New Beginnings and Second Chances

by Little.Miss.Xanda

The Final Battle had ended, but the price payed was far too high. Seeing Harry lose the will to live Fawkes gave him a gift, an opportunity to have the life he always wanted. Now Harry just had to choose to accept it and find the strength to keep living. Will have Slash pairing

10. Training, training and more training

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

A.N.: Considering that a few readers didn't understand it, in this chapter they are still inside the pensive. They are still looking at the memories that Harry gave them.

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Chapter 10 – Training, training and a bit more training

Harry was in his room in Privet Drive, another day was beginning and three new letters had arrived, one from Ron, one from Hermione and another from Neville. Since he had come back to Privet Drive he had received a letter from them each morning. Sometimes they didn't even ask if everything was alright, they would just talk about things of no importance, things of every day life. Harry knew that they were doing it for him, so that he would not lose himself in his grief and he was profoundly grateful to them. If it hadn't been for them he was sure that the guilt he felt for Sirius' death would have already drowned him. However his friends hadn't given up on him, even when he didn't write back they continued to send him letters.

Tock, tock, tock.

Startled Harry looked around and saw a new owl by his window. Slowly he opened it and let the bird in. The owl dropped the letter on his bed and flew out the window again, not even waiting for him to give it a snack. Harry took the letter and only looked at the sender. To his surprise he found a Gringotts coat of arms on the letter, with his curiosity taking the better of him he opened it.

'Lord Potter,

Just as was asked from the goblins of Gringotts by the late Lord Black, we would have to notify you, Lord Potter, of the private reading of his Will two weeks before your birthday if you had not yet reached your majority.

We inform you, Lord Potter, that the reading of the Will will take place tomorrow at 10am at Gringotts, you may come alone or bring someone with you.

We, at Gringotts, are sorry for your loss.

Sincerely,

Ragnok

General Director, Department of Inheritances

Gringotts'

For almost five minutes Harry did nothing else than look at the letter. Having it in written brought tears to his eyes, Sirius was truly gone. Taking a deep breath he tried to get himself under control. He had much to do and couldn't continue to wallow in misery like the past few days.

He had to find a way to go to Gringotts the next day, he didn't even think of asking the Order, he was sure that they wouldn't allow him to go. Though he didn't want to go alone either. He needed his friends, his family. He just needed a way to contact them quickly and without anyone knowing. He could only think about one way to do it, but he wasn't even sure it would work.

"Dobby." Harry called hoping that the little elf would answer. A few moments went by and Harry was beginning to think that it wouldn't work when he heard a pop and there in front of him was the house-elf.

"Harry Potter sir called Dobby. How can Dobby help great Harry Potter sir?"

"Hello Dobby, thank you for coming. I need your help, but first I want to ask you some questions, is that alright?"

"Yes Harry Potter sir."

"That's great, thanks. Please sit so that we can talk."

"Harry Potter sir is such a great wizard, he says to lowly house-elf to sit, Harry Potter sir is really a great wizard."

"Thank you Dobby, but you are my friend, there is nothing wrong with you sitting when you are with me. What I wanted to ask you Dobby was if I asked you to do something, can someone make you tell them? Or do you have to tell someone?"

"If Dobby bonds to Master Harry Potter sir, than no one would be able to force Dobby to tell Master's secrets. Dobby would like very much to be house-elf to the great Harry Potter sir."

"I can't ask that of you Dobby, I know that you always wanted to be a free-elf and now you are."

"Dobby likes being free. But Dobby wants most of all to be house-elf to the great Harry Potter sir."

"Are you sure Dobby?"

"Dobby is sure Master Harry Potter sir."

"Alright, though I don't know what to do Dobby."

"Dobby be doing it, Harry Potter sir just needs to put his right hand on Dobby's chest."

Harry did as he was told and after a few moments he felt his hand warm a bit and a soft blue light enveloped his hand and Dobby, the glow dissolved half a minute later.

"It's done Master Harry."

"You don't have to call me Master Dobby, just Harry will do. What I need to know is if you can take someone with you when you use your form of transportation."

"Yes, Dobby can, but wizards never ask."

"So, if I ask you to take me to Gringotts tomorrow, there will be no trouble?"

"No, Master Harry."

"Alright. And can you deliver a letter to some friends of mine and wait for their answer or bring them here if they want to?"

"Dobby can be doing that."

"OK, that's perfect, wait just a minute while I write the letter."

'Dear Ron, Neville and Hermione,

You can't imagine how much you helped me this summer. I think that without you I would have drowned in my guilt, and it pains me to ask even more of you but I have no one else to turn to.

Today I received a letter from Gringotts, they asked me to go to Sirius' Will reading tomorrow, I can't go alone.

Can you go with me? If you can't, I understand.

I asked Dobby to wait for your answer, or to bring you here so that we can talk, spend some time together.

Thank you for everything guys.

Harry'

"Alright Dobby, take it to Ron first, then to Neville and then to Hermione. I would prefer it if no one was around when you give them the letter, though if there is no other way, then you can give it to them in front of someone."

As soon as Harry gave him the letter the little elf disappeared. After a little more than five minutes Harry heard a low 'pop' and in the middle of his room was one of his best friends, Ronald Weasley.

"Harry." Ron almost whispered, though a small smile was on his face, and went to give him a hug.

"Ron, thanks for coming."

"You don't have to thank me, you prat. I love my family, but I missed you. And I think we need to talk. I had a lot of time to think about many things, I need to get a few things of my chest, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Let's just wait from Neville and Hermione's answers, alright?"

"Sure, I think they should hear what I want to say too."

So both boys sat down o Harry's bed, waiting for their friends. They didn't talk much, they felt comfortable with the peace and quite that they had between them. Their friendship had grown, they didn't need idle chitchat to feel comfortable with each other, they felt good the way they were, just enjoying each others company. Almost half an hour later they heard a new 'pop' and Neville was among them. Not saying anything he gave Ron and Harry quick hugs and sat on the floor near the bed with his back against the wall. Just having them there calmed Harry down. Hermione joined them almost fifteen minutes later and as soon as she saw him, she hugged Harry as if he was a life-line, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Thanks for coming..."

"Stop Harry," Neville interrupted him, "You don't have to thank us, you know that. Besides I was going crazy at home. Too much free time, too many things to think about, and those things weren't always good."

"I know what you mean. I think the 'adults' have no idea what we are dealing with."

"Wait Ron. Dobby." Harry called, waiting for the house-elf to appear.

"Master Harry is needing Dobby?"

"Dobby can you create a ward or something to stop someone from listing in on our conversation and to stop the Dursleys from coming here?"

"Dobby can be doing that."

With a snap of his fingers they felt the magic flow through the room and the little elf disappeared again.

"Now we can talk without worries, you never know who could be listening in."

His friends smiled at him and focused their attention on Ron again.

"Well, as I was saying, they don't understand, they are always saying that it isn't my war, that I'm to young. None of them understand how I feel. Half a dozen Death Eaters almost killed us! And the only thing the 'adults' tell me is that it's normal to be afraid. None of them understand that isn't what bothers me. It's about me feeling weak!"

"You're right, I never felt that weak. I know that I was never the most powerful wizard but I don't want to feel that way again. Weak, helpless."

"And no matter how much we delayed them, they always came back. They never stayed down, never stayed stunned, and when I showed just a little compassion towards one of them he almost killed me. I don't want to show that kind of weakness again."

"I know what you mean Hermione, but compassion isn't a weakness, we just have to be careful to whom we show compassion to. None of the Death Eaters deserve it, to me your lives are far more important than theirs."

Only a short while back all of them wouldn't have agreed with Harry, but not now, after the battle at the Ministry they had lost the little innocence they had left, and now they knew that they would do whatever it took to make sure that when a Death Eater went down he stayed down.

"When Dumbledore took me to his office... he... he told me the prophecy..."

And in a voice no louder than a whisper Harry told them what had happened in Dumbledore's office, when he finished the others looked completely shocked. Hermione got up and sat on his side hugging him.

"Will Dumbledore at least train you?" Ron asked, trying not to let his anger bled into his voice, though he wasn't very successful, he was extremely disappointed in Dumbledore and it showed in his expression.

Harry just shook his head.

"He said that my biggest power is my capacity to love."

For several seconds no one spoke, after that, his friends suddenly exploded.

"Love? Now I'm sure that the old man is senile." Hermione exclaimed.

"Your biggest power? What is he expecting? That you kiss Voldemort to death?" Neville shouted, Harry had never see the usually calm boy that agitated and he had to admit that hearing Neville say the name Voldemort shocked him greatly, though he couldn't deny that he was proud of his friend for getting over the fear of the name.

"That old man is completely barmy!" snarled Ron.

