CHAPTER 9
The sunlight woke Harry the next morning as it streamed through the window at dawn. With a sleepy, content yawn, Harry got up and stretched, ready for his second day at Black Manor. The first thing he did was to go downstairs and get his purchases from the previous afternoon. He levitated his trunk and new robes up to his room, then took his books to the room next to his-- he planned to make it his library/study. The potions supplies Harry took down to the dungeons, and Hedwig's possessions he put in his room. While walking back down the stairs, Harry remembered that he was supposed to meet Hedwig outside the Leaky Cauldron today. I wonder if Dobby would come work for me, Harry wondered as he shrunk the book shelves in the dungeon, but how would he trick Dumbledore? Harry continued to think about it while he carried the smaller-sized book shelves up to his study.
Going back to his room, Harry caught a look of himself in the mirror that hung on the wall. I need to bulk up a bit, he realized, in case something ever happens to my wand in a duel. With that in mind, Harry took off the sweatshirt, put on a dark blue robe, and teleported to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron. Hedwig wasn't there yet, so Harry went over to Gringotts. Griphook accompanied him once more, and Harry stopped at the Potter vault. He shrank the bookcases, the weapons, the amour, some tapestries, and the family tree, then stuffed them into a regular money sack. Griphook then helped him back up to the surface, and Harry said good-bye, then went to the Leaky Cauldron for breakfast. Luckily, Tom didn't recognize him with the ski cap, and Harry was able to eat his hotcakes without interruption. Harry checked the alley once more, and teleported to Black Manor when he didn't see Hedwig. Godric was wandering around upstairs, and said hello when Harry passed by.
Harry entered the study, and set up the bookshelves next to the other ones he'd brought up from the dungeons. Harry had a separate bookshelf, which was half the size of the others, for all his recently purchased books. The Potter family tree Harry hung up on the farthest wall, right above his desk. The griffin in the night sky tapestry he put up in his room. Salazar found him reading up on Occlumency a half-hour later in the study.
"Are you planning to read all those by the end of the summer?" Slytherin asked, looking at the smaller bookshelf.
Harry nodded, "I want to try."
He chuckled, "Care for an easier way?"
Harry set the book down, "Sure, I think my brain might melt by the time I finish half of 'em."
Salazar laughed, "Very well, repeat after me-- personas multendum." The incantation was in Parsletongue, and Harry had difficulty repeating it in English. "No no! Say it in Parsletongue, not English!" Salazar corrected him.
Harry nodded, "Personas multendum." he hissed. A chill spread through his body, and something made him feel like he was being softly split in two. "That was weird," he commented.
Salazar nodded, "Look behind you."
Harry did and froze in shock: he saw himself. "Whoa!"
"It's a copy Harry," Slytherin explained, "It can do separate things; learn, read, train-- anything you're not doing, it can do for you. You have to be specific though, and tell it what you want it to do. When it gains knowledge, so will you-- and it learns extremely fast."
Harry looked unbelievingly at Salazar, "You serious?" He nodded. "Thanks!" Turning back to his double, Harry missed the shocked look on Slytherin's face. "I think I'll call him Mark." Harry decided with a grin. "Mark, could you please learn the stuff in this book?" Harry asked, holding up an advanced transfiguration manual. Mark nodded, and took the book, then sat down to read.
Harry thanked Salazar a second, time, and continued to read the beginning Occlumency book. It said that a person needed to shape their minds into something they can relate with. Some examples were a sphere, a box, a mass of fog, and even a dense forest. In order to go on, Harry had to first decide on a form for his mind. Harry sat with his eyes closed, and went through a mental list of ideas. Out of nowhere, Harry thought of his scar. A storm cloud would be his form. Picturing the storm cloud, Harry moved onto the next step-- organizing his memories. Harry got into a comfortable position, then started from the day of his parents' deaths, to the creation of Mark. Since he'd already described his life for the founders the day before, it wasn't very hard to gather them. Sorting them was another matter entirely. Harry had to sort his memories into three sections: inner, outer, and freelance.
