Harry potter and the book of Power
Chapter 1: The reward out of a punishment
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Harry woke up sweaty and breathing hard (these usually happened at around 2-3 o'clock in the night, this time wasn't any different).It was one of those nights were Harry didn't have visions of Voldemort, but an nightmare about Cedric or Sirius. He was in the department of mysteries just a minute ago in his dreams, re-witnessing the loss of Sirius thanks to Occlumency he was able to wake himself up. He was cut of from rubbing his temples by small taps on the window. Hedwig hooted as they both saw a larger than usual raven. Reluctant at first to let it enter, thinking it might be a trap Harry heard Hedwig hoot again and he could sworn the owl nodded giving him permission to open the windows. He quickly obliged as he was eager to learn who it was from.
"kraaagh, kraagh" the raven let out, not to loud, but it was certainly louder than the whispers he used to talk to Hedwig.
"Quiet I don't want to get in trouble" Harry whispered to the black feathered animal, "so where might you be from"
The raven suck out it's leg for Harry to grab the letter, it was from Gringotts. "Thank you" Harry whispered as the raven flew to Hedwig's' perch to rest and get some water. Curious he opened the heavy letter but later wished he hadn't.
Dear mister Potter,
Hereby we notify that you are the sole beneficiary of one, Sirius Black, the
last of the Most noble and ancient house of Black. As stated in his will all
his possessions and that of the house of black will be passed on to you.
Enclosed you will find a set of keys, the vault numbers and a list of
who's they were, before passed on to you.
We suggest that you set apart a whole day to go true the contents of the
vaults, as some were not visited in quite some time and to sign all the
necessary paperwork.
Our condolences,
Glabtook of Gleerock
senior manager
As Harry looked up at the letter again and saw small stains of water on the parchment. He wiped away his tears, how could he have so stupid, he was the reason Sirius, his godfather was dead and now all he got was his money.
"No it's not your fault, if there was one person to blame then it's Voldemort" Harry muttered under his breath. That was his motivation, his drive so to speak, to enact revenge. When he got home the first day he had been crying all day for the loss of Sirius. But then he decided to have revenge for all the suffering the dark wizard had done to him. With newfound
determination and drive he concluded that he had to learn and learn a lot, so in 20 days he had read most of his books, trying to memorize them all. Learning the theory as well the practical. Off course with the restrictions on the use of magic by underage wizard he could only practice the movement of the wand.
He had also written to Hermione to ask for her books on Arithmacy as well as ancient runes and any books she had of magical theory. He also asked her in the letter that he would like her to go to Diagon ally, if she was willing to off course, to buy books and materials for him. Materials for potions and Herbology as well as a set of dragon boots and astronomy equipments. For the books he asked for advanced books on every subject he was studying in Hogwarts except divination, because even if by a miracle he had passed the OWLS for it, he wasn't going to continue the subject. For the last line of the paragraph he had written he knew he would get a lecture from Hermione. He asked her for all the books she could find on
Occlumency and Legimency. He had written her explaining the situation of last year with Sirius dying and that he needed to keep Voldemort out of his head. He also advised her that she should study and practice like he was doing. He explained her that she and Ron would be in danger, because they we're the closest to him and that they were going to be the focus of Voldemort and his followers, to get to Harry. He had also given her permission to take 2000 galleons out of his vault. He thought that it might be a little overkill but wanted to be sure. He also asked Hermione for something to store the books because the place in his trunks was filling up and told her that she could buy whatever she wanted with the money that was left. Sure that was bribing her but, but he needed all the books he could get.
The day after he sent the letter, he had gotten her reply, that she love to help him out and that she promised to study and practice although she couldn't say the same for Ron. But he had already gotten a positive reply from Ron who told him to keep strong and that the whole Weasley clan said hello. He was relieved at the fact that Ron was going to study and practice. She had also said that she would be needing her books if she was going to study. 'Off course how silly of me Harry' had though. She told him that she was going to Diagon Ally the next day and that she would buy him all the same books. She didn't even lecture Harry, thanks to mostly the bribe Harry guessed. Like clock work, the following day she had send him a small trunk; 1 meter long an 60 cm wide. It was also 30 cm high. 4 other owls brought him the other equipments (Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, dragon boots,…). There was also an accompanied letter with all the things. Being late at night he hushed the birds gave them water and returned his attention.
Dear Harry,
As you will see I have bought quite a lot. The trunk is under a type of engorgement with a password. The enlargement password is Dwarf and the reduction password is Giant. With everything I bought the total price was 1425 galleons 14 sickels 20 knuts. The rest, I put back in your vault.
Much to my surprise Ron has agreed to study. In one week I will be going on a tour in Europe and won't be back till August 7. If anything happens let me know as quickly as possible. Maybe I can see you in august if the headmaster could arrange for you to stay with the Weasley.
Love
Hermione
Ps: There are also some order catalogues in the trunk if you should need anything.
He opened the window to let the owls out who had rested sufficiently. Once again he was alone with Hedwig. After sorting all the items the 4 owls had brought on the bed, he put the trunk on the floor and whispered 'Dwarf'. Suddenly the trunk flew open and a bookcases grew like a bean sprouting towards the ceiling. They were only a quarter full.
"I really love magic" Harry smiled.
He looked at the bookshelves, there must have been over 80 books in there. So he started to learn. First up was Occlumency, just the basics Harry had said to himself the rest would come later, so he studied with complete attention and focus only sometimes disturb by the Dursley's who were hesitant after Moody's talk.
'Occlumency isn't really hard' thought Harry 'off course nothing is without Snape breathing down your neck or trying to probe your mind.'
He got the very basics down in just under 3 days, the thing that really helped Harry was a passage that in the book:
'True mastery with Occlumency comes with realizing that your mind is your domain, your kingdom so to speak. You have total dominion and power over that realm and whoever tries to enter without permission. Will not be granted access!'
