ok i'm sorry it took so long, but you wouldn't believe the crap going on in my life... but it's over now and i hope to update more often... and i can't remember if i said this already, but i know that the adult age in Harry's actual world is 17, but im making it 16 for my own purposes..

The two Vernon free weeks went by all to quickly for Harry. His aunt had only tried a few more times to get him out to do the chores that were assigned for him, but quickly gave up as soon as she caught sight of the vacuum roll out of the closet and start by magic. Her paranoid fear of "freakiness" had won out over her lazy side, and she ended up hiring a house maid to do all the work. Meanwhile, Harry stayed in his room, perfecting many of the spells from the books he had gotten. He found that he was able to sleep for longer periods of time now, and his nightmares were now much fewer and farther between. His scar stopped its constant ache due to Harry now being able to successfully occlude his mind. 'So, there!' thought Harry as he remembered professor Snape's taunting on how he'd never be able to do it. When he read through his animagus book, he learned that some, but only very powerful wizards were able to have multiple forms. Going on everything that Dumbledore had told him about his destiny, he figured that he would be able to have that privilege. The book had said to cast a spell on yourself which would put you to sleep and you would dream of the creatures you would be able to morph into. So he said, "animagus revealo" and immediately fell into a deep sleep. In his dream, Harry was standing in the middle of a dense, grey fog. He squinted around, looking for anything, but found nothing. He stood there for was seemed like hours before he saw shapes moving through the mist. He saw four definite animals moving towards him. First, he saw a massive black stag with a small white patch on its chest. Harry blinked back tears as he knew that this was his father showing through in him. He looked at the next form, which was a 4 foot long snake. Harry frowned slightly as he thought this showed more of Tom than himself, but he also thought it was rather fitting. He caught sight of a large black panther, pacing back and forth in front of him with the brightest green eyes he had every seen, save when he looked into a mirror. He watched as the powerful muscles in the panther's hind legs bunch as he leaped, trying to catch Harry's final form. A small black raven squawked indignantly and settled on Harry's shoulder, where he started preening. Harry smiled at the bird and softly petted its wing. Without warning, the animals disappeared in a puff of smoke and Harry immediately awoke. He grinned broadly in anticipation and read on how to transform.

The day that Vernon was due to come home, Harry had finally mastered his fourth shape, the raven. By this time, he had also mastered apparating, first with just little trips across his room, then around the house when his aunt and Dudley weren't around, then clear into muggle London, as well as every useful spell and curse he found in his books. He was no longer malnourished, as he had perfected his food conjuring skills and had filled out quite handsomely. Tomorrow was his birthday, and he had been planning to run away for about a week. Knowing this, he wasn't worried in the slightest about his uncle's return. He should have been.

Harry heard the car shut off in the driveway and the front door open. He could also hear his aunt and uncle exchange words at the front door, but couldn't decipher what it was they were saying until he heard a deafening, "HE WHAT!"

"Uh, oh," said Harry. 'I am SO in for it,' he thought. He heard his uncle yelling as he thundered up the stairs and when he kicked open the door, not bothering with the locks, Harry knew that this punishment was going to exceed everything he had ever had.

"You worthless, lazy, ungrateful little FREAK!" Uncle Vernon shouted at Harry, spraying him with spittle in his rage. "After 15 years of clothing you, feeding you, keeping a roof over your head, you go and disrespect your Aunt by not doing the simple chores we set out for you! I thought I put respect into your brain before I left, but I guess I'm going to have to use more drastic measures." Harry's eyes widened in fear as he realized that he was defenceless, due to his wand being behind his uncle, who was advancing on him slowly with a mad smile on his face. The first blow landed on the side of Harry's face, knocking his glasses to the floor and leaving him unable to see the onslaught of fists coming at him.

"I'll teach you respect if it's the last bloody thing I do!" shouted Uncle Vernon as he hit Harry hard enough to send him to the floor. "You will do - kick - your chores - kick - or I WILL - kick - THROW - kick - YOU - kick - OUT!" KICK

This was all Harry heard as after the last kick, he blacked out. Vernon, however was far from done. He continued to kick Harry until he missed him and kicked the desk instead. Cursing, he left Harry in his steadily growing pool of blood and slammed the door, pushing a full bookcase in front of the door for good measure, and stomped downstairs.

Harry awoke several hours later, bruised, bloody and broken. He felt around for his glasses and put them on to assess the damage his uncle inflicted on him. He had a broken nose, a broken arm, ugly purple bruises over his entire body, open wounds that managed to scab over, and he was sure he had a concussion, judging by the massive headache he had. More than ever now, he was grateful that Hermione had good tastes in books. He pulled out his healing book and went about cleaning and healing his various injuries, but for some reason could not remove the little kink in his nose where it had broken. When he was finished, he looked at his illuminated clock and noticed with a start that it was 12:37... He was 16 and he was free! He happily said the packing spell that Tonks had used the previous summer and made to leave out the door. In annoyance, he realized what his uncle had done.