The inner section were all the private moments, good and bad, that Harry didn't want anyone to see. Some of these memories were Sirius', Cedric's and his parents' deaths; the prophecy; Snape's worst memory; and Harry's experiences with Cho. The inner memories were guarded by what Harry imagined as high-speed winds, like the ones found near the eye of a hurricane, times ten. The outer memories were all the other memories of importance: the trials Harry'd experienced throughout life, conversations with his friends, and--not surprisingly-- an entire area of the way Snape, Malfoy, and the Dursleys treated him. The outer memories were protected by torrents of rain and hail, promising an injury to invaders. The last section was the largest. The pointless memories like what he'd eaten, Quidditch games he'd won, and the things he wore, were the things found in this part of his mind. The point of freelance memories was to make the invader think that they'd successfully penetrated his mind, and to give him time to occlude his mind as well. Dense cloud was the only defense of these memories. The final step was to create a dome-like force around the entire set of memories. It took a while, because he had to squeeze all the memories and defenses into a single area.
Harry finally accomplished this, and felt extremely satisfied. He would practice clearing his mind every morning and evening, and work on strengthening his defenses. Once he could do that, Harry would move on to more offensive techniques.
Salazar was gone when Harry opened his eyes, and Mark was nearing the end of the book. Whoa! He really is fast! Harry thought, But I don't know any more than I did. He shrugged that thought off and moved on to his animagus book. After thirty minutes, Harry'd barely made a dent in the five pages he'd managed to read. Harry groaned, and put the book aside; no wonder it had taken his father so long to become an animagus.
"Give up?" Gryffindor chuckled from the frame Slytherin had left.
"I don't think I have a chance with it." Harry grumbled. "Where you an animagus?"
Godric smiled, "I thought you'd never ask." Godric then began to explain that there was a much easier way to become an animagus, and it didn't take long either, a week at most. "You see, you're not able to choose your forms, but all you have to do is look for your totem."
"A totem?" Harry repeated,
Godric nodded, "Everyone has four totems. Two light, and two dark. Two mortal, and two magical. Depending on your personality, and maybe your destiny, your totem will be different. Some people can turn into more than one totem."
Harry leaned forward. "Could you teach me?"
"Say the magic word." Godric teased.
Harry grinned, "Would you please teach me how to become an animagus?"
Godric nodded, and began to instruct him. After an hour and twenty minutes, Harry had managed to call on his totems. To both their surprise, four, non-distinct shapes came to him.
"That means you can turn into all four," Godric said, explaining th obvious, "If you want the symbolic meaning, ask Helga-- she's the divination expert." Harry promised he would do so, and looked at Mark. The copy was standing beside him, holding out the book to Harry. "Thanks Mark," Harry said, and took the book. as his hand touched it, a flash of light corrupted his vision, and a flood of knowledge poured into his mind.
When the light cleared, Harry could practically recite the entire book, and he could actually do every spell correctly. "Whoa, it worked." Harry said in a daze.
"What worked?" Godric asked,
"The double, Mark." Harry said.
"Ah, Slytherin's idea?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah, how'd you guess?"
Godric gave a fake sigh, "It's amazing the things you talk about when you're stuck in a room with only three other people for seven hundred years."
Harry laughed, "Sorry, I should've guessed."
"Yes, you should've." Godric replied, "Did he tell you that they can only study one thing, and that they'll only learn it if you could've learned it eventually?"
Harry shook his head, "Nope. But that's okay, I 'd feel like a cheater if I had Mark do all my studying."
Godric nodded, "A true Hufflepuff trait, and a good one too."
Harry felt the color rise in his face slightly, "Thanks." he mumbled, then turned back to Mark. "Feel free to wander around the house, but try not to break anything, okay?" the double nodded, and exited the room. "I think I'm going to try out what Mark learned." Harry said, and went into the last, empty room on the top floor; Godric followed him.
The room was large, and Harry had the perfect idea for it. Getting out his wand, and a small pebble he'd found in his pocket, Harry concentrated on what it was he wanted.
He cast the pebble onto the middle of the floor, and pointed his wand at it. The rock began to twist and grow-- fighting to change its shape. Sweat formed on Harry's face as he kept control over the spell. In order for it to work, he had to keep the image in his mind, the incantation, and a sealing spell (something that would make the pebble retain its new shape until Harry changed it again) under control. Finished, Harry opened his eyes to look at the dueling platform he'd created.
"Nice work." Godric complemented him.
Harry grinned, "Thanks. I'm glad it worked, and didn't turn into a giant slug or something."
Godric laughed, "Anything else coming in here?" he asked once he'd relaxed a bit.
