Harry Potter and Beginning of the Future
Characters belonging to Harry Potter book series are sole property of JK Rowling. Other character appearances are purely fictional.
Here's another chapter. Read and enjoy
Chapter 5 : Two steps forward, One step backward
1st August, 1991
§§Good morning Massster§§ rasped a green scaled reptile.
§§Mmm. . . Good Morning Jade. Had a good night sleep? §§
§§Yes Massster. It wasss warm under blanket with you bessside me§§ replied the reptile, still coiling around Harry's neck
§§Glad I could help. Although, you sssshould ssstop calling me Massster. You can call me Harry, Jade§§
§§Massster is massster. Why would I call you anything elssse Massster§§
§§Yesss I know Jade. But since I'm calling you by your name, you should call me by my name§§
§§Massster calls me Jade becausssse Massster gave me that name. I call you massster becaussse you are Jade'sss massster§§
§§Urgg. . .you know what, jussst leave it. You can call me anything you like§§
§§Yesss Masssster§§
Just as Jade finished, a small pop is heard accompanied by the appearance by a small squeaky little creature. Hearing the sudden pop sound Jade bared her teeth and hissed at the small creature making the creature squeak and throw an elf curse at the snake. Jade slithered side ways to avoid the curse and leaped at the small creature from Harry. The little creature squealed at the sudden onslaught and began to wright as the snake began to coil around it.
Just as Jade bared her teeth again to bite the little creature Harry jumped in and caught Jade's head and forcefully shut her mouth with his both hands and bellowed a 'STOP', which halted both their movements.
"Jade, uncoil from Patty. Patty, don't throw curses at Jade. She is my familiar and she will be living here with us. Jade, this is Patty. She is the head house-elf and she will also be living here with us. So say sorry to each other" said Harry leaving no room for discussion.
Jade slowly uncoiled herself from Patty and slithered back to Harry and coiled herself around his neck and hissed her sorry to Patty to which the little house elf squeaked again held on to Harry's legs tightly.
Harry sighed and peeled Patty from his legs and said "Patty, don't be afraid of Jade. She is my familiar and she will not harm you. She just said sorry to you. I think you should do the same"
"Patty be sorry to Master's snake friend. Patty be not knowing that the snake is Master's friend. Patty be ready to take any punishment Master gives to Patty" squeaked the little house-elf still trembling from fear.
Harry frowned on hearing it and said "Patty, look here. This is just an honest mistake. There is no need for any punishment"
On hearing Harry the little house-elf wailed loudly, tears streaming from its large saucer like eyes and said "Master be too kind to Patty. Patty is a bad elf this morning and should be punished for it"
Harry let out a long sigh of breath and said "Listen Patty, I am not going to punish you for what happened this morning. That is not your mistake. Now please stop crying and tell me why you came to me?"
The tiny creature stopped crying after a moment and said "Patty came to wake Master and tell him that Master's uncle be waiting for him in library"
"Thank you Patty. You can go now. I will go meet him as soon as I freshen up"
Potter Family Library :
". . .will be going around 10AM. They already accepted with our terms of discussion and promised utmost privacy and confidentiality regarding our meeting"
"Good Morning uncle, grandfather. Did I interrupt something?" said as he entered the library.
"Good Morning Harry" came the unified reply from both his uncle and his grandfather.
"So. . Why did you want to see me uncle?"
"I was just explaining to your grandfather that we got reply from goblins. They gave us an appointment for 10:30 today. Do you have anything else to do in Diagon Alley? Or can we go directly to Gringotts?"
"Well. . . . I was thinking to do something about all those books about me. Can we file a case against those who are writing and publishing those books?"
"When you go to Gringotts, ask for Potter family solicitor and explain them what you want. They will take care of it" answered Charlus.
"We will do that. Is that all or you have something else Harry?" asked Raj.
"I thought I will look for some books on potion, charms, transfiguration and ancient runes but since I have access to our library I don't need to look for them. So I don't have anything else to do uncle"
"Good then. Let us have our breakfast. Then we can go to Gringotts"
After finishing breakfast, just as they were about to leave to the floo room Raj called out to Harry and presented him a long and thin package and said "Belated Happy Birthday Harry. Since yesterday was a day of emotional burden to you, I thought I will hold on to your gift until you recover from your emotional turmoil. Go on, open you package"
Inside the wrapped package is a long, sleek brown broom, on the bottom end is written 'Nimbus 2000' ".
Seeing his birthday present, Harry barreled into his uncle and started shaking from barely restrained tears straining his cheeks and said "Ttthank you uncle"
Raj hugged him back and said "Any time Harry. Always remember, you are never alone. You have friends and you will make new friends in future. Never feel like you are alone"
Harry nodded, still in Raj's shoulder. They stayed in the same position for a few moments, until Harry regained his bearings and slowly separated from his uncle and said "I forgot that yesterday is my birthday uncle. Thank you for remembering it"
"No problem kiddo. I thought of giving you your present yesterday after we are settled in the Manor. But things got carried away and I could not find an appropriate situation to give you the gift. But now that, that is out of the way, let us be off to Gringotts"
Gringotts Wizarding Bank
"We are here for our appointment with Manager Ironhide" said Harry to the goblin which sat in what can be constituted as a reception area (if goblins have one).
"Welcome Lord Potter, Lord Choudary. Please wait in the adjoining room. Someone will be with you shortly"
They waited for about 2 minutes when a goblin came and escorted them to another room which looked like a conference room of sorts. Inside the room were already 4 goblins sitting in chairs and a contingent of goblin guard. The escort goblin led them to the far end of the conference hall where other goblins are seated and then left the room after bowing to the already present goblins.
