A/N: Thank you Accidentally Targaryen for your continued support to ensure the quality of this story.

Power would make things possible. It would allow the strong to triumph over their opponents and give the means to protect the weak. The most important thing he learned from his year at Hogwarts was that he lacked power. He saw that girl get crushed in front of his eyes. His broom threw him off and he was tortured with like some plaything by Voldemort. Every time it had taken someone else to save him from danger.

That wasn't an option. There wouldn't be someone there to save him every time his life was in peril. He needed to learn how to defend himself and the means offered at Hogwarts were too little. Alternatives were required to grow, but who could possibly help a young wizard like himself. He didn't despair though. His parents left him a sizable sum of money to spend. Even if he had only gotten a trust fund, it would be more than enough.

The Dursleys had all but left him to himself this vacation. Yet whenever he tried to get out to go somewhere, they stopped him for some reason. They didn't seem to understand what kind of threats were waiting out there. He knew Voldemort would be there, ready to kill him whenever possible. Yet he was powerless again. The Dursleys seemed to have gotten a bit friendlier than before. They gave him three meals a day, his own room and even proper clothing.

The beatings stopped as well, but they still expected him to do everything around the household and were in no way eager to let him go back to the Wizarding world. That was something he simply couldn't accept. The last three weeks he had managed to acquire enough money to buy a ticket through several odds and ends. And upcoming Saturday he would take the bus to London. A visit to Diagon Alley and its shops would be necessary.

It was still early in the morning. The sun wasn't even in the sky properly and yet he knew that this was the best time to bail out. With some luck he could be back that evening with a good excuse as to why he was gone. If they did discover they might revert to some of their old habits, but it would be worth it. There were several things he needed to get. The most important things would be books as he would be reading a lot.

He leaped out of his window into the bushes. They worked pretty well as a cushion to break his fall, though it wasn't comfortable. He snuck away towards the second closest bus stop. It would be smarter not to be present at the closest one if they found out he was gone. The bus arrived in after five minutes and he got in. The fare wasn't that expensive, but he wasn't rich either. At least, not with Muggle money.

This was the first time he was here without Hagrid. It was a bit overwhelming. He tried his best not to show it, but he was only 12. That excused the nerve on his face though. The three book stores present gave him a wide range of choices. Flourish and Blotts allowed him to get his school books a bit earlier than usual. Obscurus Books had some fascinating books about all sorts of animals, magical properties and even some spells involving animals.

Whizz Hard Books showed him a range of books concerning Quidditch, several diseases like lycanthropy and several potion recipes. Through these stores he had gotten books about potions, spells, cures for curses and magical defenses. Yet he didn't find what he had needed. That was when his eyes were lured to a little dark spot in Diagon Alley. He had heard about Knockturn Alley, how it was used by dark wizards. Yet he felt indifferent to those rumours.

If he wanted to get stronger he couldn't let rumours scare him off. He couldn't allow fear to control him. With careful steps he went into the alley. The wizards there were different. Some stared at him, others ignored him. Nobody seemed to make a move however. They felt that a single moment of negligence would be all the others needed to take them down. They had more concerns about each other than they did about the boy and that suited him just fine. Their attention wasn't something he needed or wanted.

Borgin and Burkes had various dark artifacts for sale, but his interests were mostly in the books. The owner wasn't cooperating at first, but after showing him a handful of Galleons his demeanor changed. Even if he wouldn't use the knowledge inside these books himself, the mere ability to recognize them during battle could save his life one day. The shopkeeper of Cobb & Webbs refused to let him buy anything though, even after showing her that he could purchase anything.

There were a few smaller shops that didn't stand out as much as the bigger ones. Perhaps it was because of that, that he had managed to find so many books that really caught his interest. One of the shop owners told him that the books weren't necessarily dark, but they weren't light either. It was more a gray matter than anything. "Remember, magic and its affiliation completely depend on the purpose you use it for."

It was a thought he had explored recently too. From his studies so far, the three Unforgivable Curses were the killing curse, the Cruciatus curse and the Imperius curse. Yet the killing curse seemed to be the least terrible, even if it was used to kill his parents. When he first explored those thoughts they shocked him a bit, but he was reading up on topics that greatly influenced him. The killing curse killed its victims instantly in a painless way.

Wouldn't it be worse if the victim died a slow and horrible death? He had the mark of the killing curse on his forehead, but he experienced the Cruciatus curse himself. If anything, that was far more painful than anything he had ever endured. Something he never wanted to experience again. When he got a suitcase full of books he looked around a bit more. He didn't buy any of the other supplies for the upcoming year yet.

It would already be a hazard to get back home with this suitcase, but he'd manage. He left Diagon Alley and went back to the Muggle side. He took longer than he expected, so he rushed over to the bus and hoped that he got home as soon as possible. He snuck around the house. With some effort he managed to get the suitcase to his room and himself as well. Lady luck really was on his side this time and he was extremely grateful. Now there was a lot of reading to be done.

A few more weeks passed and he had gained so much more insight than he ever could've imagined. He had learned of spells that would make even the older students envious. The only problem was that he couldn't practice them. Using magic in public could create all sorts of problems and he had seen enough in his books about underage spellcasting. The consequences that usually followed afterwards weren't that great either.

When he got back at Hogwarts he would have plenty of opportunities to practice them, though he would be smart to stay out of sight when practicing certain spells. As far as the world would be concerned, he was only a second year student who was still learning the ropes. He knew that he was more, now and in the future. With determination in his eyes he stared out the window. Voldemort was going down, by his hands.

He'd have the power to stop his enemies and protect the innocent. To do that he would make use of anything he could. Either way, staring out the window and making promises wouldn't do much at the moment so he went back to reading again. Whatever happened, happened. Besides, he got attacked by Voldemort himself last year and suffered through the Cruciatus curse. What's the worst that could possibly happen this year?