Seeing his friends scream, getting angry on his behalf and hearing some of the ideas they had about how he could kill Voldemort with the power of love was to much for Harry and he started laughing. He laughed so hard that he had difficulty breathing. His friends stopped shouting and looked at Harry with smiles on their faces, it had been a long time since they had heard him laugh. After several moments Harry managed to control himself and smiled at them.

"Thanks guys, it's been ages since I felt that carefree." he confessed with a smile.

They stayed like that for a while, till Neville nodded and broke the comfortable silence they had.

"So, if the responsible 'adults' don't train us, we will train ourselves."

"Us?"

"Of course us!" said Neville exasperated, "Do you really think we would let you face this shit alone?"

"Neville's right, mate. We are with you till the end."

"No Ron. What if you get hurt? What if you die? I wouldn't be able to live with that."

"Harry," Hermione started to say calmly while she hugged him, "If we get hurt we will heal each other. And if one of us dies then we will wait for the others on the other side until we meet again. But no matter what we will never abandon you Harry. It's as Ron said: we are together till the end."

Harry wasn't able to speak for several moments, he had no idea what he had done to have such loyal friends.

"I couldn't ask for better people at my side." whispered Harry. His three friends just looked at each other and smiled, they were all thinking the same about Harry. After the silence stretched for a bit Hermione got up to get a quill and parchment.

"We should see what we want to study and which type of training we want. We have already lost a lot of time, the war started last year and it won't wait till we are ready."

"Hermione's right. I think we should continue with defense naturally."

"Transfiguration and charms. Some potions as well."

"I think we also need arithmancy and ancient runes. Healing magic as well, and Occlumency and Legilimency."

"That's a good idea. We should add dueling too. Martial arts and fighting with weapons could be a good thing too."

"Silent casting and wandless magic if we can find some books about it. Animagus training also..."

They were silent for a bit, pondering what else they could add to their list, what else could be useful to them, when, rather suddenly and almost at the same time, they added "Dark arts.".

As soon as they said it, they looked at each other. If they were truthful with themselves they had all been afraid to admit it, they had been afraid that the others would have rejected them, but they trusted each others with their lives, if they couldn't trust the people in that room with their darkest secrets who else would they trust? They were all sure that to survive the war they needed to know what they would be up against.

"I've been thinking about it," Harry vented, "Dark doesn't mean evil, and dark magic is still magic."

"I know that my family would never approve. I don't think that there ever was a Weasley that turned their back to the light, though, technically, I'm not turning my back to the light, I'm just embracing the other side."

"Logically there is no Light without Dark. We could say that it is the other side of the same coin."

"I go see my parents at St. Mungus every year. They don't even know who I am. I don't want to end up in a bed by their side. And Bellatrix... Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire."

"So... the dark arts? We have to be in agreement on this, and you know that Dumbledore and his order won't accept it."

"We know Harry. And I think that when my parents find out they are going to disown me. I won't be a Weasley anymore, I'm almost sure of it, you know they hate dark magic and everything related to it. But that isn't going to make me change my mind, it's what we have to do."

"I... I sent my parents away... I told them everything, I explained what was happening. They thought that I shouldn't get involved, they wanted me to leave Hogwarts and the Wizarding world. They even got rid of some of my books and said that they wouldn't tolerate my involvement with 'that world' any longer. I... I changed their memories. They don't remember me anymore, they don't remember that they have a daughter, they moved to America two days ago. At least they are safe there. You are the only family I have now..."

When she finished talking she was crying and Harry could do nothing but hold her.

"Oh, Hermione," he whispered, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You already had so much to think about..."

"You can always count on me Hermione, you're my sister. You, just as Neville and Ron, come always first for me. Do you want to stay here with me? I'm sure that Dobby can find something for us and tomorrow after we finish at Gringotts we can decide what we'll do..."

Hermione just hugged him tighter and Harry could feel her relax.

"Harry do you mind if I stay here as well? I know that my grand-mother and the rest of the Longbottoms wouldn't accept my decision."

"Me too, Harry..."

"Of course you can stay, you're my family. You are always welcome. Tomorrow after Gringotts we start our training."

"Speaking about training... We have to get other wands, secondary wands that aren't tracked by the Ministry. You and Neville aren't sixteen yet so you still have the trace, since last week they lowered the age that students are allowed to use magic outside of school, because of the war, they think that if the Death Eaters start to have raids again, specially in muggle areas, then the students need to be able to defend themselves, though that doesn't help the ones that are younger. However to lower the age restriction even more they must declare state of war and they haven't done that yet. But even Ron and I should get other wands, they can track us even if we don't have the underage trace but with wands that aren't registered it's almost impossible. And we need books, lots of them."

"We'll take care of that tomorrow. Not today. Today is the last day that we have to be carefree teenagers, or to pretend to be carefree. Let's have lunch, I'll ask Dobby to make us something and we spend the rest of the day enjoying ourselves, relaxing, having fun, what do you think?"

None of them had anything against it, so they spent the day together, enjoying what would likely be the last time that they could be carefree teenagers and pretend that their world wasn't at war and that they weren't afraid of what was to come.

---

The following day at 9:30am they asked Dobby to take them to Gringotts, Dobby left them at the entrance and, trying not to be noticed, they entered the bank and went to a teller.

"Good morning, I received a letter telling me to come to the private Will reading of Sirius Black."

"Do you have the letter?" the goblin grumbled, Harry didn't think it was possible but it appeared that the goblins were even more unpleasant in the mornings.

Not wanting to anger the being Harry gave him the letter and waited. After saying who the letter was addressed to the goblin almost gaped and quickly led them to an office where they were told to enter after the goblin had spoken with the one inside.

When they went inside they saw an older goblin, looking far more regal than the teller, sitting behind a desk.

"Lord Potter, I'm glad you could come. I am Ragnok."

"Good morning Ragnok. Before we start, I have a question."

"Of course, I'll do my best to answer it."

"Why do you call me 'Lord Potter'?"

Ragnok appeared surprised by the question though he masked it quickly.

"As head to the Ancient and Noble House of Potter it is your title, though you are only Lord because you are the last of your family, otherwise you would have been addressed as Heir Potter."

Now it was Harry's turn to be surprised, the Potters were an Ancient and Noble House? Why had nobody told him? What else had they hidden from him? Well, there went Dumbledore's promise about not keeping secrets, he thought.

"Well, we learn new things every day. You can call me Harry though, there is no reason to call me by a title that I didn't even know I had."

Ragnok was proud to say that very little surprised him, though he had to admit that the young Lord was doing a good job of it.

"Very well, Harry it is then. We can read the Will of Lord Black if you are ready."

"Yes, I want them to stay with me."

"We, here at Gringotts, have nothing against it, though we are not responsible for information that may be given to others by those present."

"I trust them with my life." Harry replied smiling.

The goblin apparently found the answer was enough. He got up and got something that looked like a pensive and put it in the middle of the desk, they heard him mutter a few words and in front of them appeared a Sirius Black that was approximately 8 inches tall, after a few seconds he spoke.

"Alright, can I start? Yes? Alright. I, Sirius Orion Black, being of sound physical and mental health, state that this is my final Will.

Now that we got that out of the way let's go to the interesting part. Harry if you are seeing this then that means that I died before you turned seventeen and that Voldemort is still alive. In that case, I'm very sorry that I leave you to fight a war, if it were up to me I would have kidnapped you and hidden you away from all of this, but it isn't up to me, and you would never abandon your friends.

But just because I died doesn't mean I won't help you to the best of my abilities.

If I'm not completely wrong Dumbledore will continue to insist that you don't need to be trained, that you're biggest power is your capacity to love, even if that is true what will you do when you face the Death Eaters? Do you give them hugs and kisses and hope they don't do anything against you? It's completely ridiculous, so that means that you need training. To help you with your training I leave you the Black fortune, the Black proprieties, well everything of the Black's, you are my blood heir, legally your name is Harry James Potter-Black, though you can use only Potter, however politically being both Lord Potter and Lord Black can be rather useful if you ever want to play in politics. Use the Black libraries to help you train and the Potter's as well, the Black have more information on dark magic though, so use both of them to have more to chose from. They are rightfully yours.

With all of this you have resources. What you need now is time, in the middle of a war, time is something very hard to get, but not impossible if you are a Black, which you are, and considering the opponents that you have to face, time is what you need more, so it will be your choice if you use what I'm giving you, though I hope you will.

The spell I left in an envelope with Ragnok is dark magic and keyed to the Black blood. The spell changes the way the time flows in a certain space. When you cast the spell time goes faster in the place where you are, or maybe it's slower, I'm not really sure about that, what I do know is that one hour is the equivalent of one month inside the space where the spell is cast, meaning, 12 hours is the same as 1 year, 1 day 2 years, 5 days 10 years, though the person, or people, or beings, inside the space where the spell is cast don't age because technically only a few hours or days would have passed. Naturally you will mature, you 'grow' mentally, and your bodies will change, you can grow taller, have more muscle, anything really, you just don't age.

