...Patched with the Fox [Harry Potter Druid Core SI OC fic, Starting as Kids]

[KitsuneObsessedFreak]

Patched With the Fox 01
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Aka Bro becomes a Druid and Halps Harry a bit.
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Disclaimer:
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This is a Collaborative Commission between Kitsune Obsessed Freak and TheLetter_A, commissioned by Summercat.
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As such, it will be written as what Summercat wants, which is Druid Boy helps Harry Potter out before Book 1. We'll see if he continues past that, but I fucking hope so, because I have ideas for book one now and I kinda wanna use them…
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But if not, oh well. I won't force him.
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Expect: Kids being kids. Chaos. Mentions of child abuse. Trauma. Magic. Friendship. Silliness. And Shenanigans.
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Either way, expect things to not be adhering to canon.
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Enjoy!
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~~~~
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John Baker held his arms before a little ritual fire, his magic swirling as he burnt the magic herb known as sage, and chanted, willing a magical fox spirit to come before him and make him a contract.

It had been eight years since he wound up reincarnated in this world — or something like that? He didn't really know, but he sure did have the memories of an old nerd swimming around his brain.

Anyways, where was he… Right! Ritual!

Ah, the fire was getting hotter, so it was time to make his plea, right? Oh! He could see it! He could see the fox's—

"Sorry to interrupt your mystical ritual here, but we have something to tell you," his father interjected with a hand on his shoulder.

With the ritual interrupted, the fire died out and the fox spirit dissipated. "Aww, I was sooo close too!" he whined, looking at his father with wide eyes.

"Ah, sorry about that, but your mother and I have something to discuss while we have the chance," his father said apologetically. He then started walking back into the house, looking at him expectedly.

"Okay Dad…" John sighed, following his father back into the house with a sigh as he did.

The house was old. It had been in the family since forever. It creaked, it groaned, and he heard things like it not being on proper foundations as reasons for the government to step in.

It was expensive to heat, to cool, and really needed a lot of work. But if it was up to him, he would at least like to live in a house in any lifetime, and not an apartment like his memories showed him.

After all, apartments had no backyards for easy access to nature.

Entering the home, he followed his father to a long, mahogany table he had accidentally caused to grow roots into the house and start sprouting as a child. That table was growing well, and was likely the only thing really holding the house in one piece at this point.

His parents were already sat by the table, his mother reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I suppose there isn't any way to say this lightly..." his mother started. "We're moving to a different home soon."

"…Does it at least have a backyard?" he asked, knowing he'd miss this creaky old half-tree home.

"Of course!" his father replied. "It may not be the same as this home, but it's a lot less likely to collapse."

"And it's not too far from here, in Little Whinging. You can still see your friends, they'll be close by," his mother added. "Think of it less as a complete change, and more as simply... refreshing our surroundings."

"Okay Mum," he sighed. He would have to build his ritual space from scratch again and regrow everything he needed at the new house.

It would be a pain, but he could deal with it. But it would probably be safer than living in their current home at least.

However, wasn't Little Whinging where the main character of Harry Potter lived? Nah, that couldn't be it, right?

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As they drove down to their new house in their moving truck, passing various signs and scenery, John started to realize that all of the houses were eerily similar, and that they all reminded him of something that he couldn't quite remember clearly. Though he heard a bit of an orchestral tune in the back of his mind that featured a lot of horns, for some reason.

"Dun dun, dun dun, dun da da dun— what?" John began to him to himself, only to interrupt himself when he saw the sign of the community he was supposed to end up in.

It read "Welcome to Little Whinging."

When they pulled into Number 8 Magnolia Crescent, he sighed. It was something he just knew was going to become a meme if he ever wrote it down anywhere, but he was actually pretty sure 8 was the number of chaos.

Well, if he was going to be made fun of anyways… Why not live up to it a little~?

As they were brought inside and given the keys for them to unpack, John realized something a little silly. The backyard had a giant oak tree that had signs that they had tried their best to remove it, but it just stayed regardless. A giant oak with a story, and a few carvings into its side.

Hmmmm. This, he could work with.

"Mum, Dad, can I go in the backyard and take a closer look at the tree?" he asked with a small, mischievous grin.

Dad looked over as he was carrying a box full of stuff. "Sure, have fun!" he called out. "Don't fall off any branches!"

"Jim!" Mum yelled indignantly.

