your friends there."
Goku nodded, "okay."
"Uncle Vernon got very angry because of the letters. That's why he had us all pack up and leave..." Harri looked away for a moment, eyes distant. Goku stayed quiet as he waited, slowly bringing a plate of food in front of him so he could eat from it. He never looked down at it though and kept his eyes solely on his friend. "Until this morning, I was brought along as we went all across London. Uncle Vernon had us moving from one hotel to the next. But... the letters followed. Finally Uncle Vernon heard news of a big storm that was rolling in. He rented a rickety shack on some cliffs beside a lighthouse and told us all how he dared the owls to find is there through the storm. And he was right, there were no letters that came by owl for that entire day. The storm was so bad that the entire shack shook with each thunderclap and it only got worse as the night went on.
"This morning, at twelve o' one, someone showed up." That soft barely-there smile started to appear on Harri's face again as she spoke, "it was a man who called himself Rubeus Hagrid. He's so big that he had to bend over to fit through the door and couldn't stand straight when he managed to get in so he had to sit the entire time or risk bashing his head! He had a mane of long shaggy hair and a beard so wild and tangled I could only just make out his eyes!"
"That doesn't sound like something I'd be happy about." Oolong muttered, but only Bulma heard. The blue haired teen silently nodded in agreement.
"Hagrid kept telling Uncle Vernon to 'shut up' whenever he tried to interrupt what Hagrid was trying to tell me." Harri gave a delighted little giggle at that then quickly continued, "he said that he'd come to give me the letter personally, since the owls were never returned and the place he worked at was starting to miss them. Goku, the letter was from a school. A place called Hogwarts." Harri turned on her bed then and placed the Window against the pillow she had been leaning on.
Goku blinked at the wide room that was suddenly displayed before him, a door directly across from the Window. When Harri came back into view she stopped at the foot of the bed and lifted the lid to a cedar chest there. It closed with a 'SLAM!' and the raven haired girl ran back over to the bed with a letter in her hands. She slid onto her belly on the covers and fished the parchment out of the envelope. Bulma and Oolong stared at the green loopy lettering on the envelope facing them, only to discover that they couldn't read it. Harri held the paper aloft to read aloud to them all.
"Dear Miss Harrietta Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed you will find a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September first. We await your owl by no later than July thirty-first. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress."
"S- school of what..?!" Bulma choked.
Harri didn't seem to hear her as she excitedly put the paper down and stared at Goku earnestly, "Goku, I have magic. That's how this is possible! And this school Hogwarts is supposed to teach me how to use magic!"
"What? But Ri, if you're right, you're already using magic just to talk to me." Goku pointed out with a grin.
"You know what I mean," Harri huffed, trying- and failing- to hide her soft smile. But as fast as it had come it fell, a solemn look appearing in it's stead.
"What's wrong?" Goku asked, tilting his head. "Those Dursley's didn't stop you from going, did they?"
"No. Well, they tried. That's why we were running around London, remember? No, um..." Harri lifted a hand and pinched a lock of inky hair between her fingers, rolling the strands back and forth. "Hagrid knew about my parents." Her green eyes were cast downwards but Goku had stilled upon the mention of them.
Harri's voice was very quiet. "They... Goku, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia lied. My parents didn't die in a car crash." She swallowed and finally looked back up. Her face was very pale. "Hagrid said... he said that I look like my mum. But I have my dad's hair. Then he... well he told me how they died. And when we came to Diagon Alley to shop for my school things, I got a book about it. An entire book about the incident. And there were several to choose from!" A bitter tone began to taint her voice as she continued, but she showed no outwards anger as she kept going.
"My parents are famous." Despite her efforts, tears began to gather in her eyes. "All because of the way they died. And me too. Apparently I'm famous. I'm famous because I'm not dead. Because I survived. They call me The-Girl-Who-Lived." The pressure became too much. Tears began pouring over her cheeks. Harri pushed her glasses off and covered her eyes with her hands as she sniffled into the silence her revelation caused.
"Sorry," she said brokenly, "I thought I was done crying over it by now."
"Don't say sorry." Goku told her firmly, "you're allowed to be angry."
Oolong felt something pull at his heart as the girl seemed to freeze at those words. A dry chuckle left her lips with no humor whatsoever and she sniffled again.
