A/N: Hi guys and welcome to Chapter 10! I'm very glad the last nine chapters were so enjoyed by my reviewers and I'd like to thank you all for leaving said reviews, they make me very happy! :)

Enjoy!

"Hey Potter, where were you last night? Off practicing dark magic again?"

He could feel anger welling up inside of him but even more present was the betrayal he felt when Ron shot those words at him. That Hermione admonished him for it didn't change anything. He knew she believed Harry was doing something, may or may it not be dark magic.

"What I do with my life is of no concern to you." Harry shot back coldly while brushing past his former best friend. Though if he were to be honest with himself, hadn't Ron always been like that? Just never really to Harry until their fourth year and after that the redhead had come crawling back with a meagre apology. That won't happen again, said the voice inside of him and Harry was hard pressed to disagree. Ron didn't deserve another second chance; neither did anyone else for that matter.

I don't need them.

A small smile spread on his lips and just before he entered the hall he closed his eyes, feeling Vacío present next to him. When they had seen Harry's nervosity that morning they once again asked to come along. Apparently they were able to remain invisible to protect their master better, so that was what they were doing. So far it was working out well.

As he walked into the great hall he was relieved to find everyone ignoring him completely, rather than growing silent. Perhaps they were getting used to the changes on him? He chanced a look at the head table and found Dumbledore looking right at him again. Something told him the old man wasn't about to leave him alone just like that.

Hang on, old man? Harry never thought of the headmaster like that! So why—

The Vacío stirred and growled softly so only Harry would hear. Something was going on, his weirdly negative thoughts about the headmaster could wait. He glanced at them but when they didn't seem to be doing anything, he reached for his drink.

'Master!'
'No!'
'It smells off!'
'There is something different inside...'

What in the world? When he took a light sniff of the drink he recognised one of the potions Snape had had them working on a lot. Compulsion potions…

Being in the fumes for so long made it easier for them to recognise the smell at least and it usually blended well enough with whatever you mixed it in, but you could still smell it if you were careful enough. Was that why Snape had given them those lessons?

He set the cup down again and took a bit of his food instead, noticing the Headmaster's look had somewhat darkened. Did the headmaster just try to feed me a compulsion potion? Not good...

During his classes and the rest of the afternoon, Harry poured himself over his homework and magic-related tomes. He knew that even if he was capable of wandless magic, that didn't mean he would be able to do just about anything. Practice was important and looking through the 'Standard Book of Spells' would probably help him perfect some old spells and begin learning a few new ones. Especially the DADA section was leafed through a lot, considering it as unfortunately the field he needed the most.

His practice the night before with reiatsu levels also caused him to begin noticing the flow of energy when he cast a spell. He tried manipulating it and noticed that most of the time he used a bit more magic than needed, which was the reason easier spells tended to take some time before he learned them. Maybe now that would improve?

His theory was proven correct during his Transfiguration class when after a few tries of manipulating the intent and amount of magic the spell required, the bird did indeed transform into a teacup. A rather good one even. He was one of the first to have gotten it, second only to Hermione, whom immediately fumed in his direction despite the fact she had gotten it first.

Harry's attempt was disregarded by McGonagall as she passed by, though she certainly narrowed her eyes at him. After all, why would Potter all of a sudden have gotten better at casting new spells without some sort of aid? Murmurs spread through the class pretty soon after that but Harry simply ignored them and wrote down his notes for the day.

He found a ball of paper being shot at his head suddenly from the other side of the classroom, and there was no way he could stop it in time or dodge when all of a sudden; the paper was deflected by thin air.

Harry looked just as surprised as the others before smiling and mentally thanking his companions. It would not have done him any good to have that prop hit its target. Even if a simple piece of paper looks innocent, the fact it would have hit him meant that it was possible to do so outside of class as well, meaning the hexes would increase in the hallways again.

Now however, it was shown that catching Harry Potter off guard didn't work either, so people were more likely to think twice before attacking him randomly. They would still attack him though; there was no doubt of that.

He managed to avoid more trouble for the rest of the day, though he knew his time was rather limited. His peace in the room of requirement would only take so long before he was caught and dragged out of his safe haven.

That night he checked to make sure all of his items were actually in his trunk, which had appeared alongside the bed last night. To his gruelling annoyance both the invisibility cloak and the marauder map were missing. He wondered briefly if he could ask the room to give them back to him, but he doubted that. The only other option, was…

"Vacío, go fetch the things that were stolen from my trunk, all right? They're very important to me so I need them back."

