Chapter Text
Harry groaned, taking the duvet out of his mouth and rolling over to look at the dented alarm clock on the box that served as his night stand. 12:30. Way too early, but he had still managed a good two and a half hours of sleep before he woke up screaming.
He figured out the duvet-in-mouth trick after he spent a week waking his relatives up with nightmares of the graveyard. It was much easier for him to shove the corner of the duvet in his mouth than to suffer Vernon's rage. He was still healing from the last nightmare three days ago, before he worked out his trick.
Since it was early, and his relatives were still sleeping he decided that having a go at some of his summer homework would be a good idea. Carefully moving out of his bed and to the end of his bed where he had managed to, for once, keep his trunk, he rummaged for a moment before pulling out his 4th year potions text, one of Dudley’s notebooks and a broken pencil. He then, by the light of a torch, began to read the necessary passages to do the homework.
Research and compile a report on the uses and brewing methods commonly associated with healing potions.
It was a deceptively simple brief, but he only had so much information in his text books. He then pulled out his 1st, 2nd and 3rd year texts and opened them up to the pages on healing potions. Jotting down in his notebook which potions he did in which year so that he could go back and look at them. All in all he found thirteen potions spread across the four years.
1st year - Cure for Boils - developed during the Black Plague for Bubonic boils, now used mostly on severe acne.
Burn Salve - Mostly Aloe Vera, with a few other ingredients, usually used after a Wound Cleansing potion to soothe burns. Not to be used on Potions Burns.
Bruise Balm - a simple balm invented in the 1850s designed to soothe bruises and heal them overnight. Has also seen success in treating bruised and cracked ribs.
2nd year - Minor Headache Relief - developed during the late 1800 as a safe remedy for headaches in children, commonly used for most headaches.
Minor Fever Reducer - developed in the 1700 as a way of safely reducing fevers in children.
Minor Wound Cleansing - developed in the 1700 as a magical antiseptic for cleaning out small cuts. This version is also safe to use on children
3rd year - Headache Relief - developed in 1500 as a cure for headaches, adult dose.
Fever Reducer - developed during the Black Plague as a way of reducing the symptoms of the Pneumonic Plague, adult dose.
Wound Cleansing Potion - developed 1500 as an antiseptic, used on all wounds before magical closure, adult dose.
Minor Pain Relief - developed in the 1600, a way of reducing pain in children.
4th year - Pain Relief - developed in the 1400, adult dose of pain relief.
Minor General Healing Tonic - General healing tonic, to be poured over most wounds, recent invention, 1902, child dose, or small wounds - less than a hand in area.
General Healing Tonic - General healing tonic, to be poured over most wounds, recent invention, 1901, adult/adolescent dose, will heal wounds over an entire limb if submerged.
It occurred to him, as he was writing out this list, that he could really use some of these potions as, unable to do any magic, he was stuck waiting for the welts on his back to heal the muggle way. Another rummage through his trunk led to finding that his potions supplies had completely gone off and were unusable. That and his knives and stirring rod were all damaged when he had haphazardly packed his trunk in his Post-3rd-Task haze. Most of his quills had also been broken, his books had survived though, and most of his robes.
Staring in dismay at his trunk he realised that he was going to need to head out to Diagon Alley, before he was ‘released’ from his summer prison by the headmaster. Another glance at his dented clock showed it to be 2 o'clock in the morning. He was sure that he could be back before seven o'clock when he would be woken up by his Aunt banging on the door.
Mind made up, he got dressed, pulling on the white shirt and grey trousers used for his school uniform. He contemplated his red Gryffindor tunic but decided that it was warm and he would really rather not wear too much, plus his trousers and shirt were muggle enough for him to wander around London if necessary.
He then, from the piles of junk in his room, found an old hat, a blue suncap with the Chelsea Football Club logo on the front. He decided that it would be good enough to hide his face so that he could make the trip to Gringotts in Diagon Alley.
He had read, take that Hermione! I do read! That Gringotts was open 24/7, and that Knocturn Ally actually lived up to its name, and was active during the dark hours of the day. He was hoping that since he was going to a place he would never be expected to set foot, that nobody would notice him.
A quick check that his wand was in his pocket and invisibility cloak in the other he opened his window and carefully climbed over to the tree that hung outside his window. Once onto the tree he pushed the window to, and began to slowly climb down. Taking care to not make too much noise.
Once off the tree he began to walk out of Privet Drive, over to Wisteria Walk and under the overpass before reaching the park. A quick glance around told him that nobody was up, not that they should be at half-two in the morning, but it didn't hurt to check. He then raised his right arm, holding his wand, and pushed a small amount of magic to the tip, just enough to summon the Knight Bus.
BANG!
Not even a second later the triple-decker purple bus was standing before him, Stan Shunpike, the conductor, lent out of the back.
“How do ya’ do? Where can we be taking ya tonight?”
“Morning, I’m fine, thanks, could you please take me to the Leaky Cauldron?” Harry was so proud of himself, he had managed it without the stutter that had plagued his speech since the graveyard.
“Sure can, seven sickles please, unless ya’ want hot choc’late?” Stan shuffled to one side as Harry dug around in his pocket, eventually finding a galleon.
“J-Just the ride, p-please.” Harry stuttered, handing over the gold coin. ‘Stupid fucking stutter!’ He silently cursed, he hated it, Dudley made fun of it, Vernon got more irate at him for it and the less said about Petunia the better.
“Sure, kiddo, ten sickles change for ya’” he said, handing over the silver coins. He then stepped further onto the bus, allowing Harry to move down the aisle and sit near a pole. One that he was going to hold on to for dear life.
Sure enough, just ninety seconds later the bus pulled up at the pub, wobbling slightly, Harry got off, thanking both Stan and Ernie for the ride.
Harry was quick to move through the pub, keeping his head down and heading out the back door to the entrance to Diagon. It was strange to do this in the dark, every other time it had been daytime and the Alley bustling. This time it was quiet, all of the shops were dark, many had their canopies in and all of the wares that had usually lined the streets were nowhere to be found. There were lights though, every twenty metres or so down the Alley until Gringotts, now lit up and glowing in the night.
Harry speed walked down the Alley, it was strange to see it so empty but it was nice, no people meant peace, no fans, nobody trying to grab his attention.
Arriving at Gringotts he bowed to the guards, receiving a bow in return before heading through the doors.
It was a lot busier in the bank than he had expected, he saw many magical people, some likely hags and vampires all doing business with the night shift of goblins. Harry ducked his head down and headed to an empty teller.
“Good m-morning, I'd like to en-enquire a-about withd-drawing some g-gold, please?” Harry stuttered before kicking his shin in frustration 'stupid, fucking stutter'.
“Certainly, key please?” The goblin, Dewclaw, their name tag read. Harry had no idea if they were male or female, they looked no different to the goblin he had spoken to in first year but he went with it.
“I-I don't h-have it?”
