Disclaimer: I don't own anything that I've written. Yep, that's right, I own not even one iota of the below work.

Summary: Harry became disenchanted with Dumbledore, so he works toward enlightenment, and this has several effects on the wizard, but what effects will it have on the world around him.

Authour Note: Alright, so I'm attempting to show some of the changes in Harry this chapter, and I'm not sure I completely nailed it, but I'm relatively happy with the chapter. Some of the changes that were mentioned in the last chapter have dulled a bit - That was to do with the fact he's around his friends and doesn't feel the need to let the full extent of his new cynicism overwhelm him. It's still there though! The first chapter was far too abrupt - So spacing out the expression of all those new things Harry came into should be something that takes time. (I want to give him ACTUAL character development that I didn't really show in that first chapter. It was more of a prologue than anything else.)

Pole on my profile for the ship of this story. I also have a little dribble on why the pole is set up and the effects it will have on my choices. If you want a ship added to the pole, send me a PM or a review and I'll add it. No votes on the thing yet, so no update on that end.

Please enjoy the chapter! Thank you to everyone that reviewed the first chapter as well, it put a smile on my face.

Chapter Two: Results of Revolution

...

Never having interactions with his relatives made for a calming summer – Consequently it also lead to Harry being far away from any Quidditch World Cups. Which, to the new Harry Potter wasn't much of a negative. The Quidditch had been part of the original mask the boy created, and certainly didn't fit into his new, red-eyed persona. Having said that, Harry did somewhat miss his friends, and was thankful that he was currently boarding the train to Hogwarts.

He was a few hours early, his relatives not wanting to wait any longer before getting rid of their most hated Nephew, but that just gave Harry a bit longer to think over a few of the things that he needed to accomplish when he got to the school.

Of course, he would need to speak to his Head-of- House about the course load that he had planned. That is to say, Harry planned to drop anything other than Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, DADA, and Potions. The bare minimum work load, creating a lot of free time. This would be where Harry would study the subjects that he dropped for his O.W.L's, as well as Rune's and Arithmancy.

Harry's goal was to take the tests despite having not taken the subjects in school. Something that was allowed, but frowned upon.

As far as grades, Harry wasn't aiming for anything particularly spectacular, as Hermione would no doubt be doing. No, Harry just wanted across the board E's. The young Potter boy saw no need to go farther than the minimum to go onto N.E.W.T's in each of the subjects that he enjoyed.

Besides, all of the subjects were rather beside the point when it came to Harry's current goals.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" A familiar voice scolded.

The mask would have cowered in the face of such feminine wrath... As it turned out, the new Harry Potter wasn't much different – He just hide it better.

"Hermione, are you trying to cause me to go deaf? Here I thought you were the one that liked to lecture me on listening to the teachers." Harry retorted, but turned to look at his friend, standing up to show both Hermione, and the somewhat flummoxed Ron the changes that he'd been through during the summer.

Harry was skinny, and he had always been. That was something unlikely to ever change, but his frail looking appearance now had a hidden depth to it – As opposed to before when it had a hidden strength. The black clothing, the straightened and straightened hair, and the new eye colour were overly shocking. Ron literally stumbled backwards for a moment, not sure that the person he was facing was his friend.

Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and shoved him into the compartment, turning toward Harry with a serious expression, "Tell us everything, Harry."

How demanding... It was something that Harry still found weirdly enduring about the bushy haired teen, "I went through something of an enlightenment period, you could say that I went into a revolution to change just who I was and what I want from the future. This was the result. I find the result pleasing. In fact, you'll be ecstatic to know that I studied a lot over the summer. I'm even planning on taking extra O.W.L exams."

It seemed that the raven haired boy's carefully chosen words hide their mark, as his female friend utterly abandoned her line of questioning everything – as she had planned – and instead focused purely on academics.

Ron just seemed utterly lost especially when Hermione – without warning – started to quiz Harry on every subject offered at Hogwarts.

...

Easy conversation flowed through the three students, Ron eventually finding his place in the conversation and interjecting every now and again. He was surprisingly knowledgeable on pureblood customs and traditions, even though he looked down upon them. At some point, their voices rose in order to block out the sound of rain spluttering against the windows.

"Shh!" Hermione suddenly snapped at Ron, as he went on about the World Cup, regaling a bemused Harry of the dangers in an incredibly over-dramatic tone.

Ron's face grew slightly red in anger, but before he could blow up toward his bushy haired friend, she pointed toward the compartment next to the one the trio was currently occupying, motioning for them to listen in, and a familiar smooth voice broke the relative silence, "Father actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know."

Harry went on to completely ignore what the blonde was saying. His opinion on the young Malfoy was rather lacking, and why wouldn't it be? The blonde was sorted into Slytherin, the House of Cunning. You would think he could see beyond appearances, that he could actually be sly, but he couldn't. It was a disappointment really. It demonstrated what happened to a person when they didn't come into their own, instead modeling themselves purely on another being. A problem that Harry recognized in himself for a scant moment, before disregarding the thought. After all, despite Harry finding 'The Character' compelling enough to steal some of their ideas, he wasn'ttrying to overwrite everything he was in order to become a carbon copy.