The Vacío, eager to have something new to do, rushed off through the walls to Gryffindor tower. It would be easy to track their master's scent there and take the stolen items.

Getting into the tower unnoticed was easy but just for the fun of it, they became visible after grabbing their desired items. Watching the redheaded traitor and his friends scream in terror as the Vacío disappeared through the wall had been very amusing for them. Back in the Room of Requirement, they eagerly told the tale, though Harry was nervous this would only create more rumours.

What they think doesn't matter; they are fools and cowards. Even if they know the truth, they will alienate you— us more.

He knew the voice was right, if they knew he was a Hollow, more specifically an Arrancar, then he would be in a lot of trouble. He was a myth-class creature to the Ministry after all, who knows what kind of things they would do to him...

And he was pretty sure they would find out soon; it was just that bad feeling in the back of his mind telling him time was running out. And it was running out fast.

That night he was drilled in some more Hadō before they moved on.

"Did you learn to feel the difference between your Kidō and your magic?"

The answer to that was an obvious yes; the magic felt very different from the reiryoku, though he couldn't explain how. It was a difference in intensity, thickness and something else, almost like texture…

"Very good, then I want you to focus on your reiryoku now. Don't push it to feel like Kido, just let it form in the palm of your hand and make sure to aim in the distance. The first time might either blow up a lot or simply not work, but don't worry about that."

Though harry tried to pool the energy in just one hand, he felt it pooling in both; his arms rising to hold the ball as one. He wanted to fight that instinct but found himself interrupted by Urahara.

"Let your instincts take over Harry-kun, they will only help you."

And he did. He closed his eyes and felt the usually silent voice raise power within him, guiding it into the Cero he was preparing. His body moved on its own as he stood ready to fire. The energy ball reached its peek and the next thing he knew, Harry was slammed backwards a good few metres.

When the dust cleared and he looked up, there was a rather huge chasm in the ground where the Cero hit, and a hole in the wall on the other side of the room. It was rather obvious that was far away.

"Whoa…"

Urahara whistled softly in amazement as well. "Not bad at all, Harry-kun. That's a very strong Cero. I'd like for you to practice it more but since it takes a lot of power and you're not used to this, we might want to slow things down a little. At least you know how it's supposed to feel now."

Harry nodded, sitting down in front of the mirror since he did need the break. "Urahara, sir, there was something I wanted to talk to you about…" He started nervously. He didn't like turning points; they always set him on edge. What if the man said no? And what if he said yes? He didn't even know how he was going to pull off what he had in mind...

"What is it, Harry-kun?"

"I was wondering if I could come visit you in Japan soon."

The man's startled expression was rather amusing, but Harry was too tense to really be able to laugh about that.

"Come here? But don't you have school, young man?"

"I do, but there are a lot of tensions right now and according to the government here, a Hollow is a creature from myth. I'll be in a lot of danger if anyone finds out. They already accuse me of casting dark magic because of my mask coming out of my skin like this." He traced it gently, finding it less odd every time, though it was still definitely odd.

"If I don't leave soon, I might be imprisoned and tested on for all I know. They're not going to accept me, my instinct knows that too."

There was no way Urahara would be able to argue with instinct, he knew that.

Finally the man nodded. "I suppose if you feel so strongly about it, there is little that can be done. How will you be getting here?"

Harry was incredibly relieved that Urahara was willing to have him, though he knew the man was very curious about being able to examine Harry up close. He didn't mind that though, because he knew Urahara would be respectful with him, unlike the Ministry and the Unspeakables would be. He knew that that was where he'd end up, from boy who lived to freaky Hollow and test subject. The Daily Prophet would have a field trip with that headline...

He explained that he wanted to escape Hogwarts and go to the Gringotts branch in London. There he would be able to secure a portkey to Japan without too much trouble. After all, the Goblins were neutral and if they earned some money in letting Harry go to Japan then they wouldn't see the problem. They wouldn't be held under Dumbledore's thumb like the wizards were after all.

He already had most of it planned, but he wanted to try and stay at school for as long as possible. He didn't know why, but he knew that he should stay. Maybe something would happen or maybe not, but it was better if they didn't think he ran away because he wanted to practice dark magic.

Still, wasn't that what would happen regardless? Harry shook his head, there was nothing he could do but be ready and wait.

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone, it was much appreciated. The tensions are rising and turning points are coming closer and closer. How well will Harry's trip to Japan go, how long will he be away and who will he meet? Find out soon!

As always feel free to leave a review in the box below, they're my favourites~ ^^

Until next time!

Love,
~Lumina