"You said you 'had' a part of Voldemort in you." She repeated. "What's changed?"

"Um..." Harry scratched the back of his head. "When I fired the killing curse at myself, I killed the Horcrux." He admitted sheepishly.

"You what!"

"It's not there any more. Pretty cool huh?" He grinned for a second, before the expression faltered. "However, in doing that, I got something else."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "What did you get?" What had Harry's impulsive nature gotten him into this time?

Harry cringed under his best friend's glare. The one that meant no matter how he tried to justify what he was about to say, he was still in for a royal bollicking. "Every bit of knowledge Tom Riddle ever possessed, from the day he was born until the day he got hit by his own rebounding curse, is now mine."


Harry Potter: The Power He Knows Not Is…

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: I don't own Hary Potter. J.K. Rowling and her minions do. 'nuff said!

Notes: ...nothing to really say here, this time. On with the show...


Chapter 11: (More Grim Matters.)

Hermione stared at him, slack-jawed. For a long time.

"Hermione?" Ron waved a hand in front of her face without getting a reaction. "Hermy!" Still nothing. He turned and pointed at Harry accusingly. Again. "You broke her!"

"Whoops?" Harry said unhelpfully as he walked over. "Maybe we should lay her down on the couch for a while, until she comes to again." He wasn't too worried at her reaction. He'd seen her go through similar brainfarts when he had surprised her in the past. She was either in shock over what he had done, or the fact that he now possessed more magical knowledge in his noggin than her, by a large margin. Or both. He anticipated a long talk, sometime in their future. With lots of smacks to the back of his head.

Luna and Ginny started on that task, Luna guiding her down as Ginny cast some basic diagnostic charms she had learnt from her mother. Apparently, the youngest Weasley had been taught them by Molly so that when she had kids of her own, she would be able to tell easily which injuries needed a trip to St. Mungo's, and which merely needed a bandage and a scolding.

While they were busy, Harry called a short break. A quick call to Dobby and Winky, and more platters of food appeared. The girls stayed near Hermione, with Ron hovering around in the background. Draco ducked out to the loo, while Narcissa made a stab at assimilating everything she had learned this afternoon.

Neville sidled up to Harry nervously. "Did you mean it? Before, I mean."

"Which bit?"

"About me maybe having some decent magical power." He shrugged. "The one about me almost being 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' is just crazy enough to be true."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, reorganising the mess up there. "Nev, while the size of a person's magical core is important, magic is also about intent and willpower. You need a clear picture in your mind about what you want your magic to do, and the confidence to see it done. Last year in the DA, you showed that you could focus when you needed to. You were driven. And in the Ministry, you faced down a dozen experienced Death Eaters and survived. Heck, you were the only one still standing with me by the end of the night. If that doesn't give you even a little confidence in yourself, I don't know what will." He smiled. "Plus, you now have a wand that actually fits you. I expect great things from you in the DA this year."

"Your going to do the DA again?" Neville asked, his mind boggling over what else Harry had just said to him.

"Yeah, why not? Even with that cow, Umbridge gone, there's still plenty of danger out there. And it was kinda fun, wasn't it? Learning without the professors looking over our shoulders all the time." He grinned cheekily. "I guess it will really depend on who we get for a DADA professor. If they're okay, we'll see. If whoever it is sucks, though, it's on for sure."

"ooohh." A groan came from the couch. Harry and Neville turned to see Hermione sitting up with help from Ginny. "Tell me that was just a bad dream."

"If it was the one about Harry getting fifty-plus years of dark magical knowledge dumped into his brain all at once by the Dark Lord in exchange for killing his Horcrux, it wasn't a dream." Luna supplied.

"Hey, I'd rather have the knowledge than a bit of his soul in my brain." Harry retorted, feeling a little hurt by the accusation he was sure was in there somewhere.

Hermione glared at him. "Harry James Potter! Of all the-"

"What was it like? Having a piece of the Dark Lord inside you?" Luna asked suddenly, interrupting the other girl before she could possibly say something she might regret. "How do you feel, now that it's gone?"