In the envelope is a letter that tells you how to use it. If you chose to cast the spell I advise you to do it at Potter Manor, it's huge and it even has it's own Quidditch pitch, you wouldn't find it boring at least. If you do it I also advise you in taking all your books there. Use everything at your disposal Harry, though never forget, no matter what path you chose the most important thing is your family. Voldemort has no one, they follow him because they are scared, don't make the same mistakes he did.

Well there is nothing more for me to say, I did everything I could so that you can finish a war that we started.

I love you Harry, I'm incredibly proud of you, I couldn't leave the Black name in better hands.

Ah, I almost forgot, from this moment on you are emancipated. Have fun and kick their asses."

And Sirius image disappeared, leaving the room in complete silence. The four friends were trying to absorb everything they had heard, Sirius had just given them everything they needed.

"Harry, I'll give you a few moments to talk to your friends, but then I will need to know if you accept and if you want the information that is in that envelope. I am only allowed to give you the information if you accept. I'll be back in a few minutes."

And Ragnok left, leaving them immersed in their thoughts.

"I think we should do what Sirius said. Time that we didn't have has been handed to us on a silver platter."

"And how much time would we use?"

"I don't know how the spell works, I would have to see the information Sirius left for us, but I think it's best if we don't use more than 10 years."

"Why Hermione?"

"Well, the first and most obvious reason would be so that we don't go crazy, being in a closed pace for that amount of time with the same people could cause some complications. Though we have a lot of things to do, so I don't think we would find it boring and Sirius did say that it was a huge manor, so we could stay out of each others way if we have a fight or something. The second reason is the money that we would need to buy supplies for us for ten years."

"I hadn't thought about that. I will have to talk with Ragnok so that he could tell me how much money I have and see if he could give us an estimate to how much we would spent. Dobby could buy everything. Do you think I have more elf's at the manor? They could help Dobby, I don't think he would be able to do everything alone. I have no idea if I have enough money for everything, we will have to see."

"If I were already 17 I would have been able to use the Longbottom fortune and the books that are in the Longbottom libraries. Though I'm the heir, the one responsible for all of it is my grand-mother, because she is legally my guardian. To change that I would have to be 17, or I would have to be adopted by another noble family, and the Lord of that family would become my guardian... oh, I'm so stupid! Of course, it's perfect! Harry, adopt me."

Harry looked at Neville with his eyes wide open, he could have sworn that he heard Neville tell him to adopt him.

"Can you repeat that Neville? I could have sworn that you told me to adopt you..."

"I did, not as your son of course, as your brother. You are Lord Potter and Lord Black, the control over the Longbottom fortune and libraries would go to you because I'm the heir, but as I would become a Potter you would have as much right to the things as I have, it would have to be a blood adoption but..."

"Neville, you don't need to. I have the Black fortune. You don't have to leave your name..."

"Harry, it isn't about leaving the Longbottom name behind, I'm proud of who my parents were, it isn't because I change my name that I won't be anymore. But the Longbottoms that still exist aren't my family, they are only relatives. I consider the people in this room my family... unless... unless you don't want to be my brother..."

"No, Neville. I already consider you my brother, and it would be an honor for me to make it official, I just don't want you to make the choice for the wrong reason."

"Harry, I always wanted a family, being part of yours is an honor."

"Wait," Hermione interrupted, and Harry saw that her eyes were suspiciously shinny, "Don't you need your guardian to approve of the adoption?"

"I'm over 14 years old, so the choice is mine, specially because it is a blood adoption. The legal guardian has no choice in this matter, it was a safety precaution that was implemented a few decades ago, because a legal guardian of a boy forced him into a marriage when he turned 15 so that he could still control the fortune. Since the minimum legal age to marry is 15, they decided that as soon as the child turns 14 he or she can decide if he or she wants to be adopted by someone else, without the legal guardian's authorization."

"In that case, we'll talk to Ragnok when he comes back and we will take care of everything. Hermione, you know that... do you want to be my blood sister as well?"

Hermione had already tears in her eyes, when she heard Harry she wasn't able to stop them from falling.

"I would love to." she whispered, hugging Harry with all her strenght.

"If you want me, I would also like to be your blood brother Harry. I know that I have family, parents, siblings, but you are everything to me. I love my family, I really do, but I never felt that I was a part of it. I always felt left out. But with you... I found my place with you."

"Oh, Ron..."

Not saying anything more, Harry hugged his brother. They all had relatives, but their family was in that room, together, trying to survive in a world that was on the brink of war, a war that had taken from them the childhood and innocence that every child deserves.

After a few more minutes, that the four siblings used to control themselves, Ragnok came back.

"Have you made a decision?"

"Yes, we are going to use it. But before we take care of that, I want to adopt Neville, Ron and Hermione."

"Adopt?"

"Yes Ragnok, blood adoption."

"Blood adoption? You realize that until you come of age Harry will be your legal guardian. And you, Mr. Longbottom, you will never be able to be Lord Longbottom and the Longbottom fortune that isn't in personal vaults, meaning the family vaults will be added to the Potter and Black fortune, and though Harry is the youngest he will always be Lord Potter and Lord Black. Aside from that your looks may change, gaining some of Harry's characteristics."

"Yes." the four replied at the same time.

"Very well, we will take care of that before we do the rest. Splitrock." Ragnok called and several moments later a much younger goblin enter the office and made a slight bow.

"Splitrock, bring me everything that is needed to perform three blood adoptions."

The goblin bowed again and left the room.

"If Harry has any magical abilities that are usually hereditary you may receive them as well."

"Like parseltongue?" Hermione asked, looking intrigued and Harry had to smile, she was always interested in learning more.

"Yes."

Splitrock was back rather quickly and as soon as he had left them Ragnok started to explain what they had to do.

"Harry will have to fill this form for each adoption, he has to write his name one it, the complete name of the person he is going to adopt and then the new name of the person and the relationship that they will have after the adoption is complete. When that's done, both will have to drop one drop of blood on the parchment. Then Harry will put one more drop of his blood in this potion and the other person has to drink the potion. You may feel some pain for a few seconds after taking the potion, though from what I've been told it is nothing unbearable. Who wants to go first?"

"Ladies first, you first Hermione, do you want to continue to have the same name? Do you want to change something?"

"I want to keep my first name, but I want you to give me my middle name."

"Alright, then you will go from Hermione Jane Granger to Hermione Mia Potter, alright?"

"It's perfect Harry."

Carefully Harry made a small cut on Hermione's finger and then on his, after they dropped the blood on the parchment it glowed a soft golden color and disappeared. Ragnok gave Harry the potion and he dropped another drop of blood in it, he mixed the potion and the blood and gave it to Hermione.

She didn't even hesitate, as soon as she had the small flask she drunk it. For a few seconds nothing happened, then suddenly Hermione let out a small scream and in front of their eyes her face started to change and her hair changed too. As soon as it started it stopped and Ragnok gave her a mirror so she could see the differences.

People that didn't know her well wouldn't have noticed the changes but to them they were as clear as day.

Her nose was a bit smaller, thinner, and her lips were a bit fuller. Her hair had soft waves and wasn't the bushy mess it used to be and there were natural black streaks through the honey brown color. The biggest difference though were her eyes, instead of her chocolate brown eyes, she had 'Avada Kedavra' green mixed in them, the exact same shad as Harry's. It gave them a rather unique look.

"I love it." Hermione whispered, hugging Harry again.

"I'm glad Hermione, welcome to the family," he answered with a smile, "Do you want to be next Neville?"

"Yes, I want to keep my first name and I want you to give me my smiddle name."

"Than instead of Neville Frank Longbottom, you'll be Neville Lerato Potter."

And they did the same thing for Neville as they had done for Hermione. Just like Hermione, Neville felt some pain though it passed quickly and Neville observed the differences. Again, people that didn't know him, or didn't deal with him on a day to day basis wouldn't have noticed the differences, but they were there. His face wasn't as round as before, and his hair was very dark brown, almost black, instead of the light brown it had been, and just like Hermione, his brown eyes had the same shade of green as Harry's mixed in it. When Neville finished assimilating everything he laughed and hugged his family.

"I want to keep my first name too, and for you to give me my middle name." Ron said with a wide smile on his face.

"Alright, you'll be Ronald Nero Potter instead of Ronald Billius Weasley."

Ron's transformation was as quick as the others though the changes were a bit more obvious. His cheekbones were a little higher and his jaw had a softer curve, the freckles he had on his face disappeared and his hair went from the usual Weasley red, to a dark red that shined a blood red when the light hit it right. His eyes went from sky blue to a more greenish turquoise.

Ron joined his siblings and hugged them laughing. For the first time they felt like they belonged.

