Breaking Point
Chapter 3
Edited – July 18th, 2019.
A/N: This is what the characters are based off if you're curious.
Harry Potter: Hayden Christensen (from the Jumper).
Fleur Delacour: Margot Robbie.
Nymphadora Tonks: Emilia Clarke.
"Normal Speech."
'Normal Thought.'
"Spells/Translations."
Books/Letters.
Harry gave a grunt as he strained against the weight of the barbell with a total of 50kg being the overall weight. Allowing the barbell to be fixed into place, he stood up and grabbed the floating towel out of the air and rubbed the sweat from his face before wrapping it around his bare neck.
His chest was heaving after the strenuous training. Every muscle in his body ached, but Harry pushed on despite the pain. Nothing matched the pain of being placed under Tom's Cruciatus Curse, compared to that this pain was nothing.
The past two weeks had been filled with constant training, Harry desperate to bring his body up to its peak physical condition as to maximise his battle efficiency. But to also try and forget the images of Fleur that plagued his mind. There was no denying that she was an attractive witch and as a young teenage boy, his dreams were filled with images of her and him in less than appropriate situations.
It wasn't good for his focus and so he had thrown himself even further into training. Hoping to get over this silly attraction and focus on what really mattered. Perhaps once Tom was defeated he might pursue someone, but Fleur was never going to be interested in someone like him. Someone who had lost everything and seemed to put everyone he cared about in constant risk. A life like his wasn't good and she deserved far better.
Of course, he hadn't been able to constantly avoid her and on numerous occasions had hung out with her when she cornered him. They were fun times and seemed to only make his decision to separate himself from everyone that much more difficult. Thankfully, she had been far too busy this week with added workload from the Goblins.
Harry stared calmly at the wall across from his and his thoughts instantly remembered back to the way in which he had escaped from the Dursleys. The feeling of apparition hadn't been a fun one, nor had him splinching himself in his desperate escape. However, this had reminded him of a moment in his childhood when he had been running from Dudley and his gang before miraculously appearing on the roof of school. The feeling of nausea had been the same.
Ever since then, he had realised how useful apparition could be in the upcoming war. Although, that usefulness was greatly decreased by how noisy it was and how it was incredibly difficult to apparate more than two times consecutively.
The hadn't stopped him. Everyday after training in the gym in his trunk, he would dedicate a few moments to apparition practise. At first it had been awful, the noise enough to even wake Hedwig up from the outside – something she hadn't been very happy about – and the nausea had also been present. However, he persevered and was finally making some headway.
The noise was greatly reduced and the nausea was all but gone. On the other hand, he had been unable to increase the number of consecutive jumps from two and even then it took him a few seconds to recover between each jump.
After the second the nausea returned and the noise increased. That alone was not good enough and that's where he would put his limit, but every time he reached the second the nausea and noise would decrease whenever he tried a third.
Even so, he didn't let that stop him.
From constant study, Harry had realised the Death Eaters were fans of setting up wards that stopped all communication and escape for example, Anti-Apparition Wards. One thing he had realised from his study into Wards however, was that Anti-Apparition Wards stopped people from apparating from inside to outside and vice-versa. They did not stop wizards and witches from apparating to another place already inside the ward.
He planned to use this little loophole and use apparition to its true potential and sow chaos into a Death Eater raid by constantly appearing and reappearing in different places. This was only going to happen though, if he managed to improve apparition.
Clearing his mind, he focused on the space in front of him and allowed his magic to pull him inwards, recreating the feeling he had when escaping from the Dursleys. There was a light popping noise as he appeared in this new position. He stood still for a second and allowed the dizziness to subside before apparating once more back to his previous position. Once again he took a few seconds before performing it a third time.
The noise was louder and the nausea had returned, but he stood still and closed his eyes tightly.
Breathing in and out, Harry clenched his fists tightly in irritation. Some progress, but he would try again tomorrow and that's how it would go.