“Oh, well then, you have a vault, yes?” Harry nodded, “name?” In liu of answering Harry pulled up his hat and fringe to show the goblin his scar. “Ah, do follow me.” Dewclaw turned the sign on their desk to ‘Closed’ before hopping off the tall stool and beckoning for Harry to follow them deeper into the Bank.
The hallways began to blur together as Dewclaw led them through the maze of identical halls, eventually, after what felt like an eternity of walking, they stopped at an office. The plaque on the door reading ‘Steelfang, Identification and Inheritance’ Dewclaw pushed open the door, without knocking, leading Harry up to the tall desk.
“Mr Potter for you, sir. They do not have their key.” Dewclaw bowed and then left, the door closing silently behind them.
“Mr Potter, so nice of you to finally come to my desk.”
“F-finally?” Harry asked, an inquisitive tilt to his head.
“I have sent many owls asking for you to present yourself, we have much to go over” he gestured for Harry to sit in the tall chair opposite the desk. Rather unceremoniously, Harry climbed up the chair and sat, legs not quite reaching the foot rest and nervously twisting his hands.
“I-I've never r-r-r…” Harry hit his head with the palm of his hand in frustration. Shaking his head he tried again, “I've never received a-any?”
“How odd, well that will all be worked out soon enough, now then I need to first do an identification test. Your parents registered your magical signature shortly after you were born and it should prove your identity. Now then,” he paused, grabbing a long rod from the desk “push a little magic into this.” He offered the rod to Harry and Harry obliged, gripping the rod and pushing a small amount of magic through it. Steelfang then touched the wand to a small metal plate, no bigger than a bottle cap. The glowing magic that Harry had put into the rod then flowed down the spiral design and into the plate, glowing blue for a moment.
“Well, you are who you say you are. Now then, Inheritance, I'll need 7 drops of your blood on this parchment.” He pushed a single piece of parchment over the desk, atop the parchment was a pin, presumably for Harry to prick his finger with. Once he had done so he then carefully let 7 drops of blood hit the parchment and watched in fascination as they absorbed before writing began to spread down the parchment.
Harrison James Aries Potter
D.o.B: 31st July 1980
Core: Grey
Affinities: Parselmagic, Necromancy
Inheritance's: Potter Vaults: 124, 348, 687
Black Vaults: 121, 256, 688
Lilly Evans: 601
Boy-Who-Lived Bequeathment Vault: 702
Slytherin Library Vault: 54
Peverell Necromancy Vault: 24
Harry was puzzled, he had no idea he had more than Vault 687 or that being a parselmouth would give him special snakey magic.
“Well then, a few vaults on here haven't seen use in a while. Do you have any questions?” Steelfang asked, tapping the parchment with one long claw.
“H-How do I-I know what is in each V-Vault?”
“Well, for the Potter, Black, Evans and the Bequeathment Vaults, that is easy, we send you a quarterly statement of how your Vaults look, what withdrawals have been made and so on. But since you haven't been getting them, we'll have to work out something else. The Library and Necromancy Vaults are different. Once you have proved you are worthy of the contence, the magic of the Vault should create a portkey that can travel you to and from the Vault. I've no idea how it works as it was set up by Salazar Slytherin and the Necromancy Vault by one of your Peverell ancestors.”
“C-Could we go down to the V-Vaults, p-please?”
“Certainly, you came without keys, correct?” Harry nodded, “I'll re-key the vaults and then call a cart driver, I've got more I need to speak to you about but it can be done after.” Steelfang then opened his desk drawer and pulled out 4 dull metal keys and a box-like contraption. He inserted a key into a keyhole on the box, fiddled with it for a moment, before turning the key. There was a bright flash of light as Steelfang withdrew the key from the box and handed it to Harry. The head of the key was now shining silver with small rubies, there was also a deer design gilding the shaft. “This is the Potter key, it will get you into all three Potter Vaults.” He then repeated the process with the three other keys, the Black key was a darker metal with sapphires studding the head in star patterns. His mother's vault key was plain, but now shining silver with a small lily design on the head. The Bequeathment vault was a plain key, now a light gold. Steelfang then handed over a metal ring. “This is your keyring, I'll need three drops of blood and it will always return to you.” Harry took the earlier used pin, re-pricked his finger and carefully let three drops of blood fall onto the grey surface. Once he did the metal shone for a moment before settling at a shiny silver colour. Harry then put all of his keys on the ring and placed it in the pocket of his trousers.
A few moments later another goblin opened the door, Steelfang stood from his desk and ushered Harry out of the room. The new goblin, who Harry didn't have a name for, led them towards the carts and then eventually down to the vaults.
“702” the goblin said.
“Mr Potter, this is your Bequeathment Vault, you can take anything you like from here” Steelfang, who hadn't got out of the cart waved Harry over to the Vault, the driver hauled Harry out of the cart and directed him to place the key in the keyhole. As soon as he had done so and removed the key the goblin pushed a small amount of magic through the door and smoothly the door swung open.
Piles of gold waited for Harry, there were also trunks, bags and piles of furniture. The cart driver moved into the Vault with Harry and pointed out a black tote bag. “That is a bottomless bag, you'll need it.” Stooping, Harry scooped up the bag and began to have a look around the Vault. Further towards the back were bookshelves, many with interesting titles. Browsing, Harry pulled out any that were relevant, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence, Herbology, Care, Divination and even some Arithmancy and Runes books. The shelves also had many books on healing, those were all stuffed in the bottomless bag as well. In total Harry had managed to get over 30 books from the Vault. Deciding that was enough and that he would wait for the next statement to work out what else he wanted from the Vault, he left, locking the door behind him and settled back into the cart.
“688, 687”
Once Harry went in, this time with Steelfang behind him he saw that there was only gold in these Vaults. “You're limited to a hundred galleons from the Potter Trust and a thousand from the Black Trust a month, both will refill at the end of the year.” Harry did just that, counted 100 from the Potter Vault and was about to put it in his pocket when Steelfang held out a pouch. “This is a Gringotts pouch, put money in and only you can take it out, it will also hold keys, costs 7 galleons” Harry dutifully turned over the seven galleons from his pile and placed the remaining ninety-three in the pouch, then using the long cord attached to it, he attached the pouch to the belt loops of his trousers, so it hung safely at his side. In the Black Vault, Harry withdrew the maximum amount, put it in his pouch and they were off again, whizzing down the tracks.
“601”
Harry looked at Steelfang for a moment “No limits on this one.” So Harry opened the Vault and peeked inside, there was a small amount of gold, and several stacks of pound notes. Leaving the gold he pushed the notes into the money pouch and continued in. There wasn't much in the Vault but there was a trunk, on the back wall with the lid slightly ajar. Harry pushed back the lid and was greeted with the sight of Hogwarts robes. This was his mother's Hogwarts Trunk!