Ragnok let them be for a while. The teens appeared to be lost in the moment, enjoying the new connection they had with each other. They knew it had been a hasty decision, but what they were feeling felt so right, it was as if it had always been like that, that it was the way it should be. They felt more at home with the four of them than they had ever felt with their families. They felt that their place was there, with the other three.

"Now that the adoption is done, we can proceed to the next order of business," Ragnok brought them back to the present, they still had many things to do, "If I understood you correctly, you have agreed to use the spell that Lord Black left you, correct?"

"Yes." Harry replied, there was no going back now.

"Great, then I just have to give you this envelope. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Actually, there is. I want a list of all my houses that are uninhabited, and how can I access them. And I want to know if we have enough funds to buy everything we need to live for ten years, for four people."

"Lord Potter, between the Potter, Black and Longbottom estate you have 17 uninhabited houses, to go to any of them you just have to use the Potter's family ring, say the name of the house and then say the password, in your case I believe it is 'Prongs', if I'm not mistaken your father was the one to chose the password, usually every head of house picks a new one when they become the head, however if you wish it you can keep the one you have, the ring will act like a portkey.

The financial matter, you have more than enough for the ten years, though I advise you to not make all your purchases in Britain and to buy things in the muggle world as well, otherwise people may find it strange that so many things 'disappear', besides I doubt that there would be enough if you only bought things in wizarding Britain.

And if I may be so bold as to suggest, for what you have in mind, the Ancestral Potter Manor. It's where the Potter library is, it has dueling rooms, training rooms, weapons rooms and it also has extensive grounds, so that you don't have be to inside all the time."

"Thank you Ragnok, is it possible to have a ring for them also?"

"It is possible yes, your ring is the Lord ring, their rings would be family rings, showing that they belong to house Potter."

"Alright, we also need something that allows my elf to access my vaults without him having to come here every time and we want something like that as well."

"The four of you can use your rings, they work like a muggle credit card. As for the elf, we can get him a key, link it to him and it would solve the situation, it would work like your rings. Is that acceptable?"

"Acceptable? It's perfect Ragnok, thank you."

"It's a pleasure Harry, now you only need to sign this documents and then we will have everything settled."

The rest of their time there was spent signing documents and seeing the family vaults that they could now access, in all of the vaults they found many books and weapons, Hermione was almost drooling at the amount of books she saw, and the boys were in awe of several swords and daggers that they had seen, though they didn't take any of them with them. They had other things to do first. When lunch came around they left the bank and went to the muggle side of the alley, there they found a deserted alley, and making sure that there was nobody near they activated their rings and went to their new home.

---

The rings took them to the entry hall of the Potter Manor. Harry could hardly believe it, the hall was huge, the Dursley house was as big as the hall. Considering the expression on his siblings faces they were a little overwhelmed as well.

Before they had the time to get over their shock, they heard several soft 'pops' and in front of them appeared twelve house-elfs.

"Welcome Masters Potters," the oldest elf greeted them, "I be Bink. We is very glad to have young Masters again."

"Hello Bink, I'm Harry and these are my siblings, Ron, Neville and Hermione," Harry introduced them, smiling kindly at the old elf, "Bink could you show us the manor, please?"

Immediately the little elfs were jumping around, wanting to show the new masters the part of the manor they were in charge of, so they spent almost two hours seeing everything the house-elfs had to show them.

The library left Hermione with starts in her eyes, it was as big as the one at Hogwarts and knowing they still had books to add to it made Hermione more than happy, she considered it her personal heaven.

The dueling, combat and training rooms left the boys in awe and they could hardly wait to try them out, Hermione was a little less excited but even she had that gleam in her eyes that showed just how much she liked it.

When they saw the grounds they couldn't help but stare, Sirius had told them that there were grounds, but they hadn't expected it to bit that big, they had four green-houses, a pool, a lake, stables and a forest. Not nearly as big as the forest at Hogwarts, but still, they had a forest. Though what Harry and Ron almost drooled over was the Quidditch pitch they saw.

In the dungeons they found several cells and a torture chamber, which surprised them quite a bit and Harry decided then and there to research his family history, they couldn't be as light as everybody said they were if they had their own torture chamber. Aside from that there were two potion labs.

Aside from the dungeons level the manor had six floors. The ground floor was the entry hall, the kitchen, the formal dinning room, the ball room, the sitting room, the family room and the first level of the library. In the middle of the library were stairs that led to the second, third and fourth level of the library.

The first, second and third floors, had several offices, dueling rooms, training rooms, weapon rooms and sitting rooms. On each of those floors was also a door that lead to the library.

The fourth and fifth floor were the bedrooms, the fourth floor was for guest and the fifth for family.

The sixth floor was very similar to an observatory, and part of the ceiling was invisible, it almost looked like they were outside, and several telescopes were spread through the space.

They were extremely impressed with their new home, and when they finally went to have lunch they were already thinking about everything they had to do before they could use the spell.

After lunch they went to the sitting room, where Hermione asked Harry to show her the envelope, it contained a letter that she read to the others.

'Dear Harry,

If you are reading this letter then that means that you have opted to use the spell I told you about. It is with a heavy heart that I give you this spell, but I love you as if you were my own son and the least I can do is to make sure you survive or at least give you a better chance of surviving.

As for the spell, it doesn't have a limit of people that are affected by the spell, so you don't have to do it alone, you can take people with you.

As far as I could tell the longest that the spell was used was for five days straight, meaning that the people involved spent ten years wherever it was that they cast the spell.

The incantation is "distortio spatio et tempore", after the spell is cast it's impossible to break it.

You will only be able to leave the space where you cast the spell when the determined time is over, so be careful with the amount of time you chose.

To define the space that is affected by the spell is quite simple. The spell affects the space in which you are, meaning that if you are locked in a room and cast the spell only that particular room will be affected, though the doors and windows have to be closed, while the spell is active nobody would be able to enter the room, nor would you be able to leave. If you want a whole house or manor to be affected by the spell you have to cast the spell in the entrance hall, or by the front door, I don't really understand the dynamics of it, but from what I understood it symbolizes the beginning of the home or something like that. And if you want the spell to affect the whole estate then you have to cast the spell outside near the wards, in that case the limit of the spell will be defined by the wards.

As I told you before, while the spell is active nobody can go in, or leave. Everybody, being it human or not, will be affected by the spell, they don't even need to be near you while you cast, so be careful and make sure that only the ones you want are in the room, house, or estate.

You will know that the spell worked because a bluish ward will surround the space that you chose, in case of it being an estate you will have artificial night and day, that is one of the functions of the ward.

Choosing how much time you want is easy as well, you just have to think about the amount of time that you want to pass on the outside, for example, you want to be inside the spell for one month, then you have to think about one hour while casting. It is dark magic, so the most important thing is what you feel, your intent, you have to mean it. But that is also why the spell is dangerous, if you aren't concentrated enough and instead of thinking one hour, you think one month... well you can imagine how that would work out, can't you? You can't get distracted while casting, it could have terrible consequences.

Well that's about it, it appears to be quite easy, but aside from the danger that it presents if you aren't careful, there is also the amount of power the spell requires. I know you can do it, you are one of the most powerful wizards alive, I have faith in you.

There is nothing more for me to tell you, good luck Harry.

I always loved you.

Padfoot.'

The four of them were silent for a few moments, they knew that it was the only way for them to gain the training that they so desperately needed, but it was a monumental decision.

"We will only do it if we all are absolutely sure that it is what we want." Harry told them, it was important for them to know that their opinion matter as well. After several moments Neville was the one to break the silence.

"I think that it's the only chance we have to survive. We have to be realistic about this, what are the odds of winning if we don't use this? I'm not talking about living to fight another day, I'm talking about winning the war, end it once and for all and finding peace."

"Looking at it from a realistic point, with the corruption of the government, the poor response of the aurors to the raids, the way the Order of the Phoenix handles the battles and the brutality and numbers of the Death Eaters, the probability for victory is very close to zero." Hermione informed them in her usual logical and calm voice. She wasn't saying it to discourage them, it were simple facts.

"I think... I think that we never had an option," Ron remarked, "We have been fighting since we were elven years old, destiny, the powers that be, or whatever there is made it so that we had to fight to survive. I suppose that now we have to end a war that our fathers started."

"Then, our decision is made?" Harry asked looking at the other three, seeing them nod he sighed and looked at Hermione, "We need to have everything ready in a weeks time, at the latest, the longer we take the more time the Order has to find us. What do we need Hermione?"

"First we need to decide how much time we will use."

"Ten years." Ron and Neville replied in unison.

"Are you sure?"

"Harry, of course we are sure. Ten years is the bare minim we must train. Voldemort has decades more than us of experience and so does his inner circle. Besides with the amount of things we have to learn I don't even think ten years will be enough, but it is better than nothing."

"Neville's right, we have a ton of things to study."

"I agree with the boys Harry."

"Very well, ten years and if I can't make the spell work for that long then we'll see what we'll do. So, what do we need Hermione?"

