Note: I understandand the issue a lot of you have with the italics. I know it's weird, it's something I picked up recently from another author and it just stuck with me, don't know why. But I'll try to pivot away from that. And I'll try to go back to the other chapters and edit them, over the Christmas Holidays. Though because of the holidays, my updates may become slower.

Speaking of the holidays, I would like to wish all those who will be celebrating, A Merry Christmas! or Hanukkah Sameach! (Happy Hanukkah!). And for those who aren't going to be celebrating anything specific, I wish you all Happy Holidays! Hopefully, you all have safe and enjoyable holidays!


From what I remember from canon, apart from the "Aunt Marge incident", the summer before the third year was very lackluster for Harry Potter. But that was not the case for my summer, quite the opposite in fact. It was not only very lively but it was one of the best summers I'd ever had.

It started off with our flight to America, which was for the same week we bought the tickets. I was successfully able to get Sirius to rethink his position on airplanes. Though, it definitely had more to do with the pampered service we received. As the manager had said, we were picked up in a black 1990 Mercedes, the day of the flight. We got picked up from Grimmauld Place, waiting in front of the house so the driver wouldn't have to look for the illusioned house. The driver was extremely courteous and made sure to treat us as VIP clients; taking our carry-ons from us and putting them in booth himself, opening and closing the car doors for us, and even had refreshments in the car while on our drive to the airport.

At the airport itself, we got even more pampered service while waiting in the first-class lounge. Food and drinks were offered as soon as we entered the lounge. A server would come by every few minutes to make sure we were doing alright, and to see if we needed anything else. Unfortunately, I was still just a child so could not order any of the complementary drinks that were offered. Well I could order a soda, or a juice but it was not the same, especially with Sirius ordering drinks left and right, surprised by how much he loved them. Once the plane was ready for boarding, we were, also, one of the first ones allowed to board, another privilege of first-class tickets. Sirius was very surprised when we got to our seats, as he expected to be sitting in a small seat, cramped with other passengers. But our actual seats were essentially small compartments for each of us, with an indivudual seat for us and a small table for work purposes. The seats themselves could be adjusted to become completely flat so that we could sleep comfortably like we were on a small single bed. The entire flying experience turned out to be quite enjoyable for Sirius, the only thing he complained about was the duration of the flight. And when we finally landed in New York, we were once again provided car service to our destination, the Sheraton Hotel. It would act as our temporary home until we properly established ourselves here.

It was a surreal moment for myself when I looked out the car on the way to the hotel. While I had never visited London in my old life, I had been to New York plenty of times, though only after 2005. So it was quite strange yet interesting to see the city as how it looked in the 90s; still in the early stages of the developments I knew would occur around the city in the next few years.

The first few days we spent touring around the city, going in and out of any store that caught Sirius' eye. We didn't buy much, as we were going to be in the city for quite some time, and so would have another chance. The primary goal was for Sirius and I to get more familiar with city, for when we eventually decided to join the normal world. Though I did make sure to take him to the movies, especially as Jurrasic Park was getting released in the summer. I'd seen an ad for it, when we were in one of the stores Sirius had taken an interest in.

One thing that really shocked Sirius was the number of tourists we came across. I had to enlighten him on the importance America, and specifically New York, had on the rest of the world. It was then that he understood why I was insistent on coming to America. As even if the American wizarding community only had 20% of the numbers we saw around the city, we would still be able to grow our business by a wide margin.

To that effect, we began by paying a visit to the American Ministry of Magic after we had our fill of playing tourist around the city. The entire process of establishing our business was streamlined for us; the Ministry employee who was helping us had recognized me by name and offered to carry out all the necessary steps for us. Saying he was happy do it as he could brag about helping the "Boy-Who-Lived", amongst all his co-workers. In under a week, we had received a location for our store and construction for it started, it was going to be designed almost identical to the store in Diagon Alley; the first floor for any purchases and the second floor for sitting in and playing the games.