Closing it, deciding that he would rather look through it later, he began to drag it out from the Vault when the cart driver came over. The goblin pressed a rune on the trunk's top and it shrank, to no larger than a postage stamp. “Shrinking rune” the cart driver grunted before ushering Harry out of the Vault again.
“The next two are the Potter and Black Family Money Vaults, you can't actually access these until you're of age so we will skip them.” Steelfang said, Harry nodded and held onto the railings of the cart.
“121, 124”
“No limits on these Vaults Mr Potter, they're Heirloom Vaults.” Walking into the Vault he found another trunk, this one with initials on the front ‘J.F.P’ pushing it open, he found yet more Hogwarts robes. With a small smile to himself he closed it and tapped the rune on its surface to shrink it, putting it with his mum's in his pocket. Looking further into the Vault he also found lots of weapons, one he felt drawn to.
It was a long handled silver shafted and tipped spear, the tag on its point said that it was a shape-shifting weapon, able to become a Halberd, Battle Axe, Scythe or Trident. From his admittedly awful History of Magic education he knew that before wands became popular, long staves or weapons were used as magical foci. Due to the size of them and the Statute of Secrecy many of these focuses had shrinking or transformation capabilities, it was much easier to justify a small trinket or keepsake to a muggle than it was so explain why they were carrying around a five foot stave. Wands became more popular in the last five hundred years or so, a wand was easier and cheaper to craft and didn’t require complex rune structures to facilitate the change of size or shape while keeping the focus functioning.
Harry picked up the weapon was slightly supprised as it shrank until it was a thin metal stick, similar in length to his wand, perhaps this weapon had come from the time where staves and the like were only just being fased out. Shrugging he put it in his pocket with his wand and continued into the vault.
On the bookshelves at the back he found tomes on spearwielding, more on healing and numerous on potions. He put many of them into his bottomless tote before continuing on. He found a very nice set of potions equipment, as well as a runic engraving kit, both all bundled up in very pretty leather rolls. There were no distinguishing marks on the rolls he picked up, but they were of excellent quality and sorely needed, his potions things hadn't survived the journey home and he didn’t have any runic equipment.
The final thing he found was a training dummy and several wooden weapons, according to the tag it was designed to help train with weapons. Giddy, Harry found the shrinking rune and put it in his pocket, the weapons and shield joining the bottomless bag, knowing that if he could learn to weild it he could supprise opponents who would be expecting him to duel with a wand. Finally deciding he had enough he left the vault to head to the Black Heirloom Vault.
Harry stepped gingerly into the Vault, he knew from his letters to Sirius that his family was particularly dark, he had also been warned that if he ever set foot onto a Black property that he was to exercise extreme caution. Much of the Vault was filled with trunks, many od which he had no desire to open. He did also find a rack of weapons, many, according to their tags, had nasty curses on them, for both the wielder and the victim. He did eventually find some useful things though, more books on the darker side of healing and potions as well as a few on soul magic, mind magic and transformation magic that all looked interesting, he also found an astrolabe and wand sheath, thankfully not cursed. The books and astrolabe went in the bag but he put the wand sheathe on his wrist, noting that there was space for two wands so his wand and new spear were now safely held to his forearm.
Leaving the vault he let off a sigh of relief, the atmosphere in there was weird and prickly, like it was judging him.
“54”
“Now then, Mr Potter, I had to consult some people but from what I know, you need to read the inscriptions on the door and the Vault should open.” Turning to face the door he found squiggles taking up a box in the centre, no keyhole to be found. After looking at them for a moment the meaning sprang into his mind.
‘Congratulations, young serpent speaker, you have been judged worthy of seeking the magic of the serpent. The password to my Vault is ‘Snake Skin Shedding’. Once inside you will relieve a portkey and focus so that you may begin your studies’
Gulping Harry tried to say the password in parseltongue but it kept coming out as English. He then glared at one of the snakes on the door until he managed to say the tongue-twister in parseltongue. Entering the Vault the first thing was a podium, on the podium was a piece of parchment.
‘Congratulations, drop 7 drops of blood onto the locket’ Harry picked the scab off the wound on his finger and carefully dropped 7 drops onto the locket. One bright light later the locket, once a plain emerald green now had silver gilding in the design of snakes. Poking it with his magic he found no bad feelings so he put the locket around his neck and continued into the Vault. The first shelf he found was titled ‘Introduction to Parselmagic’ he found titles like ‘Introductory Magic’, ‘Mechanics of Parselmagic’, ‘Parselmage Traditions’ and ‘Basic Wards and Barriers'. Taking them all, as well as other titles on the next shelf.
He then left the Vault, ready to head to the Necromancy Vault.
“24”
Once at the Vault he found another inscription, this time thankfully in English, at least it looked to be English. It instructed him to push magic into the door. Once he had done so, the door opened and he walked in to find another podium. This had a long ribbon and another parchment. Following the instructions he placed 7 drops of blood onto the ribbon, squeezing his eyes shut as the light blinded him. Once he opened them he found the ribbon, now glowing silver wrapped around his wrist, not tight enough to cut off circulation but tight. Moving through he found the first shelf, titled ‘Introduction to Necromancy and Soul Magic’ the shelves included titles like: ‘Necromancer Traditions’, ‘Necromantic Runes’, ‘Soul Magic: An Introduction’, ‘Necromancy: Light and Dark’ and many more. Harry put all of the books in his bottomless bag, before exiting the Vault.
One cart ride and many halls later he was, once again, sitting in Steelfang's office. Steelfang had taken the opportunity to supply him with bank statements from the last two years as well as a list of properties.
Chief among the statements was a payment that went once a month to a muggle bank, Harry then worked out that the Dursley's had been paid for ‘looking after’ him all these years, his blood ran cold. The thought was small but it seemed to worm its way through his being and settle like ice next to his heart. Looking again at the paper he saw the ammount, a hundred galleons a month, just over five hundred pounds. Harry had no idea who had set up this payment or if they knew what was happening in that house, but a small voice in the back of his head said that he knew that Dumbledore had left him there. Putting it aside for the moment he turned to look at the list of properties.
Property:
Potter Manor - Northampton (under lockdown, 3 years remaining)
Potter Cottage - Godric's Hollow (destroyed, under stasis) Under Ministry Management
Black Manor - Devon (habitable, wards require upkeep)
Black Townhouse - London (requires maintenance, wards corrupted, under fidelius)
Black Cottage - Isle of Skye (habitable, wards stable),
Peverell Castle - unplottable (habitable, wards stable)
Peverell Keep - unplottable (habitable, wards stable)
Preverel Cottage - Somerset (requires maintenance, wards unstable)
Lily's Flat - 74 Knocturn Alley (under stasis, wards stable)
“I can get you portkeys to a few, not all” Steelfang said. “Namely the Knocturn Flat, Peverell Cottage and Peverell Keep, however the only property that has furniture is the Flat.”