"Well, obviously, we need food. We need to bring all the books we have here, after we have them we have to see what we don't have a find those. Clothes, weapons, potions ingredients, something to entertain us, like chess, Quidditch, even muggle games. New wands, I would prefer if they were crafted for us. It's going to be difficult but I think we can do it in one week."

"Ok, first we should take care of food and things like that, then the books, weapons and potions ingredients and only after that should we look into games and such. The four of us will take care of the wands and clothes. Dobby."

"Master Harry called."

"Yes Dobby, I have a very important job for you." then Harry told him everything they were planning on doing and what they needed the elfs to do, "Do you think you can do it Dobby?" Harry asked when he finished.

"Dobby can. Not being easy but Dobby be doing it. Dobby is responsible for everything?"

"Yes, you are. If you have any questions or if there is any trouble talk with one of us, alright?"

"Of course Master Harry. Dobby be starting now." and the little elf disappeared with a soft pop.

"That's taken care of, let's get our new wands, shall we?" Harry asked already getting up from his seat, his siblings followed him, they activated their rings and went back to Diagon Alley.

---

They appeared at the portkey entrance at Diagon Alley. They all agreed to first buy some clothes and only after that to look at wands, they new that they would spent far more time trying to find the right wands than with the clothes.

Not wasting any time they went to Madam Malkins, where they bought several robes in dark colors, they asked for four of them to have a hood. After they had their robes they went to Gringotts and exchanged several galleons to pounds, following Hermione's advice they bought the rest of their clothes on the muggle side of London. Ron and Neville were a little overwhelmed when they saw the shopping center, though with Hermione's help they got everything they needed rather quickly.

After changing their clothes in a public bathroom, they went back to Diagon Alley and put on the robes with the hoods they had gotten from Madam Malkins and taking care not to be seen they went to Knockturn Alley.

It took them a while but they finally were able to find a little store that only had a sign with a rune as identification. Ragnok had told them that it was the best place to get wands, and for the right price they were extremely discrete.

The inside of the store was dark and it had a worn out look, behind the counter was a man that looked older than Dumbledore and as eccentric as Ollivander.

Harry walked towards the counter and with a confidant and smooth voice demanded "We want four customized wands that aren't traced by the Ministry."

"We haven't got nothing like that here... we make everything following the Ministry laws." the old man muttered, looking at Harry with dark blue eyes, he had an odd accent, Harry wasn't able to really place it but it looked like the old man was a foreigner.

"Of course..." Harry replied in that same smooth voice, "I suppose that Ragnok was wrong then... I can always take my galleons to some other store."

Slowly he turned and started to go towards the door.

"Wait, Ragnok you say?" the old man asked without a trace of an accent, after seeing Harry's nod he continued "Ragnok never steered me wrong... Alright, follow me."

The old man walked through a door that led to the back of the store and there they saw a work table surrounded by hundreds of shelves and cabinets. As soon as the door closed they felt wards rise and suddenly in front of them, where the old man used to be, was a man that appeared to be around thirty years old with the same dark blue eyes and light brown hair, he had a small smile on his lips and seemed to radiate a calm and serene aura.

"I apologize for all that, but sometimes people form the Ministry appear trying to close down my store. You seemed rather young, but you never know, I'm Elias by the way. You want four wands, isn't it?" seeing the four nod he continued, "Very well. I'm going to explain to you how I do things. There are several methods on how to craft wands, each wand maker has their own way, even if they learn the craft from a master, they end up adding their own personal touches to their process. The way I do it is the one I'm most comfortable with and the one that I believe has the most compatibility with the clients. When the wand is done, it generally is a perfect match.

Now, first you will take a potion, that potion will leave you in something similar to a trance and you will feel a pull in the direction of the material that will be used in your wand, after you have that you will wake up and I will give you another potion and this one is for the core of the wand. Any questions?"

"Yes, what if we feel that pull to something that isn't in the store?" Hermione asked and her brothers shared a smile, she was always so eager to learn new things.

"That has never happened before. Honestly, I don't think it's possible, for that to happen you would have to have an extremely deep connection, almost like a familiar bond or something like it and usually familiars aren't powerful enough to be part of their masters wand..."

"Alright, I think that we can start. Who wants to go first?"

"You can start Hermione, it looks like you are rather eager to try it." Harry answered with a smile.

Hermione smiled back and Elias gave her a small bottle. After smelling it, she drank it and after only a few moments her eyes gained a glazed look and she started to go towards some shelves, she took a box from one of them and went back to the work table where she put the box. After several seconds she was back to normal and a big smile appeared on her face.

"I never felt anything like that," she said, looking slightly amazed, "It felt like I was missing a part of me, and when I found it I was finally complete."

"Yes, usually that is what people feel, others feel something calling to them. So, ready for the core?"

Hermione just nodded and Elias gave her another small bottle and she got that glazed look in her eyes again. This time she went to one of the cabinets and took a small flask out of it and put it on the work table. Elias eyes opened wide when he saw what it was. Hermione was back to herself quickly and looked at Elias, wanting to know what she had picked.

"Very well... The wood for the wand is from a tree that only grows on the island of Azkaban, it is often called the Death Tree, because no matter what time of the year it is it never blooms and the wood is black. Some herbologists say that the presence of the dementors affected the trees many many years ago and they evolved to something that could live in that environment.

The core is dementor blood, I have never seen this combination, nor have I ever used dementor blood. I have no doubt that it is going to be an interesting wand..."

Hermione looked at her brothers with a fearful expression. Dementor blood? That didn't sound good at all, but they just smiled, and there was no recrimination in their eyes and she felt better. She knew that the three of them would never leave her, they would always be there for her, she never had to be alone again. Feeling her heart almost burst with joy she looked back to Elias and saw that he was putting the wood inside a bowl, that had several runes that she didn't recognized craved on it, then he added the blood. When both materials were inside the bowl he started to chant something in a language that they didn't know. After approximately ten minutes the bowl was surrounded by a bright red light and Elias stopped the chant. When the light vanished Elias smiled and took the wand from inside the bowl. It was a work of art, the wand was completely black and had a grip that looked like a skull, then the wood of the wand itself appeared to be braided till the middle of the wand, it looked deadly and feminine at the same time.

When Hermione took it they felt the temperature drop and black sparks shoot out of the wand surrounding Hermione. The power in the air was impossible to deny and the smile on her face said more than words ever could.

"Twelve and a quarter inches, that wand is perfect for charms and the dark arts, specially the more emotion based spells," Elias informed them, "I advise you to use it for a while before you use it in a duel or in battle, to get used to the difference. I suspect that this wand will be more powerful than the one you have now. You will have to learn how the control the amount of power you want the spell to have."

"Battle...?" Harry inquired nonchalantly.

"It is clear that the war is on our doorsteps. Unfortunately most people don't want to acknowledged it. I remember the first war, before you, Mr. Potter, brought an end to it. Don't look at me like that. I will not tell anyone who he is. As I was saying, I remember how it was. And neither side was winning, but neither side was willing to stand down. Some families were able to stay neutral, but even so it were difficult times. You, though, gave us a decade of peace, but it's over now. The main players are back in the game, we have the Dark Lord on one side, he wants to plunge our world in darkness, and we have the Light Lord on the other side and he wants to bath our world in light, between the two of them I don't know which is worse. And finally we have Harry Potter, what do you want to do to our world? Plunge it in darkness, or bath it in light?"

"Plunge it in darkness, or bath it in light? They would be blinded either way.

Light? Dark? It doesn't really matter to me, light isn't a synonym for good, nor is dark a synonym for evil. I don't think it's possible to have a world where one of them doesn't exist, they are opposites, without one there can't be the other. So I leave all that crap for the so called Lords and I will fight for me and my own. I will fight to survive.

I think that people forgot that I'm only a fifteen year old boy, and that I just want to live. However, unfortunately, I'm not naive enough to believe that I will be able to do that without fighting for it, that's the only reason I will participate in this war, for our right to live."

Elias just looked at him for a few moments, then he smiled and shook his head.

"I think that this time it will be impossible to stay out of it, though maybe this time there will be someone worth following. I'm just sorry that you have to lead them so young, but at least you're on the right track. I'm happy that my creations will help you. Shall we start with the next one?"

Neville was the next one, just like Hermione he went into a trance like state and went straight to a shelve, he took a small box from it and put it on the table, for the core it was the same procedure and he picked a small container.

Elias waited for Neville to get back to normal before he explained what the boxes contained.

"Just as the previous wand the materials are unique. The wood that called to you is from a tree that we think is extinct. It's from a time where demons still walked among humans, it's from a demonic three that was said to hold the portals that linked our world to the demonic realm. As you can see it is a very dark brown, though it has light brown veins, it gives it a unique contrast. The core is grounded lethifold bones, a cousin to demons, just like the dementors. I never used these materials either."