King Ragnork III stood from his position and greeted them as "Lord Potter, Lord Choudary. It was truly a surprise when my manager received your letter late at night and informed me of your request. I sure hope that do you understand the consequences if you are wasting our time"
"I assure you King Ragnork that this matter is of utmost importance. Now although I know you will keep the confidentiality of the matter, I must ask you again, are you sure that your kinsmen in this room are your most trustworthy one's" asked Raj
The rest of the goblins bared their teeth at the insinuation but Ragnork held up his hand to his kinsmen and said to Raj "I assure you Lord Choudary that whatever happens in this room will stay in this room. The magics built into this room will see to that"
"Thank you King Ragnork. Do you have a pensive? I want to show you a memory. You will then understand why we are maintaining such a level of discretion on the matter"
Ragnork raised his eyebrow at this, but gestured one of his guards to bring a pensive to them.
Raj deposited his memory of yesterday's meetings with the prisoner Voldemort inside Harry's mind palace to pensive and asked the goblins to view it.
Inside Pensive :
"Where are we Lord Choudary" asked one of the goblins.
"We are inside the mind palace of Lord Potter"
"You mean to say that Lord Potter has already developed a mind palace of this huge. Impressive" said King Ragnork.
As soon as he said that the scenario changed and they came to view the conversation happening between Harry, Raj and prisoner Voldemort. As soon as Ragnork laid his eyes on the prisoner, his eyes became as wide as crystal balls.
As the scene continued and when Harry said that the prisoner is Voldemort, all the blood is drained from the faces of goblins inside the pensive.
As they exited the pensive, they started shouting incoherent words both in English and Gobbledegook (goblin language). Even Ragnork was not faring any better as he was still reeling from the shock presented from the information.
After regaining his composure he turned to look at Harry and Raj and said "Horcrux?"
"Horcrux indeed" replied Raj in a grave voice.
"I now understand why you will want to keep utmost discretion of this matter. If you want, all of us will give necessary oaths of confidentiality, Lord Choudary"
"Thank you King Ragnork. I and Lord Potter think you word is enough oath" replied Raj.
"Thank you for your trust in us Lord Choudary, Lord Potter. Now, we must move on to the next matters. I believe you want to get rid of the soul part of the Dark Lord and those bindings placed on Lord Potter" asked the goblin king, regaining his composure.
"You are right King Ragnork. That is the main purpose of our visit today" replied Harry.
"Very well then. Healer Brodnot will take you to ritual chambers. We shall be there along with other healers in a short time" said Ragnork and left the room, followed by his security detail.
Ritual Chamber :
Harry is instructed to lie down in the middle of a large circle, which further has many smaller circles and triangles which are adorned with various symbols and glyphs and is made to drink a concoction to make him unconscious till the ritual is finished. Thirteen goblins stood in the thirteen smaller circles just outside the ritual circle and started chanting something gibberish in their tongue. As the ritual continued, a green emanated from the triangles and the glyphs in them started to move towards Harry.
As the last of the glyph settled on Harry, tendrils of magic rose from the unconscious body of Harry and glowed brightly before fading into nothingness. After the spectacle is over, the goblins outside the ritual circle burned a purple looking flower and placed it just inside the ritual circle and the chanting grew even more. As the chanting of goblins grew, a purple haze started to form from the burning flower and the smaller circles started glowing and the symbols in them let out a bright orange light.
Suddenly a loud shriek is heard from a grotesque looking face made of smoke just above Harry and it started thrashing around. Blood started to flow from the crooked noses of the goblins that are performing the ritual but the smoke face started thrashing even more. Sensing the losing battle, one of the goblins barked out some orders to others and all of them brandished a ritual blade and cut their palm and dropped thirteen drops of blood on the burning flower in front of them. As the last drop of blood dropped on them, a violent red haze emanated from the brining flower and started to encompass the smoke face above Harry. Seeing this, the smoke faced Voldemort tried to overwhelm the red haze. During the same time, thin tendrils of magic emanated from Harry's body and wound themselves around the wraith dark lord, dragging him back to the scar.
After a few moments of thrashing the black smoke was completely surrounded by red haze like a cocoon, layered by another golden cocoon and descended towards Harry and dissolved into the Scar on his forehead. Black blood began to leak from the scar as the red and gold haze cocooned wraith Voldemort descended into the scar. As the red and gold haze completely dissolves into Harry's scar, all the goblins that performed the ritual promptly fell unconscious.
Harry groggily opened his eyes and saw some blurred images. He squinted his eyes once more and rubbed them to opened and came face to face with Raj, who has a look of concern etched on his face.
"What happened uncle? Did we succeed? Is the piece of him out of me?" asked Harry.
"How are you feeling Harry? Do you feel pain anywhere?" asked a worried Raj.
"I'm feeling good uncle. Like a burden has been lifted from my shoulder, like I can run 10 marathons and not break a sweat. But there is also this small part of me that feel like I could not access it. I had this same feeling before too, but compared to that what I'm feeling now is very small. But it is still there. So, what happened uncle? Did we succeed?"
"It seems Lord Potter, that we made a slight miscalculation on our part. Our healers did not anticipate that your magical core will dislodge such copious amounts of magic, which interfered in the performance of the ritual" explained the goblin king.
Harry got up from the bed and looked at Ragnork and asked "What exactly happened King Ragnork?"
"Well, as soon as the bindings on your magical core are removed, we proceeded to get rid of the Dark Lord's soul piece in you. Half-way through the second part of the ritual your magical core, which was slightly unstable due to releasing the bindings placed on it, released a large amount of magic, which the wraith Dark Lord used to power himself and almost took hold of your body. But our healers made a sub-sacrificial ritual by offering thirteen drops of blood to the ritual, which powered the ritual, but still not enough to subdue the soul piece. Then your own magic came to your rescue and helped us to contain the soul piece" explained to Harry.
