"Wait. Do you mean Merlin as in "The Merlin?" The Merlin that was a member of King Arthur's Court, and one of the most powerful wizards of all time?" Daphne asked him in shock. Harry nodded his head at Daphne, and opened the book to the first page. His eyes were getting much more accustomed to the ancient language that the book was written in, and he could now pick out certain words. "It says here that it's a book with his most powerful potions, charms, jinxes, counter-curses, curses, and dispelments." Harry told Daphne. She looked at the page he was on, and could only see the ancient language that was on the page. "How do you know it says that?" she asked him. He shrugged his shoulders in reply, and added "My eyes are slowly becoming accustomed to reading this language. It's either that or this book is like Gryffindor's Sword, in the effect that the letters are easy to read to whoever's worthy of it. Either that or I'm the owner of the book." He said the last part jokingly, because he knew that there was no way that he was Merlin's descendant.

Daphne placed her right hand under her chin like she always did when she was deep in thought. She looked at the book in Harry's hands that was now shining brightly, then she looked back to Harry. Her gaze kept going between the book and her boyfriend as if she was trying to solve an unsolvable riddle. "It was said that Merlin was an expert in Charms. So much so that he was known as the Prince of Enchanters. What is your specialty Harry?" Daphne asked him. "Honestly Daphne, it's like you don't know me at all. I'm much more of a Defense Against the Dark Arts expert. Sort of." Harry replied. Daphne went into her "deep thinking" mode again, and was quiet for more than ten minutes. Harry was starting to get worried, because he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, until she spoke up again. "What if you are related to Merlin?" she asked him. Harry looked at her, then looked at the book again. "For one thing, it would explain why I'm slowly able to read this book. For another, it would be pretty awesome I guess. The only problem I have with it is people finding out. I don't like having attention on me." Harry answered truthfully.

He ran his finger along a line on the third page of the book, and read out loud "How to Unbind Your Magical Core". Daphne looked at Harry, and asked him "Why would you want to know how to do that?" He shrugged at the question and told her "I don't even know what a magical core is." Daphne giggled at her boyfriend, and looked at him with her sapphire-colored eyes. "A magical core is what separates us from the Muggles. It's what makes Witches and Wizards able to do magic." she explained to him. Harry nodded in understanding, then read the spell for it. "The spell is in Latin. I want to try it out, but I'm not sure what will happen." He told Daphne. "I'll make sure to get help of you get hurt. Go ahead and try it out. I'm quite curious myself now." Daphne responded. Harry read the spell out loud. "Solve core of magiae maea!" Harry said. All of a sudden, he started glowing a bright gold, and he started to levitate into the air. Daphne stared at him dumbfounded, and her jaw dropped in wonder. Harry came back down to the ground after the glowing subsided, but he once again underwent a physical change. His muscles were much more defined, he was a bit taller than he already was, he couldn't see with his glasses on, his hair grew longer and he could feel power coming off of his very fingertips.

He quickly took off his glasses, and said "That's much better." Daphne stared at her boyfriend in shock, then grabbed Merlin's Book of Magic off of the floor, and clutched it to her chest. "You know what this means, don't you Harry?" she asked him. Harry shook his head in confusion, and Daphne sighed at him. "It means that your magical core has been unlocked. Who would lock it in the first place though?" she asked after the explanation. "I can guess one person, and he's already tried to kill me three times in my life." Harry told her. "Tom Riddle?" she asked. Harry nodded his head in agreeance. "I guess he'd figure it'd be easier to kill me if I didn't know his secret, and if my magical core was blocked. I wonder how much of my core he blocked though." Harry thought out loud. Daphne looked her boyfriend up and down again, then told him "By the way your body started transforming itself, I'm guessing that at least 85% of your core was blocked. You're literally giving off wave after wave of magic." Harry held up his hand, and looked at it for a long time. "I can feel it. The power welling up inside of me. The power to do anything." he told her.

All of a sudden, he turned around feeling the presence of another book. It was just like Merlin's Book of Magic. He was drawn to it, as he headed to the shelf to the right of them. On the topmost shelf was a book called 'Ancient Magic of the World'. Harry got his wand out, and pointed it at the book. "Accio 'Ancient Magic of the World'!" he casted. He had to duck, because the book came flying at him with speed and power. "Geez Harry, you didn't have to put so much power into that Summoning Charm." Daphne told him, as she helped him off of the floor. "I didn't put any power into it. I casted it how I normally cast a spell." Harry grumbled as he was helped off of the ground. He then picked up the book off of the floor. "Another curious little book." Daphne said. Harry opened the book, and looked at the table of contents. He showed the page to Daphne, and asked her "Do any of these forms of magic look familiar to you?" She gave a quick look at the page, and shook her head. "I'm not familiar with any of these types of magic. Must be forms of magic that was lost since ancient times." Daphne explained.