"I guess I forgot." She explained, trying to wipe the tears away. "I can't hide from you, Karate Kid."
"How can you be famous and not know it?" Bulma asked, ignoring the irritated sway in Goku's tail from the question. He hadn't looked away from the Window though, so Bulma figured that she'd be alright.
Harri took a moment to respond but her tone was much lighter than it had been before. "From what Hagrid told me, people with magic keep themselves separate from people who don't. It feels very much like I've been let into an entirely different world to be honest. They weren't on the school list but I got several books that are supposed to help me understand magical people. After an incident at the wizard's bank, the goblins there gave me a list that they said was odd I didn't have included with the rest of my school things. The Headmaster of Hogwarts- named Albus Dumbledore- knew I grew up with my relatives and should have made the necessary arrangements for me. I suppose, with how Hagird had acted when he first saw me, this Dumbledore expected the Dursley's to tell me about magic. Could you imagine that?"
Goku snorted at the notion. Despite her eyes still being covered a sad twitch of a smile appeared on Harri's face at the sound.
"Exactly."
"Why didn't they tell you?" Oolong asked incredulously. "That seems like something important to know."
"The Dursley's pride themselves on being normal." And the way Goku said it, the term sounded like it was a criminal offense.
Over Goku's head, Bulma and Oolong exchanged a look. Was this why Goku had made it very obvious that he had no intention of conforming to Bulma's version of normal? He especially didn't like it when Bulma couldn't back up her claims to what normal was with good reasons to follow it. Not helping a sea turtle get back to the sea just because it wasn't a planned trip- because adventures are certainly planned- was one that had really bothered him.
"Magic doesn't belong with normal." Harri finished, finally letting her hands fall away. While her eyes were now red, they were dry. "But that didn't stop them from accepting money from abnormal places."
"What do you mean?" Goku asked sharply, "what did they do?"
"There was a reason Uncle Vernon could afford to buy Dudley so many presents on his birthdays, despite what his salary gave him." At this Harri was starting to look properly angry, "he was being bought by two parties, both interested in having The-Girl-Who-Lived as their daughter in law! As my official guardian, by wizard laws Uncle Vernon was able to accept marriage contracts on my behalf. One of which had him being paid out of my trust fund left to me by my parents!"
"Marriage?" Goku asked, remembering the last time that it had been brought up. He furrowed his brow, "but Grandpa said that that's something you do only with a person that you don't want to live without."
"Goku, it's only recently that parents have been letting their children choose their own partners in marriage." Bulma explained, "when you have the choice you can choose to marry for love, like your Grandpa told you. A marriage contract is a promise between two different families saying that when their children are old enough they will marry. It takes away the ability to choose your own life partner."
It was a good thing the tailed boy wasn't holding the Window. Instead it was just the metal fork in Goku's hand that broke. It's head clattered to the table top while the handle became horribly mangled within his fist. His two companions stared at the broken utensil with open shock.
With a grumble, "so what are you going to do, Ri?" Goku asked the still fuming girl.
Harri let out a heavy sigh, "well, I've never met any Ronald Weasley or Draco Malfoy so I don't know if I'd even like these people to be my friend let alone a life partner. From what I understand, contracts of marriage for wizards are usually done between the heads of the family, so it's likely neither of those boys knows about it and they could be just as unhappy about it as I am. On the other hand they might try to take advantage of me growing up without knowing anything about magic and do something to make the marriage contact binding."
"You mean it isn't already?" Bulma questioned, surprised.
"No, it's not. While the Dursley's can be bribed into considering the contracts, they're not Potters. Only the head of the Potter family can officially accept a contract ...and with the passing of my parents, I'm the last Potter." A glint of something fierce came to the girl's emerald green eyes then, "I've made sure whomever was using my trust fund to pay the Dursley's won't get another galleon out of there."
"Good," Goku praised her, grinning. Then he tilted his head, "what's a ga-lion?"
"Ga-lee-uhn." Harri giggled, pronouncing it slowly for him. "It's wizard money. When I said it's like I walked into another world I meant it- magicals have their own currency, their own government, their own regions to live, different sport games to play, and an entirely different way of life! You should see the clothes they wear when they think they're blending in with non-magicals."
Then her eyes lit up, "actually! I can show you!"