For Neville's wand Elias followed the same procedure he did with Hermione's wand and ten minutes later Neville was the proud owner of another work of art. The wand was eleven inches and it had two colors, the wood's dark color had a beautiful pattern that the light brown veins had given it. The handle was simple, though the light brown was centered there, and it started the pattern where the handle joined the rest of the wand and it went to the tip of the wand. When Neville held the wand for the first time you could almost see the magic around him.

Ron volunteered to be the next one and when he had left his trance like state Elias was shaking his head, sighing he explained what Ron had picked.

"I don't know why I'm surprised, let's see, the wood is from a tree that exists in the forests of the dark elfs. It is most often used in rituals to summon demons, again, I never used it to make a wand. The core is powdered fangs from a manticore, it is also a cousin to demons. Just like the other two, perfect for dark arts and offensive magic, while the previous one was defensive magic."

Ron was mesmerized with the beauty of the wand Elias gave him. It was 13 inches, it was reddish brown and had several dark brown lines that circled the handle and went up about a third of the wand. It was simple but sophisticated and when the light hit the wood it had the same blood red shine as his hair. Harry thought that it suited him rather well.

Finally it was his turn, he had to admit that he was rather excited to see what he would feel a pull, he had no idea what would suit him. Before the others had gone he would have guessed something like his holly wand, but seeing the other three he didn't think that he would get something like he had previously thought. He was a bit surprised by how dark their wands were, but it really shouldn't have surprised him, they were different now, and he knew that, just like he himself, they wanted revenge, they wanted to hunt down Death Eaters, they wanted to hurt them, see them bleed, cause them as much pain and fear as they had suffered, so really the dark nature of the wands shouldn't have surprised him. However their original wands hadn't stopped working for them, and their original wands were light, his was as light as they come. Both of the wands that they had reflected them perfectly, light and dark.

Smiling he took the potion, hardly being able to contain his excitement about his new wand. Just like with his siblings he went into a trance like state, however the similarities ended there. Harry stayed where he was, just looking in front of him with glazed eyes, after a few moments they heard a soft 'pop' and they saw Dobby appear beside Harry. He took Harry's hand and disappeared. All those present were only able to look at the spot were Harry had been in complete shock. After only several seconds, before they could do anything but gape, Harry reappeared and put something on the table, just a few moments later the potion lost it's effect and he was hit with questions.

"I don't know what happened, I felt something calling me, but it was far away, though I felt it was a part of me, I needed to have it. Suddenly I felt it right in front of me, I took it and then I was here."

"Dobby felt Master Harry, Dobby took Master Harry where he needed."

"Well, that was interesting to say the least, and what you brought back is even more so. This is a fang from a basilisk, and if I'm not mistaken it appears to be several hundreds of years old to be this long, though I can't say the age for sure without studying it a bit more. Where the hell did you get something like this?"

"Probably in the Chamber of Secrets, right?" answered Ron, looking at Harry.

"Yes, and seeing the blood on it, that one must be the one with which it bit me when I killed it."

Elias just gawked at him. He could hardly believe that he was standing in front of a teenager that spoke about killing a basilisk that was a thousand years old, considering that they were talking about THE Chamber of Secrets it had to be around one thousand years old, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, shacking his head he ended up asking, "Do you want to take the second potion?"

"Of course."

Elias sighed, he didn't even know why he had asked, apparently none of his clients found it alarming that things that usually didn't happen to other people happened to Harry Potter.

When Harry disappeared again Elias started to suspect that he knew why. Harry Potter, apparently, didn't fit in the category that most people considered 'normal' and you had to take into consideration that he was using wizards standards for 'normal'.

This time though Harry took a little more time to appear again, almost five minutes later Harry reappeared and put on the table a little flask. After quickly inspecting the contents Elias informed them that it was venom from the same basilisk.

Then minutes later Harry had a completely white wand with a handle in the shape of a serpent. When Harry touched it for the first time a green light surrounded him and they could hear a hissing sound. When the light vanished, the snake handle was a metalized green and several engravings in the same color went to the tip of the wand to the handle.

The five just looked at it for several moments till Elias broke the silence.

"Well, this was without a doubt a really interesting experience."

Harry smiled and his siblings chuckled.

"I agree. If I have any friends that need similar service, may I send them here?"

"Of course, it will be my pleasure."

The four paid for their wands, though Elias refused to charge anything for Harry's wand, considering that they hadn't used anything from his store, and they went home. They had a long week ahead of them.

---

The following week went by rather quickly. It was tiring but with the help of the house-elfs they were able to organize everything. If everything went as planed the spell would end on the 30th of July.

Harry asked Hedwig to stay at Hogwarts, he didn't like the idea of her spending ten years only with the grounds to fly. She made it clear that she didn't like leaving, but eventually she flew to Hogwarts, though only after he promised her many treats when he started school again. He chuckled every time he remembered the glare she gave him when he tried to talk her into going, he loved her very much, but she was a very bossy owl.

They also learned, through Ragnok, that the Order was looking for them, though fortunately they had no idea where they were or how to contact them. They had found out that the owls couldn't reach them because of the wards erected around the grounds. The place was practically unplotable and nobody could cross the wards without authorization from the current Lord, technically they were living in the safest place in Britain.

However they were rather glad with how things were going in the Manor. Hermione was particularly pleased with the library. It had thousands of books and it was far bigger than Hogwarts' library. It had every magical field possible in it, it went from simple house-hold charms to Necromancy. Harry had allowed his elfs to buy any and all books that they thought were needed in the library or that they though would complement what they already had. The little ones took it further than he had thought and in a little over three days they had tripled the library. According to Ragnok they had spent more than eight million galleons in ancient books and parchments. Though Ragnok told them not to worry about it, considering that they hadn't even dented the vaults with the purchases. All in all they ended up with the biggest and most diversified private library in the world, naturally Hermione was in heaven.

Just like the library the elfs didn't do things by half when it came to the potion lab, and by the end of it they had every possible ingredient. Legal and illegal, they had it all. The four were sure that if Snape every saw everything they had at their disposal he would have been green with envy.

They were rather pleased with the outcome and were feeling more confident with the choice they had made. They were still nervous of course, but they knew there was no other choice and the fact that they were together gave them comfort.

And so it was that at noon, on the 25th of July, the four siblings were outside Potter Manor, near the wards. Harry looked at his siblings, took a deep breath and raised his wand.

"Distortio spatio et tempore!"

---

For a few moments nothing happened and Harry thought that the spell hadn't worked, he was probably not strong enough to be able to cast the spell for such a long time. However, slowly they saw a bluish ward begin to rise around the grounds, they weren't able to see it completely but they were able to see that it formed a dome over the grounds and when the barrier closed, it shined a darker blue for a few moments and then disappeared.

They had done it.

They stood there, looking at the sky for several seconds. Planning it was one thing, but being able to pull it of was a completely different thing. But when it finally registered that they had truly done it they lost no time. They had a lot of things to do and far less time than what they would have liked to do it.

---

1st Year

Schedule

06:30 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Free study

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Free study

08:10 – 10:00

Monday - Transfiguration

Tuesday - Charms

Wednesday - Animagus Training

Thursday - Dark Arts (Practical)

Friday - Dark Arts (Theory)

Saturday - Arithmancy

Sunday - Free study

10:10 – 12:00

Monday - Potions

Tuesday - Herbology

Wednesday - Occlumency/ Legilimency

Thursday - Arithmancy

Friday - Transfiguration

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

12:10 – 13:00

Monday - Lunch

Tuesday - Lunch

Wednesday - Lunch

Thursday - Lunch

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Sunday - Free study

13:10 – 15:00

Monday - Dark Arts (Theory)

Tuesday - Dark Arts (Practical)

Wednesday - Dark Arts (Theory)

Thursday - Charms

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Dark Arts (Practical)

Sunday - Free study

15:10 – 17:00

Monday - Arithmancy

Tuesday - DADA

Wednesday - Transfiguration

Thursday - Potions

Friday - Ancient Runes

Saturday - DADA

Sunday - Free study

17:10 – 19:00

Monday - Occlumency/ Legilimency

Tuesday - Martial Arts

Wednesday - Charms

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - Dark Arts (Practical)

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

19:10 – 21:00

Monday - Dinner

Tuesday - Dinner

Wednesday - Dinner

Thursday - Dinner

Friday - Dinner

Saturday - Dinner

Sunday - Free study

21:10 – 22:00

Monday - Ancient Runes

Tuesday - Ancient Runes

Wednesday - Ancient Runes

Thursday - Ancient Runes

Friday - Animagus Training

Saturday - Occlumency/ Legilimency

Sunday - Free study

The day after they had cast the spell they started their training, following the schedule that Hermione had made for them.

For the first month they were sore, exhausted and far passed their limit. None of them was used to such a rigorous schedule but none of them complained. It was the path they had chosen, now they would follow it.