Speaking of our store in Diagon Alley, it was quickly becoming the most popular stores. We sold out of all our games on the 2nd day of opening, the demand was much, much higher than what we were expecting. Because of the lack of supply, the top floor was always packed as everyone wanted a chance to play the games. Our employees had to create a waiting list so that they could keep track of all the requests. Sirius and I would check in, every other day using our teleportation means, thought it was mostly unnecessary. Our employees were very responsible and competent, so they didn't need a lot of oversight from us, allowing Sirius and I to devote more of our attention to our expansion in America. Unlike Britain, that had only Diagon Alley, America had two different equivalents of the magical shopping area. There was Whimsic Alley, located in Los Angeles and then there was Phantastic Alley, located in New York. Sirius and I had discussed opening the one store in Phantastic Alley until demand for our games grew to the same levels we experienced in Britain. Once that was achieved, we would be quick to establish the another store in Whimsic Alley.

We didn't restrict ourselves to just the American wizarding society, either. We laid the groundwork for our business in the normal world as well, establishing a consulting company with the same name; Marauders' Inc. While the company would not see much use while I was still in Hogwarts, it was still beneficial as we could use it to create a paper trail, to explain away how we paid for expenses and such over the years. And with help from our new friend at the American Ministry; we created dummy consultation jobs that could serve as proof of work.

Additionally, we bought shares in all the companies I knew would be successful, in the future. Most importantly, we bought quite a few shares in Stark Industries, only possible as the company was still rebounding from the death of Howard Stark. Tony had still not taken over the reigns so the company was still in an unpredictable flux . I made sure to split the owning rights of the shares as well so we wouldn't draw too much attention. Most of the shares were bought in name of our company, while the rest were split between Sirius and I.

While I couldn't open a brokerage account being a minor, I was allowed to buy shares as long as Sirius, my guardian on paper, was the one doing the trading. I would only have control of my shares when I became of age. It was very ironic because I would actually, be the one doing most of our trading, as Sirius had no patience to learn about investing in stocks. I tried teaching him but he cried uncle after just 10 minutes. He joked that Arithmancy was easier than what I was trying to teach him, and I knew he hated Arithmancy.

One particular day, we were having coffee at "The Coffee Shop". I chose it, particularly, because I loved their coffee in my old life, it was a go to place for me whenever I visited New York. And after tasting this shop's coffee, I was going to be a loyal customer in this life as well. Maybe, even an investor when they run into financial trouble; I knew that it closed down in 2018; the owners couldn't afford to pay the increasing rent. But since they had only established in 1990, they had plenty more years to go. I couldn't have much of the coffee though, since I was still young. Even Sirius, would only allow half a cup, especially after he saw that I quickly developed a taste for it.

"Alright, what's up Padfoot? You've been very quiet today." I asked Sirius, after significant bouts of unusual silence from him. I knew it would be important since he was never this quiet, so I cast a wandless Muffliato charm to make sure nobody over heard us. Though we were sitting in one of the back corner tables, so it would hard to hear anyway.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Sirius finally said, just when I finished my distracted thoughts. I gave him an expression that told him to go on.

"Harry, I know there are things you've been keeping from me and from everyone else. You do a very good job of hiding it but just like with myself, if you know how to look, it's clear how much you are stressed out by whatever it is, you are keeping to yourself." Sirius said knowingly.

I tried to remain stoic but it was difficult as I wasn't expecting to get called out so suddenly. Eventually, I let out a deep sigh and let my body relax.

"I didn't think I was so easy to read. Thought I was doing a better job at hiding it." I alleged melancholily.

"I know you did, Harry, but your eyes gave you away." At my confused expression he continued on. "Like Lily's eyes, they are very honest. And that can be a good and bad thing, as they can't hide what you're feeling deep down. Whatever work we did on Marauders' Inc. so far, it partly seemed to be a distraction for you. Something to work on while taking breaks from whatever it is that's bothering you. So I just want to remind you, I am your godfather, regardless of how I act sometimes, I do have certain responsibilities towards you. I failed them the first time, I promise I won't fail you another time, Harry." He implored the last part.

It was only then, that I began to realize I hadn't really taken into account Sirius' perspective on my hunt for the Horcruxes. Or how he would feel as I isolated him from parts of my life.

"I do have complete faith in you, Sirius. And I'm sorry for not tacking into account how it may look to you and how you may feel because of it. But like I said I do have faith in you and your abilities as a wizard. Though I will never let you get away with the fact that Pettigrew managed to get one, over you." The last part I said with a little humor in my voice and a smile on my face. He also responded with a small laugh but we both became serious again, pretty quickly. The importance of the conversation pressing heavily on us.