Harry fell silent as he pondered the best way to answer that. "Being rid if that thing out of my head, it's like...waking up the next morning after being sick for a long time." Everyone tilted their heads and gave him a confused look at the same time. It was so unconsciously synchronised that it was all Harry could do not to laugh. "You know! You've been sick for ages. Your body feels like crap. Your head feels like it's been stuffed full of cotton wool soaked in lemon juice. And then, you wake up one morning and it's gone. You feel as light as a feather, and bursting with energy. Like a huge weight has been lifted from your entire being, and all you want to do is get up and run around like a madman."

A few of them nodded, recalling the times they had been sick as kids.

"Well, multiply that by a few thousand times and you'll have a good idea of how I'm feeling."

"That's why you've been so insufferable for the last week?" Draco groused from the doorway.

"Nah. You just bring out the worst in me, Draco." Harry rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately, recent events have been dampening any joy I would like to be feeling over getting rid of Voldie from my head."

Hermione was looking very conflicted. One part of her wanted to slap him upside the head for doing something so dangerous, no matter what the situation. Another part wanted to hug him until his eyes popped. Standing up, she walked over and settled for something in between.

"OW!" Harry yelped as he rubbed the top of his head where she had hit him with her knuckles. "What was that for?"

"Same as this." She answered as she wrapped her arms around him. "For doing something incredibly stupid with the best of intentions, and managing to survive." She said into his neck.

"Um, okay." Harry dropped his arms and returned the hug.

Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna were all looking slightly jealous at their show of affection for different reasons, while Draco just rolled his eyes.

"Can you two keep you hands off each other for a little while longer? At least wait until the rest of us are gone." He sniffed imperiously.

Hermione stiffened as she remembered the rest of the people in the room, while Harry glared at his ward. "Just because you can't get anyone to show you any affection without money changing hands or a betrothal contract being involved, doesn't mean the rest of us are similarly afflicted."

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but was cut off.

"Ah ah Draco. Watch what you say, of I'll tie you up and leave you in the corner for the rest of the afternoon." Draco went and stood behind his mother, grumbling dire threats under his breath. Hermione used the distraction to step back and retake her seat.

"How are you keeping that amount of knowledge straight in your head?" Ginny asked. "It must be overwhelming."

"Well, when it happened, the first thing I did when I realised what was going on was to absorb all Voldie's knowledge of Occlumency."

"...I'm impressed, Harry. That was possibly the smartest move you could have made." Hermione complimented, with Narcissa, Luna and Neville nodding their agreement. "With that, you could begin to make sense of everything you were absorbing quite easily."

"Uh-huh." Harry agreed, chuffed at her praise. "Luckily, I was knocked out for the two weeks after. Madame Pomfrey called it a 'magical coma'. It gave me time to sort everything out. I've actually got about forty percent of it done."

"Uh, how?" Ron asked, confused. "If You-Know-Who knew as much as you say he did. Does. Whatever." He snorted as he was confused over whether the Dark Lord was still alive or not. "How would two weeks be anywhere near enough to figure all that stuff out? I mean, it takes us seven years just to get the basics down at Hogwarts. He's near Dumbledore's level."

Harry was about to give Ron a withering stare, when he realised that the red-head wasn't the only one looking slightly curious. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put in to words what he had gone through.

"How many of you know what I'm talking about when I say the phrase, 'subjective time'." Hermione and Luna put their hands up. "It's mostly a non-magical term. It's like...when you have a big, long, complicated dream just before you get woken up in the morning, but you know only seconds have passed. Or when your doing something you really enjoy, and the time seems to fly. Conversely, when your doing something boring, or your waiting for class to end, and the clock seems to be going at one quarter its normal speed, dragging the lesson out for ages." Harry got some hesitant nods. "That's subjective time. When your personal perception of the passage of time is different to what it actually is in reality." The nods were more confident this time. The students especially understood his examples about time slowing down in a boring class.

