Chapter 3

1 year later

August 1st 1991

Today is exactly a year after Nicolas and I started our training. I have to say I was a changed person. My staff was finished around Christmas and I have to say it was awesome. It could shrink to a 3 inch pendant on a necklace, and could, after a simple command, appear in my hand full size. I could make the elixir of life no problem. I also developed a potion that created a permanent shield around me that could block curses. It was invisible and hovered an inch over my skin. It could literally determine what would kill me. If the curse couldn't kill me then it would let it pass through because the shield could only block one curse before it fell. I kept a pistol on my shoulder in case I got in some trouble in the muggle world and I couldn't expose my wand. I had a sword that had the same enchantments with the shrinking/enlarging. I had a huge number of spells in my repertoire and I new how to use them effectively in a duel. Now, I was staring at my Hogwarts acceptance letter, wondering if I could leave it all behind.

I grabbed the letter, ripped it open, and felt myself starting to get pulled up through the air by my navel. I immediately recognized a portkey and quickly threw it to the ground. If it wasn't for my wards against forceful removal I would have been whisked away to wherever the caster (most likely Dumbledore) wanted me to go. "Nicolas", I called, "the letter was a portkey!" He rushed in as fast as his 600 year old legs could carry him, which was surprisingly fast. I disabled it quickly and checked for any other hidden curses. Nicolas double checked, and then I opened my letter. Inside it was what seemed to be a normal Hogwarts letter from Minerva McGonagall. Nicolas guessed that Dumbledore stole the letter and made it into a portkey without her knowing.

That day Nicolas finally brought me to Diogon Ally. I had been begging him to go as soon as he had told me about it. He had said that we had to wait until I went to Hogwarts to go there. Before we went he asked to talk.

We both sat on the couch and Nicolas let out a deep breath. "I've been lying to you Harry". I sat there, confused. I knew Nicolas hated it when people lied and he knew when they were lying. I waited patiently for him to tell me what he had been lying about.

"When I say you're a powerful wizard, I was lying," he continued. I was crestfallen. There had been times, where Nicolas truly complements me. He tells me I'm powerful. It feels good to have someone complement your hard work, but I guess he didn't want me going to Hogwarts thinking I'm better than I actually am. I was surprised when he continued and said, "what you can do there is only 3 other people alive who can do it. And you are better than all 3 of them ever were. There's me, Dumbledore, and Voldemort. And you could beat all 3 of us! Plus were all much older than you with way more experience. I tell you that I duel you with a wand while you go wandless so that it will be more of a challenge for you, but if you used a wand, versus me with a wand, you would crush me. Then there is the fact that I could beat, without to much of a problem Dumbledore and Voldemort! I didn't tell you this before because I didn't want you to stop your studies, but after you go to Diagon Ally and read your first year books, I knew there would be no hiding it from you."

I sat there my mouth hitting the floor. I had no idea I was that powerful. I smiled at Nicolas, thanked him for his honesty, and we went off to the Ally. In truth, I was a little hurt that he had lied to me, but I knew it was only to make me more powerful.

Our first stop was Gringotts. I had to claim my inheritance and get money for the rest of the school year. Nicolas insisted that he pay for all my school things "and more", he had said to show his sorrow for having to lie to me. It didn't really matter. Neither of us would ever have to worry about money given our possession of sorcerer's stones.

We first went to Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions. I was quickly measured and got myself several pairs of school robes and some casual robes. I got some shoes there which were charmed to be silent, which I could easily do myself, but they were a nice pair of shoes. I was planning on making several enchantments to my clothes once we got home. We stopped at the apothecary for several cauldrons for my own personal use at school, for I had no use for potions ingredients. Nicolas and I had carefully looked in the rules and found that all you had to do was make a potion with the exact same color, thickness, and function, as the one the teacher asked for. After that we stopped at Frank's quality trunks, and I got a 10 compartment trunk. I was planning on enchanting it to have a walk in closet, a potions lab, a study area/library, a bedroom, dueling room, a huge bathroom, an empty room, a power room, a large greenhouse, and a wilderness room. The wilderness room was just a huge forest, about 50 acres. I would charm it to be self-restoring. The power room I would fill with a huge hunk of gold and Nicolas and I would load it with power. Everything else would draw on that. The empty room I would have for some of my weapons that I don't always carry around, or that I have double of. For example, I don't think that anyone would take too kindly to me carrying around my AK-47 to classes. On my body I always had a pistol on my hip with a charm for no one to notice it, a sword on my other hip with the same charm on it, and it was shrunken until I pulled it our of its sheath. And of course, I had my staff, my most powerful weapon.