Knowing that more advanced Occlumency would take more time, he left it for later. He proceeded to Arithmacy, he decided that he would first study the subjects he didn't have and then he would move to the subjects he was weaker in. He also decided that after Arithmacy he would read all the books he had on magical theory. Arithmacy came easy to him. The subject was basically magical mathematic to put it simple. Harry was already one of the best of the class in his elementary years so the equations and the theories were locking in his mind as pictures, off course with the help of Occlumency, the process of learning had become easier, as he could organise the thoughts in his mind more clearly. He made a note to himself tell Ron and Hermione, not that she needed it. So 2 days later when he was already at a 3rd year level. He also wrote a letter to his best friends, explaining the situation and that he took the liberty of ordering them the same beginners Occlumency books.
Magical theory was al lot of reading, but he had to read it carefully, he read all 3 books 2 times in 3 days. It had helped him a lot in understanding the very basics and nature of magic. Ancient runes was a lot cross referencing and memorising ancient languages, for faster interpretation and quicker translations. So after a little under 2 days of learning he got the very basics. Astronomy was next he didn't quite have an affinity for the subject but studied it none the matter. I took one and a half days to go true the matter, fast only because he had already taken the subject for 5 years he only needed to freshen it up a little bit. Potions was a very different story. Harry wanted to go back to basics. So he spent a hole four days on potion brewing methods, ingredients, warnings do's and do not's. Transfiguration took, with clearing ones thoughts and emotions, very little out of him, as well as charms, care of magical creatures and defence against the dark arts in total they all took 4,5 days. Herbology was not really a priority so he only spent a half day on it. After another crack on defence against the dark arts, a lot of wand practise and a little Occlumency exercises for 1 day he decided that to tomorrow he would take a break from all the studying, to relax and rest. He noted that with the progress he had made it would take him at least till 10 of August to start on advanced learning on all the subjects. Some were going much better and faster than expected while others were holding him down, but he knew he had to do this.
Two very loud "KRAAAGH, KRAAAAGH" woke him from his phase.
It was the raven, it had sufficiently rested and wanted to be on his way but the closed windows was blocking him. Just as Harry began to comprehend the situation, his uncle started shouting from down the hall, he was awake.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? BOY!" his uncle yelled trough an already opened door. Only to see a raven fly out of the windows. "WHAT WAS THAT" he yelled.
"Just a letter from someone, uncle Vernon" Harry said quickly hiding the letter in his back pocket.
"I WARNED YOU ABOUT YOU AND YOUR FREAKY THINGS, GO TO BED I'LL DEAL WITH YOU IN THE MORNING" his uncle yelled still a little bit sleepy.
Harry didn't know whether to take that as a good or a bad sign hoping that his uncle might have calmed down in the morning or better forgotten. But complied very fast as he was exhausted both mentally, emotionally as well as physically. He knew he was going to get his punishment in the morning no use thinking otherwise.
The next morning Harry woke up at around 8, washed up and went downstairs and saw his only living relatives already at the table eating. His aunt was baking beacon, her smiling face changed foul when she saw him.
"Bake this beacon without burning" she snapped and went over to her son to giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
Dudley was grinning a mile wide, tomorrow was his birthday and he would get all the presents he asked for and a lot more. The 'killer whale' as Harry called him, a new boxing name for his dear precious nephew, was going to receive over 40 presents. The amount always went up by 1 per year.
"Hurry up with my bacon boy" his uncle said with a raised voice "I still haven't forgotten what happened last night, as a punishment today you will be joining me and doing some manual labour for me. Understand?"
Dudley was just laughing at him and aunt Petunia was frowning at uncle Vernon.
"Yes, uncle Vernon" Harry replied quickly as he served the bacon and thought 'Great there goes my day off'.
On the driveway, his uncle Vernon stopped just a meter from the car turned around with a foul face "I'm warning you, boy, any funny business and you won't be eating for a week."
"Yes, uncle Vernon" Harry replied. 'Always the same thing, it doesn't matter whether I did or didn't do anything I'm still going to be punished.'
"Now get in the car!" his uncle spat.
It seemed that tomorrow being Dudley's birthday, and that he still had to buy a lot of the presents, his uncle thought that Harry might be a good mule. He also wanted to make Harry jealous from all the presents his cousin was getting. So after the M5 and after they had parked their car in the heart of London, they started shopping, so far Harry was carrying around 10 present and not one of them was light. So around 11 they went back to the car to put the presents in the trunk. 'Thank goodness' Harry thought.
After 5 more presents, still walking around when suddenly his uncle Vernon stopped dead in his tracks. Before Harry had even the time to react his uncle spoke.
"Mr and Mrs Goodchild, how lovely to see you here, what brings you to these parts of town" he spoke very soft in a grovelling manner.
The couple was in their late 50's and very distinguished looking. You could see that they were very well-off from. It seems that Mr Goodchild was a very high in the construction business pyramid. And was a client that uncle Vernon was after for years.
"Oh Vernon, good to see you too, we were having a lovely stroll in our old neighbourhood, we use to live here you see. And you what brings you to these parts"
Seeing his uncle lost for words, Harry was internally laughing, but thought that if he ever wanted to get out of this punishment this was his chance, so he interrupted.
"Uncle and I are birthday shopping for my dearest nephew. Harry Potter, sir, pleased to meet you. Uncle has spoken highly of you both" Harry extended his hand to Mr Goodchild and bowed small for Mrs Goodchild.
"The pleasure is all mine Mr Potter, Vernon I didn't know you had a nephew"
"Oh he doesn't like to talk about it. He has taken care of me since I was an infant. Between you and me, it's quite difficult to make ends meet when taken care of 2 children, but I have yet to complain."
His uncle let out a nervous smile.
"What charming young man you have raised Vernon." Mrs Goodchild spoke absolutely delighted.
"Uncle, here is a thought, why don't you give me the keys to the car so I can put these gifts in the trunk and in the meantime you can have tea with Mr and Mrs Goodchild, just tell where you will be having it and I'll return there."
"What a lovely idea!" again Mrs Goodchild spoke. "Yes, that idea seems lovely. Doesn't it dear?"
"Yes I think we can manage that. And after seeing how you raised this gentlemen over here, we should talk about the contract you've been asking me about. What do you say Vernon?"
