Unlocking What Is Not To Be Unlocked.
The days in Hogwarts passed with the monotony of classes and the normal behaviour and activities of the students. Harry found both of them really boring and inconsequential. He recognized the fact that these children needed to be educated in the different branches of magic so that they could use them in their future to secure jobs and that not everyone had the innate understanding that he had. But his understanding of 'common' human requirements and nature did not stop him from feeling like he was being taught alphabets when he was the most learned man in English in the world, metaphorically so, when one-day Professor McGonagall was teaching the class human transfiguration. The class found it very interesting when she said that the lessons contained information about Animagus transformations.
Harry, himself being a Shifter, had so instinctive knowledge in the subject that he needn't have bothered. Yet, Professor McGonagall's stern nature made sure that he at least tried somewhat – he couldn't after all unlock his powers now (he could easily do that) and show the teacher his Shifting abilities; the sheer magical backlash that would occur if he broke out of the magical bindings would take down half the castle.
The class went on with Harry getting more bored with each passing second. He didn't realize that he was dozing off until Professor McGonagall attempted to transfigure his hand into a rat trap. At this he was startled. He woke with a start as the spell approached him. Reacting without thinking, he switched back his hand from the rat trap mere seconds from when it hit him. He swayed in his place, having woken up with such a shock, and grabbed the edge of his desk to steady himself. When he had gotten his bearings, he looked at the class. And he found a class full of students gaping at him. Even Professor McGonagall was stunned into speechlessness. Hermione was gaping and looking at him in a queer way. Harry summed up his thoughts in two words, "Oh, shit!"
This brought McGonagall out of her stupor, "Language, Mr. Potter!"
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The meeting in the Headmaster's office was making his head ache. The small spikes of pain soon became full-fledged throbbing as Dumbledore gave McGonagall all sorts of crap theories about why Harry had been able to do what he did. But, the Deputy-Headmistress did not look even remotely happy or convinced with those explanations.
"Minerva, I am sure that Harry had a bout of Accidental Magic – having been woken up from slumber… "
"You are sure? YOU ARE SURE? How can a sixteen-year-old boy have a bout of Accidental Magic? It is unheard of!"
"Minerva, calm down!"
At the sudden rebuke, the Professor deflated slightly. Within moments though, she was back to looking at the Headmaster defiantly, clearly waiting for a better answer.
"Minerva, you must understand. I did not want to bring this matter up. It is unheard of, Yes. But it is also unheard of that a boy should be charged with the duty of being the one who'd defeat the greatest dark lord of the century that Britain had seen."
With each word, the Professor's shoulders slouched and a sad appearance made its way into her face. She was rather forcefully reminded of the Prophecy concerning Harry and Voldemort that Dumbledore had revealed to her at the beginning of the term.
"So, you are telling that it was the stress?"
"Yes, Minerva."
After the Professor had left, Dumbledore looked at Harry with a curious expression a small smile in place.
"You seem to be losing control, Harry."
It wasn't a question or an accusation. It was just a statement. So, he stayed silent, and decided to be so till he was asked an actual question.
The calmness that reigned in the office after the vehement verbal battle soothed his nerves. He visibly relaxed in his seat and stretched his hand towards the bowl that contained lemon-drops. After popping a couple of the sweets in his mouth, he silently sucked them, revelling in the slight tang and sweet taste.
"Harry, I have thought of something and I wish to know your opinion in that matter."
"What is it, Albus?"
"I think I should remove the bindings and let you control your own powers."
Harry stopped sucking, opened his eyes and looked at the old man with glazed eyes.
After a very long time, he managed to get a word out, "Wha'…?"
"Yes, Harry. It is getting very draining for me to hold the bonds. And I don't want you to lose control one day and destroy half the castle. It is best if you started learning how to keep your own powers in check and keep acting like the naïve school-boy that you should be."
"I…"
"Hear me out, Harry. Tonight, I'll let go of the bonds. You'll slowly come to your powers here in my office. And then we'll have the whole night to teach you to keep low profile and control your massive core and list of abilities from manifesting."
