Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, so don't sue, not that I got anything anyway.

Chapter 2: Knowing Yourself


After reading all his letters, Harry decided to go for a walk to check out the kung fu place that his uncle had mentioned.

"I'm going out I'll be back in an hour!", he shouted as he walked out the front door.

He walked slowly through Little Whinging till he left Privet Drive and ended up on Magnolia Drive; it took him about half an hour total to reach the place.

It was a small brick building with enormous glass windows, through witch he could see several students doing several different types of workouts, some facing off in combat with pads covering their bodies, some doing intricate dances, and another group practicing weapon movements.

He looked up and read the sign above the door Hung Kuen School of Shaolin Kungfu, well, he thought, here goes nothing. He took a deep breath and walked into the school; upon walking in he noticed that the building was much larger inside than it appeared to be on the outside.

First thing he noticed was another room off to his right, where there were several mats set up and lots of students were in there rolling on the ground and doing flips, and all other kinds of acrobatics.

He could tell they were all students because they each wore the same uniform, they were all white uniforms, baggy pants, no sleeves, frog buttons up the front, and a caricature of a man in a defensive posture on the back, they looked like they were made of silk.

"Ahem" Harry jumped and turned towards the sound drawing his wand as he did so, fortunately none of the students noticed because they were caught up with their training.

The man who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere just raised his eyebrows upon seeing Harry's wand.

He was a relatively short middle aged man maybe an inch or two shorter than Harry, he looked Asian and had long hair tied back into an elegant ponytail that went down to the middle of his back.

The man was dressed in the same kind of uniform except his was all black with a powder blue sash across his waist. Pretending to ignore the wand the man continued what he was saying.

"Hello, are you here just as an observer, or are you actually here to take lessons?" the man had a very kind and soothing quality to his voice, that helped put Harry at ease.

"I'm just here to look for today, but I think I would like to take lessons here sir."

"No need for formalities young man, my name is Akashi Saotome, and you are?"

"Harry Potter, um how much would lessons cost me here?"

The man's eyes looked like they flickered upwards to look at his scar, but this happened so quickly Harry wasn't sure whether he had imagined it or not.

"Well we offer some of the most advanced training you can get in London, so normally this kind of class would be quite spendy, but seeing as I have enough money, and I just train so that I can spread the greatness of martial arts, it will only cost five pounds a month."

"So what all do you train here?" asked Harry, still looking around.

"Well, as you can tell a large part of it is fighting, and defending yourself, part of it is weapons, and weapons defense, and tumbling so that you can react to falls or other forms of attack, But the main thing that you'll be trained in here, is knowing yourself."

Harry was confused about what Akashi meant with saying this; but didn't let on.

"Well then, I guess I'll return tomorrow so that we can start." Said Harry, who realizing it was getting very dark out, decided to go back to Number 4.


After arriving home, Harry found a beautiful white owl sitting in his room, next to Hedwig in the cage. Upon seeing Harry, it raised its right foot into the air so that Harry could take the note off it.

After removing the note Harry fed both owls some owl treats and sat down to read the note. After unrolling it he recognized Hermione's neat and organized handwriting.

Dear Harry,

How do you like my new owl? His name is Zeus, my mom and dad took me to Diagon Alley today and I just had to have him. On the bottom corner of this letter is what appears to be a tiny envelope, it's an invention I picked up today at Diagon Alley. You'll be able to open it and find several of the books I've decided could help you out in DADA, and Transfiguration. Tomorrow I'm going back to Diagon Alley so I will buy you a few books on curses then. I got an invitation earlier tonight to go to Gringotts to attend the reading of Sirius's will. So just remember you won't be on your own tomorrow. I'm with you every step of the way, wherever you go. Anyway it's getting really late, so I'd better go to bed; don't stay up too late after receiving this. I'll talk to you tomorrow little after five. Goodnight Harry.

Love

Hermione

Harry's heart was thumping rapidly after finishing the letter. He was really glad she'd be there tomorrow for the reading; just knowing that she would be there beside him gave him a boost of confidence.

Feeling a lot better about tomorrow, and satisfied with the progress he had made today, he laid down in his bed, relaxed his mind as much as possible, and slowly drifted off into a nice peaceful slumber.