Harry dropped the book when Daphne finished her sentence, and she looked at him with worry. "I don't think anyone was supposed to find that book for a good reason." Harry told her. She picked up the book, and read the page he was on. When she finished reading it, she too dropped the book, and placed her hand over her mouth. This time the book landed on its cover, and the page was showing. When you looked down at the page, all you could see were the words 'How To Bring Back The Dead'. They left the library quickly after finding the book, and when Harry closed the door to the library, he could've sworn that he heard the book zoom back to its original spot. "This has been a very...unusual yet productive day." Daphne said when they walked down to the dining room to see everyone else. Harry nodded at his girlfriend, and opened the dining room door, since he was the perfect gentleman. He was bumping into quite a few things, since his hair now lightly draped over his eyes. He was also having trouble to adjusting to not having to wear glasses, since he spent most of his life wearing them. "Are you alright Harry?" Mr. Greengrass asked him, when he and Daphne sat down. "Never better. Why do you ask sir?" Harry asked in reply. Mr. Greengrass looked at Harry, then replied "You've changed since we picked you up two hours ago. You no longer have your glasses, your hair is longer, you're taller than you were, and you're literally giving off magic."

Harry once again found himself looking at his fingertips, then shook his head at the thought of going power-hungry. That wasn't who he was, and he wasn't going to let the power control him. "Well sir, me and Daphne were in the library, and we found a book with an interesting spell in it. It was a spell to unblock my magical core, but I didn't know what a magical core is until Daphne explained it to me. Out of curiosity, I casted the spell on myself, and I appear to you as I am now. Turns out at least 85% of my magical core was blocked." Harry explained to Mr. Greengrass. What came next was the same question Daphne had asked him just moments before. "Who would want to block your magical core, and why would they?" Mr. Greengrass asked him. "To be honest sir, the only person that comes to mind would be Voldemort." Harry told him. There was a deep intake of breath coming from Astoria, Mrs. Greengrass, and Mr. Greengrass when Harry spoke his name. "My guess is that he placed it on me before he went into hiding, after his first failed attempt to kill me. The attempt that gave me my scar. He probably figured it'd be easier to kill me later in life if I didn't have full access to my magical capacities." Harry continued in his explanation. Mr. Greengrass nodded his head in understanding, then gave a warm smile. "That's understandable, but as long as you have people on your side Harry, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will never be able to touch you. Sirius and I both would die before we let that happen." he told Harry. Harry had to blink the tears out of his eyes, because that meant more to him than anyone would ever know, but at the same time it hurt him, because he didn't want anybody to die for him. "Thanks for telling me that, but it won't be necessary. I don't want to have anybody die for me." Harry told him. Mr. Greengrass nodded at him, then clapped his hands loudly twice.

Harry heard an all too familiar popping sound, and a house-elf appeared on the right-hand side of Mr. Greengrass. "Does Master be needing something?" the house-elf asked him. Mr. Greengrass nodded at the house-elf, and told him with warmth in his voice "I'm going to need four cups of Firewhiskey and one cup of Butterbeer. After that we should be ready for dinner." The house-elf nodded in understanding, and popped out of the dining room. A few moments later, he came back with five cups on a silver platter. Four dark-colored glasses and one glass full of a frothy orangish-yellow liquid that Harry was all too familiar. The house-elf served the glasses to the respective owners, then popped back into the kitchens. Harry grabbed his glass and took a hearty gulp of his drink, and instantly regretted it. His throat started burning, and he almost coughed the drink back up. Daphne patted his back until he stopped coughing, and Mr. Greengrass kind of laughed at him. "I'm guessing that was your first time drinking Firewhiskey?" he asked Harry. Harry nodded rather vehemently as a reply, because he was still coughing and choking.

When Harry got his coughing under control, the food had arrived on the dining room table. There was a wide assortment of food, just like the Hogwarts Opening, Closing and Halloween Feasts. Harry grabbed a plate, and scooped a little bit of everything onto it. He was hungrier than he ever was, and he couldn't give a reason why. He grabbed some of the mashed potatoes and drizzled it in gravy, some of the turkey, some of the chicken, some of the pepperoni and sausage pizza, and some of the hamburgers. "Hungry are we?" Daphne teasingly asked him. While he was taking a hefty bite out of one of the burgers, he nodded his head at his girlfriend. Everyone else enjoyed their dinner, while Harry wolfed down plate after plate of food with increasing speed. After he ate ten plates straight, he was filled up fully. "That was delicious." Harry stated in ecstasy. "Love did you even taste the food?" Daphne asked him when she saw his plates stacked up on top of each other. He smiled at her with her favorite smile, and nodded at her gently. "Was that Prime Rib Steak that I ate? Was it medium-rare?" Harry asked Mr. Greengrass. Mr. Greengrass looked at Harry in surprise, then nodded his head to confirm Harry's question.