"So. . . the soul piece is still inside me and it is more powerful than before. Is that what you are saying King Ragnork?" asked Harry with a little animosity in his voice.
Ragnork raised his eyebrow at Harry's voice but continued "I wouldn't say more powerful than before Lord Potter. According to our head healer, it lost most of its power while trying to escape".
Harry was about to retort but cut-off by Ragnork saying "It would also seem that the soul piece of the Dark Lord is now completely isolated from your soul and magical core. The healer goblins sacrificed thirteen drops of blood when Dark Lord's soul piece absorbed your magic and started over-whelming the ritual. You may not know, but since we of the goblins are magical creatures, albeit smart creatures, our blood is more potent in magical rituals than any normal witch or wizard. And thirteen is a powerful number when performing soul-based rituals. When 13 drops of blood from 13 different goblins combined with your own magic, which came out in your defence, the soul piece did not stand a chance. According to our chief-healer, that soul piece is locked away and possibly even drained of its power"
Harry perked up on listening to Ragnork's explanation and said "If it lost its power why don't we perform the ritual again and remove it for good this time then?"
Ragnork shook his head negatively and said "For every sacrificial ritual there will always be a price Lord Potter. Since the healers used thirteen drops of blood as sacrifice on their part, as part of your sacrifice, we cannot perform any goblin magic or goblin rituals to heal you anymore"
Harry looked devastated on hearing this. Goblins are considered to be one of the best healers there is and if they say they cannot heal him then who can? These were the thoughts running Harry's mind when he was interrupted from his musings by Raj.
"While it is unfortunate that goblins cannot heal you completely Harry, that does not mean you cannot be healed by others. I know of a few who can heal you now that the soul piece is greatly weakened" said Raj.
Slight hope shone in Harry's face when he heard his uncle say that he can find someone to heal him and said "That is good uncle. When can we go meet them?"
"Unfortunately Harry, it is not that simple. Just after finishing the ritual, you reached your first magical maturity, which is completely unanticipated"
Seeing the confused look on Harry, Raj continued to explain "Every witch or wizard undergoes through three magical maturities Harry. During every magical maturity the core of the said witch or wizard expands and then stabilizes, increasing the power of him/her both in terms of magical reserves and the potent of magic. For an average witch/wizard, normally they undergo their first magical maturity when they are 13-14 years of age and second one when they are 17-18 years of age. The Third magical maturity for every witch/wizard varies depending on the person. It can be anywhere in between 18 to 28 years. No one knows the reason for that. But it is believed that the third magical maturity is more about the mental maturity of a person than it is about magic. And since you reached your magical maturity just now, it is ill advised to, by the goblin healers to try, to do anything for at least two years."
He nodded to his uncle but still skeptically said "If you say so uncle"
Raj frowned at Harry's reply and said "Harry, what have I told you this morning"
"That I will not be alone in my journey"
"Make sure you remember that. One small set back is not going to define our life Harry. We will get you purged of that filth no matter what. It will just take more time than anticipated. Now if you are feeling well, we can discuss other matters"
"I'm good uncle. So what other matters did you want to discuss?" asked Harry.
"Lord Potter, if I may, since we are unable to purge you of the Dark Lord's stench, we of the goblins of Gringotts have decided to give you a boon to show our sincerity to work together with you in future. As of this moment, for any service you will avail of Gringotts, you will be charged only half of the amount for those services"
Stunned by the revelation, it took a few moments for Harry to come out of his stupor. The goblins never gives away anything for free and that they are willing to forgo half of charge for any service he uses of Gringotts, then Ragnork and his goblins must be taking the issue very seriously.
"That was unnecessary King Ragnork. I never doubted the working ethics of you or your goblins. But since Gringotts goblins seen it fit to award me with this great boon, I will take it with utmost honor on my part and thank all the Gringotts goblins" said Harry, coming out of his stupor.
"Think nothing of it Lord Potter. You showed us respect where it is due and for that alone you deserve any boon we might bestow up on you. Now onto the other matters, Lord Choudary mentioned something about procuring a solicitor to file cases of defamation and slander against Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter?" said Ragnork.
"That is correct King Ragnork. I recently came across a piece of information that there are books about me and my supposed 'adventures' when I was away from the wizarding world. And I can assure you that only yesterday was the first time I entered the Wizarding world. All those books are basically lies and fictions, which they are selling off as truth. They do not even publish my full name in those books. All those books are published by the publication house 'Devious Publications'. I want them prosecuted and squeeze them dry to their last knut and sickle. Can you arrange that King Ragnork?" asked Harry, his voice becoming cold and vicious by the time he completed his tirade.
Ragnork smirked at the vicious tone of Harry and said "That can be arranged Lord Potter. We will contact Potter house solicitors. I will owl them today and book an appointment for you tomorrow if that is acceptable for you"
Harry looked to his uncle who nodded and turned to Ragnork and said "That is both acceptable and highly appreciated King Ragnork. I thank you"
"You are most welcome Lord Potter. Now that our business here is concluded, I bid you farewell. May your vaults continue to flow with your enemy's gold"
Harry stood up and said "And may your blades continue to bleed your enemies".
As they left Gringotts, Raj turned to Harry and said "That was beautifully handled Harry. I could not have handled that better myself. Admittedly, for a moment there I thought you would lose your temper when King Ragnork said they failed because of their miscalculation but you handled that beautifully"
Harry blushed under the compliment from his uncle and said "I behaved as you taught me uncle. If you hadn't taught me wizarding culture and etiquettes, then I would have been hopeless and probably offended them a dozen times by now"
"Nah. . you would have managed Harry. But no matter, you behaved as expected of a Wizard of your profile and stature behaves and might I add it paid off handsomely too. Goblins do not give out boons to just about anyone. For them to give one to you, you must have impressed the hell out of them"
Harry blushed even further from the praise of his uncle and tried to change the topic and said "Since my magical core is stabilized now, will you now teach me some of the advanced spells like shield charm, disarming charm and disillusionment charm uncle?"