“C-Can I have a-a portk-key for the Kn-Knocturn Flat?”
“Certainly, it will cost ten galleons, just a moment.” The goblin then disappeared out of a door behind his desk, returning a few minutes later with a simple iron key. “This is both the key to the flat and wards as well as a portkey to the flat. Once you have opened it for the first time it will work” Harry then handed over the ten galleons and received the key in return. “This key will also allow you to return to the previous location” he pointed to a sliding barrel on the key's shaft. “Twist this to mark the location you want to return to, you then use the word ‘Home’ while pushing magic into the key to head to the flat and ‘Return’ to move back to the saved location.” He wasnt sure exactly how legal the key was, he was fairly sure that Portkeys were regulated by the ministry but right now? He didn’t give two shits about Ministry policies, he wanted to see his mum’s Flat, her home.
The next thing he needed to do was work out whether to leave the Dursleys with the money or take it back, which could apparently happen with intrest according to Steelfang. After some thought and some very careful deliberation Harry decided to leave the payment alone, allowing the Dursleys to keep the money and recieve future payments. He had to go back there after all and he would continue to spend his summers there for the next two years. If they found out that he had stopped that payment? Well his life would probably be over, they complained enough about how much he cost with the payment but without it? Ouch.
According to Steelfang he had the option to wait until he was of age to claim back the money, by which time he wouldn’t be living with them anymore and wouldn’t have to fear the reprecussions of halting it nor demanding it back.
The rest of his morning was filled with shopping in Knocturn and a visit to his mum's flat. He visited a stationary shop and bought an enormous pile of notebooks, quills and parchment. A further look into the shop saw him purchasing two locking notebooks and a wixen made fountain pen charmed to auto refill. He then went to an Apothecary and purchased another pile, this time of ingredients. Most for him to use in healing potions. He also went to a clothing shop and managed to finally fill out his wizarding wardrobe, tunics, shirts, trousers, open and closed robes, as well as a new winter cloak and several lighter traveling cloaks. Once his purchases were in his bag he changed his Chelsea hat for a lightweight cloak and pulled the hood up.
His final stop was Lily’s Flat. It was above a pub called the White Wyvern, the steps up to the flat were to the left of the pub. He carefully turned the key and pushed open the doors, exhaling as the rush of the stasis magic released.
The stairs were dark, Harry had no idea how to turn on a light so he began to walk in when a yellow glow blinded him momentarily. The lantern on the ceiling was now glowing, illuminating the stairs and another door at the top.
Having climbed the stairs Harry opened the door, for a moment the light spilled out into the flat before the lights in the flat flickered on. Harry was in awe, the flat looked so lived in, there was clutter on the coffee table, books next to the sofa and even a half eaten sandwich on the kitchen worksurface near the sink.
All in all it painted a disturbing picture, one that showed that his mum had left in a hurry.
Further exploring the flat he found two bedrooms and a bathroom off of the main living area. The master bedroom was clearly his mum's but the guest room looked still all made up. Not quite ready yet to face looking through the Master bedroom he entered the guest. There was a single bed in the corner with a bedside table next to it. A desk was placed under the window, looking down on Knocturn Alley, still bustling even at 6 am, which reminded him he only had an hour left. Making a decision he searched the furniture for a shrinking rune.
Last year, Hermione told him about him getting a new desk, she mentioned that all wixen furniture comes with several runes already inscribed. First was a protection rune to ensure the furniture lasted and the second was a shrinking rune. It allowed for easy transport and also allowed for older furniture to be put away in storage. He eventually found the Runes for the desk, bed, wardrobe and bookcase and shrunk them down, placing them carefully in his pocket with his parents' trunks. He then quickly walked out of the flat, out of Knocturn and through the Leaky Cauldron before calling the Knight bus.
Once back at Privet Drive he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket, pulling it over his shoulders and pulling up the hood. Despite what Ron thought when he was trying the cloak you didn't actually have to stay under it, so long as the hood was up you were invisible. This suited Harry perfectly as he was able to climb back up the tree and back through the window and into his room.
After emptying his pockets of shrunken furniture and trunks he got dressed in Dudley's rags, ensuring that his locket was hidden down his shirt and ribbon, once given a little magic was now wrapped around his bicep, safely away from any nosy Dursleys.
Right on cue Petunia knocked on his door, demanding for breakfast to be made, this morning she demanded a fry up, so Harry busied himself pulling out pans and cracking eggs ready for scrambling. Falling into his normal brainless flow, he fixed breakfast before serving himself a small portion to eat, dissapearing well before Vernon and Dudley came down.
Even though he had only been back for a week he was done, he had two more until his birthday and so far even that wasn't looking great, so far Hermione and Ron hadn't written to him at all. Despite him sending multiple letters, he even tried to message Sirius and Professor Lupin. Eventually he received a reply from Dumbledore.
Dear Mr Potter.
I'm afraid that your persistent letters are becoming a security issue. Please refrain from writing to your friends and godfather.
Kind regards,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Harry had almost incinerated the note in a flare of accidental magic, the parchment had actually started smoking before Harry had realised and quickly put it out.
He was pulled from his pondering by Petunia, she had shook him roughly by the shoulder, jabbing sharply with her finger to the unwashed dishes. She then, looking down her nose at him, said that he should “stay out of my sight for the rest of the day.” Harry was ecstatic, this suited him perfectly, he could begin to go through the veritable library he brought back from his Vaults. Finishing the washing and drying up, putting the bowls and pan away he quickly scarpered back upstairs to his book pile.
The first thing he did was pull out a runes book, searching for the shrinking rune. It took him a moment but he found it and then worked out how he had to engrave it. He pulled out a long pointed stick from the runic engraving kit and pushed magic through it, watching as the tip glowed. Carefully, after tracing out the rune in chalk he began to scratch the symbol onto his metal bedframe. A quick push of magic for activation proved it worked and he managed to engrave it on all of the rest of his shitty furniture. Then he went to his doorframe and using the ward given in the textbook he engraved a simple muggle repelling ward in the wood, only six runes. He was hoping that it would keep his relatives away from him. He then set up his new furniture from his mother's flat. Arranging his new library on his bookshelves.
Finally, happy with his new room he sat on his bed with the ‘Introduction to Parselmagic’ book.
Harry had no idea how long he sat there but he finished the book. He now knew what parselmagic was, it was healing and protective magic. He also learnt the two methods of casting: one was to focus on his locket and say what he wanted, in Parseltongue, while pointing where he wanted the spell to affect. The other method was to cast a Parselrune, this involved pushing magic into his finger and tracing the rune into the air before flicking it, infusing it with more magic. He spent a while practicing a Parsel vanishing charm on all of the crap in his room.
Harry's days continued to pass in this way until his birthday, he managed to complete all of his homework, using many of his new books. He also managed to finish his introductory books on both the Parsel magic and Necromancy, taking notes in his new metal bound, lockable notebooks. He also took to seeking out early in the morning with his spear and training dummy. Learning how to wield the spear and doing some moving meditation.