"Quite some taste buds you have their young man. Nobody ever could tell me half of what they eat here at my manor." Mr. Greengrass told Harry. Harry looked at Mr. Greengrass with the same look he gave him just moments before. "I'm actually surprised myself sir. I never had Prime Rib Steak in my life. I've had lamb chops before though." Harry admitted to him. "You just might be a natural born cook Harry. That's an ability most cooks wish they had. Some people learn to cook, and others are born to cook." Mr. Greengrass told him. Harry scratched the back of his head, and something unexpected happened. Harry's owl, Hedwig, flew into the dining room and landed right in front of Harry with a letter attached to her leg. Harry quickly grabbed the letter off of her leg, and gave her some of his leftover food. Harry looked at the name on the envelope, and noticed it was from Sirius. "It's a letter from Sirius." Harry said out loud. Daphne urged him to open and read the letter quickly. He did so, and read through Sirius' letter. It read:

Dear Harry,

I do hope that you're having a good holiday so far. Well, for the few hours that you've been at Greengrass Manor. Have the memories come rushing back yet? Your parents, yourself and I used to go over there a lot of times. Sometimes for a fun visit, and sometimes to catch the Greengrasses up on what the Order has been planning to do to combat Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Anyway, that's besides the point. The reason I'm writing you so soon after we said our goodbyes, is because I've decided to take my vacation early, and I'm currently in the Canary Islands. Lovely place it is, besides all of the bloody birds. Plenty of cats to chase in the streets though. I got off topic again. I've found a family of exorcists living here, and they had someone in their family that was possessed by a Shade just like you are. I'm currently trying to persuade them to tell me how to get rid of a Shade. Just thought I'd let you know. Enjoy the rest of your vacation, and much love.

From,

Sirius O. Black

P.S. that's a bloody smart owl you've gotten yourself there. She came to me when I was about to send the letter with a different owl. She's a great companion. Never let anything happen to her.

Harry read the letter at least five times in a trance, before Daphne shook him out of it. When she did shake him out of it however, he was filled with relief and happiness. Relief from both knowing that Sirius had found a potential way to get Shade out of his body, and from knowing that he wouldn't have to have lessons with Snape anymore. That's where the happiness came in also. "What is it Harry?" Daphne asked curiously. "Sirius may have found a solution to my little problem." Harry told her. He must've forgotten that he was in the dining room with Daphne and her family, because he was shocked when he heard Mrs. Greengrass ask him "What are you talking about Harry? What 'little problem'?" Harry looked at her and gave her an apologetic smile with both his eyes and his smile. "Sorry Mrs. Greengrass, but I can't tell anyone that doesn't already know." he told her. Of course she felt a bit put out, but she respected how he couldn't tell them. "Is it alright if Daphne and I can be excused? We need to go to the library and find a certain book." Harry asked and explained. Mr. Greengrass nodded at him, while Daphne looked at Harry with confusion in her eyes, but she went along with it. Harry said goodbye and goodnight to everyone else, then he and Daphne headed to the manor library.

"Can you please explain to me what we're doing in the library Harry?" Daphne asked him, confusion deeply rooted in her words. "Looking for Merlin's Book of Magic. Where did you put it?" he asked her. She remembered that she clutched the book tightly against her chest earlier, and took it out of the library with her. She reached into her pants pocket, and pulled out the book. She took out her wand, and pointed it at the book. "Engorgio." she casted, and the book returned to its original size. She handed it to Harry, and he started flipping through the pages frantically. "What exactly are you looking for Harry?" Daphne asked over the rustling of the book's pages. Harry didn't hear her, because he was so focused on finding what he was looking for. "Harry? HARRY?!" she yelled. He finally looked up at her, and asked "What is it Daph?" She looked at him in slight annoyance, then asked again "What exactly are you looking for?" Harry flipped through a few more pages, and pressed his finger on the right page. "This is what I was looking for. A Plan B to my little Shade situation." he told her. Daphne looked at him, then corrected him. "Technically it's more like Plan C, since Plan B is wait for what Sirius finds. I still cannot read the language this book is written in, so what's so special about this page?" Harry pointed to the top of the page, and roughly translated in Latin "Sacra potens Dispelment. It means Powerful Dispelment Rituals in Latin. That's what the name of this chapter is. This is our Plan C as you call it."

Daphne looked at an illustration on the page, and it involved two people. The person on the left was speaking an incantation of some sort, and the second person was sitting. When the first person finished chanting, and dark cloud came out of the second person and disappeared. The face she saw in the dark cloud was the same one that came out of Harry when she used the Patronus Charm on him. "Is this a ritual for getting rid of Shades?" she asked. Harry looked at her with a confident smile on his face, and told her "Better than that, it completely destroys the Shade in me and the source that it came from."