Stepping out of his trunk, Harry quickly cleaned himself off and pulled on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a zip up hoodie with the zip undone. Once done, he quickly made his way into Knockturn Alley. Books on the Dark Arts were very difficult to come by in Diagon Alley due to many being illegal.
Though it would give many the wrong idea that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived was studying the Dark Arts, it was in actual fact only done to give him that needed edge. The Dark Arts were greatly underestimated and misunderstood and that's what gave Dark Lords and their followers greater strength. Harry planned to use his knowledge of the Dark Arts as to better defend against it. After all, to better defend against something you must understand how it works.
While walking through the dark alley, he noticed himself gaining many looks. Some curious, but most were filled with contempt. None of them came to him though, those few who tried to make their way towards him froze the moment his emerald eyes locked onto their own eyes. The magic that swirled around him, weighing down on them and the way his eyes began to glow a bright green similar to that of the Killing Curse made them shy away instantly.
The thought of his gaze simply being enough to terrify them always brought a smirk to his features. He wasn't so arrogant to believe that if four or more Wizards ganged up on him that he would win, he was powerful, yes. But not that powerful yet.
With time that would change. However, right now he made sure to exude an aura of confidence that made those around him doubt their own abilities in fighting him. Thankfully, this ploy worked and not once did Harry get drawn into a fight.
A sound from behind made him stop and look to see a barrel filled with a black viscous livid pouring out onto the streets. His eyes stared as it bubbled and steamed away before staring up at where the barrel once stood beside a wall.
His greater connection to magic had made him a little more sensitive to magic and while his range was limited, there had been no magic connecting to the magic. Seen as though there was no one stood by the barrel, nor was there any magic there was no possible way in which the barrel could have fallen. Unless someone was stood there and was simply hidden.
It wasn't an impossibility as Invisibility Cloaks did exist, but shouldn't they exude a small aura of magic? Then again, his own cloak didn't give out any magic so it was entirely possible that he was been followed by someone under an invisibility cloak.
Narrowing his green eyes once more, Harry strode down the streets and entered Borgin and Burkes. He remembered coming here by accident in the summer before second year and seeing numerous books on the Dark Arts. A great abundance of books that would provide him with a great pool of knowledge upon which he could better improve his own self.
There was a chime from the bell as he opened the door and quietly browsed through the section of books. All the while he was studied closely by the shopkeeper.
After half an hour of going through all the books, Harry finally settled on six. One was about more dangerous Ward schemes that would cause bodily harm to any that had ill intent for those keyed into it. Another was based upon rituals with the final four about Dark Magic.
The shopkeeper, studied the books just like he had studied Harry before finally holding out his hand. "Fifty Galleons." With a raised eyebrow, Harry handed over the demanded payment and walked out with books shrunk down and placed into his pocket for safe keeping.
While he walked like nothing was out of the ordinary. His ears were listening closely, a small amount of magic placed into them as to heighten there sensitivity. A useful skill he had found when experimenting with magic one evening.
He hadn't heard anything besides footsteps, but it was difficult to tell whether the footsteps belonged to those around him or if someone was really following him. Even so, Harry kept the magic flowing into his ears before finally coming out onto Diagon Alley and began making his way down to the Leaky Cauldron.
To his confusion, joy and annoyance. Fleur was sat at one of the tables calmly sipping on her drink. She must have been waiting on someone as she had been staring at the door when he came in and by the way she smiled – a smile that made his face heat up and his heart beat increase – it had been him she had been waiting for.
It seemed that every time he had convinced himself that he could keep people at a distance, one of them seemed to appear and make it that much more difficult. And that person was currently sat, smiling at him. Still, he could just ignore her and walk away, but there was something in the way her eyes brightened with happiness at seeing him that made the very thought of walking away and ignoring her painful.
So, putting on a smile he walked forwards, one that didn't require much force.
"Hello, Fleur. What's a girl like you, doing in a place like this?" Fleur's smile widened, something that made his heart quicken and Harry slapped himself mentally. He shouldn't let himself feel like this. Fleur deserved better and he couldn't afford to get too attached as it would only hurt him more when she finally found someone better.