Necromancy:
- Predominantly grey magic
- Necromancy doesn't just deal with death, it is mainly to do with the soul
- Light - Astral Projection, Patronus Charm - any manifestation of the soul
- Grey - Spirit Summoning, soul healing, exorcisms - anything involving interfering with the Veil of Death or healing afflictions
- Dark - Self Transformation (Animagus), Raising the Dead (Own body, within 20min of death) - any alterations to the soul
- Black - Raising Inferi, horcruxes, Unforgivable Curses:
- Imperius takes control of the soul forcing the victim under the control of the caster
- Cruciatus shakes the soul, causing pain
- Killing Curse severs the soul from the body
Protecting your Mind and Soul:
- Necromancy can take a toll of the mind, it is important to learn Occlumency to protect yourself
- First steps: meditation - once you can visualise your core and soul you will be able to begin to build the barriers that will protect your mind
- It is important that you learn how to tether your soul to your body as you begin to practice Astral Projection. This can also be achieved through Occlumency.
- If standard meditation is difficult then moving meditation is also good, taking up a weapon can be useful to achieve this
Runes:
- Necromantic Runes are typically used within the Necromantic Circles used when casting most magic
- Also used to protect the caster during casting
- There are 12 runes in total, each with a static meaning. These are typically reinforced with Necromantic Script to give more information.
Traditions:
- Necromancers typically have long hair, usually to below their waist, bound up using their ribbon
- The runes on the end of the ribbon will change depending on what level the caster is: novice - beginner - intermediate - advanced - master - grandmaster.
- Black is the normal colour worn by Necromancers
Levels of Necromancy
Novice- enter a Necromancy Library and claim ribbon
Beginner- build Occlumency shields and reinforce with runes and script on ribbon
Intermediate- achieve Astral Projection, Patronus Charm and heal a damaged soul (Must be approved by a Master)
Advanced- call a soul from beyond, achieve an animagus forme and exorcise a soul/horcrux/Dementor (Must be approved by a Master)
Mastery- successfully bring a soul back to life in their original body (Must be approved by a Master)
Grand Mastery- build an original body for a lost soul and transplant them (Must be approved by a Master)
Parselmagic
Parsel magic is mostly grey but wixen of all core types can practice, they will just have better success with specific branches. Typically Parselmagic involves healing spells, increased potion efficacy, protective wards and shields
Spells can be cast one of two ways:
Parselspells - spoken in parseltongue using the locket as a focus
Parselrunes, cast with a magic infused finger tracing the rune into mid-air and flicking it with additional magic to activate it
Wards and Shields:
- Most Parsel wards involve protection, keeping people out of a location
- Parsel shields take the form of a translucent shield and can be deployed defend against most standard curses, jinxes ect.
- Shields are most effective when protecting someone
- Wards are cast using runes, either in ritual circle for a wardstone or inscribed on doorways
Potions:
- Most healing potions require a serpent ingredient
- Any potion brewed by a Parsel Mage containing one of these ingredients will have triple the potency
Traditions:
- Parselmages typically wear wrap like robes, consisting of a lower tunic, upper tunic and tabards, all bound with a wide leather belt
- Parselmages also have a long strand of braided hair that goes down behind their left ear. This is three small strands, braided, as the mage passes the tests from novice - beginner - intermediate - advanced - master - grand master, they will receive a new bead for each level passed.
- If the mage begins a study in one of the domains of Parselmagic (Potions, Healing, Warding, Shielding) they will receive another specific bead signifying what type of Parsel Mage they are,
- The tabards are embroidered with protective Parsel Runes
Levels of Parselmagic:
Novice- enter the vault and claim the locket
Beginner- create your robes and succeed in using your native spells in Parselmagic, begin to recognise when you are speaking or reading Parseltongue/Parselscript and when using your native language, begin to explore basic Parselmagic spells, embroider robes with protective script and runes.
Intermediate- begin to explore the various specialities, select the first one and bring it up to intermediate level, be able to read and understand Parselrunes, cast basic and intermediate Parselmagic spells. (Must be approved by a Master)
Advanced- select a second speciality, bring it to beginner level, bring the first to advanced. Be able to cast parselspells and runes easily. (Must be approved by a Master)
Master- achieve a mastery in a speciality
Grand Master- achieve a second mastery, (Must be approved by a Master)
Harry had been giddy when he achieved the first level of both Parselmagic and Necromancy, his new robes were mostly black, the under robe a dark grey. He had even tested them out on his regular morning trips to a warded space in the local park he used to practice his Spear, now a morning habit. He found that learning typical meditation was difficult so going through various katas with his spear helped him focus. He also found from his books that weapon handling skills were almost required to be a Necromancer. You couldn’t use a wand for rituals and wands clashed with soul magic in general, in order to use active magic you needed to channel it through a weapon.
Harry also found out that part of being a Necromancer was keeping people safe from Soul Creatures. These creatures would absorb wixen magic so only soul magic would hurt them.
His leather tabards were inscribed with Parselscript/runes and Necromantic Script and Runes. It had been a pig to work out, the protections he was required to embroider were given in the book, all he had to do was sew them in. He had experimented with several spare bits of cloth before working out how to embroider them onto the same cloth and not have the effects canceled out or altered.
The resulting protections weaved in and out of each other providing a safe outfit for practicing both forms of magic. He had also embroidered the runes and script onto his ribbon, mainly designed to keep other souls from entering his body when he was using Astral Projection in addition to providing a tether that kept him from slipping into the veil before his time. He had also, after some serious reading had found a potion that when applied to hair caused it to grow longer. Religiously over the two weeks, he applied it morning and night until his hair reached his waist.
Once he had achieved the tasks outlined for a biginner, he used his portkeys (his locket and ribbon) to return to the Vaults again. A bead was granted to him in the Parsel Vault which he had slipped onto the thin braid hanging behind his ear, spelling it in place. Once done he replaced the books he had originally borrowed and replaced them with some of the texts on the intermediate shelf. Once in the Necromancy Vault he had been directed to pull the ribbon from his now waist length curly black hair. He placed it on the podium and gasped as the silver ribbon snaked through the air before glowing, the Novice rune becoming a Beginner rune.
It had taken him two weeks to achieve beginner status, tomorrow was his birthday, not that he was at all excited, he wasn't expecting anything from his friends considering their total lack of communication this summer. Glancing around his room he looked at the furniture taken from his mother's guest room. His wardrobe was now full of his wixen robes, tunics, shirts and trousers. He used some of the shelves at the top and bottom to store his muggle clothes, a few pairs of jeans, some t-shirts in plain colours and a couple of hoodies. He had made a trip back to his mother's flat and Nocturn Alley to get some materials for his Parselmagic robes and had taken the opportunity to head out into muggle London and replace his clothes.
