Chapter Text
If you asked just about anyone in Foosha Village to describe six year old Monkey D Luffy in one word, it would almost certainly be wild. They would certainly be surprised to see her quietly studying a small stick held in her tiny right hand.
The thing was, she had woken up this morning with nearly eight hundred years worth of memories spent as Harry Potter, and that kind of thing was sure to have an impact on just about anyone.
The stick she held in her hand wasn’t just any old stick either. It was the Elder Wand, part of a set of three artifacts that granted the wielder the status of Master of Death. When Harry had stepped through the Veil of Death, he hadn’t been sure what was going to happen, but he sure as hell hadn’t expected reincarnation.
However, seeing as he had literally been the last human alive on Earth for over a decade, he hadn’t really cared what was going to happen, so long as he ended up somewhere with people, either in the afterlife or not.
And apparently, Luffy had inherited his status as Master of Death to go with his memories and magic. She wasn’t really sure what to feel about that. Oh sure, it was nice to know she didn’t have to worry about being killed, but she knew from Harry’s memories how much it sucked to outlive everyone you knew.
The part of her that was Harry was extremely excited about her limited memories of her world though. It was extremely different from the world he had lived in, and what’s more, there was a monstrous power of some kind lying dormant in her mind.
That indicated that there were supernatural powers in this world that Harry wasn’t familiar with, which after studying magic in great depth for centuries was a rarity.
With a sigh, Luffy dismissed the Elder Wand, and it disappeared to wherever it went when she didn’t have it. With a mental shake, she decided to get ready for the day, since it was approaching dawn. Getting dressed quickly, she made her way out of her room and into the bar proper.
She grinned when she saw Makino was already up and about. That woman never seemed to rest, and yet never seemed to run out of energy. Given that she was raising Luffy and running a bar at the same time, that was a minor miracle.
“Morning Makino!” She chirped, bounding up to the woman. While she had certainly mentally aged a lot overnight, she was determined not to let it affect her attitude. Being happy go-lucky and wild was fun, and much better than the habit Harry had of being broody and quiet. Not to mention that changing overnight would draw attention she didn’t really want.
“Good morning Luffy!” Makino smiled. “Be a dear and set up the tables for me, would you?” She requested. Luffy pouted, but set about her task with aplomb. The morning went by quickly, as together they got the bar ready for customers.
Towards the afternoon, the peace was shattered however, when the cry of “Pirates!” was raised around the town. Makino frowned with worry, quickly heading behind the bar, and making sure the pistol she kept was ready at hand, just in case.
Luffy watched the door warily, knowing that this was definitely a place pirates would want to visit. Sure enough, a few minutes later the doors swung open, and the sound of rowdy pirates was heard throughout the bar.
Eyeing them, she spotted a man who seemed to have an imposing presence about him. She was certain he was the captain, which was confirmed when he took the lead and began speaking to Makino, ignoring Luffy completely. The others began seating themselves at the tables, talking and laughing loudly.
“A round of sake for me and the boys, barkeep!” The man said with a grin, setting a bag of belli on the counter. Luffy sighed with relief, and Makino relaxed slightly, smiling at the man and quickly setting about the task of giving the seemingly friendly pirates their drinks.
Luffy frowned as the man chose to sit next to her at the bar. The man ignored her though, taking his drink and turning to watch his men with a grin. That only made Luffy more upset, she hated being ignored, even if it was by a pirate she had never met before.
“You’re a pirate captain? You don’t look like much, tomato head.” She jeered.
“Luffy!” Makino cried, but went unheard as the crew of pirates burst out laughing loudly.
“Hahahahahah!”
“Tomato head!”
“She sure told you Captain!”
“Hahahahahah!”
The Captain glanced at his laughing crew and frowned, before giving her the stink eye.
“What’s it to you, pipsqueak?” He demanded. Luffy glared back, refusing to back down.
“I was hoping for some action, that’s all!” She blustered, sticking her tongue out at him. The crew renewed their loud laughter at her response, some pounding their fists on the table, and others leaning on their neighbors for support as they went into hysterics.
The Captain gave her a long look before a smirk appeared on his face.
“I like you, pipsqueak. You’ve got some fire!” He declared, causing Makino to release the breath she had been holding in relief.