Raj thought for a minute about it and said "Sure, why not. You already know the theory behind all those spells. So we will practice them after you get your wand"
Harry beamed at his uncle and said "Thank you uncle"
Potter Library :
"That is quite unfortunate, but nothing to worry about. Since it is isolated and cannot influence you or feed on your magical core, we can get rid of it later. Now we must concentrate on what you are going to do next. Have you made your plans for Hogwarts Harry?" asked the portrait of his grandfather.
"Plans? Grandfather" asked a confused Harry.
Raj left Harry at Leaky Cauldron citing that he has some work to do. So Harry is left alone in Potter Manor with the portrait of his grandfather.
"Yes Harry. Plans. Have you made a list of people who you are going to befriend when you finally go to Hogwarts. If my memory serves me right, there will be at least one heir/heiress of a Most Ancient and Noble House and three to four heir/heiress to Ancient and Noble houses and even more for the Noble Houses and other minor houses. If you are to stay safe from Dumbledore, then you should at least be on cordial terms with these people and when the Dark Lord rises, they will be very powerful allies. Especially the Most Ancient and Noble, and Ancient and Noble one's"
After a moment, Charlus skeptically asked "You do know of these houses, don't you?"
Harry huffed at the indignation and said "Of course I know grandfather. What type of Lord will I be if I don't know about the pecking order of the Wizarding world? House Potter is one of the eight Most Ancient and Noble houses in Britain, also known as the founding eight, since it we, with the help of Merlin, founded the Wizengamot after the decline of the rule of the Last Magical King of Europe, Arthur Pendragon. There are 28 such houses which are given the status of Most Ancient and Noble houses when individual magical communities are found across the then Europe, out of which 15 houses are already extinct and out of remaining thirteen, eleven houses are hanging by thread as they have only one heir and no immediate family members who can continue the house. These magical communities further went on to found what today became the 'Internatioanl Confederation of Wizards', which in actuality only has the communities of ancient Magical European Kingdom as its members. In Magical Britain, the Most Ancient and Noble houses of Peverell, Godwin, Gryffindor and Rawenclaw are already extinct and the remaining houses of Potter, Black, Bones and Longbottom each have a single heir/heiress and no immediate family members to inherit in case something happens to them"
"I apologize for the indignation Harry. But seriously, you should make plans on meeting and befriending them. We already have an alliance with the houses of Bones and Longbottoms during the last war. You should first meet with them. I also heard from your uncle that you are already trying to pursue the hand of heiress of the Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass" said his grandfather, the last sentence with a smirk on his portrait face.
Harry sputtered "Pppursuing. . . grandfather! How can you say things like that! Daphne doesn't even like me"
"Daphne is she? You have my blessings to continue your relationship my grandson. I only wish is that you give me great-grandchildren before I pass away for good this time"
"She doesn't even like me grandfather. We met like two times and the second time we met, she shouted at me and ran off" whined Harry.
Charlus chuckled at his grandson and said "Do not worry my grandson. Tomorrow after you meet the solicitor and file a case against that book publishing house, I'm sure she will come around"
"I hope so grandfather. She is the first person I made friends with. I really hope we can be friends again" said Harry silently.
"Grandfather, you said something about passing on for good this time. What was that about? I thought you were already dead?"
Charlus raised his eyebrow at this and said "I said that, didn't I. My original self is already dead. I'm just a live portrait Harry. Live portraits are different from ordinary wizard paintings and photos. In order for a live portrait to work efficiently, we should have the memories of not only our original self's but also their friends and family. It also takes a great deal of time and effort to make a live portrait. The more memories a live portrait has during its creation, the more effective we become"
Seeing Harry take in the information, Charlus continued "Take me for example. In order to make my portrait come alive, it took original Charlus Potter around two years and memories of about one hundred different persons. Even then, we need to be fed with memories from time to time. If not, we will slowly fade away over time. That is the reason you don't see many live portraits around"
Looking at the horrified expression on Harry's face, Charlus again said "Don't worry Harry. I won't fade away any time soon. I still have at least five years before I show any signs of fading away"
"But grandfather, I thought you will stay with me forever, you being a painting and all. Maybe I can give you my memories to sustain you" asked Harry hopefully.
Charlus shook his head negatively and said "It does not work that way Harry. In order for you to give your memories to me, you should know my original self and he should grant you permission to donate them to his portrait, which is me. But like I said, don't worry about those things. I'm won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Now go out and have some fun with your new broom you uncle got you"
Harry nodded his head sadly and said "If you say so grandfather. I'm going to the hippogriff herd and fly with them for some time to clear my mind. See you later grandfather" and left the room.
2nd August,1991 :
Raj and Harry are having their lunch when Raj asked Harry "Did you get reply from goblins, Harry?"
"Yes uncle. They said that the solicitor will get in contact with us today but we didn't get any owl till now" replied Harry.
"Well, we still have half of the day. Maybe we will receive an owl from them by then" and continued with their lunch.
Suddenly Patty popped in front of them and said "Master Harry, there be a flooing call for you Master"
Harry raised his eyebrow at Patty and said "Ask them to wait for a minute Patty. I will be with them shortly" and left to wash his hands and attend the floo call.
Harry entered the fire place room where an unfamiliar face is visible in the green flames that are going in the fire-place.
"Greetings Heir Potter. My name is Sabastian Grey and I'm the head solicitor for the Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter" said the face in the fire.