Our last stop before Flourish and Blotts was Olivander's. While I had no need for one, it was good to keep up appearances. What surprised me even more was that he didn't recognize me when I went into his shop until he saw my scar. He was known for knowing every wizard who had a magical parent and that only served to prove my theory that he used he use legilimency. After several tries I had finally found a wand that suited me. It was made out of Chinese Black Phoenix tree, and the Hawaiian White Phoenix tree. Both trees could only be made if a shard of the phoenix's egg landed in a trees water source. There for, it was an extremely rare tree, until humans figured out how to make them. Now, whenever a Phoenix is born, all the shards are cut up, and sold on the market. Inside the wand was a phoenix feather from the direct off-spring of a light and a dark phoenix, (I guess that saying is true when they say opposites attract). The feathers were soaked in the venom of an acromantula. A good wand, but I think I'll stay with my staff.

Nicolas brought me over to Flourish and Blotts, and told me to only get extra books in: ancient runes, arithmancy, astronomy, care of magical creatures, herbology, and obscure books on dueling.

I browsed the shelves looking for anything of interest when I found something called "the Flourish and Blotts book". The price tag was 55 G, but it could load any book onto it for a reduced price from anywhere. All you had to do was set up an account at Flourish and Blotts. Also you could get an updated version of the book for just 20 sickles! Needless to say I bought the book and put 100 G into its account. I scanned titles on my books, and would scan through them for anything interesting. If you were at Flourish and Blotts you could read cover to cover any book you wanted, because if you were there you could do that anyways.

I met Nicolas outside the book store and in his hands were something I would value for the rest of my (hopefully) immortal life. Inside his hands was a Phoenix egg. He told me it was due to hatch the next time it was in a source of heat greater than boiling point for 30 seconds. It was a rare breed. One of the first recorded of its kind. This bird's line of importance started 2 generations before him. Its mother was the daughter of a fire phoenix and a lightening phoenix, and its father was the son of a Light Phoenix and a Dark Phoenix. This was going to be one interesting pet. Apparently he got it of the owner of a familiar shop in the Ally due to some favor the guy owed him because he cured his wife using the elixir of life. He also got me supplies for making my own broomstick. In the rules it said 1st years were not allowed to bring brooms to school. It didn't say that they couldn't make one at school. I already made a broom called the lightening bolt. It was indestructible, had an anti-fire charm on it, it guided lightening away from the user as well as rain. When I make it at school I'm going to add something I call "power boost". At the touch of a button the broom would use stored magic to double its speed for 45 seconds. After that the broom would decrease to normal speed, and slowly drain the user's magic for 10 minutes before it was up to full power again. Next year I planned on trying out for chaser and would produce brooms for everyone on the team then too.

Unfortunately, that's when someone recognized my scar, and my father's looks and we were swarmed by masses of people just dying to meet Harry Potter. People asked where I had been, and who the man I was with was. We fought our way out of the crowd and thought we were finally home free when an old man popped into existence not 10 feet from us. He glanced around, saw us, and started walking quickly over to us.

"Hello Nicolas", said the old manipulator, "may I ask what your doing with young Mr. Potter?"

My face formed into a smirk, and before Nicolas could say anything I replied in a cold voice, "No, you can't. But, thanks for asking". I saw him reach out for me as if to stop me, but I formed a shield which he rebounded off of and landed hard on the ground. "Don't touch me", I said. I sensed someone running at me full speed, and I dropped to the ground and watched a large African man fly over me and crash into a wall. Now I was surrounded, wands aimed at me, all the owners in auror blue colored cloaks. "So", I said sarcastically, "Does the Magical Law Enforcement make a habit of attacking 11 year old boys who defend themselves?" There was some mumbling among the officers and eventually they all agreed that I definitely just defended myself. So without a sound Nick and I teleported away.