Immediately his eyes lit up and answered "YES, yes off course"
"Excellent we will be around the corner in the Oxford Tea club just around the corner, you can meet us there Mr Potter."
His uncle gave Harry the car keys. And Harry went to put present in the car when he return to the club. He saw the trio having tea and conversing about business and stuff. Not wanting to stay there he already formed a plan in head.
"Already back my boy?"
"Yes sir" Harry said in a respectable way and then turned to his uncle handed him the car keys an asked "Uncle Vernon?"
"Yes my dear Harry" his uncle answered, keeping up the appearances.
"Would you mind terribly if I went out for stroll. I do not want to intrude in you conversation and I know that you will be talking about business. Can I explore the city? I'll meet you back at the car at 15."
"Off course Harry my dear boy, but watch out for yourself, you never know these days"
"To true nowadays" Mr Goodchild replied
"I will" Harry answered.
So Harry left to enjoy his newfound freedom. It was around noon and Harry was feeling a little hungry, what would he eat he thought, a kebab! He didn't have a lot of money on him around 20 pounds, so after eating and paying around 3 pounds, he set out to explore. After 2 hours of walking he come upon a small occult shop in a small side-street. He thought it might be funny to see the muggle point of view. So he explored the shop with all kinds of rubbish, when he came upon a very new looking book in the fictions section: "THE MUGGLE IN ME" by Ben Savage
He was intrigued, never did he hear muggles use the term muggle before.
"Excuse me could you tell me something about this book?" he asked the shopkeeper.
"Oh that book that has been here for 12 years bought off of someone who was into magical fiction you se. Was glad to get rid of it for a couple of pounds. Are you interested?"
"Yes, how much is it?"
"Well normally I wouldn't sell it for less than 50 pounds, but seeing as it's been sitting there for the better part of the last 12 years. How much do you have?" the shopkeeper asked with a greedy look in his eyes which Harry didn't see.
So Harry emptied his pockets and came to 17 pounds 45 pence, which the shopkeeper took to the last penny. Harry asked for a bag and the shopkeeper complied, never realizing what the book really would be worth if someone knew what is was. Harry left the shop ignorant of what he had in his hand. After another half an hour Harry went back to the car being a quarter early, he knew that his uncle would leave him if he was only a minute late. So he waited by the car with a bag in his hand. His uncle arrived 5 minutes early with 5 more presents in his hands and grinning like a little schoolboy who just found fridge full of candy. When he saw Harry he tried to frown but was still grinning. Harry's lips curly at the funny sight, not wanting to anger his uncle he concealed his humour in the situation.
"Get In the car." he said far less snappy than his usual self.
On the ride back he was still grinning. When they arrived home he told him to wait in the car wile he checked if Dudley was home. Who wasn't and they unloaded the gifts. The last trip back and forward, his uncle stopped in front of him, turned around and said with a little raised voice "This doesn't change anything! ok boy?"
"Yes uncle Vernon" Harry replied.
"Good after you put those present away go to your room"
Which was fine with Harry, he could go back to relaxing. Lying on his bed after placing the book he had bought in on one of the bookshelves, he thought of the things he could do. Go for a walk? Naah he wasn't going to be allowed. Read? It was his day off, remember? He knew, he would write letters to his friends and Remus. First he wrote to Remus asking him how he was doing and what he was up to lately, he also told him what he was up to, mostly studying actually. Then he wrote to Ron and Hermione told them that he was fine and that the studying was going fine, he also asked them if they were studying Occlumency books that he had send them. He also asked them how they were fairing in their studies. The letters were actually identical accept at the very end were Harry wrote Ron, that he couldn't wait to kick his ass in quidditch. To Hermione he wrote that, she should watch out for him, because it wouldn't be long before he caught up to her. He signed the letter, and sent Hedwig on her way. A few hours later he wished that he wouldn't have.
At night he awoke abruptly, scar hurting furiously. I had been a vision and because of the Occlumency he knew it couldn't be false. Basically it was death eater spy giving a report of the ministry and what was happening there, it was disorganised, Fudge was thrown out and a new minister was appointed, still trying to tie all the ropes tight together. Voldemort was pleased at. He was planning a simultaneous attack on both Diagon ally and Hogsmeade with the real intention of freeing his loyal followers from Azkaban prison.
Harry planned to contact Dumbledore immediately, but without Hedwig he had no means. He was panicking.
"Calm down, don't repeat what happened do you last June?" he whispered to himself. So after calming down he thought 'Go back to sleep now and rush over to Mrs Figg early in the morning.'
So Harry went back to trying to sleep but couldn't not with his scar hurting and the vision, thanks to Occlumency, so fresh in his mind. He counted the minutes until 7:30 in the morning. When he heard his aunt wake up and go downstairs, he got dressed and rushed down.
"And where do you think yours going boy."
"Just for a morning run, aunt Petunia." He explained "I'll be back around noon maybe earlier"
"Well don't expect any food when you come before lunch" she spat.
He left the house and ran as fast as he could to Mrs Figg's house. Upon arriving there, he rang the doorbell and started knocking on the door at the same time, he heard some voices inside and then Mrs Figg opened the door.
"What are you doing here at this hour Harry, come in" she saw his troubled face and was a little worried.
Harry saw 2 cups of tea on the table as he walked in to the kitchen.
"I need to speak to professor Dumbledore it's important and who else is here from the order, Moody?"
"Young potter, I'm impressed." Moody removed his invisibility cloak.
"What happened?" Mrs Figg asked worried.
"A vision, I need to speak to professor Dumbledore" Harry repeated.
Mrs Figg rushed to the fireplace to floo Dumbledore. Moody in the meantime was intrigued at how the young boy had found him out, asked him about it.
Harry smiled a little "Well, when I rang the doorbell and started knocking I heard whispers in the house, which meant that Mrs Figg wasn't alone, this was confirmed when I saw two teacups on the table upon entering the kitchen. Also I didn't hear any footsteps of anyone moving to conceal himself. Since you're the only other person I know that has an invisibility cloak you were the first one that came in to mind"
Moody looked really impressed by his deductive skills. But didn't have time to act upon it further when Mrs Figg walked in with Dumbledore. Troubled look upon their faces.