"When I was unconscious, and I had finally figured out what was happening, I used that, plus the Occlumency, to start to organise my mind into something that could handle all that new information, as well as sort out the mess that was already there."

"Wow." Now everyone looked suitably impressed at his quick thinking. Even Draco.

"Of course, ploughing through all that knowledge led me to losing track of time completely. When I finally 'woke up' in the Hogwarts Infirmary, I was very surprised at just how much time had passed in the real world."

"How did you do it? Pull yourself out of your dreamscape, that is." Luna enquired, very curious. She'd had some instruction in Occlumency from her mother, and later, her father. Her parents had thought it a good idea at the time to start her training young. Unfortunately, she tended to overdo it, and get lost within herself, as a way of coping with the harsher aspects of her life.

"Actually, that was Albus." He chuckled, remembering the sight of Madam Pomfrey dragging the headmaster out of the Infirmary by his ear. "He'd used Legillimency to enter my mind-"

"HE FUCKING WHAT? AND WHILE YOU WERE IN A COMA!" Everyone looked at Luna, who'd shouted that last at the top of her lungs. "That's...that's..." She sputtered, uncharacteristically furious.

"Blatantly illegal? Borderline insane? Utterly immoral?" Harry offered.

"Yes!"

"Which one do you mean?" Ginny asked of her childhood friend.

"All of them!" Luna responded forcefully.

"It's true." Neville piped up, seeing the confused looks coming from Ron, Ginny and Hermione. "Entering someone's mind using Legillimency without their permission is a one way trip to Azkaban. Using it on someone who's in a coma, means running the risk of becoming trapped in the other person's mindscape. Permanently!" Seeing the stunned looks being directed his way, he started to blush. "What? Most upper-class pure-blood children are given basic training in Occlumency, so that we can defend our minds. It's tradition!" Draco, Narcissa and Luna nodded in agreement. "And since I'm going to inherit the Longbottom Lordship when I'm of age, Gran'll insist I be able to block any attempt to get in to my head, or at least know when someone's trying."

"And I'd be quite happy to help you with that, Neville. If you want." Harry offered. "It would also help me find out if what I absorbed from Voldie is on the level, too."

"Was how Voldemort learnt anything like what Professor Snape tried to teach you?" Hermione asked.

"Fuck no!" Harry answered hotly. "And let me tell you, Snivellus is in for one hell of a bad day if he tries to enter my head again!"

"..." Hermione was stunned at Harry's furious answer.

"I didn't realise that there was more than one way to teach Occlumency?" Neville asked, somewhat confused. "How did Professor Snape train you, Harry?"

"How were you taught, Neville?"

"Um, lots of meditation. Being shown how to clear my mind, then build a barrier out of something I was familiar with. Once she was satisfied that I had the basics, my Gran would gently probe my thoughts. She started very lightly, before gradually pushing harder. You start gently, so as to find any gaps in the barrier early, and fix them. Otherwise, you're left with holes you could drive a herd of Hippogriffs through."

Harry grunted. "And how long did it take you to build up your defences?"

Neville shrugged weakly, trying to downplay it. "It, uh, it took me a few months to figure out how to clear my mind properly, and another couple for me to build a wall strong enough to keep Gran out for any reasonable length of time. But, I was only ten at the time. And everyone was still excited that I actually had magic."

Narcissa nodded, somewhat impressed. It had taken Draco three times as long to become half as good, and that was only in the last year or so under Severus' personalised attention at Hogwarts.

"So, if I were to tell you that the extent of Snape's training was to stand me in the middle of the room, yell and insult me for five minutes, then scream 'Legilimens' at me, then tell me it's my fault for not getting it straight away after he'd cracked my mind open for his perusal, and repeating that for an hour or so at a time, what would you say?" Harry asked blandly. "Oh, and that was from minute one of the very first lesson."

Neville, Luna and Narcissa looked ready to throw up again. Ron and Ginny weren't far behind. And Hermione...