The red-eyed boy was pulled from his thoughts by Hermione saving a worried hand in front of his face, "Are you alright Harry?"

"Just a bit distracted – Debating the positives that would come from not falling into old patterns with Draco Malfoy this year. I'm beginning to think of him as nothing more than a waste of energy, if I am to be perfectly honest." Harry explained, his tone dry as sand.

The witch gave her friend an approving look, but Ron scrunched up his nose at the thought, "Mate, if you aren't there to cut him down to size, the blonde infection will spread... I don't want to know what that would look like."

"A bit like the Weasley one, I could assume." Harry retorted without pause.

It earned him a glare, and a look of surprise.

Why they would be so put off by his particular brand of wit was beyond the dark haired boy. After all, even though he rarely regarded his friends with his sharp humour, they had seen him wield it against Severus Snape as though it was a weapon in potions class.

An awkward silence came over the compartment, only the heaving rain and the rattling of the trolley broke the stillness.

When Harry spent such a large majourity of his summer missing his friends, it didn't occur to him that these two hadn't actually made friends with the real Harry Potter. They made friends with a mask, a skin that had been shed and left behind without hesitation on the Metamorphmagus' part. It sent a spark of worry into his heart, the idea that they might not actually accept him. Especially Ron... Human's weren't an understanding species after all. Harry felt the weird impulse to hide away, to remake his discarded mask and pretend his revolution didn't happen.

He ruthlessly crushed this thought.

If his friends couldn't accept him for the person he was now – It was likely that the two just didn't deserve the friendship that he offered them.

The encyclopedia of the group got tired of wasting her time in such a useless and tense atmosphere and pulled out The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 and started to go over the charms within. This action – finally – created another familiar common ground between the two males, as they exchanged an half amused, half exasperated look the moment Hermione's attention was fully attached to the text book.

Harry reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, intending to act as Hermione had and distract his own attention momentarily – Like most teens – Using the escape that music provided.

"What is that, Mate?" Ron asked, curiosity coating his voice as he allowed his eyes to glide over the smooth looking object in his friends hand.

Immediately, Hermione looked up in response, and her eyes bulged slightly, "That's not allowed, Harry. How did you even get it to work. Which is beside the point, of course, it's illegal!"

"What's illegal?" Ron queried, confused.

All the while, Harry was slightly mad at himself. He thought of quite a bit on how he would use his technology at school. That's why he used runes to connect his spiral notebook and pen to his laptop, making the keyboard type out the letters that Harry wrote in it. He also came up with a way to use his phone well in school, having added low level concealment runes. They wouldn't fool anyone that actually bothered to look, but most people did not look farther than their base assumptions. So when people looked at him and saw that Harry was holding a small book, they wouldn't question it. Unlikely that it would fool any Professours of people with a high level of magic, but it would have fooled at least Ron Weasley, who was neither particularly clever or powerful.

Had Harry actually remembered to turn the Runes on.

"It's just a rather clever combination of simple Runes. People really over-think the technology issue. Regardless Hermione, this is a good thing. Trust me, this is going to help me improve in my classes and make everything much more efficient for my learning." Harry purposely spoke, trying to hit his moral friends 'sweet spots' as it were. After all, the obsessive girl had no problem breaking the law last year herself, just so she could attend more classes.

Ron started to catch up, "Is that one of those muggle... Sullyphones?"

"Cell-phone, and yes, it is. I also have a laptop, and I have no intention of using parchment or quills and inkpots this year either. I'm sick of the Wizarding World making things difficult for themselves so that they can feel special. Or at least, everyone else can do it if they want. I don't and won't subscribe to that particular brand of senselessness."

They quieted at the strong rhetoric, but Hermione seemed almost thoughtful. Which meant that Harry had accurately enough made his point, "... Think you could let me borrow a pen?"

A olive branch, Harry recognized, his friend felt bad about jumping to conclusions. This was especially guilt-worthy considering her own actions last year, which the red-eyed boy knew the studious girl would have recognized as hypocritical at this point.

"Of course, but like you said, it is illegal to have technology modified to work in the Wizarding World, we should probably keep this between us. The less people that know a secret, the easier it is to keep it."

His friends nodded without hesitation, making Harry's lips quirk upward. He really had made a good choice with these particular friends. Both of them were exceptionally loyal – Even in the face of the various changes their friend was going through.

"Keeping secrets, Potter?"

Harry swung his gaze over to the compartment door, which had Draco Malfoy at it's entrance, backed up by his adorable little thugs, Crabbe and Goyle. Immediately, the most shrewd of the group searched Malfoy's appearance for clues on whether the secret that had been being previously discussed had been blown open.

Slight frustration, if the crinkles at the corner of the Slytherin's eyes were to be believed. The most likely conclusion was that he had entered only slightly after the request for secrecy had been made. Which was good, otherwise Harry knew for a fact he would be in trouble, despite his considerable status.

"Only the best kind, Draco, the kind you don't know." Harry retorted plainly, keeping his previous words of falling into old patterns in mind. He got a narrowed look, but the blonde seemed to weigh the response and the difference in continence and decide that, at least for now, Harry was off limits.