"Tell me what happened Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
"A vision professor and a very clear one at that. It was about …." Harry retold them the vision. "I know for sure that it wasn't Voldemort trying to manipulate me, because I've been studying Occlumency on my own and even do I only know the basics I really think you should guard the 3 places well tonight …."
"You've been studying Occlumency?" Dumbledore interrupted.
"Yes but that's not the matter now, I think you should place wizards that are capable of the patronus in Azkaban because that's were Voldemort will attacking there himself with his Dementors and …"
"Yes Harry I was thinking the same thing, Alastor go to the headquarters contact everyone emergency meeting at 12, I'll go to the ministry and contact newly appointed minister Scrimgeour to place some aurors in those places without alerting Voldemort's spies. Arabella could I bother you with a cup of tea"
With that Moody left in a hurry to the fireplace.
"I'll make it right away, Harry have you had breakfast, off course you haven't when would you have? I'll cook you something right away."
"Now Harry what's this I heard about you are studying Occlumency" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Yeah, well I thought it would be best after last June. It's really going well and that's not the only thing I've been studying, I've been revising all my subject. I mean I have to considering the… you know" he said looking at Mrs Figg. Dumbledore immediately understood he was talking about the prophecy.
"Uhm professor I wanted to apologize for what happened in your office last time"
"Don't worry about it, you needed to let out some steam, those items have already been replaced."
"Here we go" Mrs Figg was serving tea and breakfast for both men which both graciously accepted, apparently Dumbledore hadn't had his yet.
After breakfast the trio talked about current events and about Harry mainly. During the talks Dumbledore called Fawkes to send a message to McGonagall to explain the situation. Harry told them about his inheritance from Sirius and that he needed to sort out the vaults and that he wanted to visit Weasleys if they were willing to have him.
"I have no doubt that the Weasleys would love to have you, but…"
"With all the current events it would be difficult to guard me there" Harry interrupted.
Dumbledore was a little surprised by this and smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Maybe we can arrange something for you to spent you last week of august there"
"Thank you professor"
"I need to be off Harry, you do understand? Come, let me escort you back home"
They both got up and left to 4 Privet drive, along the way they talked about the order and also Kreacher came up. Apparently Remus and Tonks decided to behead him after what he did and Harry didn't feel sorry for the house elf one bit. They approached the house and Harry bid his professor goodbye after telling him to keep him posted about what happens. Harry rang the doorbell and went inside after his aunt opened the door, apparently Dudley was still unpacking his forty-some presents. Harry saw his cousin gloating when he saw him, but Harry didn't care as he had seen nearly half of Dudley's presents. Harry said that he was going to his room and started leaving the living room when his uncle called him back.
"We are going to celebrate Dudley's birthday, no freaky thing while we are gone, do you understand boy?"
"Yes uncle Vernon" with that Harry left for his room. Once in his room he started to study Occlumency again. He wanted to know more that just the basics and read more from the more advanced books. After a whole day of reading he only understood little of it. But decided that he would dedicate time to the subject. Nervously he tried to go to sleep knowing what would happen tonight. He dosed off at 2 in the night. At 6 he woke up again with his scar throbbing, Voldemort was absolutely furious of the failure of the mission and the failure to cause havoc. He looked up to find a letter from Dumbledore on his night desk. Probably delivered by Fawkes without waking Harry. He opened the letter a little relieved, knowing from his vision that things must have worked out for the order and the ministry.
Dear Harry,
You will be pleased to hear that Voldemort's attacks on all three places have failed and even do casualties were avoided 7 people, of which one auror, were kissed by the Dementors and have been transferred to St. Mungo's hospital.
Again I as well as minister Scrimgeour would like to thank you from your help. If anything happens please don't hesitate to warn me, either by owl or via Mrs Figg like you did yesterday.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry was taken back that 7 people had lost their souls. 'Even with pre-warning we still lost 7 people. I need to stop this, I need to stop Voldemort' Harry thought.
He went back to studying Occlumency and was studying it for 5 days without even realizing it. He got the theory very well he thought, clearing his mind and calming his emotions had become easier. And organising his thoughts were in order, but with the help of more advanced Occlumency he knew that his studies were going to go much better. He only lacked practice. And at midnight he was interrupted by taps on the window by Hedwig and 11 more owls. All with gifts, then it came to him, today was his birthday. But 11 owls that was the most he had received.
Ron had sent him some chocolate frogs and a Quidditch book like every year. A long with a return letter for the one he had sent 6 days ago. Mrs Weasley had sent him a birthday cake and a sweater. The Twins had sent him a pack Weasley's Wizard Wheezes goodies from the store they had opened in Diagon Alley last June. Apparently Ron and Hermione had forgot to mention that. They also sent him a parchment that stated he was for 1 third co-owner of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Shop, and he didn't have to bother tearing the parchment because there were copies. More surprisingly Ginny had also sent him a gift. A book and DADA, it was old looking but Harry liked it nevertheless. It had probably been Bill or Charlie's . Apparently the hole Weasley clan was working on getting Harry to the Burrow for the rest of the summer holiday.
Hermione had also sent her reply along with, for once not a book but a broom polishing set. She said that she need not bother with a book since he was studying during the summer. But Harry laughed he thought Hermione might be feeling a little threatened. Remus had sent him a very advanced book on DADA along with a note that he was working undercover and would be gone at least till mid September. Hagrid had sent him Rock cakes and a book on COMC.
The there was the letter from Hogwarts, with his OWL results and an accompanied letter.
Dear mister Potter,
The following letter contains yours Owl results as well as the list
of supplies and books needed for NEWT-classes.
Enclosed are the results of your Ordinary Wizarding Level exams.
The possible scores are as follows:
•Outstanding (O)
Pass Grades •Exceeds Expectations (E)
•Acceptable (A)
-----------------------------------------------------------
•Poor (P)
Fail Grades•Dreadful (D)
•Troll (T)
A score of an O, E, or A is worth a total of one OWL. Scores
of P, D, or T receive no credit.