After several minutes, Harry stiffly nodded.
"Very well then. I'll let the teachers know that you are not going to the rest of the classes today. Give your mind some rest. I find a walk very refreshing after having my mental facilities face such ordeals."
With a small farewell, Harry left the office and made his way for Hagrid's hut. There, Hagrid was having classes with the third-years. A beautiful unicorn was trotting and grazing as Hagrid spewed information and the third-years copied those down fervently.
"Hey there, Hagrid."
"'Ello, Harry!"
"Is that a unicorn?"
"Yea', it is. Wan' ter go near him?"
"Sure."
"Ere, take a few steps closer to 'im, and wait for 'im to acknowledge you. If he comes closer, then you are fine to go further close to 'im. But if he gets scared and moves away, you have get back too. You ready?"
"Yeah, I am. But Hagrid, your accent is gone! And you speak so much better now…"
"All Olympe's doing. She forced me to take classes from her so that she could teach me to speak well."
Flashing Hagrid a bright smile, Harry moved to get closer to the Unicorn. And he'd barely taken a few steps, when the majestic beast looked at him and its eyes broadened. The Unicorn almost galloped up to him and stood in front of Harry. It brought its face closer to him, sniffed a little and nudged him in the chest.
"Wow, Harry! You must be the first man to have been that close with a Unicorn."
Harry was stroking the single horn with his left hand, and rubbing the lower neck and its mane with his right.
The Unicorn gave a neighing sound and shook its head in a clear gesture. Harry gave a small smile and walked around. With a flurry of movement, he got on its back and hugged the strong neck tightly. The Unicorn gave another neighing sound and galloped off.
Hagrid and the third-year students stood there looking at the trail of dust that was left behind by the Unicorn and its rider.
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"You need the lessons on keeping low profile very dearly, do you know that?"
The Headmaster was sitting in his chair, looking at his prodigy student, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You are going to give me heart-attacks if you continue with your exploits, Harry!"
"I must protest. It was the Unicorn's fault."
"So…"
"And it did a good job doing that fault. Because when it was galloping aimlessly, I noticed Malfoy sneaking off into the forest. And his arms were exposed…"
"Headmaster, Headmaster!"
"Calm down, Severus."
Snape had burst into the room like a possessed man. He was panting and gasping for breath.
"Take your time, Severus. I am in no hurry."
Once he had gathered his bearings back, he noticed Harry in the room.
"Potter, you insolent brat. What are you doing here? Get off, now! I have some important business with the Headmaster."
"I'd rather prefer he stays here, Severus."
Grumbling in defeat, he gave one more suspicious look at him and then turned towards Dumbledore.
"Headmaster, it is confirmed. Draco has gotten the dark mark. And I think he has been ordered to…" He drifted off, looking at Harry again.
"I have full confidence in Harry, Severus. Please continue with your information."
"Well, I think his orders are to murder you."
Surprising both of the professors, Harry said out, "Hah! I guessed as much. Now why else would he take the risk of wearing around the dark mark. He isn't very brave, either!"
"What are you…"
"Severus, leave us. I have some important discussion with Mr. Potter."
Snape scowled at the dismissal, opened his mouth to give a sharp retort. Then he thought better of it and turned back. His cloak billowed as he stomped out of the room.
"Harry, you were saying…?"
"Albus, I saw the dark mark on Malfoy's hand. If he really is here to kill you, then he must be removed."
"Harry, think."
"What is there…"
Dumbledore interrupted him with a raised hand.
"Think Harry. Young Mr. Malfoy is doing it all for his family. To keep them safe. I've checked Severus' mind and found the day when Mr. Malfoy was marked. He was marked under the orders that he must kill me. Because if he failed, then his family would be executed."
Harry sat there pondering on Headmaster's words.
When he spoke up, he shocked Dumbledore by saying, "You are not going to do anything, are you?"
"How did you…"
"Albus, you are making a mistake with all these chances with your enemies. In my belief, enemies are to be neutralized at any cost."
He paused a little and added, "I'll keep an eye on Malfoy. Now let's get on with the schedule."
