Prize Cookie goes to OFUNU! *gives virtual cookie* Ofunu correctly guessed Burden's rest and villagers as being from Dawn of the Dragons (online game). I have changed their backgrounds and stories so they better fit with the story.

Now then! I've had a flame in regards to Harry sleeping in this chapter. From this chapter onwards Harry can actually sleep. It is best explained in one of the later chapters when Harry is at Hogwarts but I'll give you a basic rundown here. Harry hasn't slept since his transformation. At first it was similar to when Colette couldn't sleep after hers. I have it in this story that losing the ability to sleep is a side effect of the transformation itself and angels regain the ability later.

The reason Harry hasn't slept until now is because his meditating helps his mind rest and take everything in, his magic and mana both heal him so his body doesn't experience the negative effects of not sleeping. The reason he slept here specifically is because the last eight days have been filled with so much new information, stressful situations and emotional upheaval that his mind basically shut down to process everything properly.

Hope that cleared that up for you all.

Harry stumbled out of the floo at his home. The trial was over. Dumbledore had been charged with everything he had done to him and it had unearthed some things the man had hidden. There were a few more trials scheduled in and a number of people had been contacted to go to either St Mungo's or Gringotts depending on what they needed done.

He walked outside and flopped down on the grass, staring up at the darkening sky. It was over.

Dumbledore had been sentenced and the Dursleys were gone for good.

Harry laughed quietly. He would never have to see them again. He laughed hysterically for a few moments before his laughter morphed into tears. He grieved for his lost childhood, all the years he spent with the Dursleys when he should have been with someone else, someone who would have loved him and gave him a proper childhood, someone who would have shown him what family was really like.

He cried himself to sleep under the first stars of the night.

Harry woke up shortly before dawn. He stretched languidly out on the dew-damp grass and took a deep breath, smelling the early morning smells of dew and the unique smell the air holds just before the sunrise. He brought one of his hands down from above his head and rubbed at his eyes before running it through his hair. His eyes snapped open to look up at the dusky, pre-dawn sky.

He had been asleep.

He hadn't done that in three years.

He sat up and tipped his head, cracking his neck, before he stood and popped his back. The ground was less than comfortable. He grimaced when he realised his clothes were damp from the dew and early morning mist. He walked over to the river and had a freezing cold bath before putting some clean, dry clothes on.

He ran a brush through his hair and tied it up into a loose bun at the base of his neck, not feeling in the mood to worry about his appearance. It was not like he would be seeing anyone at this time of the morning.

He pulled out his swords and ran through a few basic moves to warm up for the day before switching his new blades for his old, wooden training swords and swinging them around wildly until the sun had finished its accent over the horizon and was feebly trying to poke through the trees. The sky had gone a beautiful gold and the clouds tinged pink and orange. He put his wooden swords away and ran a hand through his hair.

He felt so unsettled lately, unable to stay with one thing for too long. He didn't know what was causing it.

He walked into the forest and took a walk, Hedwig flying over to land on his shoulder. He walked until the morning dew had evaporated and Hedwig decided to go and get some sleep. He was thankful for her company. She didn't need to say anything, just being there was enough. He appreciated that.

He smiled as he walked, listening to the birds in the trees sing to the sun. He smelt the fresh grass and summer flowers, the clear air that promised a dry, sunny day. He took a deep breath a sighed happily, feeling much more relaxed than a few moments ago.

When he re-entered the clearing his new house was in he shook himself and decided to get to work on something. He was feeling a bit lazy today so he decided to do some spell casting instead of fixing up the house. He sat on the now dry grass and closed his eyes. In seconds he had found his magic. If Lucian was right then his mana should be here too. He looked past it, deeper into himself and his eyes snapped open when he felt his mana. It was familiar, but somehow new. A bright beacon of light hidden just behind his magic.

He closed his eyes and found his mana again. He carefully examined it for a while. It seemed weak and under developed, nowhere near as strong as he thought it would be. He pulled it up and focused on casting Aqua Edge. A light spell would have been more attuned to his mana but he thought a novice rank spell would be easier to cast.

Harry gasped silently as he shaped the mana. It flowed so much easier than his magic ever had. It moved exactly where he wanted it to go without a second hesitation. It took the shape he wanted effortlessly. When he released the mana and his spell shot off towards a tree he was actually disappointed at how weak it was. He supposed it would be a while before his mana was at the level it should be.

He spent a good portion of the morning practicing spell casting and took a rest at lunch. He was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Training hadn't been that hard since he started working with his magic years ago. He lay on the grass savouring the silence of his home. It was one of the main reasons he had chosen this property.

It was nice to be in such relative silence after the noise and bustle of London. His ears hurt from all the noise and he knew Hogwarts would be louder. He hated being around lots of people.