"Yay!" John yelled, running out to go play with the old oak tree.

It didn't take long for him to see what they had tried to do before they gave up on trying to remove it. They had sawed at its roots, but it had simply dug them deeper and ignored them. They had tried to cut it in half, but it simply grew tougher and healed behind their blades, to the point there was a saw blade rusted out in the center of the oak and being devoured. The only thing that had truly remained, was a heart someone had lovingly carved into the bark, with the words "I Love Stacy's Mom" carved into it.

"Well, someone clearly has good taste in music," he chuckled, and the tree seemed to agree with him.

"I'mma climb you so I can get a good look of the town, okay?" John asked, getting a slight warm breeze in response.

So he smiled and climbed it, reaching up to a good branch that moved a little closer to him for him to see the best angles of the town he had been brought to. And well, it was quite a showing.

Every single garden was kept prim and proper, every lawn cut perfectly, every house kept exactly the same on the outside… except for his new house.

The house he was in had a Great Oak, one that seemed magical like a Dryad or something had taken up residence in it. And he was quite happy to say that it was a friendly one, even after so many attempts to take it down.

Maybe this was fate! Maybe this was where he was meant to be.

Well, it certainly seemed that way…

But Little Whinging huh? Where had he heard that before?

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AN:
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TheLetter_A: Where indeed? Sounds familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it...


Summercat: I did have Hedwigs theme playing while they were writing this, so that was a familiar sound, too.

Kitsu: Indeed. I guess we'll never know.

At least unless you've read what we're doing properly, and are hooked enough to read chapter 2.

TheLetter_A: Indeed. The truth will be revealed eventually. I don't know how to further continue this bit without it becoming stale. Anyway, the next chapter will be coming out soon. Hopefully.

Kitsu: Liiiiiiinks!

The Foxxo Shrine: https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/

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[KitsuneObsessedFreak]

Patched With The Fox 02
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A Fresh Start
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It was the next day in the new neighbourhood they had found themselves in, and John had a niggling feeling that things were not all good as they seemed. In fact… well. Things were actually a lot worse!

See, when he woke up that day, in the middle of brushing his teeth, he had heard that they were expected to meet up at the homeowners association, and that they would expect them to be there at nine PM sharp. They also said to bring something to it, as all of the other neighbours would be there to share food and drinks and welcome them in.

He didn't even know Britain had homeowners associations, and was quite convinced that it was all rubbish. Besides, one of the things they wanted to talk about was the big tree in their yard, and how it towered over all the buildings in the local area. Something they very clearly did not like, despite them having just moved in there.

How rude of them! Oaky was a great tree. It wasn't the tree's fault they couldn't see how nice it was.

Well, that wasn't all of it. He would have to start school soon, and he wasn't quite sure how well he was going to fit in with his classmates. But it was going to be rough for the first little while. At least until they figured out it wasn't very smart to bully him.

Kids were just like that. Always trying to pick on people they think didn't belong.

Meh, he would be fine. Or so he figured.

But then he got to the meeting with his parents, and all of the kids were there too…

And he started to have a sinking feeling. Something wasn't right, his memory was jogged, and he felt a little sick.

"Hey, you! You're the new kid, yeah?" a fat kid called out to him.

"Yeah?" John asked, pulled from his inner thoughts. "What of it?"

Well he didn't mean to sound that rude, but the kid did get right up in his personal space, and that kid was possibly twice as large as him. Made him feel a little uncomfortable when someone bigger than him got in his space, regardless of what that size was referring to. Probably because bigger usually meant more likely to be a bully, to be honest.

It was rather mean of him to think that, but he'd never been proven wrong so far.

"Well, since you're new here, I'm just gonna say this once," the fat kid started. "I'm the one in charge here. I don't care whatever rubbish you wanna do, but if I say something, you better do it, okay?"

"If you say so," John shrugged, and immediately wrote the kid off as a lost cause. "Just remember that if you're in charge in this community, that also means you take full responsibility for everything that goes on in it."

"Yeah whatever," the fat kid said as he left for a third plate of food.

As that went on, he wandered over to where his parents were, listening into their conversation with a huge man with a walrus-like moustache.

"…And with my promotion to Assistant Manager at Grunnings, I'll be redoing my entire front lawn to be perfect," he smiled, rubbing his moustache. "I'll even be buying a new car to replace the old one within a year!"