Realisation dawned on Harry's face and said "Greetings to you too Head Solicitor Sabastian. I thought you will be communicating with us through owl's"
"Normally we would have done that Heir Potter. Can you key me in through the wards so that I can step through" said the solicitor.
"Sure sure Mr Grey. Just give me a minute" said Harry and cut-off the floo call.
"Patty, bring me the ward book please and also inform uncle about our visitor" said Harry to the little house elf.
Harry keyed in his solicitor and a minute later a middle aged man of average height and with a pot belly stepped through the floo and greeted Harry "It is a pleasure to meet you at last Heir Potter. It has been too long since my firm last worked with a Potter" and shook his hand
"The pleasure is all mine Mr Grey. And please call me Hadrian or Harry" said Harry shaking the solicitor's hand.
"They you must call me Sabastian"
"Of course. Let us retire to the living room where my uncle is waiting for us" said Harry.
"Sure Hadrian. Lead the way"
They both made their way to the living room where Raj is waiting for them. After they entered the room Harry introduced them to each other
"Uncle, this is Mr Sabastian Grey, head solicitor for the house of Potter"
"Sabastian, this is my uncle Raja Mahindra Choudary of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Choudary of Magical India"
"Pleasure meeting you Mr Grey" greeted Raj
"The pleasure is all mine Lord Choudary. Although, I didn't realize house Potter has any kind of alliance with House Choudary"
"It's because we don't. At least, not yet. He is a dear friend of my mother and he took care of me in my childhood" clarified Harry and gestured all of them to a couch.
Sitting on the couch, Sabastian said "Oh, I see. Good. Now, Hadrian, the goblins said you had some work for me? May I inquire what it is?"
Harry dove into explaining about how his interaction with Daphne went and then the books he found in Flourish & Blotts and the lies spouted in the books and how he wanted to file cases against them and make them regret for misguiding the public about him.
After 30 minutes of explanation and showing him the books he had of them Sabastian said "Well Hadrian, whatever I had in mind when I was coming here, this is not it. But no matter, we will form an iron-clad case against them. I can assure that we will win this case with the most minimum of difficulties. My law firm will start right away collecting details about the publishing house and their source of information for writing the books"
"Source of information? Aren't all these books nothing but just fiction and lies to have any source of information?" asked Harry with a puzzled expression.
"I agree that most of books are just that, fiction and lies. But you also mentioned that one book is about your adventures in a muggle zoo where you rescued a damsel in distress battling all the cruel and rabid creatures? Don't you think that book has too much in common to what happened in real life? Of course it is a bit exaggerated, but still the situations, the names, all of them are too similar to be a coincidence" said the solicitor.
"Now that you mention, I too had my own doubts but didn't have much time to think about it. I think if you are looking for information source for then you should start with Albus Dumbledore"
"Albus Dumbledore? You mean the Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwup of ICW, Chief Warlock of Wizagamot and Headmaster of Hogwarts? Why would Dumbledore have anything to do with Lord Potter?" asked a confused Sabastian.
"Yes, the same Dumblebore. Although, he does not have the first two posts anymore. At least he won't have for long. But coming to the point, Dumbledore had an unnatural interest in Harry's life. It is he who placed him in muggle house-hold against his wishes without consulting anyone" said Raj.
"How do you know he won't stay as Supreme Mugwup or Chief Warlock any longer Mr Choudary? And why will Dumbledore place Heir Potter with a muggle house-hold? The entire wizarding community thought that he is at a safe-place being trained as the boy-who-lived" said Sabastian, narrowing his eyes in doubt at Raj.
"I'm afraid I cannot say anything about that Mr Grey. At least, not until you give us an oath of confidentiality" replied Raj.
Sabastian tried to protest against it but finally relented when Harry put down his leg hard, saying that there will not be any further dealings with the house of Potter with his law firm if he did not give him an oath of confidentiality.
After giving the oath, Harry got on into another explanation frenzy about his childhood, even going so far as to show him some memories. Finally after about 3 hours of explanations and memory viewing in pensive, we find the trio still sitting in the same position, both Raj and Harry sipping coffee and Sabastian holding his head, still reeling from the information exposure.
"That bastard. I always thought something about him is a little bit off but never in seven depths of hell did I think that he would degrade himself to such a level. The worst part about it is that we cannot move against him as he is too powerful for us to take on him yet"
"That is what we thought too Mr Grey. Now how long will it take to make a move against the publishing house?" said Raj, steering them back to the main topic.
"Well, I think by the end of this month my firm can build a solid case against the 'Devious Publications' and move against them. That is only the first step though. If you want to start seeing results, it will take anywhere between 6-9 months. I can assure you that by the time you complete your first year at Hogwarts we will have won this case against them" replied Sabastian confidently.
"Excellent Sabastian. I will trust you and your firm to make sure justice is delivered to me" said Harry.
"Of course Hadrian. You can be sure of that. Now if there is nothing else, I will take my leave. I will contact you after we gathered enough information to build a solid case against them" said the solicitor, getting up from his couch.
"I thank you again for accepting to take up my case Sabastian" said Harry, he too getting up from his couch.
"Nonsense Hadrian. That is what we are for. But I thank you all the same" replied Sabastian, leaving the Potter Manor through the floo.
"Well, now we have one less thing to worry about" said Raj standing in the door-way.
"Yeah, you are right uncle" said Harry
"So, we still have few good hours before we can retire to bed. What do you say about practicing potions a little bit more?"
"That sounds fine uncle. I am still reading my mother's notes on potions I found in my parents room. I must say, my mother is a genius. For almost every potion I'm going to learn at Hogwarts she made notes to lessen the time taken to brew the potion or increase the potency and life-span of the potion. I wish I can one day become like her"
Raj smiled at Harry and said "You are already similar to Lily in ways you don't know Harry. Now, let us go to the potions lab. You grandfather mentioned that it is located in the basement. We should probably call Patty and ask her to clean the lab beforehand"
"Yeah, you are probably right. Who knows how long ago that lab is last used" said Harry and called Patty to clean the lab and both of them made way to the basement.
