6-05
It was the next morning that I realised that it was hard creating a golem. All of this in large part because I didn't entirely know the how of building it. Which meant adding another small objective which would hopefully be done by day's end.
Golems weren't truly dark magic. They didn't hurt anyone by their innate nature, but more often than not they were used for evil purposes. Which meant that magic where golems were concerned was heavily restricted, information about it even more so. Harry had had a golem made for him at one point when a credible assassination tip had been levelled in his direction. The thing had, unfortunately, been hurt, but the person responsible had been caught.
The point being, the golem had been built for me.
Looking back at the past me, before the merge. I found that I didn't particularly liked myself. I hadn't been curious to the greater workings of the world, only focusing on the small bubble that I considered my life.
The same could be said even now. I was only thinking about how to create golems because it would help me move my plans forward.
I took a breath, pushing back the thoughts and emotions that were getting in my way. I was quiet through breakfast, making small talk with the others when I had to before they left to their tasks. Aunt Petunia spent a little longer today but eventually she had to leave, there was a cover to keep on her part from the watch that was undoubtedly on her by Aurors.
Three hours were spent looking over the mental barriers and then putting forward the first layer of memories. They were easier, using stuff that was already in my mind that I didn't need to hide. Childhood memories heavily in line with things Aunt Petunia had told me about: Going to the zoo, first discovering the I was a Parseltongue and even the blurry memory of my vampire uncle trying and failing to attack me.
After I was done, I started working on the plan of getting the materials that would be required to make a golem. It would have been easier to ask Dumbledore for the materials or tell him about the plan, but I needed to do something on my own. To know I could achieve something using my own skill, my own intellect.
A part of me thought that it was hypocritical to think that I could ever do anything on my own when I had merged with Tom. But try as I might, I didn't really feel like the two of us were different personalities, that there was a part of Tom's soul in me. I'd searched my memories and I hadn't found anything resembling the memories of Tom Riddle or extra knowledge I could account for.
It was just that I was different. My emotions were closer to the surface but they could be supressed easier. And though I hadn't tested it, I felt like connections between thoughts came faster.
That I was a little smarter.
I pushed the stream of thoughts aside and focused. I needed books, but that would be a little hard to with me being a wanted criminal. I could achieve it though.
The problem was what I looked like. I could transfigure myself, but I didn't doubt that there would be Aurors in Diagon and Knockturn Alley and they might have methods to see through a transfigured person. But there was something of a workaround where Animagi were concerned. They were a lot harder to track and a little harder to detransfigure.
I could write a note with supplies and pick them up in my owl form in the stores in Knockturn Alley. It would be a little hard because there was the chance that some of the storekeepers wouldn't go through with the orders, only taking the money, but I hoped they were smart enough to realise the people they dealt with and take caution not to piss them off.
Before the more impulsive part of me could rear up I chose to plan contingencies instead. It would mean putting off everything until tomorrow but in the meanwhile I could be getting money. Publicly, the Goblins couldn't accept a criminal to draw money from them, but practically they kept people's wealth safe but didn't restrict them from withdrawing it.
I was still alone and there would be no greater time to act than now. I went downstairs to the study and drew out a letter. Making it known that this the owl was mine and that it was to be led to my vault. The vault key was even tied around my neck, and enchantment on the lace that would ensure thread transferred a curse over the key without me having to directly apply magic on the key and a Portkey spell on the thread, activated if the thread left my neck without me being either in Gringotts or Grimmauld.
It was a little surprising how smoothly the entire thing went.
Flying from the house to Gringotts without being stopped. I had to stop at one point to look for the direction of the owl entrance but when I found it and landed in front of a Goblin woman, she just look at me for a long moment before she pointed towards and podium with a Goblin beyond and returned to sorting letters and envelopes.
I flew in the direction of the Goblin and landed in front of him. For a minute he looked at me before he said, "Follow me," and started walking off towards the back.
"You can change back to your regular form now," the Goblin said and he took a few steps away from me. I flew back a little and changed, landing with an amount of grace seeing as I'd changed form in the air enough that my body was starting to get practised.
"If you'll follow me to your vault, Mr Potter," the Goblin said, voice a bored monotone.
From there it was as it regularly went. I was escorted to my vault, even given a small bag to store my gold. I fastened the thing on the thread around my neck before flying out of Gringotts and heading over to a section of buildings and transforming back to my human form. With my luck the last few weeks, I was still on the lookout for an attack, this, all of it, seemed to quiet, but fortunately there was none and I successfully Apparated to the front step of Grimmauld.
