Harry had always been very good in using runes when making flying broomsticks. That's something he had realized when he had first built the Potter Mark I. At the time, Harry had compared it to a programming language used to make computer software. It helped him understand runes in general much more easily. His easy understanding allowed him to enchant his first broomstick in his first year in the wizarding world. Because of this, Harry believed that this ease of using runes when working on broomsticks extended to the other usages of runes in general.

Working on his A.I. project was starting to make him think he was wrong.

Harry really thought that making an A.I. would be like making a broomstick. He had believed all he would have to do was to read a few books, then write the rune sequence (or "program" as he used to call them) and then enchant it.

However, once he began doing research for his project, he quickly came to the realization that it wouldn't be a simple as that. An A.I. was much more complicated to build than a simple broomstick.

For starters, to make a broomstick, Harry had to make the thing fly and obey inputs from its user. For the rest, it was mostly improving things then and there to increase performance. That was about it.

For an A.I., Harry had to make it understand a bunch more types of inputs than a broomstick like – for instance – Harry's voice. He also had to make it think by itself, which was much easier said than done. Then, he had to make the A.I. able to interact with its environment and user (Harry), and all that in a fraction of a second, quick enough so that a human wouldn't notice.

It was, in of itself, a very complex project.

As a result, a month after the launch of the PMK-3 Ravenstar – and only a day before the beginning of the school year – Harry was now just beginning working on the rune sequence. Currently, Harry's main focus was to work on vocal inputs and outputs, which would allow him to interact with the A.I. once he began working on its "brains".

However, that was a challenge by itself. So far, Harry only had a rough sketch of both rune sequences, and he doubted either would work. Frustrated, Harry rolled back the parchment scroll and temporarily gave up on the project.

He was currently in his room in the Leaky Cauldron, the place he had stayed at since he had left the Dursleys. For the past month, his room in the Leaky Cauldron had been a small, private haven for him. For the first time in his life, Harry had been allowed to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted. He loved it. Unfortunately for him, with the upcoming school year starting the next day, Harry didn't have a lot of time left to enjoy his freedom. And, he had a few things to buy before he went back to Hogwarts. He needed broom parts for the Mark IV.

The PMK-3 Ravenstar had been on the market for a month and had sold rather well – better than Harry had expected. Almost immediately, on the first day, five Ravenstars had been bought. The remaining seven brooms were sold within a week and a half. Because of the demand, Harry had been forced to enchant more broomsticks. He had even signed a contract with Quidditch Quality Supplies, allowing Mr. Widdershins and his employees to enchant Ravenstars of their own so that they could keep up with the demand. So far, Harry had enchanted an additional ten brooms himself.

The success of the Ravenstar quickly made Mr. Widdershins ask for an improved and faster model to be designed soon. Harry, always willing to improve his broomsticks, had begun working on the Mark IV, at least whenever he wasn't working on his A.I. project. Together, he and Mr. Widdershins had talked and ended up with a plan.

They decided that the Potter Mark IV would be released around in early December, wanting to capitalize on Christmas. At first, Mr. Widdershins had asked for the Mark IV to be ready for a release in late spring the following year but Harry had refused, believing the Mark IV would be ready much sooner. They had also decided that the production of the Potter Mark IVs would be split 50/50 between the Potter Broom Company and Quidditch Quality supplies. Each group would produce twenty-five broomsticks before the launch date.

This was the reason Harry still had an errant to do before the school year began. Harry wanted to buy the parts for the Mark IV now rather than later by owl order. So, reluctantly, Harry raised from the chair he had been sitting in. After putting the parchment scroll of his A.I. project in one of the compartments, Harry shrank the trunk and attached it to his belt. He then left his room, walked downstairs and exited the building alley-side.

Harry looked around Diagon Alley, smiling at the sight. All around him, adults leading children and teenagers alike from store to store, doing some last-minute shopping before they had to lead their kids to school the next day. Harry could hear witches and wizards talk animatedly around him. From time to time, he could even hear a few snippets about the Ravenstar, which made him feel happy and proud.