"Well, 'Arry. I came to see my friend." Smirking, Harry took a seat across from her. "You wouldn't 'ave 'appened to see him, would you?" The teasing tone she took made his smirk widen.
"So it's a he?" He chuckled. "What does he look like and I'll let you know if I've seen him." Fleur smiled coyly and leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table, which so happened to squish her breasts together bringing more attention to them. She then rested her chin on her interlocked fingers and stared into his emerald eyes.
"Well, let me see." She took on a pensive look that he admitted made her look very adorable. "He's tall, slightly pale skin and short black 'air 'zat looks like it 'asn't seen a comb at all." Leaning forwards so that he had one elbow resting on the table, he watched the way her kissable lips curl up into a teasing grin and her eyes twinkled brightly. "Very 'andsome, with a smirk 'zat can make you weak at 'ze knees." He raised one eyebrow in amusement, something she returned with a teasing grin. "And 'ze brightest pair of green eyes 'zat you 'ave ever seen, eyes 'zat you can get lost in."
"Seems to me that you look at the guy often." He replied teasingly and Fleur's smile became downright seductive and Harry shifted uncomfortably as his pants tightened.
"Oh, I 'ave." She leaned forward so that her warm breath ghosted over his ear and made the hair on the back of his neck rise up. "Repeatedly."
Coughing as he realised how close he was and what they had done, Harry leaned back and avoided eye contact with Fleur. The witch in question simply laughed and also leaned back into her chair.
"Ha ha ha, laugh it up." He replied sarcastically as she continued to laugh. In his head though, he slapped himself repeatedly for getting far too comfortable with the French beauty. He was meant to be distancing himself with her, not flirting.
Releasing a few more giggles, Fleur finally calmed down as Harry ordered a cup of tea from Tom who, while passing the drink to the Potter heir, gave Harry a knowing grin, his eyes flickering between Harry and Fleur. He glared at the barkeeper in annoyance who only laughed it off.
Returning back to the table, Harry took a sip from his cup while Fleur did the same. "It's good to see you 'Arry. I've missed you this week." That admission made him groan internally, she was really making this difficult.
"Yea, sorry." He replied lamely. "We've both been so busy, you with work and me with…stuff." Fleur gave an unladylike snort at his answer.
"Stuff?" He blushed at how bad that sounded. "What kind of stuff?"
"Erm, training. You know fitness and practising magic." Harry answered and Fleur's half-lidded gaze drank in his form from his muscular arms to his torso that were snugly fit into his clothing making it very clear on how well-conditioned his body was.
"Oh, I can tell you've been working out." She answered in a low tone that made Harry shiver.
'Fucking hell! What the hell is she doing to me! Better yet, why the hell is she doing this to me?!' He screamed mentally as Fleur shamelessly ogled him. "Thanks for noticing." His voice cracked slightly, which made Fleur laugh lightly.
"I'm sorry, 'Arry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"No, it's fine." He replied. 'No it's not.' God, his teenage hormones were getting out of control. "What about you?"
"Hmm." The French witch paused for a few moments. "Just the usual, I'm working part-time at Gringotts as you know and I'm currently waiting for my admission to take a Mastery in Charms to come back."
"You want to take a Mastery in Charms?" Fleur nodded her head. "I've never thought about getting a Mastery in any subject though if I did I'd probably get one Defence Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, possibly Charms."
Fleur placed her drink down as she looked at him curiously. "Not 'zat I'm doubting you, 'Arry. I know for a fact 'zat you're a very capable wizard, but a Mastery is very difficult. Many wizards don't ever get one and 'ze only one to get more 'zan one is Albus Dumbledore who 'as one in Defence Against 'ze Dark Arts and Transfiguration." Harry smirked at her over his cup.
"Then I guess I'll have to be the second." The confidence in his voice was unmistakable and it left Fleur breathless. She knew that Harry was powerful, he had to be to have survived in the Triwizard tournament and face He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named on numerous occasions, but she knew firsthand how difficult getting a Mastery could be since this was her second time applying. Yet for some reason, she really believed that he could do it just because he felt like he could and it took her breath away.
