If you haven't done the 'Choose your own story' that I posted before, then this extra will be
completely new to you.
And if you did that, you probably know how
this story goes.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this story
bit.
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Five hours after entering Fire Country,
Harry understood where the country got it's name. Even with spells to
make the stifling heat and humidity manageable, Harry felt completely
drained when he stopped for lunch.
As he gulped down his icy water, Hedwig
woke with a start. She tightened her grip on his shoulder and tilted
her head in curious caution.
Harry cast a Homenum Revelio but the
spell didn't show any people in range.
Something else had caught Hedwig's
attention.
But other than the rustling of trees
and droning buzz of insects, Harry couldn't hear anything to be
worried about.
Hedwig hooted, sounding more concerned
than cautious now.
Harry stood. “What is it?”
Hedwig jumped into the air with a hoot
and zoomed forward.
Trusting her, Harry followed her
through the forest and sped up as he heard faint sounds of distress.
The forest shifted into a swamp-like
terrain that seemed unnatural. With no swamp plants or creatures like
flies and frogs, the swamp seemed like it had been plopped down there
as though someone had set off the Weasley's Portable Swamp.
It didn't take long for Harry to find
the source of the distressed cries.
A small fawn struggled in the swamp's
thick dark mud. It looked worn out, exhausted and resigned to it's
fate. But the moment it caught sight of Harry, the fawn perked up and
made a tired snuffling sound.
When the tiny deer calmed it's
struggle, Hedwig turned to him with a do-something-now look.
Turning to the swamp mud, Harry cast
the Evanesco spell. The spell vanished the top layer of the foul
smelling mud only to expose more mud underneath. The swamp wasn't
anything like the twins' portable swamp. And that limited what he
could do with his magic.
The fawn let out a weak and miserable
sound.
Harry turned to Hedwig. “You might
want to be higher up in the air for the next bit.”
With Hedwig safe up in the air, Harry
concentrated on the tiny creature and moved his wand in a familiar
motion. “Accio.”
The fawn let out a high-pitched sound
of terror as it zoomed through the air to Harry.
Thanking his Quidditch reflexes, Harry
caught the mud encrusted fawn as gently as he could before it could
slam into his chest.
When petting, murmuring and Hedwig's
soothing hoots didn't calm the trembling fawn in it's panicked state,
Harry turned to his magic. Casting the first spell that came to mind,
a silver stag materialized beside them in a rush of magic.
The fawn stilled, uncurled and raised
it's head to stare at the stag.
It's trembling and panicked gasping
quietened. With a tired whine the fawn stretched, trying to nuzzle
Harry's patronus just before it disappeared.
Taking advantage of it's calmness,
Harry fed the fawn some water and faltered in surprise when it fell
asleep in his hold.
“Now what?” Harry turned to Hedwig.
Hedwig tightened her grip on his
shoulder and gave him a blank stare.
“Maybe we can leave it here and it's
parents will...” Harry winced as Hedwig bit his ear. “It was just
a suggestion,” he added weakly. After a bit of maneuvering, Harry
stowed his wand away and pulled the still dirty fawn closer in a
better hold and moved away from the swamp.
Glad that he had already eaten lunch
before this unforeseen rescue, Harry walked faster to cover some more
distance to Konoha before the sun set. If he was lucky, he'd figure
out what to do with the fawn. And if he reached Konoha with it, then
hopefully someone there would know what to do with it.
A few hours into their travel with the
snoozing fawn, a faint and distant bleating made Harry stop.
The fawn in his arms startled awake and
looked around as though searching for something.
Hedwig and him shared a look before she
took to the air and moved towards the sounds. Wondering if he was
going to save yet another deer that day, Harry followed after her.
“What are you doing on this
property?” A stern voice called out.
Harry paused cautiously, searching the
shadows around him. With a quick Homenum Revelio, Harry turned to
where the person was hidden and ventured, “I think there's a deer
that need help?” Before Harry could feel too stupid about his
words, the fawn warbled out a cautious call.
An answering call came from the
direction that Harry had been going towards.
In the space of a second, an entire
herd of deer emerged from the trees and headed straight to him.
Hedwig hooted, whether at him or at the
deer, he couldn't tell.
Startled and unsure, Harry froze but
the fawn in his arms regained it's vigour as the herd surrounded
them.
Noting the fawn's excitement, Harry
knelt. He kept his hands close as the fawn wobbled down onto the
ground.
The fawn stayed within arms' reach as a
doe came closer and nuzzled it with something akin to relief.
Happy at the reunion he had helped
happen, Harry glanced at Hedwig, “We did that.”
Hedwig hooted in agreement, looking
rather pleased.
A pointed throat clearing broke the
moment.
Harry started, having forgotten the
other man's presence. The man stood slouched outside the ring of deer
and stared at Harry with sharp black eyes.
“You saved our missing fawn,” the
man said. While the deer skin coat showed the man's connection to the
deer, the assessing gaze and the facial scars told Harry that the man
was anything but a simple deer herder.
Harry shrugged and said, “I just got
it out of a swamp.”
“Swamp?” The man asked, his face
shifting into a frown as he glanced at Harry's clothes. “Where was
this?”
Conscious of the dried mud on his
clothes, Harry said, “A few hours back that way.”
“The paperwork I'll need to do to
deal with that,” the man sighed. “I can't bear to think about all
that extra work.”
Unsure of what to say to that, Harry
ignored it and asked, “Please tell me I'm still headed in the right
direction to reach Konoha.”
“You're headed to Konoha?”
Harry nodded and rubbed at the mud on
his clothes.
After another assessing gaze, the man
said, “You are. And as long as you don't get sidetracked saving any
other animals, you'll be in Konoha by the end of the week at the very
latest.”
Harry shrugged and turned to the fawn.
“There's nothing wrong with saving an animal.”
As though it felt Harry's gaze, the
fawn stopped nuzzling the doe and bounded back to Harry.
Taken by the fawn's excitement, Harry
knelt down to pet it.
The fawn however, took Harry's movement
as an invitation to jump back into his hold. The doe that had
followed the fawn nuzzled Harry's head with something resembling a
purr.
The rest of the herd moved forward,
apparently keen to meet Harry as well. Harry waved a hand in the
man's direction as he ducked and dodged the herd's curious licks and
rubs. “A little help please.”
A quick series of whistles made most
the herd move away from Harry. The fawn seemed quite content to stay
in Harry's arms.
“Looks like you've managed to charm
the herd,” the man said, the amusement in his voice crystal clear.
“Wasn't trying to,” Harry said in
protest as he stood, wincing at the deer hair on his clothes.
The man glanced at the fawn in Harry's
arms. “You heading to Konoha for a job?”
Even though he wasn't, Harry agreed. He
didn't think that his real reason- his search for any living Uzumaki- was
something to share with strangers.
“You don't have to look any further,”
the man said. “How would you like to be a deer herder?”
Harry stared at the man and blurted the
first thing that came to mind. “I don't know anything about
deer.”
“By the time we reach Konoha, you'll
know everything you need to.”
Harry narrowed his eyes. “Konoha?”
“It's time to get this herd back
home,” the man said and held out his hand. “I'm Nara Shikaku, by
the way.”
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Harry refuses the job offer but accepts the travel plans and spends the entire trip to Konoha having to deal with Shikaku's continued talk about how wonderful his job offer is.
Polar
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