3rd August, 1991 :
Harry woke up to the sensation of something coiling against his right leg. He shot up due to the unfamiliar movement in his bed and threw open his blanket to find a 5 foot long green scaled serpent sleeping in his bed.
Harry tentatively said "Jade?" Slapping his face again, he said §§Jade? Is that you§§ in parseltongue.
§§Mmm. . .good morning Masssster§§
§§Good Morning to you too Jade. Wow. . .you grew in length from last night§§
§§Did I Massster? I don't know. We Basssilliskssss grow up faster than normal ssssnakesss§§
§§Oh that'ssss good Jade. The bigger you grow, the lessssser chance anyone can harm you§§
§§Thank you Masssster. Do you mind if I ssssleep for a little longer? §§
§§Not at all Jade. You can ssssleep asss long asss you want. I will proceed to freshen up and head down for my morning work-out. Ssssee you later Jade§§ said Harry and left to bathroom and then proceeded to do his normal morning workout.
As Harry reached his 3 mile mark, his uncle joined him and together they continued running for another 3 miles, varying their speeds. After completing their post-running stretches, Raj turned to Harry and said "So Harry, are you excited to get you own wand today?"
"Of course uncle. The wand you gave me is good and all but I've been waiting for a wand made solely for me" replied Harry, still toweling himself from the sweat of their morning work-out.
"Good then. Now let's proceed to your next phase of morning work-out. Dodging" said Raj and without warning took out his wand and started shooting low powered stinging hexes at Harry.
Harry, already used to his uncle's morning routine is ready to dodge the hexes flying towards him. A few minutes into the dodging practice, Raj started to banish near-by rocks and sand towards Harry and also increased the power of the hexes.
Harry, not expecting the sudden increase in the intensity of their dodging exercise, got hit a few times by some hexes and small rocks. In the heat of moment, Harry too took out his wand and started throwing hexes at his uncle and also started block any rocks that came his way. After another 40 minutes of grueling dodging and banishing exercise we find Harry lay on the grass, sweating bullets and panting heavily. His uncle sat beside him and said "You are improving Harry, especially after we removed the bindings on you. Normally you would have been exhausted after the first 20-25 minutes but today you managed to hold for about 40 minutes against me, that too by hexing me and blocking some of the rocks I threw at you. Why don't you reach out for your core now. I bet it increased and stabilized by now and will be more accessible"
After a few more minutes Harry finally caught his breath and said "Yeah, you're probably right uncle. I already planned on it. I will just do it now"
Harry sat in his usual meditative position under the shade of a tree and after a few breathing exercises he evened his breath and started to reach out his magical core. Normally he would feel his core after a few more minutes in to his meditation. But this time, he could feel his core just a few seconds into his meditation. Like his uncle said it got bigger, not in a physical sense, but he could feel it has gotten much bigger and powerful. As he reached out to his core, he could feel it reaching out to him and a warm feeling spread throughout his body. As he delved deeper into the feeling, he could sense something lurking deep within his core. Something like a mini-core inside his magical core.
When he tried to get hold of it, it went even deeper inside his core. Harry delved deeper, trying to chase after it. When he finally got hold of this mini-magical core, it instantly latched onto him and he could feel power seeping through his veins. The power felt somehow familiar but having an ancient feeling to it. The more he delved into the feeling, the more warmth he could feel from the power. After a few more minutes of basking in the warmth feeling, Harry felt someone calling him from outside but disregarded the it.
After a few seconds he felt ice-cold splash against his entire body. He jumped up from his meditative position with a loud yelp and saw his uncle pointing his wand at him and shouted "What the hell uncle? Why did you drown me in cold water? That was not funny at all!"
A few minutes earlier :
Raj sat against the tree and looked over to Harry. The boy improved a lot, from the easily frightened, scrawny looking boy to a 4"10' boy. No, not boy, a man in making. Harry always exceeded any expectations he had for him. He always had a hunger for more knowledge but not just bookish knowledge but practical knowledge too. He always looked to make use of his knowledge in daily life. His levitation exercise is one of those. Daily after morning physical work-out and dodging practice he selects a small boulder and start levitating it. After levitating it a few minutes he proceeds to a bigger boulder and continues till he can feel exhaustion creeping to him. Now-a-days it looks like he found when he is going to collapse from exhaustion and stops just before that. Raj didn't say it to Harry yet, but he already completed all of 1st and 2nd year curriculum of Hogwarts and already started 3rd syllabus. Raj need to inform that to him soon and then work with him to create a work-sheet for him to do for his time at Hogwarts. If there isn't the stupid rule that all Lords and Ladies of Magical Europe should study at least 6 years in one of the three premier schools of Magical Europe namely Hogwarts, Beauxbatons or Drumstrang and get at least 8 OWL's or equivalent from these schools, he would have whisked Harry to his country where he will be safe from all these morons.
When Raj casually looked towards Harry, he saw little smoke rising from his clothes. Raj continued to watch him when all of a sudden he started burning in fire. Bright orange flames enveloped Harry and when Raj tried to call out to him he did not respond. He tried an Aguamenti spell but before water reached him, they evaporated leaving a stunned Raj. He regained his bearings and again fired Aguamenti spell putting more power into the spell and this time the ice-cold water him Harry straight in his face, drenching him completely.
The boy in question let out a loud yelp and started shouting "What the hell uncle? Why did you me drown in cold water? That was not funny at all!"