Harry nodded, "Opponents." With a wave of his wand, seven dummies appeared on the other side of the room, all blank-faced and dressed in black robes. I love being able to do transfiguration right, he thought, thanks Mark. The next thing Harry did was to put charms on the dummies that would prevent them from being destroyed by burning, explosions, and most hexes. Another charm was a gauging charm. When hit with a spell, the caster's strength level would be displayed: 1 being horrible, 10 being the best.
"Try an animation charm." Godric suggested.
Harry turned around, "A what?"
"Animation charm," he repeated, "There's another name for it, a--a simu-thing."
"Oh, simulation charm," Harry clarified, "good idea. Thanks Godric."
He smiled, "Anytime." The portrait left to find Rowena, and left Harry to it. The charm Godric had suggested allowed objects to move on their own accord. Harry cast an attacking simulation charm on three of the dummies (so they'd cast spells at Harry when activated), defense on another three (so the dummies would cast shielding spells) and a combination of both, plus an evasion charm, on the last dummy.
Satisfied, and a bit tired, Harry decided to go see if Hedwig had arrived yet.
As he teleported to the alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, he thought about what Helga had said about his having four animagus forms. "It means ya got two personalities 'Arry," she'd said, "An' your fates not quite set. You're the balance boy, the decidin' vote in the events to come-- I'd train up if I were you."
Harry cleared the thoughts from his head, and looked around the alley.
"Hey girl," he said quietly as Hedwig landed on his outstretched arm. He pet her softly, "Sorry about the wait, I've been busy at our new house."
She made a questioning noise, so Harry explained about his trip to the Black and Potter vaults, Sirius' letter, and his discovery, exploration, and decoration of Black Manor. "I've got a new perch for you too," he finished. She hooted kindly at him, and affectionately nibbled his robe. He chuckled, "I missed you too Hedwig," he told her, "Ready to see our new place?" She flapped her wings, and Harry teleported himself and Hedwig to Black Manor. He gave her a grand tour, and introduced her to the four founders whenever they came across one of them; Hedwig and Rowena instantly liked each other.
Hedwig chirped at him when he showed her his bedroom. "I know, not very colorful, but I was going to fix it up once I showed you around." he replied. In response, Hedwig flew over to her perch, and looked expectantly at him.
Harry chuckled, "I guess I'll do it now." About an hour later, Harry looked at his master bedroom with satisfaction, again thanking both Salazar and Mark. The carpet was navy blue, and the walls a lighter blue-green. Copper-colored drapes could be pulled over the enormous window, and a handsome, red-oak sleigh bed was settled on the left wall. The covers were also navy blue, with gold trim; the pillows snow white. Hedwig's perch now stood next to Harry's dresser, which was of the style found in Gryffindor Tower; it was also red-oak, and the handles on the drawers were silver. A full-length mirror hung on the right of the dresser, its three panels allowed Harry to see himself from all angles. A stone archway led to his private bathroom. A wooden door would slide down from the top of the arch when Harry went through, allowing privacy.
Harry truly spoiled himself in the bathroom. He'd taken a liking to the green marble on the first floor, and had installed the same in the bathroom. An enormous bathtub rivaled those Harry'd seen in the Prefects' bathroom. It also had many taps for various things like bubbles, scented oils and soaps, plus the traditional hot and cold water. The counters and sink were an elegant combination of wood and granite. A shower was also in the room, and had three nozzles for shampoo, conditioner, and water. The toilet was behind a corner next to the shower; and that was his entire bathroom.
After finishing his quarters, Harry went down to the kitchen with Hedwig. Not sure if there was anything to eat, Harry opened the fridge. "Wow, nice selections!" he exclaimed as he looked at the mass of food and drink. Harry selected a small roast, and set it on the counter. After raiding the pantry, he found some potatoes. Grabbing one, he then searched for cooking tools. Thirty minutes later, Harry was happily eating his homemade roast and potatoes, while sharing some with Hedwig, and drinking an ice-cold Butterbeer.
After washing his dishes, Harry went up to decorate the guest bed and bath rooms while Hedwig flew around outside. He put double beds in two of the rooms, and single beds in the others. Though they were of good quality, none of the four-posters were quite as nice as his sleigh bed. Dressers also went in the rooms, as well as mirrors and an armchair or two. The bathrooms Harry fashioned after his own, but the tubs were smaller, and the colors a bit lighter.