Harry sighed. As much as he was wary to let people close in case they betrayed him, he was still an eleven year old boy desperate for attention but afraid of getting hurt. He didn't want to be taken advantage of by someone like Mithos but he wanted friends. He thought back to Hermione. She was a bit annoying and a huge know-it-all but she seemed like a good girl, genuine, not afraid to speak her mind and not the type to lie to someone for her own gain. He wasn't going to promise to be her friend but she was someone he could see himself spending a lot of time with, getting to know and possibly being friends with. He would have to see.

Thinking of Hermione led his thoughts to Hogwarts. It was a boarding school and he would be spending the next seven years sharing a room with the same group of boys unless he or one of them made head boy in their last year, as the head boy and head girl had their own rooms, according to Hogwarts, A History.

Of all the houses he supposed Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would suit him best.

He knew he was brave. He wasn't fearless, not by any means, but bravery wasn't about feeling no fear, it is acting in spite of it.

He knew he was chivalrous. It was a very British concept but he was a genuine gentleman. Chivalry was something that not many people practiced in this day and age, though most of it was common courtesy, like holding a door open for the person behind you or standing up on a bus or the subway when someone who needs the seat more than you comes on. He was a gentleman without the waistcoat.

Hmm... note to self, buy a waistcoat... and a bowtie... and a pocket watch.

Harry knew he was loyal. He believed loyalty was built on trust but his trust was hard to earn. Hookfang had earned his trust, as had Hedwig and surprisingly, Devin, though he only knew the man for a very short time. He didn't give his trust easily, but he knew, from the few people he did trust, that once they had earned his loyalty, he would do anything for them.

There was no doubt he was hard working. This was the longest he had sat still without meditating in a long, long, long time. He never gave anything half his best. If he was going to do anything, he was going to give it his all. Hard work pays off in the end.

Dwarven vow number 6: There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.

Harry sat up and wiped his forehead. He was covered in drying sweat from his work out that morning and it was making his skin itch. He bathed quickly in the river and got dressed, actually putting his hair up properly this time. He sat back on the grass and pulled out a book, there were a few he wouldn't mind reading again, he may have a photographic memory but nothing was better than reading things through a few times. Plus he needed to be able to read faster if he wanted to keep on top of his workload at school.

He looked over to the trees when he heard voices and footsteps along with a distinctive harp music that told him Medea was among the group. After a few moments he was able to recognise a deep male voice as Devin and another as Roland. There was a voice distinct to young girls and a male voice he didn't recognise. He frowned and focused on the footsteps. There was something...

He knew Solus was there, since Devin was, but still... the footsteps sounded wrong somehow. He looked at the mana in that direction and was able to pick out the people coming this way. He nodded. There was another elf with them. They weren't speaking so Harry hadn't known they were there. It was hard to tell how many people were approaching just from the footsteps but he could tell there were too many for five people and a dragon.

He stood up and brought his swords out, fastening the sheaths to his waist. He made sure he was presentable and stood, facing the direction they were coming from. Hedwig fluttered down and landed on his shoulder and he gently caressed her feathers.

He watched the tree line and soon the approaching group stepped out from the shadows. Harry smirked slightly as a well timed breeze ruffled his clothes and caused his hair to sway slightly. He stepped forwards and met the group half way. "Welcome." He smiled gently. He was tempted to say something like 'I've been expecting you' but thought that might sound overly cliché.

Devin stepped forwards. "Hey, Harry! Finally found you. 'A house in the woods' is not very good directions to work from." He turned to face the others. "Medea spoke to her old village and they sent someone to help."

The elf stepped forwards. "Well met, child. I am Valerian." She was tall, somewhere close to seven feet, Harry was guessing. She had waist length green hair with pink and white highlights. While she looked delicate Harry got the feeling that this was not a woman you wanted to get on the wrong side of.

He bowed to her. "Well met, Valerian. I am Harry Irving."

The elf nodded and looked at the two humans Harry didn't recognise. There was an older man and a girl about his age. The girl skipped over and gave Harry a hug. "It's lovely to meet you Harry Irving. The dinkymites have told me all about you. I'm Luna Lovegood and this is my daddy, Xenophilius."

The man stepped forward and Harry mutely shook his hand. "Please, just call me Xeno."

Harry nodded and shook himself, pulling himself together. "Um… Hi. Yeah, It's nice to meet you both." He looked at the bubbly girl who was now gushing over Hedwig. That was the first time he had been hugged. He quietly cleared his throat and took a deep breath, centring himself.

He looked over their mana gain and froze, staring at Luna. What in the nine levels of Niflheim was she?! He watched as she drifted off and wandered the garden, seemingly oblivious to everything around her. Harry looked at her dad.

"Luna is a half-spirit. Her mother was a full blooded spirit."