"I believe you." She whispered and Harry gave her a small genuine smile that made her duck her head as to hide the blush that came onto her cheeks.
There was a moments of silence that followed as the two individuals sat quietly. Fleur herself was unable to even find her voice as she watched Harry drink. He really had changed and she had no doubt it had to do with the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. She had no doubt that the reason Harry was training so hard was because he planned to fight and it made her heart freeze. The thought of Harry in danger made her worried. In the short time she had known, he had been nothing but kind and considerate and had become a valued friend to her. And while she had the feeling that Harry was trying to keep her at arms length, it didn't change the fact that she cared for him.
Shaking her head as to get rid of those thoughts,, Fleur asked the question that was on her mind. "I'm guessing 'ze reason you're training so 'ard is because of 'E-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" Harry nodded her head and she frowned. "You really plan to fight 'im? What 'appens if you get 'urt?" Her voice dropped to a whisper towards the end and Harry's eyes softened.
"Voldemort's been trying to kill me since I was born, Fleur. Too many people have been killed or injured trying to protect me, I don't want to lose anyone else. I couldn't bare the thought of people dying because I was too weak or too scared to fight back." Fleur hesitantly nodded her head as she understood his reasoning, though it didn't mean she had to like it.
"I understand." Harry smiled at her once more and it did offer her some measure of comfort. "Just please, don't get 'urt."
A mischievous grin came onto his handsome features. "I'll try not." And with that, the tense atmosphere disappeared. "So tell me Fleur, what else can Veela do besides drive men mad with desire with both their looks and their allure?"
"Why are you asking?" Harry shrugged. He really didn't know what drove him to ask, perhaps it was to simply move onto something over than thinking about the war. It was a depressing topic.
"Don't know. It's just been on my mind ever since I found out about Veela and what was in the books were less than kind when it came to Veela." She knew that first hand, witches in particular looked down upon with Veela with disdain, while wizards simply saw them as prizes to be won. "Didn't want to judge based on biased information."
"You really know 'ow to make a girl feel special, 'Arry." She said teasingly as she was honestly touched by his answer. Most took what they read as fact and never looked beyond and that was a reason why Veela were seen as nothing more than animals only good for sex. "Well, besides our allure we can 'ave a limited control over fire and can actually gain bird like features when angered."
"That's it." Fleur nodded her head. "What about the fact that you can only give birth to girls?"
"False. We can give birth to boys and girls, but girls are more likely and will be Veela, while any boy we give birth to will be 'ze opposite." Harry nodded his head with a pensive look on his face. "Anything else you'd like to know?"
"What about your allure? Does it really allow you to gain control over men?" Fleur took a few moments to answer his question.
"In a way, yes. Our allure simply amplifies a mans lust, in turn allowing us to manipulate 'im into doing anything we want, but we 'ave to be careful because too much exposure will make a man grow impatient and then decide to, you know?" She didn't need to say it, but he knew. Men driven to far by lust would then force themselves on Veela.
"I see. Guess you're lucky that I'm immune then." Fleur smirked.
"I don't know, I'd like to see what you'd be like when driven 'zat mad with lust. I bet we'd both enjoy it, very much." He shook his head as to get rid of the images that single sentence conjured.
"Seriously Fleur, stop teasing me like that." He protested.
"Who said I'm teasing?" With that Fleur stood up and left leaving one very confused and aroused Harry behind, his eye following her ass as it swayed tantalisingly from side to side.
'Fucking hell! What the fuck am I doing?' He dropped his head into his hands as he released a groan of frustration. 'Why can't I ever just push her away? It'd be so fucking easy so why can't I do it?' Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he stood up and walked up to his room intent on training his body to the point of exhaustion all the while replaying what Fleur had last said to him. "Who said I'm teasing?" He repeated lowly. "Come on, snap out of it. You can't let yourself get drawn in, you need to distance yourself from her before she gets hurt."