"But I am sorry for shutting you out. Its just that I felt like it was my responsibility, what with everyone calling me the 'Boy-Who-Lived'." I said knowingly. I knew it would it would be enough to lead him to figure out what I was implying.

"You mean…?" He asked, as his eyes widened to match the shocked expression on the rest of his face. I nodded in response.

"B-Bu-But how, I thought he died that night?" He stuttered out, still reeling from the fact that Voldemort was alive. The man who was responsible for taking so much away from him, was still out there.

"He did, but Voldemort had contingencies in place." I explained and continued on at his expectant expression. "Horcruxes, he created multiple Horcruxes to make sure he stayed tethered to the plane of the living."

From there I had to explain what Horcruxes were and how they were created. And then telling him of all the ones I had found and destroyed, though leaving out the fight with the basilisk. It was something to tell him later on.

"Wait, Wait, Wait! Harry, do you mean to tell me; that you broke into Gringotts and stole the Cup without the goblins finding out?" Sirius asked excitedly, when I finished recounting my tale.

"Yup! They don't have any wards against the Mystic Arts. Just slip into the Mirror Dimension and then walk into Gringotts, then into a vault, bring whatever object you want into the Mirror Dimension with you and finally walk out." I said smugly. I was the first person to successfully rob Gringotts, after all. And the best part was that nobody knew of it, well other than the Ancient One and now Sirius, who had a good laugh at the expense of the goblins or Voldemort, or both.

"How did you learn about them though, you conveniently skipped out on that?" He asked smugly, after he calmed down. He knew that I was hoping the part about robbing Gringotts would distract him away from that question.

"I- I had one, in my head." I responded with a hesitant smile on my face.

"What?!" He asked, standing to his feet, sliding his chair back.

A mistake, as it drew attention to us from some of the other patrons. The charm I cast was designed to mask our voices not our physical body. Sirius' apologized for the outburst and sat back down. I had to cast another wandless charm when he did, as I had to disable the original for Sirius' apologies. Once he sat back down, he looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to provide more details.

"I don't know how but the night that he failed to kill me, a piece of him ended up residing in me. He created another Horcrux, but this time by accident. And because of it, I saw bits and pieces of memories from Voldemort, ones where he was creating the other Horcruxes." I explained without letting slip any other details I shouldn't know.

"I noticed, previously, you said had, as in past tense. How did yo-… the Astral Forms! That's how you actually knew about them. The Ancient One helped you remove it, by splitting the piece of Voldemort and your Astral Forms apart." Sirius figured out the rest, himself.

"You're completely spot on. I had to tell her about the Horcruxes because she could help me, I probably wouldn't have told her otherwise. I just thought it would be better if I handled everything quietly and made sure nobody found out he was still alive; neither the common public or any of his followers." I explained with surety in my voice.

"I understand Harry, I do. I know they want you to be the "chosen one", someone to look up to. And if they did find out about Voldemort, then they would immediately make you the rallying figure against him, regardless of what you wanted. But you don't have to shoulder everything on your own, despite whatever the wizarding society makes it seem. All I want you to be is Harry Potter, not the Boy-Who-Lived. And I promise to do anything I have to, so that is possible for you" Sirius said sincerely.

"A little cheesy towards the end there, Padfoot." I joked with a light smile on my face before coming back to topic. "But thank you. I didn't realize before, how much I needed to hear that." From there our conversation had moved to less intense topics, as we both felt it was enough intensity for the day.

Our summer wasn't just about work either, as we made constant use of our teleportation means to get back to Kamar-Taj whenever possible. Now even though all of us started training in the Mystic Arts about the same time, we had all progressed at different speeds and at different disciplines.