"No matter," said Harry. "I'll just go out the window," he smirked. He shrunk his trunk, put it in his pocket, opened the window and transformed into his raven form. He sat there, perched on the sill for a few minutes just breathing the fresh night air, before he stretched his wings and took off, heading for the nearby park. 'I guess this flying thing comes programmed into the animal' Harry thought happily as he realized he didn't really have to think about the whole flying thing. He landed a little roughly with a squawk when he got to the park and dusted himself off after changing back to human form. He stood tall and proud for the first time in months. Harry realized that no matter where he went in the wizarding world, he was going to be recognized, so after thinking for a minute, he pulled out his wand and cast a few charms to change his appearance. First off, he charmed his scar to move up and be hidden just above his hairline. Second, as much as he loved his bright green eyes, he charmed them a rich dark blue and put a temporary vision clearing charm on his eyes so he wouldn't need his glasses for a while. As his hair was now longer, he left it down so that it covered the majority of his face, even with the changes he made. Satisfied with his look, he looked around, and with a small smile on his face, disapparated with a pop to the Leaky Cauldron.

Tom, the barkeep of the Leaky Cauldron looked up as the door opened. He barely took notice of the young man, but couldn't shake the feeling that he knew who it was. Shrugging, he went back to cleaning glasses.

"Excuse me, Sir," said Harry. "I would like a room for a few days."

Tom eyed Harry and replied, "Certainly young man, just give me a few minutes to find a suitable room for you. Name's Tom by the way."

"Pleased to meet you, Tom," said Harry as he shook the older man's hand. "How much will that cost me?"

"It's 5 galleons a night, breakfast included, Mr…?"

"Evans. Dimitri Evans," said Harry, thinking quickly.

"Very well, Mr. Evans, here is your room, breakfast is from 6 until 8. Good night young sir."

"Good night to you too as well, Tom," said Harry and entered his room with a giddy feeling of freedom. 'Tom was the first person before who recognized who I was when I was younger and I fooled him! This is bloody fantastic!' Harry thought with glee. He jumped onto his bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Harry roused himself at 6:30 and wandered downstairs for breakfast. He sat at a table and a young lady came up to him and asked, "What'll it be this morning, love?"

"I'll have some eggs, bacon and toast please, with a cup of coffee, black."

"Righto, love. Comin' right up," she said as she went through a door and returned almost immediately with his plate of food. He ate quickly and left a tip for the cheerful waitress then headed back up to his room. When he entered, he wasn't surprised to see his snowy owl sitting on his trunk, hooting softly.

"Hey, Hedwig. You found me. You're so smart," whispered Harry to his beloved familiar as she gently nipped his fingers. "I'm going to put a few charms on you ok? Just to keep you and I safe." Hedwig hooted her approval and Harry cast his few spells on her. "Ok, one is so that no one can track you when you're delivering something for me, another is so that you're the only owl that can find me, another is so that minor hexes and curses won't hurt you, and the last was so that everyone else will see you as a barn owl, and only I can tell you're a snowy owl. I don't want anybody finding me this summer, Hedwig, and this is what I have to do." Harry told her when she looked at him with reproachful eyes at the thought of no longer getting lots of attention for being a snowy owl. She flew off in a bit of a huff, and Harry chuckled at her antics. As he got ready for the day, he made a mental note of everything he would need, both from the magical and muggle world. 'Uh, oh," thought Harry. 'I don't think that all of this is going to fit in my trunk. I guess I'm going to need a new one.'

When he was ready, he recast his eye charm and stepped out back of the pub. He entered Diagon Alley and walked straight towards Gringotts, head held high and no one even spared him a second glance. Harry entered the bank and walked up to one of the goblins who immediately said, "Good morning, Mr. Potter. How can I help you today?"

Harry hid his shock and said, "I need to make a withdrawal, however I wish to be called Mr. Dimitri Evans from now on… for safety reasons."

"Of course, Mr. Po- er, Evans. I am called Griphook. From which account do you wish to make the withdrawal?"

Harry looked up at Griphook with a puzzled look on his face. "Yes, I remember you…. You were the one that went with me on my first trip here. But what do you mean, 'which account'? I only have one don't I?"

"Actually, sir, you have several more now that you have come of age. The account you have been using was meant for your school days only, but your father has many vaults here, as the Potters was a prominent, well-to-do family."

"Uh… well, I suppose I'd like to see what's in all of them…. See if I need anything from them."