Waking up at six o'clock every day was a nightmare, and after the thirty minutes running, or fast walking, seeing as none of them was able to run for the whole thirty minutes, even Harry that had a bit more endurance because of his Quidditch training, they were exhausted and ready to crawl back to bed. Though they supported each other and continued with the schedule.

Slowly they built up their endurance, the time they were able to run grew and the fatigue they felt after the thirty minutes diminished. The endurance they gained also helped them with the martial arts and dueling training.

By the end of the year the four siblings were able to run the thirty minutes without much trouble, a fact that they were proud of.

Harry thought that it was a good idea to review everything they had learned at Hogwarts, it was a good way to get used to their new wands and to make sure that they had a good grasp on the basics. Agreeing with what Harry had pointed out, they started immediately and a little after a month and a half they had reviewed everything that they had been taught at Hogwarts in transfiguration. The three boys realized that at Hogwarts they hadn't paid attention to more than half of the theory which made the practical part much harder. Now they were able to do it much more easily.

When the year ended they had gone through the rest of Hogwarts' curriculum. Though Hermione was still the best at theory, the four were all approximately the same in the practical part.

Potions was similar, after going through the material again they realized that Snape hadn't given them even half of the information. Seeing why certain ingredients didn't mix, or why a potion had to be stirred for however long it was, and the difference between chopping and slicing made the whole process of making potions much easier. Though it would never be a favorite subject they knew how important it was to know how to make several potions.

By the end of the year they had started to memorize several potions, and they intended to add several others to their list. Hermione was more than happy to beat the knowledge into them if she had to, thankfully it never came to that and Hermione only had to remind them that the longer it took for them to memorize the potions they wanted and to know how to make them perfectly the longer they would have to be in the potions lab on their free time. It goes without saying that was more than enough to motivate the boys.

Charms also became easier after the revision. Things that previously made no sense whatsoever were perfectly logical now and they all felt much more confident about their spell-casting.

At the end of the year they had finished the Hogwarts curriculum and were rather satisfied with the progress they had made.

In Arithmancy and Ancient Runes they started from scratch, even Hermione, though she already had three years of study in the subject, she was happy to help her brothers when they needed. Ron didn't like ancient runes all that much but arithmancy became a passion and throughout the year it was quite normal to find Hermione and he talking about the subject.

Herbology, though Neville's passion, was approached with a far more carefree attitude. It wasn't that they didn't like the subject, but they were there to train and herbology wasn't as useful as the rest.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was by far the easiest for Harry, though he was proud to see that the other three were doing everything they could to keep up with his pace. When the year was up they had concluded the Hogwarts curriculum and had gone one to more advanced things.

With the Dark Arts they started with theory, after all it was a branch of magic of which they knew nothing about. They could start casting spells left, right and center but that didn't seem that productive to them, and besides they wanted to understand the dark arts, wanted to know what they were doing, so they started with theory and the following lesson they would do the practical.

It was a surprise to them when they discovered that they had no real difficulty in casting dark spells. As it was something new, something that they hadn't ever studied before, the initial apprehension they had felt quickly disappeared and gave place to curiosity and enthusiasm. Even the theory was fascinating to them and soon even in their free time they could be seen with books about dark magic. All in all they were very pleased with what they had achieved.

The hardest, for all of them was the occlumency and legilimency training. For a while they only studied the theory, reading and rereading everything that they had about the subject, but when they knew they could do no more with only theory they started practicing on each other. During that time they formed a unique connection, they knew every secret the others had, every insecurity, every fear. They became closer than what they though was possible and they knew the others as well as they knew themselves, however none of them felt uncomfortable and their relationship grew, they felt that they were accepted despite everything and that made them happier than they could remember ever being.

Their animagus training was going well too, Neville was the one that made more progress in every lesson, but the others weren't far behind. They could hardly wait to see what forms they would have so they gave it everything they had.

The dueling and martial arts training was tiring and more often than not they ended the training with bruises and cuts but they didn't care. As time went by they started seeing improvements and that gave them the motivation to continue.

Sunday was the only day they had free. Though none of them wasted the time they had. They woke up a little later, though never later than eight o'clock and they spent the morning studying branches of magic that interested them. Though the first months were dedicated to healing magic, it was useful and if they ever got seriously hurt they had no one there to look after them. Though the house-elfs knew how to care for them if something did happen and they weren't able to handle it. Even so they studied healing magic, they were going to war after all, it was something that could save their lives. After having a good base and knowing a few more complex healing spells, only Hermione and Neville continued to study the subject. Ron and Harry weren't that good at it and had only learned out of necessity.

Harry liked to spend his mornings studying obscure magics that he found in the ancient books that had been stored in the family vaults or the ones that the elfs had bought.

Ron on the other hand liked to read every book about strategy that he could find and many times they found him in the training rooms enacting battles, making note of their flaws, weak points, strong points and successes of every one of them. To him it was a chess game and he reveled in every new strategy he learned.

Hermione had nothing specific she dedicated herself to, whatever caught her interest was what she studied.

At the beginning Neville was the same, though towards the end of the year he stumbled upon a book about necromancy that caught his interest. Since then it was rare to see him without one of them in his possession.

Sunday afternoons were usually spent relaxing, they knew that they had to train but they needed some distraction as well. They were aware that if they spent their time only studying they would be able to handle the ten years.

And so the first year went by.

They studied more than they had ever done at Hogwarts.

They studied magics that they hadn't even dreamed about or knew existed.

They created a bond between them that they hadn't thought possible.

And they all knew, that they were doing the right thing, that they had made the right choice. They were aware that they had chosen the more difficult road. It was highly likely that people they knew would shun them for using the magic they were using, they had no illusion about how it was likely that they would be treated, they were certain that people would look at them with disdain, with distrust and it wouldn't surprise them if some of them wanted to lock them up in Azkaban, but even so, even knowing all that, they didn't regret the choice they had made.

---

2nd Year

Schedule

06:00 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Free study

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Free study

08:10 – 10:00

Monday - Transfiguration

Tuesday - Potions

Wednesday - Dark Arts

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - DADA

Saturday - Dark Arts

Sunday - Free study

10:10 – 12:00

Monday - Charms

Tuesday - Arithmancy

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Wandless Magic

Sunday - Free study

12:10 – 13:00

Monday - Lunch

Tuesday - Lunch

Wednesday - Lunch

Thursday - Lunch

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Sunday - Free study

13:10 – 15:00

Monday - Dark Arts

Tuesday - Weapons Training

Wednesday - Dark Arts

Thursday - Ancient Runes

Friday - Dark Arts

Saturday - DADA

Sunday - Free study

15:10 – 17:00

Monday - Dueling

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Wandless Magic

Thursday - Weapons Training

Friday - Ancient Runes

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

17:10 – 19:00

Monday - Wandless Magic

Tuesday - Dueling

Wednesday - Martial Arts

Thursday - Wandless Magic

Friday - Arithmancy

Saturday - Weapons Training

Sunday - Free study

19:10 – 20:00

Monday - Dinner

Tuesday - Dinner

Wednesday - Dinner

Thursday - Dinner

Friday - Dinner

Saturday - Dinner

Sunday - Free study

20:10 – 22:00

Monday - Ancient Runes

Tuesday - Wandless Magic

Wednesday - Arithmancy

Thursday - Martial Arts

Friday - Ancient Runes

Saturday - Wandless Magic

Sunday - Free study

The second year started the same way the first one ended, studying, training and research. The only difference was the alterations that their schedule underwent, aside from that, things continued the same. Though now they found it much easier to follow through whit the schedule that they had set, they had become used to the rigorous training and they couldn't say that they weren't seeing the results. It was amazing how much a person could learn and improve when they did nothing else.

However the changes were not only on the magical and intellectual level, though they didn't age their bodies did change. So it was only natural that with all the physical training they were doing and balanced meals provided by the elfs, the four teens started to have bodies that would have made any athlete green with envy.

Ron believed that they should focus more on dueling and physical training considering that the Death Eaters had years of experience, the others agreed, so they reduced the hours they dedicated to things thaught at Hogwarts, like transfiguration.

Harry on the other hand had found books about Wandless magic and they all agreed on adding it to the schedule, it was extremely useful. However they quickly found out that it was extremely difficult and only Harry appeared to have a real talent with it. Not wanting to give up so easily, the other three used every opportunity to train and read about the subject. At the end their persistence paid of and they were able to cast every spell in their Hogwarts books wandless, though they weren't quite at Harry's level, they were able to do far more than most wizards and witches. Even so they weren't satisfied and continued to practice.

Before they knew it the year was up and they continued to improve at an astounding rate.

Occasionally they would think about the world outside, wondering what was going on, what were the others thinking, had Voldemort attacked, was the Order worried, though they never let those thoughts consume them for long. They would remember why they were there, why they had made the choices they had and they went back to training with renewed determination.