You don't take on someone that you don't know the full capabilities of. Perhaps Harry had underestimated the Malfoy's intelligence, of course, the maturity level seemed about the same, considering he turned to Ron and started to berate him for his mothers taste in clothing, "What are those?" His voice light with an honest humour that wasn't usually found in these confrontations, "Weasley, you aren't thinking about actually wearing these things, are you? Perhaps a few hundred years ago it would have been acceptable –

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron snarled, apparently not finding the humour in it.

Harry didn't and couldn't conceal his own snort of laughter.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, looking betrayed. How could Harry be at fault though, in the face of that... Thing that the red-head had brought with him. Had it been Harry robe, the monstrosity would have been burned to death already.

"So, thinking of entering, gonna make a quick dangerous precious few gallons so that you can help support your family? Maybe even bring back some semblance of honour?" Malfoy alluded, making Harry's full attention snap toward the blonde.

The way he was speaking made it seem like whatever this event was, it would be held during school. A potentially dangerous, money involved event that brings honour. It almost sounded like this year's assassination attempt, although that would be far too easy, if the boy-who-lived figured out the annual kill attempt right at the start of the year. Far too easy, therefore, Harry discarded the idea – Though remained curious about just what this event was.

"What are you talking about?" Ron snipped at the blonde, unlikely to be the best way of getting information.

"Do you intend to enter?" The blonde repeated, more slowly this time, "I suppose that Potter will, despite his new found sense of humour, he'd likely not miss the chance to show off and use his fame to advantage."

"Oh no, I'd never purposely enter something so dangerous. I consider my life worth more than a few gallons and potential glory, considering I have plenty of both." Harry stated dryly, pretending he knew exactly what the blonde was talking about – Getting inquiring looks from both of his friends.

"Oh, you haven't told your blood-traitour and mudblood?" Draco enthused, catching the looks that the two were sending the red-eyed boy, "I'll leave you to that, Potter."

Did he think such a simple thing would cause discord in the 'Golden Trio'? Seems Malfoy didn't understand the three of them well enough, even after all these years. Still, the laughing Malfoy beckoned his thugs after him and they disappeared down the hall, Ron quickly slamming and locking the compartment door behind the Slytherin students.

"Harry?" Ron asked, almost spitefully.

"Come off it Ron, the robe jab was funny, not to mention true. As for what is happening this year, I had no clue. I just thought it was better if Malfoy thought I did." Harry explained, giving a vague hand-gesture toward where Draco had headed.

Ron didn't seem like he was in the mood to be reasonable though, as he ignored what Harry said, still completely red-faced with anger, and paced around their tiny compartment, "That stupid... Making it look like he knows everything. If Dad wanted he could have a promotion any time! He enjoys where he currently works though..."

"Don't let Malfoy get to you." Hermione said, trying to comfort, as well as calm down their hot-headed friend.

Harry restrained the urge to roll his eyes, "Listen Ron, the way to deal with Draco is just to break the routine. The second he thought he didn't understand something about me, or thought he might have underestimate me, he moved along to someone else. It's the way he was trained. Smile at him, the reaction will be worth it, compared to listening to the drivel that he makes up purposely to ignite rage with you."

"Really? You think that will actually work?" Ron stopped pacing, and looked contemplative. Inwardly, Harry remarked for the boy not to hurt himself by using his brain, but outwardly he just nodded.

The Potter didn't think that Ron was in the best place to accept his friends cutting brand of humour at the moment.

...

The train rolled to a stop a few hours later. Harry was quickly pulled to attention and away from his phone, where he had been writing out a few theories about the event that was seemingly taking place this year, as well as listening to music. Hermione bundled up her raggedly looking cat, Ron doing similarly to all his possessions as they left the train together, the rain still coming down at a considerable and unpleasant speed, especially considering this area rarely got anything other than ice cold precipitation. Not in the mood to do anything other than get out of the downpour, the three students quickly scuttled along, not paying any attention to the others around them. Eventually Ron, Hermione, and Harry climbed into one of the horseless carriages, Neville joining them soon after.

Harry rubbed his eyes free of liquid, looking at some of the passing carriages.

Blinked a few time -

Now, Harry knew well that he was perfectly sane. He might have spent his whole summer with his nose in one book or another, but he came out of it better than ever. Understanding the human condition better than most adults at that! Somehow though, Harry was seeing ghostly like images pulling the carriages, skeletal horses with wings. The last thing the red-eyed boy needed was the attention that would come with seeing horses on the 'horseless' carriages, and so he came to the executive decision to completely ignore the images. Not hard, when it seemed like he could only actually see them out of the corner of his eye.

Hogwarts came into view momentarily, so Harry placed his thoughts on coming home, as opposed to the things he definitely had not just seen.

The trio hurried up the stairs and into the building. A sense of nostalgia, as always, filled Harry as he entered one of the most magical buildings there were. In that moment, Harry knew that despite his changes, his personal revolutions, he was still much the same when it came to his awe in the face of magic and the feeling that it arose in him.

R&R

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