Harry's first stop that evening was to stop at Gringotts. Since he was planning on buying the same parts as the ones used for the Robin and Ravenstar, Harry was able to quickly calculate how much money he would need. Since the parts of one broom cost 10 galleons together, he quickly figured that he would need 500 galleons at the minimum. In case there were problems during the enchanting – or some of the parts broke – Harry decided to get enough galleons to buy 60 broomsticks. That would mean he would have to retire 600 galleons from the vault of the company.

Going and coming out of Gringotts was a rather simple affair. While he was there, Harry quickly accessed the ledger of the account of the company, interested to see the Potter Broom Company had got its money back. The vault of the company had 5 295 galleons. Harry considered the Ravenstar a commercial success.

Of course, the gains of the company quickly disappeared when Harry accessed the vault and removed 600 galleons. Having a lot of money on his person, Harry did not wait and quickly went to Broomstix for the broom parts.

Harry had come to the shop a second time since his first visit. The second time he had come had been to buy more parts for the Ravenstars. Like the last time he had entered the shop, Harry took a few deep breaths, immersing himself in the rustic feelings of the shop. It made him relax and his magic tingle.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter." said the store owner, a man with a long silver moustache. "Parts for the Ravenstar again?" he asked. "I was pleased to learn that your broomstick model has been selling well."

"Thank you." said Harry. "As for your question, yes and no. I want to buy the same parts – yes – but its not for the Ravenstars. I want a different design this time since it will be for the next model of the broom."

"Of course." said the man. "What will these designs be?"

"Basically, for the colours, I want the shaft to be black with two thin red stripes on each side. For the broom head, I want it to be black-going-red. As for the footrest, it can be the same as the Ravenstar."

"Interesting choice." commentated the old man. "For the handle, do you want a logo or name engraved?"

Harry smirked slightly. He already had the name he wanted in his mind. Just like the colour scheme, the name was taken from one of Harry's favourite planes. So, Harry told him the name of the Mark IV.

"Not a bad name." said the old man. "Will that be all?"

"Yes." confirmed Harry. "Thank you."

"It is my pleasure. The parts should be ready in an hour."

"I'll come back later, then." said Harry. He was about to turn around and leave the shop when he remembered something. Harry went for the pouch with the galleons he had retired earlier and gave it to the old man. "Here's the money."

Once he had paid, Harry walked out and began exploring the alley. He hadn't done much exploring in the last month, preferring to spend his time working on his various projects. Knowing he had time to burn, Harry decided to go enjoy himself an ice-cream at Florean Fortescue's. As he was eating his small bowl – vanilla with chocolate syrup – he heard someone shout his name.

"Harry? Harry!"

Harry looked-up, wondering who was addressing him. In the crowd and walking toward him were two people – a tall, lanky redhead and a bushy-haired girl with a tan.

"Hermione? Ron?" he grinned, raising on his feet to great his friends.

"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione before giving him a hug. Harry had to stop himself from blushing. Once she released him, she began speaking. "We were wondering where you were! We knew you'd been staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the last month so we asked Tom but he told us you had left earlier!"

"Is it true you're staying here because you blew up your aunt?" asked Ron, grinning.

Harry blinked. "What?" he asked with a laugh. "Where did you get that ridiculous rumour from? I left because I didn't want to stay there while my uncle's sister was visiting. I didn't blow up anyone!"

"Shame." said Ron, shaking his head as if he was disappointed.

"No, its not." said Hermione. "Harry would have been in great trouble if he'd done something like that."

"Good thing it didn't happen, then." said Harry, sitting back down to continue his ice-cream. Ron and Hermione each took a chair and sat down at his table. "So, how are you both?" he asked. "How was Egypt and France?"

Hermione spoke first. "France was great! I really enjoyed all the sights. Mum and Dad really loved visiting Place Cachée in Paris! While we were there, we also took a look at Beauxbatons. The building is really... well, it look like it used to be a royal palace back in the days before the French Revolution."

"Beauxbatons?" asked Ron.

"The magical school of France. The building is great but its also too opulent. I'm sure students in that school would grow big heads because of it."