After a few seconds, Dumbledore said in a low voice, "Yes, let's."
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Morning light was lighting up the whole office when Harry opened his eyes. He groaned in the ache that he felt in his muscles. Slowly, he sat up and cursed because of the stiffness of the joints. As soon as he sat up, he felt light-headed.
"Master is awake! Tippy must go inform Head-Sir!"
At the sudden shriek, he looked to his side, startled. He caught a glimpse of a house-elf just before it popped away.
Shaking his head to get rid of the metaphorical cobwebs that had formed inside his head, he tried to get his bearings back.
At another popping sound, Harry looked to find Dumbledore looking at him from where he'd apparated in.
"How are you feeling, Harry?"
"Drained, famished and very weak."
"Ah! That would be because your mind hadn't caught up with the fact that you are supposed to be…"
Harry went rigid and his bright golden-white aura flashed, blinding him as well as Dumbledore.
"… a lot more powerful." Dumbledore finished his interrupted speech.
"What the hell was that? I almost felt like someone was… someone was…"
"Giving you teenager problems, Harry?"
Harry went bright red in blush and quickly nodded.
"You are going to need a very cold shower; I take it?"
Still blushing furiously, Harry said, "Yes, please!"
Almost an hour later, he returned to the office.
"Welcome back, Harry. How are you?"
"Am good."
"Harry, you realize that due to your powers being bound, your core has only expanded during this time?"
"Yes, it is a likely theory."
"Well, then let me tell you that your core has increased to impossible proportions. If you were to let go of your skills and only fought a battle of sheer magical strength against… I guess, Riddle, Grindelwald and me, together, you are likely to win a few times over."
Harry had to physically stop himself from gaping.
"And it is the reason why it took so long for you to wake up."
"So, what about my training in controlling my power?"
"Predictably, you'll now need several lessons so that you don't turn everyone around you blind when you cast a simple Lumos."
Harry groaned.
"You won't be going to classes for the time being, Harry. Come on, let's begin with organizing your mind."
Almost five hours later, a knackered Harry lay in an ottoman that he himself had conjured without even noticing that he was doing so. Dumbledore chuckled at the careless display of wandless magic. Harry was so powerful that magic was obeying his thoughts without even him recognizing the orders that he was making.
Harry was thinking of his mindscape. To see his efforts paying off was equally making him happy and frightening him. He had spent the better part of two years in stasis into designing his mindscape. A concentrated galaxy of seventy-three hundred planets. The centre of the galaxy was a Sun that was his core's manifestation in his mind. Surrounding it were the powering planets. The second layer consisted of about two hundred planets which served as his galaxy's centres of civilization, and as for his mind, his memories and skills were stored there. The third layer was a ring of about a hundred planets that acted as the command ring. It housed the command centres of his galaxy's fleet and arsenal, in other words it was the main defence of his mind and controlled the other defences. After that, in concentric layers were inter-planetary shipyards, celestial cannon belts, planets with airbases that could deploy squadrons of inter-planetary fighter space crafts to assault any intruding presence who managed to pierce the outer shields. Beyond the planets, at a distance of about 2 parsecs, in his mind, from the closest planets were the several systems of shields, powered by the powering planets closest to the central Sun. Dumbledore couldn't even get past his first line of shields.
And if Dumbledore couldn't, then he doubted anyone could. After all, he had successfully tested his mind's defence against several sieges by trillions of enemies during his battle against his own mind.
He smirked when he thought of the special defence he had in mind for people who did manage to break through his every other defence. A black hole that sucked in the intruding person's consciousness. Very convenient!
"Harry, take some rest. It is nearing afternoon, I'll go get some fresh air and get us some snacks and then we will continue with our training on your control."
A long time after Dumbledore left, Harry, feeling rested enough, sat up in lotus position and focused on compiling every single fact he'd heard, seen or experienced in some other way about Voldemort or Tom Riddle into a single coherent file in the Grand Library of the Citadel on Planet B-133 inside his mindscape. It was after all the place where the Spartan Guards, warriors of his imagination, trained and quartered; and hence was safest. (AN: More on Spartan Guards will be said later in the story.)