She got off the bed again and went out of view. There was a sound of a bird's wings and then there Harri was at the end of her bed again. There was a great snowy owl on her shoulder and a small package in her hands. She put the packet down on the ceder chest lid and held up an arm for the owl.
"Goku, this is Hedwig! She's my birthday present from Hagrid! I have no idea who I'd send letters to but I love her anyways. Isn't she beautiful?" The bird had hopped down from her shoulder to her arm and gave an affectionate nip to the hand that smoothed the feathers on her chest at the compliment. With a small giggle, Harri let the bird fly back to her perch, out of view of the Window. "Anyway, it's still our birthday and I have here my gift to you."
"What is it?" The boy asked curiously, eyes widening as he scooted closer like the action would help him see better. His chest quickly hit the edge of the table, sending a jolt through him as the sore muscles there protested.
With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Harri opened the package and brought out a bulky-looking device. She held it up to her face, "say cheese!"
"Cheese?" There was a bright flash and Goku flinched back, blinking. "Hey!"
"Sorry, I didn't think it'd be so bright." Harri apologized as she made her way back over. She sat on the side of her bed and plucked a small piece of paper that had been dispensed from her item.
"What is that?" Bulma asked as Harri then looked at the paper in her hands.
The girl looked up and grinned happily, "this is a camera!" Harri explained, moving the bulky box-like piece of technology. "Dudley got one once but he broke it within the day that he owned it. And this is a photo. A magical photo!"
She held up the photo for them to see. It showed a curious Goku staring out at the viewer from the Window against Harri's pillow, Hedwig on a wooden owl stand placed on the side table beside the bed, and a small window above the bed with the view of the sky. Goku had seen pictures before, Harri had shown him several that were inside books or on magazines and news papers that she could smuggle into her cupboard.
The picture that Harri showed him now... it was nothing like those pictures- and not because it had him in them.
This photo that Harri held moved, like those within the shot were stuck on permanent loops. It had Hedwig turning her head to look, only to close her eyes in annoyance. The clouds outside the window moved along lazily. And picture Goku gave a confused smile before he looped back to being curious at the situation again.
"Moving pictures...!" Bulma gasped, eyes wide.
"Yes!" Harri agreed gleefully. She put the picture down and leaned forwards to meet Goku's eye. "And I plan to take loads of pictures. I'll get to show you my world."
Before anyone could reply there was a knock at Harri's door. Startling somewhat, the girl looked over her shoulder, only to breathe a sigh a moment later. She got off her bed and went to the door, opening it. Harri seemed to pause as she looked down at something the others couldn't quite see.
"Sorry, um, what are you?" Harri asked suddenly, even as she accepted something in her hands.
"I ams a house elf, miss." Came the scratchy voiced reply. "Enjoy yours'es dinner."
"Oh. Thank you..."
There was a sound of a crack, like a whip being snapped sharply, which had Harri flinch back. But the girl closed the door a moment later, a tray of food in her hands, completely unharmed despite the puzzlement on Harri's face.
"What an odd creature," Harri said absently as she went to the bed. She sat down with her legs in the butterfly stretch, same as Goku would do when not sat in a chair, and moved the tray to balance on her lap. Only, when she let the tray go it had begun to levitate a few inches. "Whoa!"
Harri put her hand under the tray and watched as it rose two inches above the limb. She took her hand away and it lowered so it was instead two inches above her legs again. An awed expression brightened her features.
"Wow! It must be charmed to hover over whatever is under it..." she pressed down on one side but it took a while before the tray began to tilt. "And it accommodates for the weight and pressure applied to it's surface, wicked!"
Harri looked up suddenly, her eyes landing on Goku again. "Speaking of wicked things, how is your adventure?"
As Goku's wide grin became impossibly bigger on his face, Bulma pulled away, shaking her head. She got up from the booth and gestured to Oolong. When the pig joined her, "can you show me where the bathroom is? I'd like to take a shower, get this sand out of my hair."
Oolong looked back over to Goku who animatedly told the story of how he came to own a flying yellow cloud. The boy had jumped up on the booth seat as he showed with his entire body what he'd done in each scenario he described. It was easily the happiest that the pig had seen the boy be since they'd met over a week ago.
He looked back to Bulma. Gaze boring into her with intent. "I have questions."
Bulma huffed. "I figured."