He had also gotten around to going through his mum's trunk, most of the robes he put in his old trunk, now empty as his things were now spread across his room. He found many books which joined the bookshelf opposite his bed. He had taken to doing his summer work with an enormous pile of books related to the subject next to him. He was proud of this work, it was likely the best he had ever done. The rest of his mum's trunk had been some potions ingredients that he had immediately vanished and a rusty potions kit, it looked like it had been well used and looked after but unfortunately sitting in a vault for thirteen years hadn't agreed with the metals. Additionally the lack of protective engravings likely did not prolong their life.
The golden find in his Mum's trunk had been the journals, describing her relationship with Severus, a childhood friend that she had gone to Hogwarts with. They had also talked about the potions experiments they had done together and the spellcrafting they had dabbled in. The book was rather critical of his father, describing her dislike of what she called ‘bullying’. It wasn't until he read to her 6th year that the writing became less critical of James and then there was a sharp turn where Severus said some unsavoury things which earned him several pages of ranting before she then referred to him by his last name, Snape. And hadn't that been a surprise, he had no idea that Snape had been friends with his mother, Harry had no idea whether they made up in the end either as the last journal in the trunk had been of seventh year.
Now that his homework was done and he had managed to read all of his mother's journals he began to start on the next requirements of his Parselmagic and Necromancy, picking a specialty and achieving Astral Projection. He had decided to do the Necromancy first as the idea of being able to let his body sleep and for him to settle his Astral body by his bookshelf and read all night was thrilling.
Astral Projection:
The ability of a Necromancer to leave their body. This, other than the patronus charm, is one of the lightest Soul magics in existence. Mastering Astral Projection enables the continuing study of Necromancy, many of which require that the body be left in a Necromantic Ritual Circle and for the soul to perform the ritual.
The process involves still meditation and for the caster to feel for their soul, gently pry it from their mortal shell and project it out of the body.
Harry had already been spending most evenings in meditation so just because it was the eve of his birthday didn't mean anything different. He set his wand to alarm at ten to midnight and settled into a cross legged meditation pose.
This meditation was different to the ones he had done to build his shields, that had focused on his mind and then to integrate the protections on his ribbon. This focused on his magical centre, where his soul lay. Harry had no idea how long he was looking within but he managed to find his soul, flickering within the darkness as a beautiful blue-silver colour.
Harry already knew that a grey core was normally reflected as silver, dark cores as bronze and light cores as gold. Those who had what were known as combination cores would have a bronzy gold colour or just a deeper gold, it showed that they had an affinity for either light or dark but were capable of utilising a few spells of the other.
He was interrupted from his meditation by his wand vibrating on the bedsheets. He carefully extracted himself from his meditation and stood up, going to the window in hopes that his friends might send some gifts.
He waited and eventually Errol crashed through the window, Harry caught the elderly owl using a Parsel spell, gently depositing them on his desk to relieve it of the package tied to its leg.
Harry opened the letter first grimacing when he saw that it was from both Ron and Hermione. He was interrupted from his musing when another owl flew through the window and offered a letter to him. He relieved the owl of its burden, offered them a drink and treat and watched as it flew off. He turned back to Ron and Hermione's letter.
Dear Harry
Sorry that we've been so out of touch this summer but I can't say where we are, just that we’re not at the Burrow. I can't even tell you much of what we've been doing. Homework, Hermione, you nag me constantly, you should feel lucky she's not on your case mate!’
Harry seethed, how dare they! Finally break the silence just to send meaningless drivel? He shook his head and continued reading.
‘Anyway, I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and hope that you have a great day.
Me too mate, happy birthday.
Love
Hermione and Ron
It was a silly, stupid letter and Harry didn't even stop his magic from incinerating it, eventually brushing the ash off his hands and sheets. No concern for how he is faring after the graveyard, no inkling of when he might be released from his prison, although it was a lot looser this time.
Harry then opened the present, the most impersonal box of chocolates to exist. He shook his head, imagining that if he hadn't managed to deal with some of the trauma through his Occlumency then he would likely have tossed the chocolate too, he was pissed enough to consider it now and he was much less volatile than he was a few weeks ago. As it was he did not trust someone to have not doctored them anyway, a few hissed spells proved him right, a compulsion potion, to what and who he had no idea but he hoped that Ron and Hermione weren't involved, no matter how pissed at them he was.
With a wave of his hand he vanished the chocolates and turned to the other letter and parcel.
‘Dear Most Marvellous Investor, Harrikins
First of all, Happy Birthday! Hope that the relatives leave you alone and you enjoy our present, we know that food can be a struggle for you so we packed some of mum's cooking, we've checked, no potions, but you should check anyway.
We also hope that you're feeling better after the whole third task debacle, I know that we haven't been able to write but Dumbledore has wards up. They stopped any and all communication not from the bearded bastard himself. We've attempted most methods but no luck so far. If you need someone send a letter back with Hedwig and address it to:
557 P.O Box
Diagon Alley
This is our new P.O. Box for WWW, we check whenever we can but it can be difficult to leave the house at times.
Anyways, sorry about the letter from Ron and Hermione, they seem determined to listen to Dumbledore. As they've likely said, we aren't at the Burrow, we're with your dogfather, not that we can tell you exactly where, Dumbledore put a fidelius over the place.
Anyway, Bill and Charlie are here, something to do with the Order of the Phoenix, it's some sort of vigilante group organised by Dumbledore, they fought in the last war but so far, from what we can glean from eavesdropping there is something, somewhere that requires protection.
Also, you need to be careful, apparently last week they started a watch on your house. Supposedly to keep you safe but I wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to have other, maybe nefarious intentions.
Anywho, enjoy the food, we'll attempt to get further communication to you, this P.O Box is a godsend.
Hope you're doing well, we're certainly using your investment well.
Love
Your Twins’
Harry was glad that the twins hadn't been caught up in the teacher worship like Hermione and Ron but it was annoying that many of the things in the Twins letter they could have also said. It's like they wanted to be deliberately criptic. Their letter was illuminating though, they were staying with Sirius, presumably in a Black property, according to his Bank Statement only one such property was under wards, the Black Townhouse.
He then opened the parcel and breathed in the wonderful scent of Cottage Pie. He trusted the twins but still waved a Parsel inspection charm over them. Glad when it came up clean, he pulled the spoon from the box and began to eat.
He had managed to eat more this summer, whenever he thought that he might be in for a long stretch deprived of sustenance, he would portkey over to the Knocturn flat and get a massive plate at the White Wyvern. He would then pack up the rest and take it back to his room to consume over the week. He had also managed to undo a lot of the abuse, many of the books he had taken from the Bequeathment Vault and from his parents trunks were potions books. He had set up a corner of his room as a brewing space and set about making Skelegrow, Nutrient Supplements and General Healing Potions.