"Very well, Mr. Evans, follow me," said Griphook as he led Harry to the carts. Several minutes later, after a wild cart ride, they stood in front of a massive door, bigger than Harry had ever seen, save the front gates to the castle. "Put your hand on the door and state your full name. It will only open if you are a true Potter," informed Griphook.

Harry hesitantly went forward and placed his palm on the cold steel. "Ha- Harold James Potter," he stuttered. For a second, nothing happened and Harry began to wonder, but then noises could be heard from the inside that could only be the unlocking of many different locks. The doors opened and he stared down a corridor with many smaller vaults on both sides. Harry felt his jaw hit his chest as he looked around and it did not go unnoticed by Griphook.

"Impressive, isn't it?" said the little goblin with a smirk. "This vault to the left holds priceless artwork, the vault to the right holds furniture and the like. As we move down the hall, there is a vault that contains all your family's money, making you, young man, one of the richest wizards in our world, short of the Malfoys and the Blacks. This vault here contains a library of books, some of which are the only copies."

Harry's head shot up at this piece of information, as he had read through everything that he owned and was starting to get bored. Griphook finished by saying, "And this vault contains your parents personal papers, wills, deeds, etc. Would you like to look at them now?"

"Yes, please, I would," replied Harry, still in a daze over all that he now owned. Griphook led him into the vault and Harry went through the box labelled "deeds". As it turned out, his father's family owned many properties all over the world, including an old, secluded castle in Scotland.

"I'll just take some money with me at the moment, Griphook, and I'll come back and go through all this more thoroughly next time. But, I do have one request. This castle in Scotland…. Is there a staff of house elves there?"

"Yes, sir. I believe your family owned 30 for that particular property. Would you like me to send word to them that you will soon be arriving there?" asked Griphook, reading Harry's mind.

"Yes, please. Tell them I will be there in a few days as I have business to attend to here first."

"Very well, Mr. Evans. Come with me then," said Griphook as he turned on his heel and led Harry to the vault containing money. He opened the door and stood back, letting Harry get a good look at just how filthy rich he really was. Harry stood there gaping for some time before Griphook cleared his throat, effectively getting Harry's attention.

"Oh… right… sorry, Griphook," said Harry sheepishly.

"That's quite alright sir, I was merely making sure you could be brought out of your shock," he said with a smirk. "If I am not mistaken, there should be a bottomless wallet to your right."

Sure enough, Harry spotted it and started piling heaps of galleons and sickles into it. After several minutes, he figured he had enough to get him through the next few days of shopping and turned to Griphook and asked to have some of his money exchanged into muggle pounds. A half an hour later, Harry walked out of the bank with more than 10 thousand pounds in muggle money as well as several thousand galleons all in his bottomless money bag, charmed to weigh as much as a feather. He made his way towards the trunk shop and walked in, a quiet jingling bell alerting the owner to his presence.

"Can I be of any assistance today, Mr…?" asked the owner.

"Evans. And at the moment I'm just browsing. I'll let you know if I need anything," replied Harry. The owner just nodded and went about his business. Harry wandered through the many different makes of trunks, but noticed that he couldn't really find anything much bigger than his school trunk, at least not any that would make a significant difference. 'Hmmm…,' thought Harry. 'I guess I could always ask about that trunk that Mad-Eye has… see if this guy has anything like it.' "Excuse me, sir, do you carry multi-compartment trunks?" asked Harry out loud to the owner.

The owner eyed Harry up and down before he answered, "Yes, I do Mr. Evans, but I highly doubt that you would be able to afford one of mine."

Harry was annoyed immensely by this man's haughtiness. "I assure you sir, I have more than enough money to buy out the entire Alley. Now, once again, what do you have?"

The owner finally decided to humour the young man standing before him and show his very finest and most expensive trunk. "Very well. Step this way." Harry followed the rude shopkeeper into the back room. "This trunk has 8 large rooms with various rooms coming off them. One, a bedroom with a spacious walk in closet, though I doubt you have enough possessions to fill even a quarter of it," sneered the owner as he eyed Harry's rag-like clothing. Harry frowned as he continued, "Another is a comfortable study, complete with a large mahogany desk and matching furniture. This room is especially unique as it allows muggle technology such as computer thingies to function on magic. Next, is the library, which has enough room in it to house every book in Hogwarts… twice." Harry's jaw dropped at the sheer space that fit into this trunk. There were two landings and each one had floor to ceiling bookshelves covering every inch of the wall space, save a large fireplace and the doors connecting to the rest of the trunk. A soft cream coloured carpet covered the floors and a floating orb served as plenty of light for the entire room. The shopkeeper smirked and pressed on, "The fireplace is fully functional, the smoke goes unnoticed by others and it can be connected to the Floo network if you wish. The next room is a potions lab, complete with all the modern conveniences. It is chilled, explosion proof, fire proof, and all around accident proof. If you were to drop a vial it would merely bounce as if it landed on rubber. Any smoke or fumes also can be dispersed in the air outside without passers-by noticing. Off to the left is a large storage cupboard that can house any potions and ingredients you may have."