Remus was there and the moment I was in the house he let out a visible breath of relief.
"Harry," he said. "Where in Merlin's name were you? I was starting to get worried."
"I went over to Gringotts," I said, taking off the thread around my neck and unravelling both the key and the small bag. "I'm going to need money for a few things. Plans I'm running."
"Plans? What plans?" the man asked.
I waved him off. "It's nothing to worry about. Just contingencies to ensure that I can return to Hogwarts."
Remus let out another breath, this one filled with a hint of exasperation. I could see the way his features worked that even with everything he still looked at me like a child, and I didn't know if that was because of the spell or an innate feature of Remus I'd never noticed before.
"I get that you really want to return to Hogwarts, Harry," he started, his tone slow and genial. It irritated me. "But you have to realise how dangerous that is to be out there with the present climate."
I felt the urge to let out a sigh but I held it back. It would be bad in the grander scheme. The why was hard to discern, but seeming ungrateful often rubbed a person the wrong way.
"I know, Remus, and I've taken appropriate measures to make sure I wouldn't be captured," I said. I showed him the thread. "This is bewitched to be a Portkey. Just in case anything happened to me and it's primed towards a certain locations and sound."
"Right. Right," said Remus, running a hand through his hair. "It's easy to forget sometimes how old you are." He let out another sigh. "I'd be careful, though, of that particular method because it's only a matter of time before policy changes and there's a greater restriction on Portkey travel."
"You don't think the Wizengamot would actually let a vote like that go through, right?" I asked. "I get that it's needed. Magic makes travel particularly easy. But isn't that one of the fundamental rights that a person has?"
Remus chuckled. "How you can be so old at times and yet be so naïve is beyond me," he said. "Look closely, Harry, and tell me if you believe what you just said. The political climate favours senior Ministry workers and old families. If this negatively affects their interests, then it has a greater chance of being stopped. But as is…" He shrugged. "There are too many plots in the air to reliably estimate anything."
"Right. Right," I said. Food for thought. I didn't know how I might use that in the future but it might be useable. If I was convicted, then there was the chance that my titles would be stripped and I wouldn't have true voting power.
"Are you done for the day?" I asked. "Or are you still going to head out?"
"I'll be staying in Hogwarts for the time being, until the full moon passes," he said. "Just thought I'd check on you. Petunia should be here to prepare dinner."
I nodded at that. "I'll pop into my room real quick for all of this," I said gesturing to the bag. When I returned Remus and I talked over what he planned for the future of werewolf kind, even trying to institute a law that made it illegal to stop someone from working because of their magical speciation.
It was interesting to learn about the major packs that existed in my section of the Wizarding World. In timeline werewolves had mainly hidden themselves, but here there were a total of three town that were made up by a majority of werewolves both muggle and magical.
He had to leave though and not a short while later Aunt Petunia arrived. I changed rooms and helped her as she prepared dinner. There wasn't going to be an Order meeting, but it was always possible that some of them might show up.
"I was thinking contact lenses," said Aunt Petunia. I could hear it from her tone she wasn't particularly comfortable with this particular thread of conversation, but she was resigned to the fact that it was a reality. "Just in case some summons your glasses or some such."
"And now I feel stupid for not having thought of it," I muttered.
"You like the idea?" she said, looking up at me with a tired smile.
"I mean it would be better to get my eyes fixed," I said. "But magic hasn't really tried fixing biological defects. The contacts would be a godsend, making it so I can do more with the actual glasses."
"I talked to Alastor," she continued. "He'll bring us a dose of Polyjuice so we can make it through the day without trouble."
"That's good," I said, inwardly cringing because that could postpone my plans.
There was no helping it however because the next day Aunt Petunia and I went to the Optometrist, posing as mother and son only so far as the doctor's office before the potion wore off. It was surprising how much the Order could do with such a small amount of time because protections had already been set around the place before I arrived.
I got checked and Aunt Petunia was told that the lenses would be ready within a two weeks, but that it suggested that I also have a pair of glasses because the things could get irritating. We didn't really have any other chose to the request and so went ahead, telling the man we'd be hear after two weeks to pick them up. I had to take another gulp of Polyjuice to make it back to Grimmauld.