Harry froze again. A spirit. A real spirit. Like a summon spirit? An actual spirit! Harry made a sound half way between a squeak and a high pitched whine and Devin laughed. Harry shook his head. "Sorry… a spirit?" Xeno nodded and Harry swayed backwards slightly. "A spirit…" he whispered. He shook his head slightly. "Sorry… a lot has happened in the last eight days. This is a lot to take in."

Valerian stepped forward. "Perhaps you simply need to sleep and let your mind process things? Meditation can only do so much."

Harry nodded. "I know. I physically lost the ability to sleep three years ago but I slept last night. I'm not sure why."

The elf nodded slightly. "Perhaps it is because you have been through so much recently that your mind shut down to process everything?"

Harry nodded slowly. "Perhaps. So, what brings you all here?"

Valerian smirked. "Medea contacted our village and told us about you. I came as our representative. Elves usually don't like to have anything to do with humans on principal after what they did to our cousins," she cast Medea a sideways glance "but we have made an exception for you."

Harry tilted his head. "What did we do?"

Valerian scowled at Harry but after a moment her expression softened. "You are genuinely asking?"

Harry nodded. "I know humans are cruel and have an annoying habit of killing things. I'm sorry if my question upset you." He bowed slightly.

Valerian shook her head. "Perhaps I will tell you one day. For now, I will focus on you. Your talents are interesting and the coven is interested in them. We have heard legends of powers like yours but have never seen evidence they exist."

Harry tilted his head. "To be honest, I got my powers from a GameCube game. Tales of Symphonia. I only just started using mana for my spells today. Until now I've been using my magic to do it so they haven't worked like they should."

Valerian nodded. "May I see a demonstration?"

Harry nodded. "In a moment, yes." He turned back to Xeno, as Luna was still dancing around the field. "What brings you and Luna here?"

The man shrugged. "Luna said we should be here and so we are. Even I have trouble understanding her sometimes."

Harry frowned and looked over at the girl. "I see…" he shook his head. "Well, demonstration." He moved into the middle of the field by the side of his house and Luna skipped over to stand with everyone else against the wall. Harry took aim at a tree and unleashed a few Novice tier spells. He managed to cast Fireball, Icicle, Aqua Edge, Stone Blast, Wind Blade and Lightning but he was unable to cast any light or darkness spells. He stood breathing heavily for a moment before he turned back to his guests. "Those are some of the novice rank spells I know. I can't cast anything more than that right now but I'm working on it."

Devin tilted his head. "Why can't you cast them if you know how?"

Harry sighed. He felt like he was talking in circles he kept having to explain this. "Doing anything needs more than just the knowledge of how to do it. I have the knowledge of how to cast the spells but I don't have the strength. It would be like a man picking up a sword for the first time. He can read all the theory he wants but using a sword for the first time his movements would be clumsy and weak but the more he practices the better he gets."

Roland stepped forward. "Speaking of swords, would you like that spar?"

Harry grinned and pulled out his swords. Roland drew his own and stepped up to Harry, stopping a short distance away. Harry smirked nervously. "Let's start slow and build up, I've never had a sparring partner before."

Roland grinned and Harry watched the light glisten off the man's swords. They suddenly looked much more deadly than they had before. Harry felt a sliver of fear run up his spine but pushed it away. This man was not going to kill him and he had the ability to heal anything else. This was just a spar, not a fight to the death.

Roland stood back and Harry knew he would have to make the first move. He took a deep, steadying breath and stepped forwards. Before he could even start an attack Roland had slashed at Harry with his right blade. Harry easily blocked the attack and slashed back. For a few moments their movements were slow and easy to block and parry, neither were trying to land a hit.

Roland then took a step back and aimed a stab for Harry who clumsily knocked it to the side. This however, opened him up to an attack from Roland. The man slammed the flat of his blade into Harry's side. Harry staggered backwards and rubbed his side, he couldn't actually feel pain but he knew it had hurt and was most likely to leave a beautiful bruise unless he healed it. It wasn't enough to impede his movements though.

He leapt back towards Roland and put the man on the defensive. He hurled one slash after the next, throwing everything he had at the man who easily blocked, parried and dodged every attack. After a moment he stepped up the game and put Harry on the defensive.

Harry watched as first one sword and then the next slashed and hacked at him, wearing down his defence. He back stepped and dodged as many as he could but the whirling blades kept moving faster and closing in on him. Suddenly his world tipped as he tripped over something and lost his balance, falling with a bump onto his back. He swallowed and looked at the wickedly sharp blade held only an inch from his throat.

Roland stepped back and Harry pushed himself to his feet. "Point." he panted.

The man nodded and Harry took a battle ready stance, the older swordsman followed his lead. Harry ran at Roland, intending to slash at him but the man blocked the blade and Harry felt the cold pull of the steel as it bit into the skin of his wrist, warm blood trickling down his forearm. Harry used the man's slight moment of distraction to slash at him and almost managed to cut the man's shirt but he took a single step back and avoided it.