Raj lost his composure for a minute there and return shouted "Funny you should say that Harry. A minute earlier you were engulfed in searing hot flames and you say that what I did is funny? Of course it's not funny to see to you suddenly set ablaze yourself"
Harry is stunned by his uncle's sudden outburst for a moment and then said "What are you talking about uncle? I'm perfectly fine albeit a little cold. I'm not on any fire"
Raj let out a long breath and said "Harry, a few minutes earlier you caught fire all of a sudden. I called you a few times but when you didn't respond so I shot water at you to try to put out the flames. If you don't believe me then look at yourself and you will understand what I'm saying"
Harry looked at himself and is startled to find that he no longer has any clothes on him. He shot both his hands to cover his crotch and with a bright red face he asked "What happened to my clothes uncle?"
Seeing Raj laugh at his condition Harry again shouted "It's not funny uncle. Stop laughing at me"
Raj conjured a full length cloak for Harry to wear, who took it and then asked in a serious tone "Ok Harry, fun time is over. What the hell did you do? Why did you suddenly got caught on fire?"
Seeing the serious look on his uncle's face Harry said "I. .I . . I don't know uncle. Today when I tried to feel my magical core, I found it rather easily and then I delved even more into that feeling and that is when I found something different within my core. When I tried to feel for it, it tried to escape from my grasp. When I finally caught on to it, I felt a warmth coursing through my veins. Whenever I feel for my core I always feel a warmth feeling but somehow this new warmth felt different. Something about it felt intimately familiar to me. I was basking in that warm feeling when you fired cold water at me"
"A different warmth feeling and intimately familiarity eh?"
Raj raised his hand to his chin and contemplated for a few seconds and with a laugh he said "I have not idea what that feeling you got. But you know what Harry, if I stay with you for a few more years I'm pretty sure I'm going to get grey hairs due to the situations you put me through"
Harry glared at his uncle and said "I never put you through any difficult situations uncle"
"Oh really! They what about that time when you tried brew a cure for boils with your own special ingredients?"
"It looked harmless at the moment. Who would have thought adding horn of bicorn with dragon drool will get such an explosive result?"
"Then what about that time when you tried to levitate 2 tonne boulder and then ended up with severe magical exhaustion?" countered Raj
"I didn't know that levitating a rock will be that difficult" said Harry defensively
"Well then what about the time when you . . " Raj was cut-off by Harry saying "Alright, alright, maybe there are a few cases where I did something which I'm not proud of"
Raj raised an eyebrow and said "Few cases you say"
Harry huffed and said "Alright, a little more than few cases. Happy? Now can we move on to what happened to me when I was feeling for my magical core?"
"I don't know anything about it Harry. Maybe your grandfather can explain about it. Maybe it is a secret trait of you family" said Raj
"Hmm. . . maybe. Then let's go and tell grandfather what happened" and Harry started running towards the Manor, Raj trailing behind him.
Potter Library :
"You caught on fire which burned the clothes you're wearing but you did not have any burns from it?" asked the portrait of Charlus.
"Yes grandfather. I didn't have any burns. Do you think maybe it is our family secret trait or something?"
"I don't think so. We never had any kind of special powers like you told me, at least not that I know of. Can you show me this fire you are speaking of?" asked Charlus.
"I will try grandfather. I only summoned the fire by complete accident. Like I told you earlier, I did not even know that I was caught on fire until uncle shot water at me" said Harry glaring at Raj.
Raj chuckled at Harry and said "Maybe trying it in Library is not such a good idea Lord Charlus. Why don't we all move to the basement and then try out Harry's new power"
"That's an excellent idea uncle. Patty!"
The little house-elf popped infront of the trio. Harry ordered Patty to take his grandfather's portrait to the basement and he and Raj followed them.
"Harry, I want you to concentrate that feeling in your hand. Don't worry, I will be here and I will douse the fire you summon if looked like it got out of control" said Raj.
Harry nodded and put out his hand forward and started to concentrate on that feeling he got while meditating. He stayed in that position for another 15 minutes but of no avail. After another 15 minutes, Harry finally got a little feel of his hidden power and light smoke started to rise from his hand. A few more minutes later his hand gained a glowing red color but he could not summon any fire and then he collapsed from exhaustion.
Seeing him collapse, Raj rushed forward and caught Harry before his head hit the floor and scooped Harry in his arms and laid him on his bed in his room. Patty popped and handed Raj a bowl of cold water and a clean cloth. He laid the cloth on Harry's forehead and started rubbing another cloth through his hand and chest.
At the same time Jade slithered out of the blankets towards Harry. She looked towards Raj for a few seconds and then promptly coiled herself on him as best as she could.
Raj thought for a moment that the snake is going to attack him but when she coiled herself on Harry, Raj breathed a sigh of relief and replaced the cloth on his forehead with another one.
Half-an-hour later Harry gained consciousness and felt a weight on his stomach. He opened his eyes and found Jade sleeping on him. He looked around and found that he is in his room.
"You gave us a fright there Harry"
Harry turned around and came to see Raj sitting on a chair beside his bed.
"What happened uncle?" asked Harry groggily.
"It looks like that new power of yours is going to take a lot more time and effort than we initially thought. You lost consciousness after trying to summon that fire and then I brought you here"
Harry rubbed his back sheepishly and said "Well, I guess, thank you uncle"
Raj waived it off and asked "Have you recovered or do you need more rest?"
Harry closed his eyes for a bit to feel for his core and then said "I'm fine uncle. I can feel that my magical core is already filled half way. I think by next hour or so my magical core will be fully replenished"
"You are recovering faster than before. Get ready soon. Today is the day we get your own wand" said Raj getting up from his chair and leaving his room.