-X- Line Break -X-
Dumbledore stared calculatedly at his office in Hogwarts. His eyes panning over every inch of it as his mind tried to find a way to overcome his current obstacle. An obstacle in the form of Harry Potter disappearing from Privet Drive.
He hadn't understood how it could have gone wrong. Harry had been safe and there had been no signs of the Dursleys acting like their old selves and abusing Harry. Sure he had spent the first two days locked away in his room, but after that he had been back to normal before disappearing completely.
Auror Tonks had been assigned to watch Privet Drive that night and had reported nothing out of the ordinary and it had only been until the next day when she reported that Harry had disappeared. The boy had gone out for a run – something Dumbledore secretly approved of, taking care of ones body meant greater control over ones magic – and had returned to the home.
The next he was gone, just disappeared without a trace.
Now Dumbledore wasn't someone to panic without good reason, but the disappearance of Harry was definitely a reason for him to panic. While he had definitely put the young boy in positions that were far too difficult for someone his age to handle, Harry had overcome each challenge and came out stronger than ever.
The boy was shaping out to be the perfect successor. Harry would eventually take the mantle of the Light and lead them to vanquish the darkness. It was his destiny and now the boy was missing.
Perhaps, this was his punishment for all he put Harry through all these years. It wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. He deserved it more than anyone as Harry never deserved the life he had gotten. He deserved a better one, but nothing could be changed. The past was the past and that would be Harry's final test.
If Harry could forgive him for all he had done, then Harry was ready to lead the charge against the dark. He could finally pass on, knowing that the security of the Wizarding World was assured.
Even if Harry failed this final test, Dumbledore would accept it. The things Harry had gone through were too much for any man to go through and Dumbledore could not even forgive himself for the sins he had committed. Perhaps he could have done things different, but that was how life was. It was filled with 'what ifs' and Dumbledore knew that for the rest of his life he would be asking, "what if?"
However, as long as Voldemort vanquished and peace was restored, Dumbledore would be content. Even if it meant that young boy he viewed as a grandson hated him.
A soft humming from his Phoenix familiar, Fawkes put his mind at ease. Smiling gently at the magnificent creature, he smirked the birds feathers. "What do you think, Fawkes? Is he ready?" All he got was a soft humming sound in response. "Yes, you're right. He deserves something for all he has gone through." He already knew, it would help him in later life and would also help him to shoulder the burden of responsibility. A win for all parties concerned. "Minerva, please come to my office." Dumbledore intoned into a small trinket of his desk.
Yes, Harry needed to be prepared for the war that was to come. It was time he taught the boy how to lead the light against the dark.
-X- Line Break -X-
Harry looked down at the small ritual circle he was stood in. Currently he was in his spare room of his trunk, a place he had simply planned to use as storage, but after reading through the book on rituals had realised that it could be put towards better uses.
At first, he had been wary of trying out rituals, yet he had realised how useful they could become. He was at a disadvantage and he needed every tool at his disposal, if that meant resorting to rituals then so be it.
The ritual he was currently trying was magic amplifying ritual. The basis of it was to simply make his magic more potent and by that he meant more dangerous. Usually in a battle of magic if two wizards were to fire the same spell, then the one with more power would win. However, if one were to have greater control then the effect could range from the spells simply cancelling each other out or the the one with greater control trumping the spell with more power. However, if both spells were to be fired with the same amount of magic then the more potent magic would win.
Already he had deduced that with the dangerous mix of Basilisk Venom and Phoenix Tears in his blood that his magic was extremely potent. Both creatures being rich in magic as even after all this time, he could still feel the overwhelming fear and awe he felt at the magic the two creatures gave off.
This meant that this ritual would simply amplify his already potent magic to even greater degrees, giving him a greater advantage in battle.
Cutting his hand with a knife – not conjured, magic used in the circle could disrupt the ritual and cause unknown side-effects – and cut his palm. It stung, but Harry ignored the pain and allowed his blood to drip onto the floor and the circle glowed a deep green.