He relived every single moment of Voldemort's life through the connection he shared with Voldemort. It had taken monumental power to keep the connection from his side open after it broke down on both of their sides when he had helped Dumbledore remove the Horcrux from his forehead. Not to mention that it was bloody painful. But it was an effective tool – helping him peek inside Voldemort's mind, not too deeply, while preventing the reverse from happening.
In the accelerated time inside his mind, he quickly reached his fourth year and he stopped. He couldn't believe his eyes. Voldemort had given them the tools for his own destruction! He had used Harry's blood to resurrect himself. So, in his veins flows the very blood that flows through Harry's only without the added benefits that it holds, as the benefits are directly connected with Harry's magic. Magical bloods retain their relation to their source. So, if he could perform a blood ritual that effectively blasted Riddle into smithereens, it will be easy to beat him – the best part would be that he'd fall without any fighting! Only if he could get the information on the Horcruxes. Voldemort guarded them so strongly that he regularly obliviated it from his mind. The information was only present in the bond that he shared with his familiar, Nagini.
And familiar bonds are impenetrable with the exception of using Imperio curse.
With the file compiled, Harry opened his eyes. Dumbledore was there, sitting in his chair, looking curiously at him.
"I am glad you decided to come back to the living world, my friend."
"Friend?"
"Yes, Harry. I cannot consider you a student or a lesser man anymore. By all means, you have become a better wizard. I need not mention that you are the better man in between the two of us."
"But... "
"No buts, Harry. Here, Fawkes claims that he desires to bond with you. He said something along the lines of him not being able to gain his full potential with my power, but you being more than sufficient for his needs."
Ron and Hermione were getting extremely worried. Okay, maybe not Ron. But Hermione was beyond herself with worry. They had last seen Harry in his transfiguration class. It has been almost two days since then but Harry had not returned from Headmaster's office. Rumour was already spreading that Harry had been sent off somewhere, expelled, imprisoned in Azkaban or, he'd escaped the country as a coward.
And the duo of the Golden Trio was facing immense pressure and humiliation. Ron and Hermione, both realized that it was because of Harry that they'd always gotten some leeway, however unnoticed those were before. The teachers were indifferent towards them; they were just normal students to them. There was no profuse praise for Hermione when she did well in class, just a small acknowledgement or a few house points. She noticed the change. Ron was constantly being pranked and joked about.
But that day dinner became really problematic. Pansy Parkinson, aided by Draco Malfoy, came around to the Gryffindor table and started hurling insults at Hermione. Whatever Malfoy said about Harry, the fact that his absence encouraged him and his group to direct filthy and continuous insult at a Gryffindor while she is in her own table proved that Harry's presence kept them at bay.
"Why do you even keep coming to Hogwarts? You are as ugly as an Engorged-Bowtruckle. You are so filthy that no self-respecting wizard would even make you a concubine. You are a mud…"
"If you finish that word Ms. Parkinson, then I'll make the rest of your time in Hogwarts permanent hell." A deep voice that simply exuded authority and command, and demanded respect, came from the side of the group.
The heads of the students swung sideways like on spring, and they found themselves looking at the missing Boy-Who-Lived, not that they recognized. Hermione and Ron saw him, too. But it wasn't their fault that they didn't recognize their 'friend' straight away. In front of them stood a very regal looking young man with a pale skin, drawn tightly on the high-cheekbone, and windswept hair. He was wearing heavy black robes with golden runic designs along the chest and sleeves, very definitely made of extremely expensive materials. Behind him stood Headmaster Dumbledore, looking like he was there to back him up in anything he was about to do.
Recognition dawned on Hermione when she saw the Potter crest on the chest of the robes and then she looked up to find, upon looking closer, the entrancing emerald eyes that she'd grown so accustomed with. Except it had flecks of gold in it.
"Who are you?" Pansy said more bravely than she was currently feeling.