Luffy huffed and replied “I’m not a pipsqueak, I’m a perfectly normal size for my age! Besides, you’re one to talk, tomato head! You look like a strong breeze could blow you over!” The pirates quickly descended further into their hysterics, some joining in and adding jibes of their own aimed at their captain.
The captain pouted comically, taking a sip of his drink to hide the fact that he didn’t have anything to say back.
“I’m Shanks, the captain of this motley crew of miscreants. Nice to meet you, pipsqueak.” He said, introducing himself, and ignoring the protests from his crew. Luffy considered him for a moment before replying.
“I’m Monkey D Luffy, and I’m afraid I can’t say the same about you, tomato head.” She said. A sweat drop appeared on Shanks’ head at her rude response. He had never met a kid so young with such a mouth on them when talking to pirates.
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The next year went by quickly, as the pirates became a well known sight at the bar. Luffy eventually warmed up to them as it became clear they weren’t going to cause any trouble, enjoying the tales they told of their adventures out at sea.
“So then of course I had to prove it, you know! It’s not my fault he was a lightweight!” Shanks went to continue telling his story, before breaking off when the doors to the bar slammed open.
Standing in the doorway was a group of rough looking men, most of whom were armed. The leader stepped forward with a smirk, scanning the room before zeroing in on Makino.
“We’re mountain bandits! Give us all your sake, and we won’t cause too much trouble.” He demanded. Nervously, Makino shook her head and replied, “Sorry, but we’re all out at the moment.” The man paused, before sneering and gesturing at the pirates. “And what are they drinking then? Juice?” He replied with a glare.
Makino winced and answered “They’re drinking sake of course, but they took the last of it.” At this point the man had made his way to the bar counter, and Shanks offered him a bottle of sake, saying “Sorry, sorry. Guess we got carried away. Here, take this bottle, it’s unopened.”
The man sneered, grabbed the bottle, and smashed it over Shanks’ head with the sound of shattering glass echoing throughout the bar. Shanks hardly reacted, merely looking at the mess on the floor with dismay.
“Sorry Makino, we made a mess. Hand me a rag and I’ll clean it up.” He said, ignoring the bandit completely. Makino wrung her hands, and anxiously replied “Oh! There’s no need for that, I can do it.” The bandit laughed and drew his sword, sweeping everything off the counter with it.
“If you like cleaning so much, you’ll really enjoy that!” He sneered, before turning around and walking out of the bar with his men. There was a moment of silence after the doors swung shut, before Shanks’ crew erupted into laughter.
“Hahahahahah! He sure showed you Captain!”
“Get to cleaning boss! Hahahahaha!”
“Hahahahah!”
Shanks’ pouted, before joining in with the laughter. “Yeah, I guess he did! Hahahahaha!” Luffy snorted and broke in. “Why didn’t you kick his ass Shanks? We both know you could, probably with one hand tied behind your back!” She demanded loudly.
Shanks turned to her and answered, “Some fights aren’t worth fighting Luffy. It was just a bit of a mess, that’s all.” Luffy huffed and replied, “It’s not about the mess, Shanks! Guys like that think they’re at the top of the world, you should have showed him where he really was on the food chain!” Shanks scoffed and said “If I beat up everyone with an undeserved ego, I wouldn’t have time to do anything else!”
Luffy paused, and nodded slowly. “I guess I see your point. Still, I wanted to watch you beat him up!” She pouted. Shanks sweatdropped at the violent answer. Even after spending a large portion of the last year with her, he still couldn’t help but be surprised by her attitude sometimes.
“Say, how long are you going to stay this time anyway?” Luffy asked, changing the subject. Shanks hummed for a moment, before answering.
“Well, we’ve been using this island as a base for about a year now, we really should get a move on before we draw unwanted attention from the Marines. We’ll probably do a couple more trips, and then head out to the Grand Line.” He said slowly.
“Wait, you mean leave for good?! Who cares about the Marines, if they come just beat them up!” Luffy cried. Shanks laughed, and said “It’s not just the Marines, Luffy. The men and I are getting antsy, staying in one place for so long. If it wasn’t for you, we probably would have left months ago.”
Luffy settled down, quietly saying “Oh. I guess that makes sense. You did become pirates for a reason after all.”