With Black Manor finished at last, Harry could now fully dedicate the rest of the summer to training. I need an exercise room, Harry thought, magic won't be enough. So Harry ran upstairs, and grabbed the bag that had the weapons and amour from the Potter vault, and took it to the dungeons. He had to enlarge the armory to fit it all, but soon everything had a place. Godric recognized many of the things from the Potter vault, and was able to tell Harry what they all did so Harry was able to make an illustration and description of each item like it had been done with the Black family weapons and amour. Harry then went across the hall and into the room that once had the bookshelves. I can use this room for the exercise stuff, he thought, then again, I don't know how to conjure or use the equipment. He sighed, and went back up stairs, then exchanged his robes for his sweatshirt once more, and still kept on the ski cap. "Next stop, Gringotts." he muttered, then teleported from Black Manor.
"How may I help you sir?" the head goblin asked.
Harry smiled kindly, "I was wondering if Mr. Griphook could take me down to my vault, he's been extremely helpful in my past visits."
At Griphook's name, the head goblin perked up a bit, and waved the mention goblin over.
"Hello Griphook," Harry said.
"Good afternoon Mr. Harry," he replied, and led Harry to the carts. The cart went the super-speed it had when Harry'd been here the last time, and it clearly amused Griphook to see Harry's excited reaction.
Harry noticed that he'd left behind a few tapestries in the Potter vault, so he got those (after deciding to put one in each of the rooms) and some maps and charts he'd found in the Black vault.
Before they went back up, Harry asked Griphook something. "Is there a way I can convert some money into muggle money?"
Griphook thought about it, "How much are you thinking of Mr. Harry?"
"Quite a bit," Harry admitted.
He smirked, "Then I suggest that you get what is called a 'credit card', do you know what that is?" Harry nodded, so Griphook continued, "Well, this credit card can only be used in muggle stores, but it is connected to your Gringotts vault. It is very easy to set up; in fact, I can do it in five minutes if you wish."
Harry smiled, "I'd like that." Griphook nodded, and they returned to the surface. True to his word, Griphook finished at the necessary paperwork in four minutes and thirty-seven seconds; all Harry had to do was sign the papers, and it was done.
So Harry thanked Griphook once more, and left for the Leaky Cauldron. He politely refused something to eat when Tom asked him, saying his family was waiting for him in muggle London. This seemed to satisfy the inn keeper, and Harry was able to leave without further inquiry.
Harry wandered around the streets for ten minutes, glad that he didn't have to worry if his cap slid, or that an Order member might suddenly walk out of a store and recognize him. Instead of going straight to the exercise store, Harry first stopped at a clothing department. He looked around, wanting some decent clothes for the first time. Eyeing his battered shoes, Harry put that on the list as well. An hour later, Harry exited the store with ten t-shirts, two exercise shorts, four undershirts, one pair of sneakers, a pair of dress shoes, a black leather jacket, and two more hats. That was kind of fun, Harry thought with amusement, seeing the looks on the clerk's face when I bought that much. He sneaked around the building, making sure nobody saw him, then teleported to Black Manor. After a brief conversation with Hedwig and the founders, Harry put his clothes away in his room, and returned to the place he'd teleported from. Harry eventually found the exercise store, after being re-directed by three helpful muggles, and went inside.
"May I help you sir?" the salesman asked.
"I hope so," Harry answered, "See, my mom wants to get my dad and entire workout room for their anniversary, and since she has to work, she asked me to go and buy the equipment."
The salesman quickly went into action. He showed Harry each piece of equipment, told whether it was to tone muscle or build it, and then showed Harry how it worked. Apparently, the store hadn't been doing to well and there was a fifty percent off sale going on, this being the second to last day. Man, I got lucky! Harry thought as he looked at the price tags. Where most of them were normally a thousand or more, they were only five hundred to seven hundred for Harry.
In the end, Harry bought a treadmill, a machine for toning legs and arms, a set of free weights, a bench press, and a machine that built up the muscle on your arms, legs, and abs. The entire cost was enough to make Harry hope that wizarding money was worth more than muggle.
He managed to convince the salesman that he had a truck coming to pick up the equipment, and the salesman helped Harry to take his new purchases out back, then left him alone. After making sure no one could see him once more, Harry shrunk the equipment to match-box size. Sticking them in his pocket, Harry teleported to Black Manor, ready to finally do some real training.
Coming Up:
The Founders Lesson Plan
Alex and the new broom line
The Worst (but funniest) Relation Ever
Then:
Lessons officially begin
The First Animagus form (and no, it's not a bird XD)