"Indeed," Dad replied noncommittally. "I do not wish to overly brag, but the company I work for is doing quite well right now. The high-level employees have been given quite the package, hence the recent move. We're currently preparing for our entrance onto the London Stock Exchange next year."

"Is that so?" the large man smirked. "Well, if they happen to have a need for any drills, you can call Vernon Dursley at Grunnings! I'll be sure to get you a fine deal."

John snickered. It wasn't likely that a software company like Sage would need drills.

"I would certainly hope so," Dad smiled, before politely disengaging himself from the conversation. "How are you feeling so far, John? Anyone bothering you?"

"Eh, no one I can't handle," John said, a hint of annoyance in his tone. "Just an average kid who wants to 'be in charge' of the whole community. Warned him that's a lot of responsibility… but I don't think he was bright enough to understand."

"Heheh, well, whatever it is that you do, don't go too far, okay?" Dad chuckled as he patted John's shoulder. "There's a line between self-defence and cruelty. It may be hard to spot at times, but it is there."

John grumbled a bit, but sighed in the end. "Yeah, I'll do my best," John said. "When is this 'welcoming party' over? It's already Eleven O'clock and that new fox-shaped bed is calling me."

"Well, the party is already starting to wind down a tad, so I reckon the first guests will start leaving soon," Dad replied with a wry smile. "Don't worry too much. They won't be around forever. Hopefully."

"It was quite rude of them to demand our presence like this on the first day," John grumbled. "We literally aren't even fully unpacked, and had to rush to the grocery store just to have something edible for tonight."

"Well, as a grown-up, sometimes you have to grin and bear it," Dad said with a polite smile. "Being a polite host is the least we could do. At least then we can subtly admonish them for being impolite guests."

"I see," John sighed.

Well, he didn't. But that was because he was tired.

Maybe things would be better in the morning…

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After being tucked into bed that night, cuddling up under the fuzzy blanket he found himself on, John went over the things he had seen the past couple days.

Some, niggling feeling was bothering him. Almost like…

It started slowly. Sluggishly. His mind putting pieces into place like a plot of land being reclaimed by the forces of nature. And then, it all made sense.

This world. He knew it! It was the Harry Potter world!

Hedwig's theme played loudly in his mind as he realized what he must do.

He needed plants. All the plants. And he needed to complete his ritual.

Because if he didn't, he couldn't guarantee that this world wouldn't go badly. After all, what if this was one of those fanfiction worlds, with a manipulative Dumbledore, or if Voldemort was secretly Grindelwald's apprentice, working to free him from under Dumbledore's nose! Or maybe this was like Home Sweet Home and that guy Tom Dick Harry had already stolen Harry away, and he was going to have to deal with all of those dangerous things himself!

He needed to find out. More knowledge always helped. And he couldn't afford to be rash and unprepared.

So he began to plan for how to learn what he needed to know…

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Sage. Thyme. Rosemary. Many such herbs were planted in his garden out back to help him with his druidic rituals. He planted them, and would grow them slowly but surely, tenderly caring for them with his skill and magic until they were ready for harvest.

Rose bushes were planted out front. Petunias. Daisies. Tulips. Those were great for making teas that were quite invigorating when prepared with magic. They also just looked nice.

He loved gardening. And he was damn good at it. So his mother generally just let him plant whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted at this point.

He played in the oak tree, giving it an apple seed when it asked for one and allowing it to merge the apple seed with itself for unknown purposes. Maybe it wanted to make its own fruit of some sort?

When he had a grapefruit, it asked for a seed from that as well. And so he gave it a grapefruit seed too. It was curious, and he was quite fond of seeing where the Oak Tree would take such characteristics.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to see what it could grow from those until it was time for the tree to grow them, but he was fine watching it and helping it along with his magic when he had the chance. It would be interesting to see what it could do after all!

And while this happened, he meditated, slowly getting closer to what he was considering to be the Guardian Spirit that he was looking to contract with. They were skittish, but they seemed to like the smell of cooking bacon and eggs, because the fox spirit was easier to call in the mornings when that was what was for breakfast.

But he still wasn't quite there. He was missing something. Maybe if he offered up some of his bacon and eggs?

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Harry sat on the swings, enjoying the rare moment where the Dursleys had nothing for him to do, and so just sent him to 'be a bother elsewhere'. So he used what little time he had at the playground, where Dudley couldn't bother him and boss him around.