"Not wrong." said Harry, partially because he agreed and partially because he wanted to agree with whatever Hermione said. "What about you, Ron? How was Egypt?"

"It was great!" said Ron. "I really enjoyed visiting the pyramids. Bill told us a lot of great stories about them. It was really cool to hear about the few secret vaults scattered inside that the curse breakers had to find."

"I wish I could visit Egypt." said Hermione longingly. "The ancient Egyptian wizards are fascinating to read about!"

"Read?" asked Ron with a smirk. "Why am I not surprised you got yourself a book on the subject?"

"Oh, I didn't buy one, if that's what you're wondering." said Hermione. "Harry bought me one as a gift."

As he looked down as his now empty ice-cream bow, Harry put a hand in his face to hide his blush. In the corner of his eyes, he noticed Ron look at him with an eyebrow raised. Ron's smirk grew as he asked "You bought a book for Hermione even though she was in France?"

"Yes." said Harry quickly. "So, Egypt was great, then?" he asked, trying to move on the conversation.

"It was." said Ron, still looking at him with his knowing look.

"What about you, Harry?" asked Hermione. "What did you do since you came here?"

Harry grinned, embarrassment gone from his face. "Ah – yes, didn't I tell you?"

"Tell us what?" asked Ron.

"I'm surprised you haven't learned of it yet. The PMK-3 Ravenstar was released a month ago, on my birthday."

"Really?" exclaimed Ron. Harry nodded.

"You mean there are brooms with designed ourselves currently being sold at the Quidditch shop?" asked Hermione.

"Yep. It's selling much better than I anticipated too. I had only enchanted fifteen Ravenstars at the beginning. The first twelve were sold within a week and a half of its release. Because of this, I had to produce more brooms. I even signed a contract with the shop to allow them to enchant their own ones, like we did with the Robins. I think, so far, we sold about thirty brooms."

"That's amazing!" said Hermione.

"It is. By the way, I also have gifts for you." he said, suddenly remembering the three brooms he had kept away. "Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron so I can give them to you."

After giving back his empty bowl to Mr. Fortescue, Harry led Ron and Hermione back to the Leaky Cauldron. Along the way, Harry showed them the store front of Quidditch Quality Supplies where the PMK-3 Ravenstar #07 was displayed. (Harry had looked at its serial number the day it was first displayed) Ron stared in awe at the broom. Hermione was looking at it with both pride and sadness. That last one confused Harry. He didn't know why Hermione felt sad at the display of the broom. He decided to question her later, in private.

After dragging Ron away from the shop, Harry and his friends entered the pub, where they met with the rest of the Weasley family. Fred and George were the first to great Harry, followed by Percy, Ron's parents and, lastly, Ginny. Once Harry had said hello to everyone, he grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms and dragged them to his room.

"That's where you've been staying for the past month?" Hermione asked when they entered the room. Harry's room was not messy, but it was obvious was lived-in. It was most noticeable when looking at the desk where plenty of different rolls of parchments were standing on in a pile.

"Yep." said Harry. "Loads more comfortable than Privet Drive." he added as he was removing his trunk from his belt. After he put it on the ground, Harry tapped his wand on it and the trunk reverted back to its normal state. Harry grabbed the lid of the trunk and opened it to its third compartment. Then, surprising Ron and Hermione, he entered the trunk and disappeared.

"Harry?" asked a concerned Hermione, looking down in the trunk. She was surprised to see a ladder and a floor many feet down. "How is that possible...?" she whispered in amazement.

"Extension charm." said Harry from inside. "It's like that blue thing from Doctor When."

Hermione blinked. "Don't you mean Doctor Who?"

"Yes, that." said Harry with a chuckle. Quickly enough, he reappeared, holding two broomsticks in his hands. Hermione walked out of the way to let Harry climb out of his trunk.

"Are those Ravenstars?" asked Ron once Harry was back in the room.

"Indeed. The ones with the registration numbers #02 and #03... They're yours." he said, giving one of each to his friends.

"Really? You're giving me a broom?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded. "I know neither of you have one, so I though you might enjoy having one."

"Thank you, Harry." said Hermione before she gave him another hug.