Harry's face lit like a decorated Christmas tree when he heard his uncle say that and immediately jumped from his bed, knocking Jade, who is still resting on him, over to the floor. The basilisk hissed at her master for interrupting her nap and crawled up to his bed and went back to her sleep.
Harry apologized to his familiar and rushed to his bath and got ready in record time. He sprinted through the stairs and came to a screeching halt at the dining table where his uncle is having his breakfast.
Looking up at Harry, Raj chuckled and said "Someone looks a bit more over-enthusiastic about something"
Pulling a chair for himself, Harry huffed at his uncle and said "Of course I'm over-enthusiastic. It's not every day that you get your own wand, is it. I bet you were just as much enthusiastic as I am when you were getting your own wand"
"I was happy, yes. Over-enthusiastic like you, No"
Harry stuck out his tongue at his uncle, who smiled at him, lost in his thoughts. Sometimes he forgets that, all things considered, Harry is still an eleven years kid. Sometimes Harry is so serious that he resembles a grown up person and it fills his heart with joy when Harry just acts like a typical eleven years old.
Raj is cut out from his musings by Harry who completed his breakfast and is waiting for him. They crossed the foyer and entered the fire place room. Raj turned to Harry and said "Harry, why don't you try the glamour charms I taught you recently. It will be a good practice for you"
Harry nodded to and pointed his wand at himself and incanted a few charms to change his skin color from white to pale brown, his eye color from deathly-green to black and his raven black hair to brown. Raj examined Harry's glamour for a few minutes and finally said "Well done Harry. Your glamour could use a little bit more touch but it is still very good for your first try outside practice. Now I will cast you one more charm on you so people will not notice anything different about you"
Raj pointed his wand at Harry and said 'non animadverto' as a purple light hit him.
"What does that do uncle?"
"That charm I cast on you makes people who look at you feel nothing is wrong with you, even if you look a bit disoriented, like having two different eye colors or like your clothes are torn somewhere or you have some stains on you. It is also known as 'Chameleon's eye'. It is a variation of notice-me-not charm" explained Raj.
"Sounds useful to me. Will you teach it to me uncle?"
"That will be one of many spells and charms you will be learning till you go to Hogwarts"
"Thank you uncle. Shall we move on to get my wand or do you have something you want to show me?"
"Getting impatient, are we?" Seeing the pink tint on Harry's cheeks, Raj chuckled and said "Alright. Let's go then"
Diagon Alley (Olivander's shop):
"I was wondering when you will be stepping in to my shop again Mr Potter" came a voice behind him.
Harry gave out a little yelp and said "If you keep doing that for everyone who comes to your shop, you will scare quite a few customers Mr Olivander. It's quite creepy to be honest"
The old wand maker gave out a boisterous laugh and said "But it is such a fun my dear boy. Now let us waste not any more time. I presume you came here for your wand?"
"You would be correct in your presumption Mr Olivander. If you are finished making it, may I see my wand?"
Olivander rushed to the back of his shop and came holding a purple colored fluffy pillow, on which lay an obsidian black colored wand. The wand maker presented the wand to him and as soon as Harry held the wand in his hand, he could feel a rush of euphoria course through his body and the wand let out green, silver and red sparks.
The wand maker's face lit up like a child who found a candy and clapped his hands together in glee and said "Excellent Mr Potter. Very excellent indeed. That wand there is one of my finest creations till date and I very much doubt that I can out do myself for any other wand. 11 inches, basilisk venom dipped ancient white oak wood with bits of red ruby as magical foci and basilisk fang as core. Very good for battle magic and runic-rituals"
Harry stared at his wand with awe evident in his eyes. He ran his finger across the runes etched along the length of the wand . 7 small red rubies, which are made from the larger ruby Olivander made during their search for wand materials, are fitted seamlessly at different points on the wand. He then pointed his newly acquired wand towards a pile of cardboard boxes and incanted 'winGArdium leVIOsa' and the boxes started floating in the air, circling one after the other. After letting them float in air for a few minutes Harry carefully let them down on the ground in the same place as before.
Harry heard clapping behind him and saw both his uncle and the wand maker clapping for him and they came over to congratulate him.
"A well-executed levitation charm Mr Potter. It seems that you had previous practice with another wand Mr Potter" asked an excited wand maker.
Harry looked a bit uncomfortable when the wand maker asked him that. Seeing that his young customer is uncomfortable about his other wand, Mr Olivander said "Do not fear me my boy. In fact I did not even place a trace on your wand. You can practice magic to your hearts content. Just be careful when you perform magic in front of muggles"
Harry cheered a bit at this and said "Thank you Mr Olivander, for not placing a trace on my wand. And I will heed your advice and be care where I practice my magic"
"That is all I can ask of you my boy. Now may I also suggest a wand holster for you. We have various varieties"
Harry looked to Raj who nodded and said "Can you show them Mr Olivander"
Olivander gestured towards a glass case in which several wand holsters are neatly arranged. A particular green one caught his eyes and Harry asked for it.
"Ah, a wand holster made from the hide of a Chinese-fireball. Good taste Mr Potter. It comes with the standard anti-summoning charms along with water and fire resistant charms" explained Olivander.
"I will take it. How much does this and my wand cost Mr Olivander?" asked Harry.
"It will be 23 galleons for the wand and another 12 galleons for your wand holster Mr Potter" answered Olivander.
Harry paid for his wand and wand holster and the uncle and nephew duo made their way for Potter Manor.
When they reached Leaky Cauldron, Raj turned to Harry and said "You go on Harry. I have a meeting with a friend of mine. Don't wait up for me. I will return for dinner"
"Ok uncle" replied Harry and said 'POTTER MANOR' throwing floo power and vanished in the green flames.
Raj turned around and made his way towards Knockturn Alley to meet an old friend of his.
Phew. . . . there is your next chapter.
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