Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed all the previous chapters. I like reading them and they make me want to write so the more I get the faster I'll update…probably. I'll try to get out at least one chapter a week but I guarantee nothing. As usual please read, review and enjoy.

Chapter 6: Learning can be painful and boring

As soon as Harry got home he was introduced to a lovely dinner, which he devoured with many thanks to its creator Islet. He promptly passed out in his room afterwards. When next he opened his eyes it was dawn of the next day.

"Quickly now, we have much to do today."

"I'm up" Harry responded with a yawn. He pushed Pearls' head off his stomach and sat up as he reached for his glasses. Able to see, he got out of bed and prepared for the day.

"Alright so what are we doing today?" Harry asked, wondering what Pearl had in mind.

"Physical training for one, even here you must be careful of using magic, your wand amplifies spells so it's easier for you to cast. This also means that it is easier for the ministry to detect the spells."

"Well what about accidental magic?"

"Accidental magic is a large burst of uncontrolled magic. Even if the effect is small the amount of magic used is not. This wasted energy is what the ministry detects."

"Alright so, I'll have to be careful with magic, what will I be doing for physical training."

"I think you'll rather like it actually, all you have to do is catch me. I guarantee you'll be fit in no time. We will go to till lunch." With that said Pearl moved out the front door. Harry made for the door but was stopped by Islet.

"It would be best if Master Harry changed to his exercise clothes."

"Oh, right of course." Harry said feeling silly. Heading back into his room he quickly changed into his sweat pants and t-shirt. He then made his way outside. Pearl did not give Harry any time to think or ask him a question. As soon as Harry appeared he took off. Harry reacted immediately chasing after Pearl. Harry immediately ran into a simple problem when it came to catching up to Pearl. He found he couldn't run anywhere. Tree roots kept getting in the way, bushes tugged at his clothes, branches and whole trees made it impossible to follow Pearl. It soon became obvious that Pearl was not trying to lose Harry since Harry was able to keep him in sight, giving him advice every now and then.

"Slow down Harry; observe where you are and where you want to go. Search for a path to that point. You'll eventually get used to the terrain and will be able to move to your desired goal faster." Pearl instructed in a gentle hissing voice. Harry heard him but he was quickly becoming irritated by not being able to keep up with Pearl. By the end of the first hour Harry was completely exhausted.

"I can't go on Pearl."

"Come on Harry, you'll get use to the effort soon enough, just another hour okay?" Pearl said in a pleading tone. Harry didn't want to disappoint Pearl, who had helped him gather the courage to escape from his life at the Dursleys. He had thought he was in pretty good shape from all the running he did when Dudley was playing Harry hunting, not to mention playing Quidditch.

As Harry considered his lack of stamina he dodged around another tree and rolled under a large branch, only to find he had to jump over a log. He paused for a minute to look around for Pearl. He spotted his tail slithering away about fifteen feet to the west. In order to get to him Harry would have to find his way past a wall of brush in order to reach him and their appeared to be no immediate way around it. His only option appeared to be over it. Now all he had to do was figure out how. It came to him when he spotted the vine.

'This is insane,' Harry thought as he climbed a tree near the brush wall. Once he reached a high enough branch he checked it to make sure it was sturdy. Moving along the branch he looked for the vine he would jump to. Spotting the vine he made the leap for the vine, he just barely managed to grab it. His momentum brought him well over the brush, but he was quickly heading into a tree.

"Oh, shit." Harry said, he dropped from the vine and hit the ground. He tucked into a roll hoping to prevent any serious injuries. The breath was struck from his lungs as his chest hit the ground and he felt his ankle twist into pain. He had managed to avoid killing himself but when he tried to stand he couldn't stay upright.

"You okay, boy?" Pearl asked gently.

"I'm alive, I think I sprained my ankle, it doesn't feel broken." Harry replied breathing hard and rubbing his ankle gently.

"Dropping 10 feet from a moving vine onto a forest floor can do that. We'll need to work on your techniques as well. It was pretty good thinking to use the vine but its clear you forgot to consider all aspects of your plan before going through with it. You need to stop being so instinctive."

"Sorry Pearl, I'll try."

"No more for today, go inside and Islet will fix you up as needed. Think about what you've learned today and consider how magic could have helped you in your practice today."

"Yes Pearl." Harry said in response to the snakes lecture. Harry and Pearl made their way back to the house. When they arrived Harry asked Islet what time it was while she looked him over. He discovered they had been out there for little more than an hour and that it was barely past nine o'clock.

"So how is it Islet?"

"Not too bad Master Harry, it's best to just let it heal on its own, your ambient magic will heal it quickly."

"Alright thanks Islet."

"If you are fine, I suggest you get to reading some of your books." Pearl suggested

"Oh yeah, I bought a lot of new books, I suppose I should check them out."

"Actually I think it might be wiser for you to re-read your first year books again. I get the feeling you probably never finished them."