Hermione looked like she either wanted to scream or die of self-loathing. She had defended Snape's methods, after all, even when she saw the damage it was doing to Harry. She had believed that Snape, and through him, Dumbledore, had known what they were doing. That it really was all for the best, and that he should have gone back to ask for more. That Harry was allowing his hatred of the potions professor to cloud his ability to do learn Occlumency properly.

To find out that Snape had basically been using his time to inflict a great deal of pain on Harry, simply because he could, made her want to curl up and die.

"Hermione." Harry knelt down in front of her and gently pulled her hands away from her tear-streaked face. "I don't blame you. And you shouldn't blame yourself." She shook her head, rejecting the absolution he was offering her. "You couldn't have known. There were no books in the Hogwarts Library about Occlumency or Legillimency for you to read at the time. We had been told that it was a rare talent, and that only certain people knew it. Heck, even I was starting to come around to the idea of asking for lessons again by the time it all went to crap."

Hermione tried to struggle weakly in his grip.

"You have never had a real reason to distrust an adult in a teaching position, have you?" She shook her head in a negative way. "Whereas I have never trusted adults to do right by me in my life. They always let me down. Always."

Harry sighed as he raised his voice for the whole room to hear, "Snape has hated my father since they went to Hogwarts together. From what I have been able to gather from Voldie's memories of using Legillimency on the greasy git, Snape was best friends with my mother from when they were children." Jaws dropped around the room at that little nugget of information. "While they were in different houses, they remained friends right up until their OWL's. The memory of his that I saw that ended my Occlumency lessons, was about the final nail in their friendship. The Marauder's had a hand in that day, as well. My father hated Snape because he was friends with the girl he was interested in, and Snape loathed my father for a great many things that happened during his time at Hogwarts." Harry turned to Draco. "That's where his intense dislike of me comes from. Not for anything I've done. But because I am the son of a dead man that he loathed. And, perhaps, because my eyes are a little too much like my mother's for his comfort."

"How...how do you know all this?" Narcissa asked. She had known Severus for the better part of two decades, and had never imagined that he had such secrets in his past. "Severus is a master Occlumens."

"He is now. Voldie arranged for his potions master to be able to protect himself from any who would seek to learn exactly what Snape was brewing for the Dark Lord in secret. And after he turned into a scary fart that Halloween, Albus greatly assisted the greasy git in learning the art as well. However, he was still in his late teens when Voldemort scanned his mind during his initiation into the Death Eaters. His defences back then were nowhere near what they are today."


As they pondered that, Harry looked from the window to the clock on the opposite wall. "Look guys, it's getting late. I've told you a heck of a lot today, and I want to give you time to absorb it all before we talk again."

Everyone nodded numbly. As Draco stood up and led his mother towards his room for a private conversation, Narcissa stopped briefly at Harry's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Seeing him nod with a surprised expression on his face, she favoured him with a brief but warm smile. She then issued a polite farewell to the others in the room before allowing her son to lead them deeper into Grimmauld Place.

"What did she say to you?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Nothing that concerns you, Ron." Harry replied curtly. "When you two get back to the Burrow, could you inform whoever it was that tried to gatecrash before that if they try to come here again without a specific invitation, the wards will remember them and react even stronger to them next time."

"Sure Harry." Ginny answered, kicking her brother in the shins when he tried to say something. The way Ron was speaking without engaging his brain first today, she didn't trust the idiot not to plant the other foot in his mouth as well. "Will we be seeing you at home before school starts?" She ventured gamely.

"Not likely." Harry said after a long pause. "I'm still very angry at your mother over her presumptuousness at Gringotts."

"oh" The youngest Weasley's face fell.

"But, you are welcome to visit here if you want. You all are." Harry looked at everyone. "Even you, Ron, as long as you mind your manners." He finished reluctantly.

Ginny's face brightened, while Ron just grunted.

"The same goes for you, Harry." Luna invited him back. "If you feel the need for fresh air, or a chance to help me name all the animals in my garden, please come over."

"You don't know what the animals are in your garden?" Ron shouted incredulously.

