Hello all, thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. So far, looks like Harry will be fighting the Grimm Dragon, I can see it in my head already! I'm excited to write the Battle of Beacon, and we're well on our way there now. Do remember to leave a comment on who you'd like to see Harry fight!

Coming up... Harry get's a much needed power boost, we have some bonding with Blake, and Weiss gets a shock.

As always, this chapter is unbeta'd. If you spot any mistakes (which you will, sorry) let me know.

"You felt something, you say?"

Harry was out of breath. A surprisingly common occurrence these days, despite the backbreaking fitness regime his friends had him on in the gym. He didn't care about that now however, he had far more important things on his mind.

"Yes, it was… different, but it was there!" Harry couldn't contain the smile on his face.

"Different?" Ozpin pressed, although he too had jumped up from his chair. There was an eager energy around the usually calm man.

"Yeah, I don't know how to describe it exactly. It felt, cowed, distant? It was like my magic was split, perhaps? I really don't know how to describe it beyond different."

"This is excellent news Mr Potter. Please, tell me everything that lead to this discovery."

Harry cast his mind back to the events of the past few days.

It had actually all started with an idea from Blake. After her and Ruby had finished destroying his room the other day, the two had struck up a conversation. Ruby had long disappeared, lured away from the entire battle by Weiss promising cookies if she studied that night, but Blake had offered to help him put his room back into some sort of orderly shape.

"So, it's a book about a man with two souls?"

"Yeah, both fighting for control of his body. They both have the same goals, but different ideas on how to achieve it. One is a violent extremist, the other believes in a more peaceful process." Blake explained as she picked up the various… were those bullet casings?

"How does he even get two souls in the first place?"

"The extremist actually is the cause of that. He attacked a group on innocent civilians, one of which happened to be a powerful witch. With her dying breath, she cursed that he would learn the error of his way. Then another bomb went off early, killing him. He was reincarnated into the other man's body. However, it now looks as though he might be winning the battle for control. The other man still thinks it's all in his head, and so he's not truly fighting against the other soul… Hopefully he realises properly in the sequel." He had never heard Blake speak with such passion. It really did remind him of Hermione, and especially the way his bushy haired friend talked about Hogwarts: A History. A pang of sorrow struck at his gut.

"Wow, that's quite a story. I can see why Ruby wanted to read the sequel so badly." Harry smiled at the girl as he put the last of the pillows (all two of them!) back on his bed.

"Yeah that… that's not the book Ruby was trying to read."

Harry glanced at the book still held firmly in Blake's hand.

Ninjas of Love: Even More Love Ninjas

Oh.

"Oh."

"Yeah…" Blake blushed again, ducking her head low. "Anyway, sorry about your room… bye!" Then she was gone, a shadow fading where she had just seconds ago stood. That really was a cool semblance.

The conversation with Blake slipped to the back of his mind until the next day, when he had his weekly lessons with Weiss. The two of them still weren't exactly getting along, sometimes his ignorance about things irritated her, and her haughty attitude didn't quite sit right with him. Still, the worked more than they bickered, and it had lost most of the venom from those first frosty weeks.

"So, the Vytal festival starts next week, how's team RWBY looking? I've seen JNPR this week in practice and they're looking pretty good, even Jaune has improved massively. I wouldn't want to come up against them."

"Team RWBY is more than prepared for anyone we are drawn against," Weiss spoke with confidence, and a slight edge of arrogance. "Even if our leader is a bit of a dolt, I can't deny she, and everyone else on the team, has been working very hard these past few months. Now be quiet, we need to work on this aura exercise."

"How will this help again?"

Weiss sighed. "For the tenth time, I just want to see what happens."

"We know what happens, it explodes." Harry deadpanned. Weiss was not impressed.

"Just, shut up and to focus your aura into your right hand and touch the dust with your left."

Harry breathed in and closed his eyes. He could now feel his aura in an instant. He could also now feel Weiss's, barely active just above her skin, just enough to protect her from any sparks, but not enough to drain a significant amount of her energy. For some reason, he thought back to Blake's words.

He thinks it's all in his head.

What if it was all in his head? His magic wasn't gone, so much as Harry had stopped using it for some reason. Wandless magic was supposed to be impossible for all but the most powerful wizards, and he certainly was no Dumbledore… but he had used wandless magic when he arrived here, why couldn't he do it again? What if he was searching for the wrong thing? What if…?

"Harry, your aura?" Weiss interrupted.

He opened his eyes, the golden gleam of his aura, which he was purposefully working to make visible, so Weiss would know when she could sprinkle the dust, was still covering his entire body. "Sorry, got distracted."

He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes again. He felt the spark of his aura across his skin and… what was that? A black mist came over his vision, his scar started to burn. What was happening?

"RETURN ME HOME!" The mist screamed, the cold voice unmistakable. How was it possible?

Then he saw it, hidden by the mist. His magic! He could feel it's comforting glow, smothered by the evil black mist that burned in his scar. Harry reached for his magic, grabbing a hold of it with both hands. The power flowed through him.

"Harry!" He heard Weiss scream, somewhere off in the distance. He paid her no attention. He tugged on the glow of his magic, wrestling with the mist for his own power.

"NO!" The evil blackness screamed. Harry baulked, how was this possible! How was he here? Was this the curse that connected them?

"HARRY POTTER!" There was a sense of true fear in Weiss's voice. He tugged harder on his magic, and the mist only sunk its ethereal claws deeper.

Pain erupted all over his body. His eyes shot open involuntarily. The connection with his magic was broken, and he once again was left feeling hollow. He was on the floor, pinned by one of Weiss's glyphs. The heiress herself stood in the corner, he sword raised and aura flaring… had he attacked her?

"I… I'm…" Harry stuttered. He didn't have a clue what had just happened.

Weiss just looked at him, wide eyed and shaking. She couldn't even begin to process what she had just seen the boy before her do.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, before bolting from the room. He had to see Ozpin.

"Miss Schnee is unharmed?" Ozpin asked as Harry finished his story.

"A bit shaken up, but she was fine when I left. More scared than anything, as am I in all honesty." Harry admitted.

"I don't blame you. So, you believe this... Voldemort… is somehow here as well?"

Harry thought about it. It wouldn't honestly surprise him if the man had somehow managed to follow him across dimension out of spite if nothing else, but it just didn't feel quite like the answer. "I don't think so. It's more like the book Blake was telling me about. I think… I think there's a piece of him inside my scar."

Ozpin sipped at his coffee, his eyes dark. "I see." He took a moment to ponder on this development. That there was a piece of an apparently evil megalomaniacs soul attached to possible one of the most powerful people in Remnant was, disturbing to say the least. He would need to watch Harry even more closely. "And this piece of him is hiding your magic from you, somehow?"

"Not all of it," Harry smirked. His magic had indeed changed to fit this worlds rules. It seemed more elemental, more designed around base concepts, he doubted he could cast a reparo, or a tickling charm for example. But fire, lightning, concussion and paralysis spells seemed possible. He couldn't actually do any of them yet, nothing, except one spell.

He stretched out his hand, focused his mind and breathing. He grabbed the tiny echo of power he had wrestled from the black mist and shaped it into a spell.

A shimmering shield of energy formed before him.

Harry smiled. Ozpin smiled too, but his excitement was tempered by caution. He had seen this end badly before.