Gently swinging, he thought about what life would be like if he didn't have to live with the Dursleys, even for a time. Maybe his parents didn't die in a car crash, and were still looking for their son? Or maybe he's super famous in some secret place no one's ever heard of? Or maybe as a baby he managed to survive some sort of attack that no one's ever been able to survive, which is why he was sent to the Dursleys, for his own protection?

Hahah, even that was too ridiculous for Harry to take seriously.

"Hey~ This seat taken?" a strange, twig-covered boy asked as he pointed to the swing beside him.

Wha- "Wha-? Um, no!" Harry startled, the boy having suddenly thrown him from his thoughts.

"Yay! Let's see who can swing higher then!" the boy grinned, hoping on with a bright grin.

Oh? This random kid thought he could step onto Harry's turf and challenge him? Oh, this tree-boy will absolutely get it!

Swinging higher and higher, Harry didn't realise how much time had passed until he noticed that the shadows had grown rather long. Oh no, he had to go back to the Dursleys before they decided he was gone too long.

Jumping off the swing, he waved to the weird stick-boy, running down the street back to Number 4 Privet Drive, hoping he'd be able to play with him again.

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AN:
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TheLetter_A: And that's a chapter done! Stick-boy plays with trees and plants, weird things are happening. And of course, Harry potentially gets a friend? Perhaps~

Kitsu: Foxxo is going to do a foxxo thing and post the chapters when we have four of them probably.

Alphabet here took off just now to go to bed, because he was eepy. But hey, it's fine. I noticed he was getting really tired, and was editing my work in the background without telling me a few times, but I didn't call him out on it because he sounded like he was about to pass out mid-call.

Welp, we need more foxxos. So maybe we can introduce a foxxo soon?

Would be nice.

Anyways, anything to say Summercat?

Summercat: Foxxo is going to do what a foxxo does best and foxxo the story.

Kitsu: Indeed! And now, on to the next fluffy chapter! Tally ho!

PS… Plz send coins. The foxxo desires to purchase a pic of this MC for a later part of the fic, but needs cash for that. Coins will help the foxxo afford it. Only need like, 40 cad to buy it fully, so…

https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/

 

[KitsuneObsessedFreak]

Patched with the Fox 03
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Schoolnanigans
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John knew he was going to have it rough for a little while. His meditation ingredients were running low, and the local supermarket had made a massive recall on all of the herbs, as apparently a shipment of meats infected with Mad Cow Disease had leaked all over them, and made them unsafe to consume.

It was horrid, really. Who even allowed Mad Cow Disease to spread so far, in this day and age?

Apparently, none of the meat they had eaten back during the barbecue was infected, as they likely would have already seen the effects by this point, but it just went to show just how terrifying such things could be!

Either way, he got a new mortar and pestle, some interesting bird bones that seemed to carry a magical essence to them as he reassembled them with wires and glue, and a few basil seeds, which he planted because he loved basil. He was quite interested in trying to make them grow big and plentiful, and make the most delicious plants he could!

And for some reason, the Oak tree, upon hearing this, began to grow roots into the garden as well. It clearly wanted to help, but how was it going to do that?

Either way, things were looking up! He had plenty of plants ready, and his creepy bird he put back together was simply chilling in the room. He would like to give that to Harry, as it seemed like something he would find cool.

Meh, he could figure it out later. He had work to do!

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When John looked at Harry Potter, watching him be rushed inside the building by the teachers grasping his hand, he was shocked and annoyed that the Dursleys were able to ruin his new friend's reputation so much that they thought he was a troublemaker. That he was a problem child that needed to be escorted, lest he find himself doing all sorts of terrible things to the children.

This wasn't helped by the fact that John had been meeting up with him frequently, and had become known as the "Tree boy" for climbing up the tree and playing in it so often. Of course, the Dursleys thought he was spying on them, for some reason, even if they couldn't prove it.

Well, they were right. But it wasn't like he was going to admit that to their faces!

And yet that bully Dudley was front and center, being praised for blocking the doorway with his fat arse when John and his parents were trying to get inside so they could start the class. Something that annoyed him greatly.

Suffice to say, he was quite pleased when the nearby hornet's nest became agitated, and started to swarm the little piggy and his horrifying parents. Parents who had done their best to sabotage his friend, even going so far as to stuff him in Dudley's worn-out old clothing and telling everyone he refused to wear new clothing when that clearly wasn't the case.