The Longbottoms, specifically Frank and Alice, were a lot more offensive-minded, and so they geared more of their training to combat magic. Particularly choosing to learn all types of offensive spells that could be cast in tandem with each other while also allowing them to transition in and out of solo casting. Being husband and wife definitely gave them an advantage, as their excellent chemistry allowed them to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. Augusta Longbottom, meanwhile felt more comfortable with learning warding magic, claiming to be too old to learn combat magic. She was more focused on the specific type of warding the Sanctums had, and how it could be replicated to homes in the wizarding world. As for Neville, he had also turned to learning offensive magic as well, though specifically with a bow. When Neville was visiting the Hong Kong Sanctum one day, he bonded with Pinaka. A golden coloured bow that was rumoured to have been made by the Indian God, Shiva. Which is why the bow was also called The Bow of Shiva. According to Tina Minoru, the Hong Kong Sanctum protector, the bow was rumored to only work for the noblest of people. It wasn't a surprise for me why Neville had been chosen. The bow was very unique as Neville didn't need physical arrows, instead the bow would create arrows from his own magic, or any magic Neville powered the bow with. Hopefully, by the time we have a run in with Hawkeye, Neville has mastered using the bow quite a bit. It would be interesting to see how the World's Greatest Archer would fair against the combination of Neville and Pinaka, one of the most powerful bows in existence. I knew Neville would have a massive disadvantage as Clint Barton had a gift unline any other for the bow. But with a few years training with a godly bow, it could help reduce the gap between them. Not enough to eliminate it, but definitely reduce it.

While the Longbottoms were almost all focused on offensive magic, the Tonks had been split in the middle. Ted had been the one in the family, to focus more on defensive and warding magic. He felt more comfortable using the offensive spells he knew from wizarding magic and combining them with the new defensive magic he was learning. He explained that it was because of they way he liked to duel, as he often baited his attacker to tire themselves out by relying on his defensive magic and then finishing them off with strong offensive spells when they are out of stamina. Andromeda in the meanwhile had come to appreciate the use of tonfas. While there weren't any mystical ones to claim like Neville had, she still founding using the ones provided to all masters in Kamar-Taj, very comfortable and the perfect weapon for her. As such, she was focused on learning different combinations between her tonfas and using her magic. Dora, had chosen to become an all rounder, putting emphasis on offensive and defensive magic. She made that choice after I gave her idea of using conjured magical chains as possible weapons, when she was struggling to pick a weapon to start learning with. We discussed all the ways the chains could be used; defensively and offensively and she fell in love with the idea. She starting by conjuring one chain and increasing its strength, then adding in another and so on. The idea was to be able to conjure strong enough chains in any situation, it would be pointless if they snapped right away because they weren't strong enough. From there she would begin integrating other spells along with using her chains.

As for the Grangers, specifically Hermione's parents, they had not made too much progress, as expected. But they were able to make use of their Sling Rings, and by the time the summer ended they would be competent enough to go anywhere they needed to. Much to the chagrin of Hermione, as she had come to enjoy being depended on by her parents. Speaking of Hermione, she had been focused more on the theory and history of the Mystic Arts, not to say she didn't practise any practical magic. But she definitely was the one who hit the books the most, unsurprisingly. In terms of her practical magic, she put more of her focus on the Runic language of the Mystic Arts. Especially because, we would be able to take the class at Hogwarts for the third year. Hermione was of the belief that if they could be combined, the magic of the Runes would be much stronger. I supported her theory as well, since I had also found the same weakness in the Runes sorcerers used. It was because they couldn't put any of their own magic into their Runes so they could never establish a true connection to them. But if a wizard and a sorcerer worked on a Rune, that would be a different scenario. Though before either of us got there, we would need more mastery over both Runic languages. For Hermione though, the Runes weren't her primary focus, she was still adamant about discovering the key to get wizarding magic to work with technology from the normal world. Though she still very far before she could start that project, a lot more reasearch and readings to do.

As for the twins and Luna, they had become very adept at using their Astral Forms. The rest of us still had difficulties interacting with our own Astral Forms let alone interacting with the Astral Forms of other people. But the twins and Luna were getting very close for the later to become a possibility for them. Their progress, though, was mostly out of necessity. As they couldn't get away from their families as much as they would have liked; and so they had to use their Astral Forms to practise whenever their physical bodies were asleep at home. It was something the Ancient One had shared after the three had complained of not having enough time to practise compared to everyone else.

Hermione's parents didn't waste any time to get her to promise not to over use the Astral Form to study endlessly, something we all knew was possible with her. She ended up agreeing though not without turning completely red from everyone turning their attention to her. She understood that everyone had predicted that she would have done exactly as her parents implied, if they hadn't spoke up first.