Shanks laughed and poked fun at her “Don’t be so down about it, pipsqueak! You look like I just told you the world was ending! Going to miss us, eh?” Luffy blushed, turning away and scoffing. “As if! I just think Makino will miss you, that’s all. Why don’t you settle down here and make an honest woman out of her?”
Shanks choked on nothing, “EHHHHH?! How do you know anything about that kind of thing?! You’re seven! Besides, Makino knew what she was getting into!”
Luffy smirked and replied “I’ve spent the last year hanging out with pirates! Where do you think I learned about this kind of thing?”
Shanks looked down, mumbling dark things about his degenerate crew members.
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Several days later...
Shanks and his crew were currently out at sea, and Luffy was incredibly bored. With a sigh, she wiped down the tables for what seemed like the thousandth time, wishing they would hurry up and come back, even if she knew they would be leaving for the Grand Line soon. That just made her want to spend more time with them before they left, after all.
She was surprised at how well they had managed to get her attached to them. With her memories as Harry and her status as Master of Death, she had done her best to keep her distance emotionally, since she knew she would easily outlive them, but Shanks and his crew had this way of sneaking past all her barriers, and before she knew it, she couldn’t imagine life without them. It was going to suck when they weren’t around anymore.
Looking up as the doors to the bar swung open, she scowled as she saw the bandits from a few days ago were back again. Steadfastly ignoring them, she turned back to the tables, deciding to let Makino deal with them.
“Heh, looks like those pirates aren’t around anymore. Good thing too, the stench last time was almost unbearable! Hahahah!” The leader laughed rudely. Luffy clenched the rag in her hands angrily, but kept her mouth shut.
“Still, it’s almost too bad. I would have enjoyed putting that coward in his place again. The man gives pirates a bad name! Hahahah!” He continued. Luffy lost it at that point.
“Shut the FUCK up! Shanks is one thousand times the man you’ll ever be, you fucking bastard!” She yelled. The man turned towards her with a scowl, replying,
“That no good tomato head? The coward probably couldn’t find his sword with both hands!” He jeered angrily. Luffy glared and shouted “He’s not a coward, you just aren’t worth his time! And only I get to call him tomato head, jackass!” The man scowled furiously, gesturing to his men, and ordering “Grab her, and take her outside.” Makino gasped and pleaded “No,please! She’s just a little girl, she doesn’t know any better!”
The man sneered and replied “Well, you should have taught her better before it was too late then! No one gets away with insulting me!” Turning, he left the bar, trusting that his men would drag the girl out.
The men laughed and headed towards Luffy, who raised her fists and got ready to defend herself. She wouldn’t go down without a fight!
“Hahahah! Look, she thinks she can fight!” One of them jeered, causing the rest of them to snicker. As he reached for her, he was surprised when she easily evaded his hand and sucker punched him in the stomach.
What’s more, she was using her magic to enhance her physical ability, knowing that she didn’t stand a chance if she didn’t, so her punch doubled him over, where she quickly followed it up by throwing a right hook into his temple, knocking him out.
The others scowled, becoming a tad more cautious, and came at her together. She took three more of them down before they managed to get a solid hold of her. “Let me go, you cowards! How many of you does it take to fight a little girl?” She demanded angrily.
Even with her magic enhancement, she was currently a seven year old girl against a dozen grown men, so there wasn’t much she could do without resorting to more obvious magic. She decided to wait and see what happened, she could take a beating no problem, but if they decided to kill her, it was better to show off a few spells than the fact that she couldn’t die.
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Shanks scowled as he saw the group of bandits from earlier beating up Luffy. “Hey! That’s my friend you’re beating up!” He called out, causing the bandits to look up to see who was addressing them. The leader scoffed when he saw who it was, replying “Yeah, what of it? The little shit had it coming!”
Shanks’ voice went low and dangerous. “You can call me names, throw sake on me, even spit on me, I’ll laugh all that off. But if you hurt any of my friends, I’ll kill you!” He declared, taking a step forward.
One of the bandits walked up to him and pointed a pistol at his head, saying “Not another step, or I’ll blow your head off!” Shanks’ eyed him from the corner of his eyes, and asked “You sure you’re ready to risk your life?” The man blinked, confused and said “Eh? What’re you talking about?” Shanks smirked and said “I’m saying that it’s dangerous to point a gun at me.”