Harry's head then snapped to the side and he spun almost a half circle as the man slapped in across the face with the blade. He felt his cheek bone shatter and winced. He spun with his momentum and charged at Roland who simply side stepped and smashed Harry in the back of the head with the hilt of one sword.

Harry dropped to his hands and knees, his swords abandoned on the ground beside him. He knelt, breathing heavily and watching the world spin around him for a moment before he pitched sideways and lay on his side on the floor.

Harry felt a strong hand grip his shoulder and moved one hand to gently grasp it. He nodded slightly when he heard his name being called and managed to blink away the dizziness. It had been quite a while since he was knocked silly like that.

Harry took a deep breath and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "I'm okay..."

Roland frowned. "You weren't kidding when you said you've never been trained… there really was no one to show you even the basics?"

Harry shook his head. "No… everything I know is self thought."

Roland grinned. "Well then, I'll just have to teach you. I'm sure Marcus, the captain of the town guard, will be happy to help too. He hasn't had a new recruit in a while."

Valerian nodded. "I shall assist you with your spell casting. My people have many techniques that you may find useful."

Harry inclined his head in thanks.

Roland looked at the cut on Harry's arm. "You should probably get that looked at."

Harry looked at where the man was pointing and shook his head. "It's fine. I can heal it." he pulled up his magic and cast a healing spell. He felt the skin on his wrist knit back up and cast a spell at his side, cheek and the back of his head. He stood up and stretched. "See, all good."

Roland still looked unsure. "Your head?"

"All healed. My magic is so used to healing me that it doesn't matter that I use it like I would use mana, it still does the job." He shrugged. "I will work on learning the right spells with the right energy. I still have the rest of this month before school to train, plus nights. I need something to do while everyone else is asleep."

Luna floated over and Harry stared. She actually floated though she didn't leave the ground. "I shall lend you my assistance, Harry Irving. Daddy has to go on a trip in a few months and doesn't want to leave me alone at home so I shall be attending Hogwarts a year early. Headmistress McGonagall approved it, though the previous headmaster, Dumbledore, was against it."

Harry nodded his head. "Thank you, Luna. You may just call me Harry though, no need to use my full name every time." He smiled as he looked over the group. Was this friendship? He smiled a bit wider and picked up his swords, putting them back in the sheaths. The rest of the month was going to be fun.

.oOo.

I realised at the beginins of this chapter that it's been eight days since Harry received his Hogwarts letter.

Let me break it down for you all.
Wednesday, July 21st. Harry receives Hogwarts letter at around midnight and goes with Hagrid to Leakey Cauldron until morning. Explores alleys. Meets and heals goblin king. Oficialy changes name. Begins audit of accounts but is interrupted by need to go back to Hagrid.
Thursday, August 1st, Meets Hagrid for breakfast. Clothes shopping. Bys wand and staff. Buys books. Meets Hedwig. Finds out Hagrid is drugging him.
Friday, August 2nd, 4Am goes to Gringotts, finds it has been robbed. Goes to see Hookfang. Finds out drug was made by Dumbledore. Gets medical and magical scans. Meets Athena. Hookfang sends copy to Mungo's and Ministry. Harry interrupts argument between Lord Ragnarock and Fudge. (end of 3) 6AM goes back to Leaky Cauldron. Buys rest of school supplies and subscriptions to news papers. Goes back to Dursleys by evening. Gathers his things and leaves. Meets Terry and Steven. Terry Dies. Takes terry and Steven to church. Goes back to leaky cauldron. Finds out he is in all the newspapers
Saturday, August 3rd. Harry goes out to muggle London and saves couple from car crash. Buys some stuff and goes back to Leaky Cauldron. Buys book on how to use a quill. Meets Grangers and McGonagall. (End of 4) Goes back to Hookfang and goes over accounts properly. Gets etiquette books. Reads parents wills. Reads parent's journals.
Sunday, August 4th, Reads parent's journals. Sums up to sorting and carries on reading. Meets with Madam Bones. Places charges against Dursleys and Dumbledore. Reads parents journals more. Flies with Hedwig.
Monday, August 5th, Reads etiquette books. Meet Oliver the vampire. Reads more from etiquette books.
Tuesday, August 6th, Goes to Gringotts. Gets swords and gets and gives allegiance with goblins. Visits properties. Moves into one. Meets Roland, Solus, Devin, Medea, Lucian, Faustus. Fix Owlery.
Wednesday, August 7th, Go to ministry for trials. Come home, falls asleep.
Thursday, August 8th, Wakes up. Goes for walk. Finds mana for real. Practices Mana-magic. Meets Valerian, Luna and Xeno. Spar with Roland. Valerian offers to train him.

I hadn't really intended to fit so much into so few days.