---

3rd Year

Schedule

06:00 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Free study

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Free study

08:10 – 10:00

Monday - Transfiguration

Tuesday - Potions

Wednesday - Wandless Magic

Thursday - Arithmancy

Friday - Ancient Runes

Saturday - Dark Arts

Sunday - Free study

10:10 – 12:00

Monday - Charms

Tuesday - Arithmancy

Wednesday - Dark Arts

Thursday - Warding

Friday - Wandless Magic

Saturday - Warding

Sunday - Free study

12:10 – 13:00

Monday - Lunch

Tuesday - Lunch

Wednesday - Lunch

Thursday - Lunch

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Sunday - Free study

13:10 – 15:00

Monday - Dueling

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Martial Arts

Thursday - Weapons Training

Friday - Dark Arts

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

15:10 – 17:00

Monday - Dueling

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

17:10 – 19:00

Monday - Dueling

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Warding

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

19:10 – 20:00

Monday - Dinner

Tuesday - Dinner

Wednesday - Dinner

Thursday - Dinner

Friday - Dinner

Saturday - Dinner

Sunday - Free study

20:10 – 22:00

Monday - DADA

Tuesday - Wandless Magic

Wednesday - Ancient Runes

Thursday - Rituals

Friday - Martial Arts

Saturday - Wandless Magic

Sunday - Free study

As time went by their schedule became more repetitive, though none of them complained. They knew that there were certain fields where they had to get better and if that meant they had to spent six hours per day on the same subject, then that was what they would do.

Dueling was something that they increased immensely, they had twenty hours per week on dueling alone, not even counting the dueling practice they did on their free time. The first few weeks gave a new meaning to the word exhausted.

Neville though was responsible for a breakthrough they had in dueling. He found a book that taught them how to create training dummies that they could program with several levels of difficulty. They could program them to have magical knowledge and power identical to theirs, inferior or even superior to theirs. They could also use an option where it worked like a learning program, in which the dummy was always a level above theirs, until they reached that level, when that happened the dummy would adjust to a new level.

After having created a dummy for each of them, the dueling practice became much harder, though they admitted that it was much better than before. After a few months Harry as well as Neville were well on their way of becoming dueling Masters and the other two weren't far behind.

Hermione thought it was a good idea to try to create dummies that they could use for martial arts and weapons training as well. After a little of experimenting, a few failed attempts Hermione was finally able to alter the dummies for the purpose she wanted, so a little over a month later all of them had several personal dummies that they used in their trainings.

Just like the dueling training, martial arts and weapons training improved a great deal.

Ron and Neville were becoming exemplary swordsmen, and even though Harry and Hermione preferred daggers, they weren't bad with swords either, though Harry was more partial to katanas.

All of them learned to fight with a sword in one hand and a wand in the other, it wasn't easy and they had the wounds to prove that, but with practice they became ambidextrous and were able to wield wand and sword with either hand. They couldn't help but feel proud of what they had achieved. They still had a long way in front of them, but their objective didn't seem so unreachable.

---

4th Year

Schedule

06:00 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Free study

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Free study

08:10 – 10:00

Monday - Transfiguration

Tuesday - DADA

Wednesday - Rituals

Thursday - Wandless Magic

Friday - Ancient Runes

Saturday - Warding

Sunday - Free study

10:10 – 12:00

Monday - Charms

Tuesday - Wandless Magic

Wednesday - Wandless Magic

Thursday - Warding

Friday - Wandless Magic

Saturday - Rituals

Sunday - Free study

12:10 – 13:00

Monday - Lunch

Tuesday - Lunch

Wednesday - Lunch

Thursday - Lunch

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Sunday - Free study

13:10 – 15:00

Monday - Arithmancy

Tuesday - Dueling

Wednesday - Martial Arts

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Dark Arts

Sunday - Free study

15:10 – 17:00

Monday - Ancient Runes

Tuesday - Dueling

Wednesday - Martial Arts

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Dark Arts

Sunday - Free study

17:10 – 19:00

Monday - Potions

Tuesday - Dueling

Wednesday - Weapons Training

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Martial Arts

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

19:10 – 20:00

Monday - Dinner

Tuesday - Dinner

Wednesday - Dinner

Thursday - Dinner

Friday - Dinner

Saturday - Dinner

Sunday - Free study

20:10 – 22:00

Monday - Wandless Magic

Tuesday - Warding

Wednesday - Warding

Thursday - Wandless Magic

Friday - Wandless Magic

Saturday - Warding

Sunday - Free study

---

5th Year

Schedule

06:00 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Free study

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Free study

08:10 – 10:00

Monday - Potions

Tuesday - Wandless Magic

Wednesday - Weapons Training

Thursday - Wandless Magic

Friday - Wandless Magic

Saturday - Warding

Sunday - Free study

10:10 – 12:00

Monday - Charms

Tuesday - Warding

Wednesday - Warding

Thursday - Weapons Training

Friday - Weapons Training

Saturday - Rituals

Sunday - Free study

12:10 – 13:00

Monday - Lunch

Tuesday - Lunch

Wednesday - Lunch

Thursday - Lunch

Friday - Lunch

Saturday - Lunch

Sunday - Free study

13:10 – 15:00

Monday - Transfig.

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - Dark Arts

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

15:10 – 17:00

Monday - Arithmancy

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - Dark Arts

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

17:10 – 19:00

Monday - Ancient Runes

Tuesday - Dark Arts

Wednesday - Dueling

Thursday - Dueling

Friday - Martial Arts

Saturday - Dueling

Sunday - Free study

19:10 – 20:00

Monday - Dinner

Tuesday - Dinner

Wednesday - Dinner

Thursday - Dinner

Friday - Dinner

Saturday - Dinner

Sunday - Free study

20:10 – 22:00

Monday - Wandless Magic

Tuesday - Rituals

Wednesday - Dark Arts

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Dueling

Saturday - Wandless Magic

Sunday - Free study

---

6th/7th/8th/9th/10th Year

Schedule

06:00 – 07:00

Monday - Running

Tuesday - Running

Wednesday - Running

Thursday - Running

Friday - Running

Saturday - Running

Sunday - Running

07:10 – 08:00

Monday - Breakfast

Tuesday - Breakfast

Wednesday - Breakfast

Thursday - Breakfast

Friday - Breakfast

Saturday - Breakfast

Sunday - Breakfast

08:10 – 14:00

Monday - Dueling

Tuesday - Martial Arts

Wednesday - Weapons Training

Thursday - Dark Arts

Friday - Battle

Saturday - Dark Arts

Sunday - Tournament

With the amount of things the siblings had to do they almost didn't notice the five years pass, but in those first five years they had learned more than what they though possible.

Hermione, being the one that usually established the schedule, thought it was best if they spent the last years using everything they had learned, after all it didn't matter if you had the knowledge, the most important thing was to know how to use that knowledge, and that was what she focused on. She also decided to leave the afternoons free so that each one could dedicate themselves to the fields they had the most interest in, they had after all one of the best libraries at their disposal.

Aside from dueling, martial arts, weapons training and dark arts, Hermione added Battle and Tournament to the schedule.

Dueling, martial arts and weapons training continued to be with the dummies they had created, however in the Tournament they fought against each other. They would randomly be paired up, they would fight and the winners would then fight each other. It was a good way to learn new things, considering that they would be watching the other fights before or after their own.

Battle was precisely that, they created dozens of dummies, with several levels of strength, from rather weak, to above their own levels, they would go to the grounds that surrounded the Manor and there they had battle simulations. They knew it would be different when they went up against Death Eaters, hell they had already experienced how it would be against Death Eaters, but at least they were gaining experience.

And so it was, that ten years after that unforgettable July the 25th, that the four siblings were standing in the same location where Harry had cast the spell. In five minutes time it would be noon and the spell would break and they couldn't help but feel a little anxious, in the world outside of those wards, only five days had gone by but to them... to them ten years had passed. Ten years where they hadn't seen or even talked with people they cared for, ten years where they only had each other, ten years where they had stopped being the children they had been, children that those same people were expecting to see and still believed them to be, and though they tried not to think about it, they couldn't help but wonder if they would accept them the way they were now.

They heard a soft humming sound and they saw the soft blue barrier appear for a few seconds, then it glowed a dark blue again and it seemed like it shattered into millions of pieces. With a sigh Harry turned to his siblings.

"I suppose it's time to go."

With a resolute nod the four of them apparated to the front of 12, Grimmauld Place.

---

A.N.: Well, here is another chapter. A bit longer than the last one. Hope you enjoy it :)

Just to warn you, in the next chapters things will get a little bloody. Many chapters from here on out will have blood, violence and many other things that some people may find gruesome. It will have torture, physical as well as psychological. Though I will put warnings at the beginning of the chapter if the particular chapter has something a bit more explicit.