He didn't know how long it would take, how much he would have to sacrifice, but Harry would win this war. Tom Riddle and his followers would die no matter what, that Harry swore upon his life and magic.
A/N: Things between Harry and Fleur are heating up and Dumbledore made a brief appearance. I'm planning to make him a good character that has made a lot of mistakes. Though he and Harry will have their disagreements as the story progresses, they will still be on the same side.
Also rituals have been introduced. I probably make mentions to them being used, instead of actually showing them like I did in this chapter. Just know that Harry will be using rituals to give him that extra edge to win in his battles, but don't expect instant God-level Harry. He still has a long way to go before he's capable of fighting Bellatrix and the Inner Circles of the Death Eaters, let alone Voldemort.
Next chapter Tonks will arrive and with it the story starts getting into the beginning stages of the war.
Also, please leave a review with any criticism, suggestions or questions that you need answering.
Now onto the questions:
nina0116: Harry splinched himself when apparating from the Dursleys and thank you. Normally when Harry and Fleur meet its in the magical world and while meeting in the summer is always done when these two are paired together, I decided to add a little spin to it.
Shadowz101: Thank you and don't worry, I've taken your idea about more showing and less telling and hopefully you'll see that in this chapter. Also, back then Harry was still believing himself to be a child, but Harry in this story sees himself as a young adult and views things differently and also, those girls were in Hogwarts with him, Fleur isn't.
magitech: The four rings is to show that four girls is the limit, but it doesn't mean he will end up with four girls. He may be the Lord of four houses and only end up with Fleur and Tonks. All depends on the way the story progresses. I've always questioned that and I to be honest, I don't have a clue on why she didn't know about it.
N7sdr93: I never liked over powered contact lenses or ritual that instantly healed Harry's eye sight so I went for the basics where Harry has to build his skills up using what's available and his own mind. Also I'm looking into finding a beta reader and just waiting for them to get back to me so when I do I'll send them the chapters I've already done and then repost them once they've been edited.
monkiepawn: The thing about Dumbledore using the light against the dark is more of a metaphor and is more based on the idea of people who fight against Voldemort's ideals.
As for the rituals, I'm sorry about the lack of description I just didn't really understand how to properly explain what went into the ritual itself without appearing like an exposition dump so I cut it out. However, it was not simply runes and blood, the runes were made out of Harry's blood and there were parts of other magical creatures involved in layout of the runic symbol.
Reader of Harry Potter: She'll probably make appearances, but won't be a main character, more a side character that has some relevance to the plot. I have plans for her, but usually it will simply be people referencing her or a few short scenes involving her.
Sharkey930: No more than a couple of weeks. And the reason why Dumbledore never knew about it is because while people would have talked about a black haired boy with green eyes, the fact that Tonks who had specifically been assigned the mission of finding Harry never reported back about this person been Harry then it was simply brushed off as a young man with black hair and green eyes and not Harry himself.
Jerm069: To be completely honest I never thought about that but it would make sense.
Reikno67: You're right he could have used his ancestral homes and the various portraits that would have been there to learn from however, Harry has a little bit of crush on Fluer as you can no doubt tell and as well all know, when a guy has feelings for a girl they can do stupid things. Harry unknowingly, is keeping himself in Diagon Alley and away from the portraits/ancestral homes because he knows that's where Fluer is.
Dzerx: You're right he could have used his ancestral homes and the various portraits that would have been there to learn from however, Harry has a little bit of crush on Fluer as you can no doubt tell and as well all know, when a guy has feelings for a girl they can do stupid things. Harry unknowingly, is keeping himself in Diagon Alley and away from the portraits/ancestral homes because he knows that's where Fluer is.
LadyPhoenix68: Why didn't he do it in the books? It's the same reason given in cannon, the blood wards. As for the Black will, it's pretty much like every other black will scene that's been done before and it pretty much follows the same routine. Didn't think anyone would want to read the same thing again that has been done before so I made mentions of it in the previous chapter as to show that it did happen.
Hope this clears up any questions you have, if not please let me know and I'll answer them as best as I can without giving away key points of the story.