Out of nowhere, a gunshot went off, and the bandit’s head had a hole in it in short order. The man who shot him nonchalantly took another bite of his meat, as the bandits cried foul. “That was dirty!” One of them cried.
“Dirty? You ain’t dealing with saints, we’re pirates after all!” Shanks’ first mate said.
While everyone was distracted, Luffy took the opportunity to kick the bandit holding her in the balls, and took off running to Shanks, quickly reaching him and jumping into his arms. “Thanks for saving me Shanks!” She declared with a sunny smile. Shanks laughed and said “No problem, pipsqueak. What happened to being as tough as nails, eh?”
Luffy pouted and replied “I took out four of them, stupid tomato head! They ganged up on me!” Shanks nodded and glared at the bandits, before ordering “Take care of this mess, I’m taking Luffy to go get cleaned up.” His crew roared, “Aye, Aye, Captain!” eager to get revenge on the people who hurt Luffy.
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Luffy sniffled as Shanks’ crew got their ship ready to leave Foosha Village for the last time. Shanks smirked and said, “Hey, don’t cry pipsqueak, this isn’t goodbye forever!” before ruffling her hair in affection.
Luffy gathered herself and declared “That’s right! Because I’ve decided! I’m going to become a pirate, and gather a crew of my own! Then, we’ll conquer the Grand Line, and I’ll become the Pirate King, the strongest and freest person in the world! So, don’t get too comfortable, tomato head. The next time you see me, I’ll be an even greater pirate than you!”
“Oh, is that so? Well in that case, I’ve got something for you. Here, this is my treasured straw hat! This will serve as a reminder of our promise, all right? Then when we see each other again, and you’re a great pirate, you can give it back.” Shanks replied, placing the treasured straw hat on her head.
Luffy’s eyes watered against her will as he turned and began ordering his crew to prepare to set sail. As she waved them off, she thought to herself. ‘I’ll definitely do it! I’ll become the Pirate King!’
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A couple months later...
“Who the fuck are you, old man?” Luffy demanded, glaring at the old man that had barged in the bar and started ranting about red haired brats.
The old man glared at her, yelling “Fist of Love!” before hitting her on the head. “That’s not language fit for a young lady! And I’m Monkey D Garp, Vice-Admiral of the Marines, and your grandfather!”
Luffy sneered and said “Oh yeah? Then where the fuck have you been for seven years?” She flinched and rubbed her head when he hit her again.
“I’m a high ranking Marine, brat! I can’t just leave anytime I want, it took ages to get enough leave to visit, especially since I’m almost always stationed in the Grand Line! What’s this I hear about you wanting to be a pirate? You’re going to be a good marine, just like your grandad!” He yelled.
Luffy scoffed and said “No way, shitty old geezer! Grandfather or not, no one tells me what to do! Stop doing that!” She yelled when he hit her again, despite trying to dodge.
Garp quickly grabbed her arm, beginning to drag her off. “You’re coming with me! Clearly, this isn’t the right place for you to live, so I’ve got the perfect place to put you!” Despite her struggles, Luffy couldn’t get her arm free, so she subsided and decided to wait until they were out of sight of the villagers to make her move.
They quickly entered the forest, where Luffy made her move, hitting Garp with a powerful stunning spell. Rubbing her arm, she glared at his unconscious form. “Finally, someone I can use legilimency on and not feel guilty. His knowledge of the inner workings of the marines and the Grand Line could prove useful.”
Moving closer, she opened one of his eyes and began searching his mind for valuable information. And boy, did she find it! His mind was a treasure trove of information. His knowledge of Haki and the Rokushiki alone would be incredibly useful.
Knowing all the important people in the marines was useful too, especially regarding the people to avoid meeting, like the Admirals. And what he knew about the Grand Line was astounding. She couldn’t wait to go there and experience it for herself! And she was surprised to find out her Father was the leader of a revolutionary force, although Garp didn’t know who her mother was.
Finished with his mind, she levitated him into a standing position, revived him, and then hit him with an obliviate and a confundus spell in quick succession. He quickly emerged from his daze and began dragging her off again like nothing had happened, not noticing her victorious smirk.
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“That’s Ace! He’ll be your brother, so try and get along!” Garp declared loudly, before bounding off and leaving her alone with the boy and the bandits he apparently was having her live with. Luffy stared at the angry looking boy and sighed. That didn’t seem like it would be an easy task.