Obviously, he and his parents had went through another door by that point, so they couldn't even blame him, as he wasn't in sight! Even though he could hear it happening through the main entrance as they panicked and squealed outside like a bunch of dumb pigs, instead of walking through the door and coming inside!

It was quite ridiculous really, and even his parents could tell something was wrong with those three. Petunia with her horse neck. Vernon the Walrus. Dudley the pig. All of them were either plain stupid or completely neurotic, and he was quite willing to bet that anything they did in Little Whinging was simply to ensure their 'reputation' was upheld and made into some sort of 'godly' status of a normal, Christian family.

And that wasn't even the worst part. Nope, the worst part, was that on his first day of school, they sat him near the far back — thankfully with Harry — and outright stated that he and Harry were not to disrupt the class, and that any strange occurrences and misbehaviors would be punished thoroughly by the Principal.

Vernon and Dudley smirked in his direction at that, like they were proud of themselves. But even as they did that, he knew they couldn't attack him directly, unless they wanted their reputation to go straight to hell.

So he began to hatch a plan.

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"You don't have to keep hanging out with me, you know," Harry told the mousy brown-haired kid.

"Why not?" John asked, tilting his head. "You're so much more interesting than all these boring pricks, and I'd like to think we've become good friends over the past month…" he smirked. "And friends stick together, even when the going gets tough!"

They were friends...? John had made it his mission to hang out with Harry every recess and lunch, did that mean that they were friends now? That sounded nice, honestly.

"I guess, yeah," Harry replied weakly. "It's just– they won't leave you alone now. Before, they just thought that you were weird and didn't know better, but now you're, y'know—"

"Oi, freaks!" someone yelled from behind them.

Oh, it was Dudley. Harry wasn't surprised anymore, really. He'd grown used to it about a year ago.

"What are you two doing here?" Dudley asked with a mean sneer on his face.

"We're taking recess, as the school dictates," John smirked. "Why, are you going to say you know better than the teachers what we should and should not be doing? Should I have you explain to them why you were approaching us with hostility and aggression, when that's clearly against school policy?"

"I wasn't talking to you, Tree Boy!" Dudley replied. Yeah, Harry wasn't surprised by that either. He guessed that his cousin knew about half of the words John had said.

"You specifically asked what both of us were doing here," John stated dryly. "That implies that you were talking to both of us, but that your mind is so utterly baffled by what I said that you simply tried to redirect the conversation to someone you view as an easier target." John examined him closely. "A below average attempt at bullying someone you perceive as weaker, for the sake of your own wounded pride. Truly, you are nothing more than a petty thug, who will never amount to more than a mere garbage truck driver if you keep that attitude going."

All of them looked at John in stunned silence. That was... a lot of words.

"Shut up! Get them!" Dudley yelled out. Too bad words didn't work on someone whose brain was smaller than a pea.

As Dudley ran towards them, he tripped on the grass, and landed face first into a pile of dirt, the rest of them following shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately, that pile of dirt was an anthill, filled with angry red ants. And they all began to bite at the ones who had disturbed their hill.

As Dudley and his crew wriggled, they started running back towards the school building, only for Dudley to accidentally bump into a tree. A loose branch fell with a loud crack and a low buzzing sound... wait.

Harry and his friend laughed as Dudley and his crew screamed, running from the angry hornets whose nest they had accidentally disturbed.

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Summercat: Harry has a problematic aunt. Solution? John uses problematic ants.

Kitsu: Indeed! Though, this one was Dudley being the problem, so more like Harry has a big pest for a cousin, so John hired many smaller pests to take them on.

TheLetter_A: John's greatest ally: The Hornets™. The Dursleys shall know fear.

Kitsu: Indeed. Now, I have plans for a pic for this fic, but I need about 40 or so CAD to pull it off. I have a slot reserved with Phearo and everything, who you may know as the main artist for Projection Quest. The sooner I get enough cash to pay her, the faster I can get the art, which would mean y'all don't have to wait thirty months to get the art for this story after completion, when you can get it as soon as she's done.

Plz do toss a couple bucks my way for me to save aside for this. I already have some saved up, but I don't quite have enough to pay for the pic without borrowing money. Something I don't actually want to do.

So yeah! Links here: https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/