"Well of course I know what they are, Ronald." Luna answered him with an air of long-suffering patience. "However, I have to give them all names, otherwise the only thing I can call them is 'Hey, you?'. And it gets a bit confusing after a while, because they all answer to that." She finished, some of her confusion showing on her face.

"I'd be delighted to, Luna. Thank you for the offer." Harry put in quickly, partly to stop Ron saying something that would cause him to hex the git, and partly to cover his chuckles at the way Luna was gently teasing the red-head without him realising it.

"Same here Harry. Your welcome at Longbottom Manor any time you want to visit. I'm sure Gran would love to have you over for tea and a chat." Neville also threw his hat in to the ring. "Dunno about Draco, though. Unfortunately, it's usually good manners to invite a guest's dependants as well." He frowned, manners clearly warring with his intense dislike of the former Malfoy.

"Thanks, Nev. I will take you up on that offer, I promise. And don't worry about Draco." Harry soothed. "I wouldn't inflict the ponce on you like that, manners be damned. But, if Madame Longbottom insists, I'll try to make sure that Mrs. Malfoy comes along as well, to keep him in line. As a daughter of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, I'm sure she would know how to... what's the word I'm looking for?" He snapped his fingers.

"Comport?" Hermione offered.

"That's the one!" He grinned. "Comport herself appropriately in polite company, and make sure Draco does too."

Neville looked relieved at having a way around a potentially awkward breach in etiquette.

"Harry?" He turned to Hermione. "My parents would like you to come over for dinner soon, as well. They wish to thank you in person for what you did." She smiled brightly at him.

"Sure. I'll send Hedwig in a couple of days, and you can write me a note saying when. Okay?" She nodded again.

"Come on! Lets get this show on the road. Dinner'll be served at home soon, and I'm starving!" Ron punctuated this grumbled demand with a stomach growl. Everyone rolled their eyes and made their way to the Viaticus room.

Ron and Ginny left first, Ginny finally snagging that hug from Harry she felt she had missed out on when she arrived. Luna went next, also giving Harry a hug, and giggling into his ear when he commented that he could easily get used to this way of saying hello and goodbye from the girls.

Neville looked like he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure how to phrase it. He settled for reiterating his invitation to Harry, and shaking his hand firmly before stepping into the Floo. Which left Hermione.

"'Sup, Mie?" Harry asked, after watching his best friend watch him without speaking for a few moments.

"...Where did you hear that?" She finally asked. "You've called me that a few times, today."

"Oh, uh, I heard your parent's call you that, the day of the will reading, and I kinda liked it. It fits you, somehow." He shrugged. "Though, if you don't like me using it, I'll stop." He offered, belatedly realising that it might be a nickname only her parents can use safely.

"No, it's alright, I suppose." She said finally. "It's kind of something Mum and Dad use at home. Something away from magic." She shrugged, struggling to put her feelings about the nickname into words accurately. "So, only when its just us, okay?"

"Okay." Harry readily agreed, and was rewarded with a smile. "So, what's up?"

"I...I just..." She sighed deeply.

"If it's about the Occlumency thing. I told you: Forgiven and forgotten."

"No. Well, not just that." She allowed when he raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm just...still getting used to how you've changed in since the end of school." She finally admitted, then braced herself for the explosion she felt was coming.

"Yeah, you and me both." He admitted easily.

Hermione opened one eye cautiously. "That's it? No shouting, or anything? No denying that you've changed?"

"Yup! No. And no." He grinned at her shocked expression. "What, you thought that I was going to get all defensive or something?"

"Well, yeah."

Harry laughed. "Hermione, I admit that the past few weeks have been the worst I've experienced in a long time."

She shuddered, knowing just how bad his life has been on occasion. And that was only what he had shared with her and Ron.