Skelegrow and the supplement were fifth year potions, he had used his new found healing knowledge and some parsel healing, a speciality he was sure to take, to re-break some incorrectly healed bones, and it fucking hurt, damn it! But it was necessary if he wanted to be arthritis free for the next decade or three. He also tried to bring up his weight to a healthy level, he wasn't totally there yet but it was definitely a start.
He had spent hours hovering over a Cauldron, he made all of the healing potions he could and purchased a Medic Bag, a bag designed to hold large amounts of potions and salves in a small space, the bag, which when shrunk was about the size of a five pound note, he was able to slide it into an attachment on the wide belt he wore on his Parsel/Necromancy robes, his usual outfit when practicing either discipline, brewing or engraving/embroidering runes. Another thing he had made was a silvery length of cloth around two meters in length, it was covered in protective runes specifically for the dangers of exploding potions or wrongly cast runes. He used the sash to bind his wide outer tunic sleeves to his armpits, exposing the tighter under tunic, over which he wore a set of silver vambraces. These were found in the Potter Vault on a second trip, he had also found greaves and usually wore them on his shins.
The four armour pieces were designed to protect the whole body, Harry had enhanced the protections with Parsel and Necromantic Runes and Script he had crafted, crafting the runic sequences and accompanying Necromantic script was definitely easier when you didnt have to learn the runic language. Harry's wand sheath, thanks to magic, was underneath the vambrace, with a flick of his wrist his spear would fall into his hand and a push of magic would resize it. If he pushed magic into the sheath it would eject his wand into his hand. Another push into the sheath would call it back.
One final purchase he had made in Nocturn Ally had been an eye correction potion. He had also bought new glasses, in his old style that would enable him to see, adjusting the prescription each time he put them on. Once his eyes were fixed they would just have clear glass, but they were spelled that if anyone else put them on their sight would be blurry.
Finishing his pie he vanished the dish and spoon, not wanting to deal with the washing up. A glance at the clock showed it to be 2 o'clock in the morning. Deciding that he wanted to move around for a bit and knowing that insomnia was a bitch and he was unlikely to fall asleep anyway, he slid his Medic Bag onto his belt, tied his Gringotts pouch to a set of leather strings and pulled his invisibility cloak over his shoulders.
Since starting to learn Necromancy he had found that his cloak was much more… friendly. The cloak had always seemed to project feelings of happiness and family but recently it had been able to push words into his head, many times it would pick itself up off of the floor or chair and slip around his shoulders. The black material would stay visible until Harry pulled the hood up and told it he wanted to be invisible. It was great to have a cloak that seemed so protective, and it meant that he could sneak out of the house.
A final check to make sure that the practice dummy was in his pocket he pulled his hood over his head and disappeared out of the window, a hissed arresto momentum stopped his fall.
Walking to the warded section of the park, straight past the guard, he could feel their presence now, he set up the dummy and went about practicing with his spear.
A glance at his pocket watch, a find from his fathers trunk he saw it to be nearly six in the morning he packed up the dummy, stretched, he had, after all, just spent nearly four hours whacking a dummy with a metal stick, and headed back to his room. Hoping that in the afternoon he might be able to have a nap, naps always seemed to feel better than actual sleep. It was also nicer to fill up the afternoon when he needed to be quieter when in his room with a snooze.
The rest of his birthday passed as normal, he made breakfast for the Dursleys, weeded the garden and hoovered the house. So far his relatives hadn't noticed that he had some nicer clothes, he had spent hours stitching runes on the hems of most of his muggle clothing to make muggle's eyes just slide over him. On his wizarding clothing he put protective embroidery, doubly so on his uniform, he was having bad feelings about the coming year, especially with Voldemort back.
He had also made use of the Twins P.O. Box, asking if they could send him the Runes and Arithmancy homework that Hermione was sure to have. He had then dedicated a day to each once he had received them back, finishing the homework quickly with his newfound skills and ploping onto his bed for his well deserved nap.
It wasn't until two days later that after being turned out of the house by Petunia, he had been sitting on the swings in the park. Dressed in black jeans, a grey t-shirt and the invisibility cloak disguised as a black shirt he had left open. Dudley had decided that picking on him would be an excellent use of his time.
He had poked fun into the nightmares he had heard before Harry had put his duvet in his mouth or warded his room.
“Who's Cedric?” He simpered, quivering his lip mockingly, “he your boyfriend?” Harry, deciding that he wasn't worth it, just ignored him, eventually his friends got bored that Harry wasn't responding. Dudley then said that Petunia wanted him and he began to follow Harry as he headed back to the house.
As they went under the overpass an unnatural cold swept over them, the August sun that had been beating down on them disappeared behind clouds. Harry had no idea what was going on but he stopped and pushed Dudley behind him.
“St-Stay behind me” he commanded, flicking his spear out of its holster, pushing it to full size, he couldn't use his wand, it was under the trace. He knew that the Ministry had it out for him recently, having been getting the paper from Hedwig in the early hours of the morning, he didn't need to give them extra ammunition.
“What's going on?” Dudley asked trying to push past Harry from where he had been pinned to the wall of the overpass.
“Don't know, s-something from my w-world” Harry said, putting himself into a ready stance with his spear. “If I say r-run, run, you're in n-no way prepared t-to deal with this.” Dudley mumbled in response “Dudley?” Harry glanced behind him, his cousin looked terrified, a moment later a bone deep chill swept over him, bringing terror. Harry infused his spear with soul magic, from his reading on Necromancy he knew that a soul magic infused weapon would be able to injure the Dementor, they were a soul creature afterall.
Soon enough the spectral shadow swept into the tunnel, Harry in response, slammed down his Occlumency shields, removing the glamour from his head so that the Dementors could ‘see’ the Necromantic ribbon binding his hair up, the force of the glamour being removed caused the parsel braid, that had been stuck to the ribbon with a light sticking charm to fall down behind his ear.
As the Dementor approached, Dudley slipped down to the floor, tears streaming down his face. Harry paid him no mind and waited for the Dementor to charge him. Once it was in range he attacked, damaging the cloak it wore and making several cuts on its arms and body. It released a bone rattling scream and disappeared, flying back into the night. He whipped around and charged at the other Dementor attempting to come behind him to get at his cousin, he rammed the spear through its chest, not enough to kill the thing, unfortunately, but enough to hurt it. The spectre fled with another scream. Taking a deep breath Harry sent out a pulse of soul magic, looking for others in the area. Sensing nothing he shrank his spear and flicked it back into the sheath.
Turning to his cousin he pulled his Medic Bag off his muggle belt, as a muggle, Dudley could take potions but he wouldn't respond to healing magic. So with that in mind, he pulled a pepper-up potion out of the bag once resized and popped the cork. He opened Dudley’s mouth and tipped the contents of the vial down his throat. Discarding the vial to the bag he then pulled out a calming potion. It should hopefully create a temporary Occlumency barrier, dulling Dudley from his emotions. He too tipped that down his cousin's neck. A few seconds later he came around.