"N-no problems." stuttered Harry.

"Yes – thanks, mate." said Ron. His eyes hadn't left his Ravenstar since he had grabbed it.

"Glad you're happy." said Harry before he shrank back his trunk and attached it back to his belt. "Now, I have to go back to the alley, do you guys want to come?"

"What do you need to do?" asked Hermione.

"I bought parts for the Mark IV an hour ago. I was waiting for them to be ready when you found me at Florean Fortescue's. It's been about an hour so the parts should be ready to pick up."

"That's... great." said Hermione, sounding less enthusiasm that he would have believed. This concerned Harry, who had remembered her reaction at the sight of the displayed Ravenstar.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked.

Hermione winced. "Harry, I don't know how to say this... I know you really enjoy working on this with me but... oh – I'm sorry, Harry, but I don't think I'll have enough time to work on broomsticks with you anymore."

Harry felt his stomach plummet. "W-Why not?"

"I'm taking all the classes, I'll be too busy to work on other projects." she explained.

Harry cleared his throat. "That's fine." he said, hating that his voice sounded different. "I know you only joined in because it was a great academic project. It's not too surprising that you would prioritize classes over this since it's – uh – more academic..."

"I'm sorry -"

"No, that's fine." said Harry. "Huh – I'll just go grab the parts, then." he said before fleeing the room.

Part of him couldn't bear being in the same room as Hermione right now. He feared he would break down if he did, and he didn't want her to feel guilty about her choices. He felt sadden that Hermione would not be working with him on his broomsticks anymore. He had anticipated working on the Mark IV together since they had decided to end the development of the Mark III at the end of last school year. That his wish wasn't going to happen anymore was slightly heartbreaking. Hermione's departure from the project also meant that Harry would have no help for the development of the Mark IV. He hoped he would be able to produce a proper broom before the end of November. Otherwise, he wasn't sure he would be able to make the deadline.

Harry quickly crossed back the alley toward Broomstix, not really seeing anything around him. Inside, the old shop keeper was waiting for him. "Welcome back, Mr. Potter."

"Hello there." said Harry. "Are the parts ready?"

"They are." said the man. "Follow me."

Harry followed the old man upstairs where he found the parts for his brooms. All three types of parts were divided from each other, each sitting on a table of their own. He was amazed at the sight of them.

The black paint on the shafts was reflecting the sunlight, making it look beautiful. The red lines on the sides popped out of the handle, standing out greatly from the black colour. At the tip of the handle was the name of the broom engraved on each side. As for the broom heads, Harry found out that it didn't look quite as good as what he had imagined and, for a moment, he thought that the overall broom might have looked better if the heads had been the same as with the Ravenstars. Fortunately, he did not regret his earlier decision, especially since it would make the broom stand out from its older brother.

"It's perfect." said Harry.

"Well, it's yours since you paid for it." said the old man with a grin. "Need help packing those in that trunk of yours?"

"Like last time, sir." said Harry, unshrinking and opening the trunk. The man flicked his wand. Together, all 180 parts levitated from their tables and entered his trunk, one following the other. It only took a few minutes before all of the parts were in the third compartment of his trunk, allowing Harry to close it.

"Thank you." said the old man.

"Well, I won't waste your time any longer." said Harry once they were back downstairs in the shop. "Thank you for the parts. I'll come back once I start working on future projects."

"And Broomstix will be happy to serve you, Mr. Potter." said the man with a small bow. Harry bowed back before leaving the shop.

Once Harry was back in his room, he unshrunk the trunk before laying down in his bed. To his surprise, he hadn't seen neither Ron nor Hermione while walking back to his room. He didn't know why, but he was grateful he didn't. He just knew things would be awkward between him and Hermione.

Harry was starting to think back about how he would be alone when working on future brooms when he remembered something. He wouldn't be alone in the future, at least not indefinitely. He would have his A.I. project! Once his A.I. was up and running, working on broomsticks wouldn't be as lonely.

Of course, Harry still had to make it work first. Whether he could achieve it or not, he didn't know yet.

A/N: Next chapter should be about Harry working on the Mark IV + some bit of A.I. work.