Since you already told me that you wanted to become an
auror. I took the liberty in inscribing you for all the all the
necessary classes for becoming an auror. I do hope you don't
mind, also since yours is a special situation, the headmaster and
I decided that it will be me buying all your necessary school
supplies as well as anything else you need, you will simply pay
me back upon your return.
If you wish to enter additional classes please let me know in you
reply letter as well as a list of items you already have.
Sincerely
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmaster
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
OWL scores for Harry James Potter are as follows:
Astronomy – P
Care of Magical Creatures – O
Charms – E
Defense Against the Dark Arts – O
Divination – A
Herbology – E
History – D
Potions – O
Transfiguration – E
Total OWLs 6
Ps: Please note that you are allowed to continue NEWT-level
Astronomy, if you pass a preliminary test the first weekend
of September. After much talk and consideration regarding
events past that night, this was decided by the examining body.
Harry was pleased with himself, 6 OWLs, an O for potions and he could still continue Astronomy. He was also appointed Quidditch captain, as his lifelong ban was lifted and his Firebolt was going to be given back.
So Harry went through the list of supplies and books he was going to need, and not surprisingly Hermione had bought him most of the books needed for NEWT-classes, but he still needed some extra, he also asked for potions supplies in high numbers and even rare ones, his explanation was that he might be needing a lot now that they NEWT-classes with Snape and had to practice a lot, but the truth was that he wanted to make some potions for himself. He also wrote her that he was studying Ancient Runes and Arithmacy and that he wished to enter those classes as well. He had decided to take all the 7 classes he could, plus Arithmacy and Ancient Runes, Quidditch practice and visiting Hagrid and also DA , but he wasn't sure about that. It would depend on the situation.
He had also gotten a letter and a gift from both Luna and Neville. And he promised himself to order Neville an Herbology book for his birthday and to send a thank you note to Luna.
After writing all the letters, he went to sleep and decided that in the morning for his birthday he was going to have no breakfast, but the cake that Mrs Weasley had sent him. And then go for a little walk, no studying, just relaxing. But in the morning he was surprised by a chocolate bar that his aunt and uncle had bought him. Probably for the thing with the Goodchild's. He knew it wasn't going to be a reoccurring event and didn't seek much after it.
After a day of relaxing, and going back to studying the following day. When he suddenly realized that weeks had gone by. Granted he had done a lot but he felt like there was much more to do. He had studied Arithmacy and Ancient Runes, both of which he thought he was on an fifth grade level. With potions he knew almost every potions ingredients and how to prepare them, how many times to stir them, up to a year 6 level, he wanted it that way, he wouldn't always have the recipe's at hand so it felt best to know the simple everyday needed potions by heart. If he knew the things he knows now things wouldn't have gone bad in Snape's lessons. Astronomy was a hard subject, but Harry managed, with the studying he had done he would easily pass the test they were going to give him. COMC was actually very easy since there was no practical involved. Now Transfiguration was the worst of all, because he had to cover a lot of theory on how things worked and how they should be done, what to take into consideration when Transfigurating objects and animals as well as people. Charms was easy enough but had to do a lot of wand movements to get it right without the incantations of course. He wouldn't want to repeat last summer now would he. DADA was going perfect, he was even ahead of schedule of what he had planned to do. In Herbology he learned about all plants and their effects. All in all he was on schedule, his professors were in for a surprise.
He got an answer from professor McGonagall regarding Arithmacy, Ancient Runes and Astronomy. That he should prepare well for the first weekend of September which was the 7th and 8th. When he would be taking 'entering' exam for Astronomy and a evaluation exam for Arithmacy and Ancient Runes. She also told him how surprised she was at him for taking these subject, these were not easy subject and they would be hard to manage, she told him that he should study hard. He also got all the things asked and all of the books required.
He still had one week to go and wanted a break from all of it, all of the studying. He decided to read the book he bought in London, a nice fiction story, away from all the trouble he had in reality. So he started reading, the story was about a young wizard who had studied magic in a castle, a school founded by four of the greatest witches and wizards that lived. It went on to tell about every aspect of the real magical world…and continued to describe it.
'What going on how did this book get in muggle hands and why would some write something like this' Harry contemplated. He closet the book to get a better look on the and then he noticed an incantation on the book cover. 'That wasn't there before'
Permissum me animadverto vestrum verus sapientia
First he whispered the incantation , then he repeated it 3 times growing accustomed to the words. Nothing happened, except when he opened the book again. All the pages were blank, where had he seen that before? Tom Riddle's diary. He approach the book cautiously when flipping true the pages, the pages automatically flipped to a certain page and there he saw a 'hello' written on the page that vanished after 2 seconds. He quickly grabbed a quill and some ink and wrote 'Hello, who are you?'
'How rude of me, pardon me, Bernardus Savageam, Ben Savage for short and who is the wizard that purchased me might I ask?'
'Harry Potter, are you a persons memory?'
'Yes you could call it that, would you like to come in so we can talk face to face?'
'I don't know' Harry answered and also wrote 'All Mudbloods should be killed' he decided to test the book to determine whether or not the book had anything evil in it.
'I am terribly sorry but I think we do not quite agree on the matter, and what a foul thing to say, my mother was muggle born'
'I'm sorry' Harry quickly apologized 'That was just to test you, I had a bad experience with a memory within a diary once, my mother is also muggle born by the way'
'That's quite all right, I understand you wanting to be a little cautious, would like to come in to get better acquainted?'
'Yes, why not'
Suddenly the book flipped pages till the middle section just like Tom Riddles diary and sucked him in.
Harry found himself in on an open field with in front of him a small country cottage, looking very new but in an older style. It was a little different, everything was much clearer than Tom Riddle's memory, it also felt more real. Suddenly a man on his right side came to his attention. This man had was quite long, around 6 foot 5 inches and was well build, lean and muscular. Harry guessed that he was around 30. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes. He also had a light beard. He was wearing ocean Blue ropes.
"Hello I'm Harry…" suddenly Harry stopped "Why am talking to you, you can't hear me!"