“W-What happened?” He asked
“Dementors, soul sucking, terrifying abominations that guard the magical prison.” Harry responded, deadpan, discarding the used vial into the bag, shrinking it down and putting it back on his muggle belt. The fear he was still feeling killed his stutter temporarily.
“I feel weird,” his cousin complained.
“You s-should, I gave you a p-pepper-up, which is like an energy drink and a c-calming draught, should help you make it home so I can get some ch-chocolate in y-you.” Harry then headed his cousin up and supported him as he wobbled. “L-lets get home, hopefully t-they'll listen to m-me” he mumbled.
“I'll tell them, you saved me.” Dudley said, a little more strength in his voice as they wobbled through Wisteria Walk and towards Privet Drive.
Once they made it home Petunia started fretting as Dudley explained that they had been attacked by some sort of black terrifying creature. Harry, at Dudley's prompting, explained that they were Dementors.
“I d-don't know why th-they're here…” he was interrupted by an owl swooping into the kitchen and dropping a smoking letter.
“DEAR MR POTTER” it screamed, “IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT YOU CAST A PATRONUS CHARM AT FOUR, FIFTY-SEVEN THIS AFTERNOON, IN THE PRESENCE OF A MUGGLE. THIS IS A BREACH OF THE UNDERAGE MAGIC CLAUSE AND THE STATUTE OF SECRECY. WE WILL BE ALONG SORTLY TO SNAP YOUR WAND. KIND REGARDS MAPHALDA HOPKIRK” Harry gulped, he hadn't used trace-able magic at all, he specifically hadn't used his wand and had gone for his spear, he had no idea what on earth was going on, was it a set up? The Dursleys were stunned, but only for a moment Vernon went an impressive shade of red before he exploded.
“OWLS, IN MY HOUSE!” Harry shrank back, he was surprised when Dudley stepped forward and pushed Harry behind him.
“Don't talk to him like that, he saved me” Vernon stepped back, astounded that his son had defended the freak. Not even a second later another owl swept in, landing on Harry’s shoulder.
Harry,
Don't leave your aunt's house, I'm at the Ministry sorting this out.
Dumbledore
Harry scoffed, who knew what would happen if he left it to Dumbledore. Flicking his wand from the sheath he pointed it straight into the air and fired red sparks, clearly shouting “Aurors!” A moment later twin cracks sounded before a knock came at the door. Harry moved towards the door, eyes still on Vernon, Dudley moved with him as Harry went to open the door. At the door were a man and a woman? Harry had no idea but one of them was tall and bald with dark skin, the other, the maybe woman, was a foot and a half shorter than their partner with bright pink hair.
“Hello, we received a call from this location?” The bald auror said.
“Y-yes, I got a message from the M-Ministry, I've been accused of casting a patronus charm?”
“Accused?” He said
“Yes, I d-didn't cast the spell” Harry said
“Might we come in?” Harry nodded and led them into the front room.
“Greetings, Mr and Mrs?”
“Dursley” Vernon spat between clenched teeth.
“Mr and Mrs Dursley, I am Auror Shacklebolt, this is my partner Auror Tonks, and Mr?” He glanced at Harry.
“P-Potter, Sir.” Harry was astounded he hadn't been recognised, but maybe the man was trying to become polite?
“Mr Potter, may I see your wand?” Harry pushed the wand out of the sheath and handed it, handle first to the Auror.
“Priori Incantantem” he intoned, pointing his own wand at Harry's. Suddenly a bunch of Charms shot out of the wand, many from the last task. Handing Harry his wand back, he nodded.
“Well then, you haven't cast a patronus, I'll write that up in your report and get the notice of your wand being snapped revoked. Have a good day Mr Potter, Mr and Mrs Dursley” Auror Shacklebolt then led Auror Tonks out of the door. A moment later twin cracks sounded through the close.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief, he had managed to avoid getting his wand snapped. Dudley then placed his hands on his shoulders, Harry tried and failed to suppress a flinch. Dudley grimaced but steered Harry over to the sofa and sat him down. “You said we need chocolate, yes?” He said sitting next to Harry.
“Y-yes, releases good en-endorphins, c-countera-acts the D-Dementors” Harry stuttered. A moment later Dudley was pushing the chocolate into his hands. Carefully Harry unwrapped the chocolate and broke off a square.
A few moments later both had finished their chocolate and Petunia, for once not snapping, sent Harry up to bed, a few seconds later Dudley followed, scowling.
Harry walked into his room and faceplanted on his bed, he felt his shirt shift, turning back into the cloak and tucking him in. He drifted off into a deep sleep.
He was woken up a couple of hours later by an owl tapping at his window, groggily he picked up his glasses, wincing as the prescription adjusted itself. He opened the window allowing the owl in and took the letter from its leg.
Harry
The situation at the Ministry has been sorted, I don't know why you found it necessary to call the Aurors, my boy, but nonetheless the situation is resolved. You shall be collected from the Dursleys tomorrow by a trusted associate.
Kind Regards
A.P.W.B.D
Harry scowled at the letter, crumpling the paper. It then dawned on him that he would be collected and he needed to sort his room and things out.
Deciding to forgo sleep for the moment Harry shrunk down his Mother's furniture and quickly Portkeyed it back to the flat, returning with the key a moment later. He set up his old furniture and began to order his library of books in his Mother's Trunk. He had decided to use hers as it had an enormous library section and plenty of room for all of his new clothes and equipment. He then spent the next few hours carefully hanging his robes, shirts and tunics in the hanging space, his trousers and jumpers went on shelves, socks and pants went in the drawers. His shoes, went on a shoe rack, he now had a new pair of muggle trainers and his mum had an awesome pair of steel-toe combat boots, spelled in every way possible. He had taken to wearing them with his Parsel robes. His new school shoes and boots joined the rack. There was a separate hanging space for cloaks and he filled it with his new things. A final drawer held all of his muggle clothing.
Closing the trunk and selecting the potions equipment he shrank down his worksurface and placed it in the slot provided, his Cauldron had a spot and his roll of equipment. There was even a neat space for his ingredients box and dragonhide gloves.
Flicking to the next one he loaded up his notebooks, spare parchment and quills, also placing his runes kit in there as well. A final miscellaneous section took his firebolt, marauders map, training dummy and picture album.
Surveying his room he looked around, finding a few books wedged behind his desk, where they had fallen off when he shrank his mum's.
He then popped the lock on his door open and crept into the bathroom, finding his toothbrush and toothpaste, putting them in a canvas wash kit bag with his other toiletries he kept in his room. That went in the miscellaneous section too.
The final thing he did was pack his satchel, found in his father's trunk, in it he put all of his Necromancy and Parselmagic books, his robes and Medic Bag. Putting that on top of his trunk he then sank into bed, checking his clothes one last time, making sure he was wearing jeans, a shirt and the invisibility cloak as a lightweight shirt