"I have to read all of them?"

"You can ignore your history and astronomy texts."

"Well thank god for the little things." Harry said getting up from his chair in the living room and heading to his bedroom. Pearl followed him into the room, settling his head in Harry's lap once Harry sat down at his chair with his books. Harry decided to start with his defense against the dark arts book, figuring that it would be the most interesting and useful of his books. He was in fact, completely wrong; not to say he knew whether or not it was the least interesting of the lot, he just knew that this book was boring. Their were few spells of real interest and most of it just discussed general dangers like getting into a fight with another wizard or defending against various creatures. He reached a good part in the book just before lunch.

"Oh, find something interesting" Pearl asked sleepily. He had fallen asleep on Harry's moved the book and looked down at the snake.

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"Snakes are extremely sensitive to vibrations, so it's easy for me to sense any changes in your heart rate. It increased a tiny bit when you got excited." Pearl explained calmly.

"Come get your lunch Master Harry. I have put out Pearls lunch as well."

"Thank you Islet, I shall be heading out now Harry."

"Alright, I'll see you after lunch right?"

"Of course Harry." Pearl said as he slithered out of the room. Harry got up and headed to the dining room. Lunch was sandwiches and Harry didn't take long to devour a few of them. After lunch he headed back into his room. Sitting in his chair; he had a feeling that it would be his reading chair soon enough. He started reading the chapter in the defense book which dealt with dueling stance. He was quickly disappointed when he found out that it didn't teach anything about dueling, just the initial stances for dueling. He scanned through the rest of book quickly to see if it discussed anymore dueling stuff, but other than the shield charm it didn't. He practiced the stances until Pearl returned.

"Hey Pearl, I looked through this book, but it seems pointless. Most of the chapters we covered in class, and the ones we didn't basically just reiterate what previous chapters have already made apparent. The only chapter of value was the dueling stance chapter. I would say it was odd we never learned all of them in class but with Voldemort as a teacher I can't say I'm surprised either." Harry said it all in pretty quickly. He was curious to see how Pearl would react. Admittedly he was also worried that Pearl would think he was complaining.

"Well I must admit I haven't exactly kept up with the wizarding worlds books. If you think it will do you no good than move on to another book. To be honest you won't be able to do much magic here so theoretical work is going to be most of the workload." Pearl said apologetically.

"It's ok Pearl, I like to read, and at least here I can try my hardest to learn without feeling like I'm going to upset someone." Harry said sad at the thought that he would not be casting spells all summer and that he had to hold back even at Hogwarts. He was reminded of his time in defense class. He was top of class for DADA and it had taken Hermione quite a while to accept it without being a little testy. He had always held back in school, so much so that it was actually a habit now.

"Yes, try your hardest please. It will help you to remove any bad habits you may have. Speaking of which, Islet will be teaching you some things after dinner. So be prepared." With that said Pearl settled down on the floor and set his head on Harry's lap. Harry immediately started petting the scales above his eyes and with one hand opened his charms textbook. He quickly skimmed over the chapters and decided on which chapters he wanted to read. He settled in to read until dinner. Hours later Islet popped in to inform him that supper was ready. Harry bopped Pearl on the head lightly and Pearl moved his head to lie on the floor. Harry made his way to the dining room wondering what Islet would have prepared. Whatever it was it smelled amazing.

"So what have you prepared Islet?" Harry asked.

"It is just a simple stew Master Harry. Did Pearl tell you about after supper?"

"Yes, I'm looking forward to learning from you Islet. I am surprised though that you would come to this decision without me though."

"We is sorry Master Harry, Pearl is the one who suggested it, he assured me he would tell you about it."

"He did, no worries, like I said I look forward to it." Harry said as he sat down at the table, Islet set a bowl of the stew in front of him and Harry immediately dug into it. He managed to finish off two bowls, which for him was actually moderately surprising. He wasn't use to eating a lot. Sitting back in the chair he asked, "So what am I learning today?"

"I am going to teach you to write properly Master Harry." Islet announced with pride.

"I can write properly." Harry said defensively.

"Of course you can, but have you ever learned how to formally write an essay?"

"Ugh, I can't say I have actually."

"This is what I will be teaching you, as well as estate management, and politics."

"Where did you learn it all?"

"I've learned them invariably through my Masters over the years."

"You're one smart elf Islet."

"Most elves are smart, it helps us serve are masters better if we understand what they are doing," Islet responded as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Well I guess that makes sense."

"Shall we begin Master Harry?"

"Yes." Harry said settling in to work. Islet brought in some writing supplies and started to lecture Harry on how to write an essay. Harry was immediately stunned by how some simple things he didn't know made writing essays easier. He wondered why Hermione or the professors had never pointed any of this out to him. He hoped it was just because they just assumed he was bad at writing essays. He shook the thought from his mind and went to work, thinking that this summer was going to mark a drastic change in his life.