"On the contrary, I can" the man extended his hand "Ben Savage"
"Nice to meet you, Harry Potter" he took it.
"The pleasure is all mine, it's good to have some company after so long, might I enquire what year it is."
"Uhm, It's the summer of 1996, why do you ask"
"Well if that's true then I have spend more than that it's been over 280 years since I last talked to someone."
"What do you mean?"
"Well you see I was born in August 1531 and the last thing I remember from the outside is that is was around winter 1709, a warlock convention had just outlawed the breed of dragons. And then my creator, the real me so to speak came to talk to me twice more, but I don't know how much time had past as time is irrelevant here."
"Time is irrelevant here?"
Ben chuckeled "Yes, you can spent a hole year in here and no time will have past on the outside, on your plain so to speak, this is only an experience in you mind, you will not age here"
"What are you actually doing here?"
"Well the real me lived for over 175 years and wanted to preserve his knowledge. So he wrote this book, the muggle book I mean to keep unwanted eyes away, and since the international statute of Wizarding secrecy had been passed so the muggles didn't know about us anymore. And since no Pureblood would want to even be caught death with a book called 'The Muggle in me' he knew he would be safe from evil hands"
"Not all purebloods are evil" Harry objected.
"Quite true, but most of them have a disgust towards everything 'impure'"
Harry just nodded "How come I can talk to you and touch you" he asked.
"Ah, right to the point, lets go inside and have a cup of tea while we talk" he motioned "People do still drink tea don't they?"
Harry laughed and nodded. He followed the man into the cottage which looked very similar to Hagrid's hut, but only smaller. They sat down and after they both took a sip from their tea, Ben continued.
"You wanted to know how it is that you can talk to me and touch me, I assume you couldn't in with the diary you were talking about, you could only communicate through writing couldn't you?"
"Yes, how did you know that?"
"Well Harry, First let me welcome you to the Book of Power and start from the very beginning. I was have always been, as you are also, a strong practitioner of magic. And I am a fairly intelligent person, but not intelligent enough to be placed in Ravenclaw" he joked.
"A Gryffindor and proud of it; which house might you be in, not Slytherin I hope" he joked.
"No also a Gryffindor and also proud of if" they both laughed.
"Well you see Harry the time when I went to Hogwarts was a time of prosperity. That was only driven further by my goal for progress in knowledge and Magic. I was one of the top students my class and took almost every class available then I even studied 1 year extra for it. After my studies I traveled the world to gather knowledge on magic. My parents had died 2 days after 18th birthday, they left me a considerable amount of money and that's when I decided to tour the world. After 30 years of travelling and gathering knowledge and writing everything down in books, studying Arithmacy in the middle east, Herbology and Magical creatures in jungles and forests, curses and Ancient Runes in Egypt and Greece, Transfiguration in India, Alchemy, Astronomy and Potions in China, Charms all around Europe and healing everywhere I went. I returned to England, Defence was something you learned side by side with travelling."
"30 years of travelling?" Harry looked a little shocked.
"Yes, Harry. Now upon my return my thirst for knowledge was lessened a little but not quite, so I studied on every subject I knew. I experimented with a friend of mine, Hector Dagworth-Granger, on potions and later we founded 'The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers'. I studied Arithmacy extensively for the creation of spells and Charms with another friend of mine, Blane Belfour, and founded together The Committee for Experimental Charms. Together with a certain Bunham Mungo I created The Savage and St Mungo's hospital. I also worked on alchemy with a certain Nicolas Flamel."
"Wait a minute I know all those names" Harry interrupted "Those are all famous people on chocolate Frog cards and your name isn't mentioned in any one of them."
"Patience Harry I'm getting to that, you see after the rebellion in 1612, where I ingeniously put my financial abilities to work, the Wizarding world wasn't going to trust the goblins with their finances anymore and there business was going to deteriate. That's when I went to Gringotts and opened an account with considerable amount of money I might say, 12000 galleons." He looked up to Harry to get a glimpse of his surprise, he was surprised himself when he found none "you see at the time, a 10 families could live luxurious enough for 3 generations with that money."
Now Harry was a little shocked.
Pleased with himself Ben continued "I told the goblins that I was willing to take a vault only if the gave me a good interest rate and no maintaining fee for 20 years, I also told them that I wasn't going to touch the Gold for 30 years and that they could invest half the content of the vault any given time and they could keep two tenths of the profit made, on a loss they would simply have to pay me back no strings attached, a little reluctant they agreed to an interest of 7 that's 5 more that people use to get prior to the rebellion. After this ingenious move I was set financially, and worked on perfecting my knowledge on every aspect and subject whether it be divination or magical creatures or transfiguration. Off course at the age of 150 I started to worry that my work might be misused and a plan started to form in my head so I made the Book of Power that would contain my last submitted memory, similar to a painting so to speak. I also made the book a little special, anything a person has with him when he is entering the book will be copied into the books memory so to speak and could be used here as well. Also other books could be copied into the book, you simply have to hold the Book of Power against the book you want to absorb and say 'invado' and they will be available to you her in this place. Now as for why I'm not mentioned on those chocolate frog cards you speak of, nobody knows I existed"
"What do you mean nobody knows you existed" Harry asked confused.
"What I mean is, are you familiar with the fidelius charm?"
"Yes"
"Well I placed myself under one with me as the secret-keeper after I copied and destroyed all the books and notes I had to the Book of Power, and told no one the secret"
"You couldn't have, that's not even possible" Harry replied shocked
"Off course I could have, your forgetting young Harry that I was over 150 years old and that I had a lot of studies and experience on every subject, I was one of the most powerful wizards of my time if not the most powerful. Don't worry I had all my affairs take care of. I left my vault unaffected to the charm and instructed the Goblins that the if a witch or a wizard should come along one day and say 'A Goblin I respect is the owner of this bank, however humble me owns vault number 127' , he or she would inherit everything in that particular vault and everything associated with the original owner of that vault. I copied all my possessions to here, before I burned them."
"So no one knew you?"
"Well I only told a young wizard named Marques, who was my neighbour, and I instructed him to burry me in Hogsmeade. I also left him my house and other earthly possessions, except my vault which is now your property."