"But, the thing I think everyone has missed is, I no longer have a part of Voldemort's soul in me!" Harry enunciated. "Yes, I can be a moody tosser at times. I admit that. But, when I've lost my temper in the past, or done something stupid and thoughtless, it always felt that there was a part of me that was pushing my emotions to extremes. Like there was a burning sphere of pure negative energy, deep in my mind, waiting for any excuse to latch on to, and flare up." He looked at her with an expression of relief. "I can really notice its absence. I'm not numb, or anything. I just... I feel like I can think clearly for the first time in my life. Like I can finally start living up to my full potential."

"Oh Harry." Hermione almost cried again. How could she have missed that?

"I mean, yeah, I've got Voldies knowledge stuck in my head. All the crap he's pulled up until that Halloween. But, I can distance myself from it, because I know its not my life I'm looking at. And the Occlumency makes that a lot easier to do, too." He said, relieved by that fact. "Despite that, and Sirius' death, and Albus being a pain the arse, all that. I'm just so bloody happy to be feeling like I'm truly me for the first time in for ever!" He looked at her apologetically. "I don't quite know how to explain it any better, unfortunately."

"Oh Harry!" Hermione flung herself into Harry's surprised embrace. "I've been so worried at how you've been acting so differently from how you used to. Everyone has. And all you've been doing, really, is standing up for yourself." She sniffled into his neck. "I'm sorry for thinking that you might have been changing for the worse. But your not." She leant back and looked into his eyes. "You're actually acting a lot more mature, is all. It's a nice change. And you look more relaxed than you used to, now that I think about it. Like you've finally got a handle on all the horrible stuff that seems to follow you around."

"Um, thank you." Harry blinked, looking somewhat distracted.

Hermione was about to ask why Harry was a little unfocused, when she finally realised what position she had put the two of them in. She had her arms around his neck, and was leaning away from him so she could look up at him better. Which meant that other parts of her were leaning closer to him. Harry had managed to snake his own arms around her waist when she was distracted, and had laced his fingers together over the small of her back, from the feel of it. And their faces were so close together that she could feel his quick breathing sending ghostly sensations across her cheeks. "Um" She licked her lips unconsciously.

"Um" Harry echoed, not quite sure what to do. Even with several decades of appropriated memories, he was still crap when it came to understanding women.

And so, the moment passed awkwardly.

"I, um..."

"Your parents..."

"Yeah." Hermione disentangled herself from Harry, struggling to understand where the last few minutes came from, and whether it meant anything more than her attempt to both apologise and comfort Harry for not trusting him to be anything other than the good man she knew him to be.

While Harry was wondering if he should be kicking himself for missing a golden opportunity, or kicking himself for even considering attempting something like that with his best friend in the first place.

"Thank you for telling us what you did today, Harry. Even if it raised more questions than it answered." She sent him a small grin.

He returned it nervously. "Yeah, sorry about that. Winky?"

/CRACK/

"Yes, Master Harry?" The female House Elf asked eagerly. Kreacher and Dobby had been arguing loudly about proper masters in the kitchen again, and she was happy to have something else to do. Watching those two try and stuff each other onto a tea kettle stopped being funny after the first dozen times.

"Could you return Hermione to the Granger residence, please?"

"Yes, master Harry." She turned to Hermione. "Are you ready to go, Miss Mie?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows at that, and glared at Harry.

"I don't know why. Ask Winky." Harry put his hands up defensively.

"I will." She grumbled.

"I'll send Hedwig in a day or two. Okay?"

"Okay." She looked like she wanted to hug him again, but was unsure after their moment from before. She settled for a rather lame wave before taking Winky's hand. "Bye."

/CRACK/

Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, that could have ended better." He blew a frustrated breath through his lips. "Must remember to clear the air between us when I go over for dinner with her parents. I don't want to lose her over... whatever it was that just happened." He sighed again. "She's turning into a bloody good looking woman, though. I won't deny that." And with that thought, he went in search of his other guests.


More Notes: Luna is actually really hard to write. At least, I find her so. It's a pain trying to find a balance between her outer, 'loony' persona, and the insightful young woman that's hidden a bit deeper inside.


-END OF CHAPTER-