"I am surprised that you don't recognize me. But that is immaterial. What is very relevant to the situation we have in hand is your verbal abusing of Miss Granger."
He paused a little and then said, "Miss Parkinson, please apologize to Miss Granger and leave this place immediately."
"I'd rather run starkers in the Great Hall than apologize to this piece of filth, mud… Yiiieeekkkk"
She gave a shrill shriek and ran out of the hall, not a strip of cloth or string on her body. Completely starkers, just like she said.
"What is this? You, young man, you'll pay for this. I'll see you sent to Azkaban for this…" Snape's rant was paused by the young guy's raised hand.
"I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about, Professor."
Snape looked at him with loathing and noticed only a faint mark of the scar he was so famous for, and almost shouted, "Potter! I know you are playing games. You vanished the poor girl's clothes. I have never seen a more abhorrent act."
"I think you are just confused, Professor."
"Confused? You insolent brat! I will not let you hurt any of the Slytherin students!"
"And what of the other students, Sir? Will you let them be harmed? Will you let a student from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff get hurt, Sir? Or, Gryffindor, for that matter?"
Snape's face contorted in outrage, but he remained quiet.
"Is it not the duty of the teachers to protect every student from being harmed in any way?"
Snape couldn't take it anymore. He was going to retort sharply when Dumbledore spoke out.
"It indeed is the duty of the teachers. But mistakes happen to the best of us, doesn't it Severus?"
Snape sensing that the situation was not his favour stayed wisely silent.
Dumbledore added, "And for giving us a welcome reminder about our duties as teachers, I award Mr. Potter 20 points."
That was too much for Severus Snape. He just turned around and walked back to the staff table.
Harry kept walking with Dumbledore, through a door beside the staff table, into the antechamber that it revealed upon being opened.
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Inside the antechamber, the Headmaster-student duo sat near a blazing fire thinking deeply.
Suddenly, Dumbledore spoke, "Are you sure this is possible?"
"I won't know unless I researched a bit, I think. But Thurgmancy is something that seems to be a viable solution to this debacle."
"Will you be able to do it?"
"I might be…" He trailed away. And after almost a minute, he face-palmed, giving a very accurate facial expression of exasperation.
"I am a fool!"
"I wouldn't be able to agree with that, Harry. You are anything but."
"No I really am. Here I am doubting if I could pull off a Thurgmancy ritual, when in reality I am a master of Blood Magic. Hell, I am a master of every form of magic that has been and yet to be discovered! I could just use my magic to bring about the effects of that ritual. The ritual won't work because of the distance, and I certainly won't be performing a ritual in front of Riddle. But I could use the Blood Magic when fighting him. That way I'd be close enough for the magic to take effect!"
"I must say that I can't confirm your theory. I don't believe there has been any Blood Mage alive in the last thousand years. I certainly am not one."
"I know. It will be too uncomfortable for you to do such Dark Magic. After all, no one has yet been able to distinguish between Dark and Evil Magic before me."
"I can agree with that. But I can't emphasize enough on the fact that you should be careful with what you do."
"I will be careful. Being careful is one of the most important lessons that you've given me, Albus. But first, FAWKES!"
At the call, a bright white flame appeared in front of Harry. The flame vanished leaving behind a majestic phoenix. It had a bright white body with silver tail feathers and golden tips on the wing feathers. It trilled a happy tune at seeing its master again, revelling in his power that it shared via their familiar bond.
"Fawkes, the students need not remember what happened in the Great Hall. Will you take care of that?"
Fawkes again trilled and vanished in blinding white flames. Mass obliviation while maintaining time-continuity was one of his new found abilities.
"I ought to get going. The rest of the year is going to be a mostly normal one, I hope. The lessons on my control will be according to normal schedule I guess?"
"Yes. And please, do make sure that you make a little less chaos with your next prank. Vanishing clothes could turn out into fearful rumours that we do not want associated with Hogwarts. Good day, Harry."
Harry transfigured his robes back to the school robes and stepped out of the chamber, walking back into the Great Hall for dinner, his face back under a Glamour-Charm that showed him as the old Harry.
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