"Mine?"
"Yes, I just told you the password, simply speak it to one of the bank managers and you will be granted access and the key."
"How much is in there?"
"I don't know but I assume quite a lot, considering it hasn't been touched in 280 years, and the profit from the Goblin investments, which no doubt have been profitable. Would you like to see my collection that I gathered during my lifetime?"
"Yes, but where is it?" Harry asked looking around.
Suddenly Ben took out his wand and waved with it and 12 extra doors appeared around the cottage. Harry was mesmerised.
"Come on let me give you the tour." Ben smiled.
Harry stood up and followed Ben to first door on the right of the entrance door. When they entered he saw an immense potions lab almost twice the size of Snape's classroom, with caldrons, ingredients labs gloves… everything a potioneer needed. A little shocked Harry walked around in the room and saw some caldrons on the fire. "What are those" he asked bluntly.
"Oh, those are some potions I've been working on. You see the effect of potions only last a week at the most, but I wanted to make potions with effects lasting permanently."
"Which potions", Harry asked.
"The Power potion, where the drinker could have his strength nearly doubled; The Smart potion, where the drinker also could have his intelligence nearly doubled. All complicated stuff I'll tell you about it some other time. Shall we continue with the tour?"
"Ye… I mean Yes."
Ben chuckled a little, and they continued to the second room which was a giant greenhouse of the sort, upon entering to his right, Harry noticed shelves with all kind of equipment like dragon-hide gloves, dragon dung compost, mooncalf dung, shovels,… when he looked a the sera he was simple amazing by all the types of plants.
They continued to the next room where notes on parchments all over the room on Ancient Runes. Egyptian, Ancient Greek, Chinese… Harry thought he could learn a lot from this place. The next room was similar to the last one, only everything was in numbers, 'This must be the Arithmacy room' Harry thought.
They continued to the next room and the room was quite empty of any books and parchments except it had every conceivable object in there.
"What's this room?" for asked Harry.
"Oh here I do my Transfiguration Practice, I change the object in other object, animals and sorts. Also I practice charms in here levitate, banish, destroy… you know the stuff don't you?"
"I think I still have a very long way to go before I know the stuff you do." Harry said smiling
"Shall we move on?" Ben asked smiling. And they went to the next room which was an room solely for the purpose of Astronomy, you had star charts everywhere, instruments, telescopes and sorts…
"How do you observe the sky in a book?" Harry asked
"I don't, I study the carts and sort, but the environment in this place is enchanted so you have light and dark, sunny, snowy and rain, each 4 days we have a full moon. It's a cycle actually: New moon, first quarter, Full Moon, Last quarter. Now don't look so surprised I told you I was one of the most powerful wizards of my time."
"I know but this is amazing" Harry followed Ben to the next room. Which was a massive library that could almost equal Hogwarts Library. The book were divided per subject. "Scrap my last comment for the last room, this is amazing" Harry whistled.
"Every book I ever owned is here. I do hope you have some books, because I'm sick and tired of always reading the same ones over and over again."
"I have, but not in these numbers." Harry looked around. Harry thought he might be dreaming because this was just to amazing.
Ben showed him the next rooms which were a room dedicated solely to History and Divination each he even had a room dedicated to Healing. The last room was a room with a duelling platform.
"So what do you think young Harry?" Ben asked curiously asked
"Simply amazing and you say that I can touch anything here and stay here for years and no time will have past on the outside?"
"Yes that is correct, you can even use you wand if you bring it with you."
"Brilliant then I can do my studying the in stead of on the outside."
"Studying? During the summer?" Ben asked, normally a student from Hogwarts would go near any books till the last day of summer.
"Yes, well you see …" and Harry told him everything from his friends, family and his parents, to his acceptance to Hogwarts. From Dumbledore to Voldemort. In short everything. Ben just sat there listening carefully and analyzing everything. He even told him about the prophecy. After Harry was finished and his mouth still dry from all the speaking he had done.
Ben spoke "Well I think I can certainly help you if you are willing"
"Of course I'm willing, anything to help me along to get stronger"
"Don't misunderstand, Harry, I'm not helping you for your revenge, that is a motive that you will achieve noting with. Instead try to get knowledge of this Death Veil to maybe get this Sirius fellow back after you defeat Voldemort. Because once you have achieved your goal, what will you do next, what will you live for then?"
Harry stood there quiet, contemplating on what Ben had just said. 'Search for a way to get Sirius back' he had never thought of it that way, 'was that even possible'. A small light of hope lit inside Harry. Then he tried redefined his priorities.
"Let's say, I'm not searching after revenge anymore, will you help me then?" Harry enquired.
"I was going to help you whether you swore off revenge or not, it's not for me you have to do it, it's for yourself."
"Ok, how do I leave this place?"
"Simply imagine yourself back at the place you were before entering the book. Before you go 'Quidditch is Ben Savage's favourite sport'"
"What?"
"No, I just told you the secret for the fidelius charm, now you will see my name in everything I was involved in the magical world. Will you return?"
"I don't know I need time to think about something's, goodbye."
With that Harry left the book. He lay there on his bed, he must have spent 4 hours in the book but no time had past here. Contemplating on his determination about revenge, he knew Ben was right, what was he going to do afterwards. Again he was letting Voldemort determine his life, he thought it was because of him that he was studying and practicing a lot. 'What do I want for myself? Well one thing is clear I need to defeat Voldemort before I can move on.'
He had made up his mind. He was going to study with Ben. He prepared, took his wand, grabbed the book of power. And began to hold it to all the books he had and started saying 'invado' and noting special really happened. He was going to check it inside but decided to do all the books and then go inside to check, he could always return back to do it.
After doing all the books he had he took his invisibility cloak in his hand and 'hello' in the book. After another 'hello' appeared. Harry told Ben that he was ready to enter the book, and again the pages flipped to the middle section of the book, then a bright light came and Harry this time found himself at the same place he was when he left the cottage. Ben greeted him.