This room reminded Harry a little of the dungeons at Hogwarts, with its stonework, but instead of many desks being scattered around the room, there were only a few long work benches where only a few people could work with comfort.

"Next on the tour is the fitness room," announced the owner as they entered a large, yet empty room. "This room can be used for any weapons training or fencing. Simply pick up any weapon and the room will automatically know how to train you. As you get better, the room makes it more challenging. Through that door," he pointed to the left most door, "is the pool. It is Olympic sized and has a permanent spill-proof spell on the entire room, meaning that no matter what, not a drop of water from that pool, unless it's on you, will ever get through that door to the rest of the trunk. That door," pointing at the middle door, "Leads to the weight room. There are many free weights, benches, machines, and other equipment within to provide you with all your training needs. The last door leads to the steam sauna and shower. No matter how long it runs, the water will remain the temperature you want it. Next is one of the smaller room, as it is a kitchenette. There is a fridge, stove, and oven, and like the study, muggle technology can be brought into this room and will function. The next room is mainly for storage. Enlargement charms can be cast as needed. The final room is left bare, to meet any specific needs of the customer. Another nice feature is that anyone who doesn't know the trunk has more than one compartment, won't notice and that the trunk is charmed to weigh very little, regardless of what is put inside. That covers the tour, Mr. Evans, now I would appreciate if you would kindly bugger off and let me get back to work!" finished the owner and he just about had Harry pushed out of his shop before he released a blast of magic that knocked the now stunned man to the floor.

"I want that trunk, sir. I told you, I have the money. How much?" demanded Harry.

"It… it is 2,500 galleons sir," stammered the man, still sitting on the floor.

Harry took out his wallet and gave the man the money. He sat there on the floor, flabbergasted at this young man, who at first glance looked like a homeless beggar, but was apparently very rich indeed. "Umm…what would you like the last room to be?"

Harry thought for a moment before coming to his decision. "I want it to be a room that stretches out as far as the eye can see, and any spell, curse or hex can be cast in it, dark or light, and the ministry would never be able to detect it. I repeat, NEVER! And the trunk must be only able to open for me… I don't want anybody snooping through my stuff."

"Yes, sir… right away sir," said the humbled store owner as he finally got off his arse and scrambled into the room to make the alterations. He returned 20 minutes later, trunk in tow. "Here it is sir, and I wish to apologise for my behaviour earlier." The older man bowed his head in a gesture of respect. Harry looked at him with dislike and declared, "I am reluctant to refer anyone I know to this hovel, but seeing as this is very fine work, I won't steer people away from it." And with that, Harry turned on his heel and marched out onto the street.

After shrinking the trunk and putting it in his pocket, Harry apparated to an alley just off the main shopping strip of London. He walked out into the street and headed into the nearest clothing store. He spent a few hours in there buying jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, a few pairs of dress slacks and some formal button down shirts. He left wearing a snug black t-shirt, with a pair of jeans, leaving his former "clothes" to be disposed of there. Walking a little farther down the street, he came to a shoe store, where he bought trainers, sandals, slippers, big boots, and formal shoes. Owing to the fact that he was now carrying several bulky and heavy bags, he ducked into an alley and dumped his bags into the closet of his trunk. Continuing down the street, he stopped in a leather store, buying several jackets in various cuts, pants and more boots. Stepping out of the store in his favourite nearly robe length jacket about an hour later, he decided to go for lunch. He glanced up and down the street, before grinning and deciding he wanted McDonald's. Entering the establishment, he was overcome by all the smells. Mouth watering, he ordered a large lunch, and then continued on his way. He spotted a store called "Hot Topic" and thought it looked cool, so he wandered inside and instantly fell in love with the place. He spent quite some time looking at clothes and ended up buying more loose jeans and hoodies, some belts and several chains. The girl at the counter looked at Harry and commented that he should get some piercing's and maybe a tattoo. "Yeah, I, like, know this awesome place. You just go up the street 3 blocks and turn left. You can't miss it," she told Harry. 'Hmm… yeah, I think I could deal with that… could help with my disguises that's for sure.' So he left and followed the directions he was given. Half an hour later, he walked out with piercings all up his ears, his right eyebrow, and his left nostril. No one would have been able to tell who this young man was; long raven black hair, dressed in black and several piercings. Harry turned and went back to the main strip, where he continued up the street in search of more stores.