"You have quite some books here, they were all interesting I especially liked the History books. Now I know what happened after I was gone." He picked up a book. It was A History of Magic, "Here I am"
Harry picked up the book witch was evidently a book that he had for years and read, 'Bernardus Savageam, Ben Savage for friends, born 12 August 1632. Considered by many to be one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived, was known for his works on Alchemy with Nicolas Flamel, the co-founder of 'The Most Extraordinary Society of Potioneers' with Hector Dagworth-Granger, The Committee for Experimental Charms with Blane Belfour and The Savage and St Mungo's hospital with Bunham Mungo, died on 28 December 1709.'
"I've never seen that there!" Harry exclaimed
"My dear boy that's because of the fidelius charm. Come lets get you seated."
"Wait it just came to me, did you read all the books I copied?"
Ben laughed out loud, "Off Course, Harry you seem to be forgetting that time is relative her."
After they sat down and Ben had poured a cup of tea, they talked a little about what Harry wanted to learn, at first Harry said "everything", but then had to narrow it down, and said that he wanted to master every school subject he was taking and also be capable in both healing, Arithmacy and Ancient Runes and he also wanted to master Occlumency and even Legimency. He also said that he wanted to be able make those power potion and smart potion for outside use. They made out a schedule for Harry to work by, Harry would venture outside every '5 months' and rest there for a day and then return for another '5 months'. That would give him sufficient time to truly master every subject he was taking at school. It wouldn't be nearly enough to learn everything Ben had to offer, that would take decades but it would be sufficient for now. After that Harry was feeling a little tired and the both went to bed.
The following day they started after breakfast, which Ben told Harry was unnecessary, because he wasn't really feeling hungry in was only his mind playing tricks on him, a comment which Harry disregarded. Ben gave Harry 2 vials of different potion, the Smart and Power Potions, Ben said that it would only effect his mind now that he was in this reality. His mind would get stronger and his smarts would go up as well. He also told him that the potions he made shouldn't be taken twice, because the effects are somewhat unclear. After that they started. Harry started studying and Ben guided him. First was magical theory, the basics actually and slowly they evolved to other more difficult lessons.
Five days had passed in the real world and Harry had already mastered Occlumency and most parts Legimency as well as transubstantial transfiguration (which was Newt level transfiguration), he knew charms almost to perfection, in Herbology he could best Neville, in potions Snape was up for a surprise. Ben had also told him how to make Power and Smart potion. He was qualified enough for Healing, he had studied most of the magical creatures and knew how to act with them around, the main idea was to show no fear and to show respect and everything would just turn out fine. In ancient runes, Ben was a real help in interpreting the texts and runes and what to make of it. Arithmacy was a giant leap forward, he could easily pass the NEWT's Harry thought. In the next 5 months he would be learning how to create spells and he already had the spells he wanted to create in mind. Astronomy and Divination, Harry was really pleased with. He really didn't want to study history but with Ben it became fun. His best subject was DADA, were he not only duelled against Ben who beat him every time, but studied every aspect of it. There were spell for situations that Ben had thought him, that Harry never even heard of. For instance there was one where if someone 'accio'd' your wand you simply had to say "sectum" and your wand became a sharp blade in the others' hand but didn't hurt yours. There was still much more he had to learn.
Ben had also thought him a little trick to see someone who was under an invisibility cloak, It was were you had to focus magic true your eyes with the intent of seeing true anything. This really hurt Harry's eyes. You had to do this for long periods of up to 5 hours at a time but after 2 days. Harry finally managed. He was somewhat disappointed when Ben told him that he had to do it again in the real world. But since he knew the trick it was much easier, much to Harry's relief. When he was working on this thing, he wondered if he could do other kinds of magic with only his eyes. Not wanting to risk expulsion he, decided it would be best to wait till when he was back in school.
When he left the Book, he still had another 2 days for before the terms started and before he could go back to Hogwarts, a thing he always looked up to. He had already asked his uncle to take him to platform 9 and 3/4, who gruntingly agreed. He would only take one more journey into the book and in Hogwarts he would keep the travels to 2 time a week and stay for a month, if he felt he needed faster progress he would he could stay longer anytime. He knew a lot, but lacked real practice.
After a day had passed he went back into the book, there he was trying to perfect everything he knew and learned more things. The best thing he learn was Arithmacy, Harry thought, He first learned how to modify spells, he had a lot of time to work on the Patronus spell and he had shortened it from 'Expecto Patronum' to just 'Patronum'. He did the same with the 'Expelliarmus' that became just 'Expel'. Ben also thought him how to create spell which was much more difficult. He still couldn't beat Ben in a duel and would still have a long way to go. In potions he was helping Ben with developing a new potion which permanently increase you magical essence.
Harry quickly found out that Ben was a pleasant guy to work with and learn from, he had large sense of humour and a quick tongue. They talked about each others past, Harry told him that once he got his broom back they would go flying, Ben was going to be in for a big surprise. After all, brooms were a lot slower those days.
Slowly but steadily it was time for Harry to leave the book and prepare for school. Before that Ben told him that he wouldn't be able to talk about the book and about himself because of the Fidelius charm.
Harry almost couldn't wait. He had packed everything. When the day came his uncle drove him to the station. Before they got in the car Harry noticed Moody on a small broom under an invisibility cloak. Probably his protection from any death eaters that wanted to attack him. Once he got out of the car and was walking to platform 9 and ¾ Harry saw Moody only 5 feet from him still following him.
"Hello Moody" Harry spoke to him no use hiding now.
"How did you …?" Moody was surprised.
"Constant vigilance, following me for my protection are we"
"Dumbledore's orders."
Harry nodded, he understood, but still could help but feel a bit disappointed. He could take care of himself. When they arrived at the barrier, they said their goodbye's and Harry went through the barrier only to be tackled by Hermione.
Author's note: This is my first Fanfic so be lenient with the reviews. This is going to be a normal chapter size with me so get used to it. I like long stories, you don't Tough! If there are any suggestion you want to give I'll be happy to accept them. Any comment of complaints I'll be happy to accept them to.
Disclaimer: Oh yeah, I do not own HP, I'm just happy to write about it.