Now because Sirius and I were spending most of the time in the States, we spent a lot of the time training apart from the others. Usually our workday coincided with when they would be training, and when we trained, they would be asleep. As such, Sirius and I ended up training together a lot, with both of us making large strides in our mastery over the Mirror Dimension. Even though, I had previously put more emphasis on it than Sirius, he caught up very quickly. I guessed his innovative, prankster mind gave him quite the edge. All the rules of physics went out the window in the Mirror Dimension, making it so that anything was possible. And so, having a creative mind to make use of the liberties provided by the separate dimension would be a significant advantage over any other sorcerers.

I also made sure to keep up my training with the magic of Watoomb. I could now make wind blades extend out from my hand. Taking the expression, of letting your weapon become an extension of you, to the most literal terms. The blades had enough power and sharpness to cut through most solid objects, though it could be stopped by a powerful magical shield. As I discovered in one of my duels with Sirius. My fire and water magic had come very far, as well. Even though, they were considered to be "opposite" elements, they actually complemented each other very well. So well, that I was able to execute combinations of fire and water magic before I had even mastered combining wind and fire. Despite how far I came with the three elements, I could tell, I was still some ways away from the Earth element, which I knew would be the hardest to learn. For some reason, it instinctively felt like that; maybe it had to do with the hateful relationship between Herbology and I. But who knows, maybe once I start learning and mastering the Earth element, it will increase my aptitude in Herbology. It was still the one class I struggled with.

I had also discovered that my teleportation magic didn't need to create gateways. The only reason one was being created was because that was what I pictured when trying to teleport; a gateway opening to the place I want to go. But on a whim, I had instructed my wand to teleport me without the gateway and it worked, though I was off by a few metres. Something I would have to fix with practise but now that my teleportation method was no longer so ostentatious, I would be able to use it more frequently. There was no sound, or visible cue to signal my teleportation, I simply disappeared and appeared in the place I wanted, without any uncomfortable feeling either.

Just as the summer was ending, Sirius and I had decided to begin expanding our business on a much larger scale. We were going to simultaneously open the second store we had planned for the States, while also opening one in France, as well as one in India. France because Hermione had some information on their version of Diagon Alley for us, more than what we had for any other country. As for India, it was because, we were already spending so much time at Kamar-Taj, that it just made sense to Sirius and I to include India, in the expansion.

The reason we made the decision to speed up the expansion was because we were doing very well, almost too well. Word about our games had spread beyond Britain and the States, such that wizards and witches from all over the world were flooding our stores to buy the games and it resulted in us running out of supply many times. Hence, to combat the unprecedented demand, we agreed on opening more locations to ease the burden our existing ones were experiencing. Sirius and I had also planned to convert some of the other games, with each new game we converted being released to coincide with the opening of a new store.

When I boarded the train to Hogwarts for the third year, I had no idea what the year would be like. With Sirius released, cleared of all charges, and Pettigrew still in Azkaban, there was no reason to have Dementors at Hogwarts. Because of this I was also unsure if Remus would be teaching DADA this year. I was really counting on seeing him this year, mostly because I wanted Sirius to be able to reconnect with his long-time friend. But unfortunately, it was not to be, as Dumbledore announced, the day of the Welcoming Feast, that there would be no specific professor for DADA. Instead the position would be filled on a rotation basis, with the heads of all the houses taking turns teaching the class.

I was initially hesitant when Dumbledore had announced his idea but it actually turned out to be one of the better classes for the year. Each professor brought something unique to the class that really enhanced our learning experience. Flitwick brought with him all the experiences he had with DADA from all his duels. He would give out real-life examples of when he encountered different curses and how he approached them and what other methods there were of dealing with them. Also, every week that he was teaching would always end in a dueling tournament he would set. The top three would be rewarded with house points, and I had claimed the top spot every time. It was honestly unfair of me to participate in the class, but not like I could skip ahead. I tried finding out if I could, but apparently that was only allowed after a student passed their OWLs.

McGonagall, taught DADA with a focus on dark and/or cursed objects; how to identify them, how to decontaminate them, and the ones that need a trained curse breaker to deal with. Pomona Sprout, taught about the dangerous magical plants that she couldn't cover in Herbology because of time constraints on the school year.

As for Snape, who had been eyeing the position for some time now, made the most of the opportunity. While his teaching style was the same as in Potions, expecting everyone to have read ahead. He did showcase that he had great aptitude for the class. I could even say he did a better job teaching DADA than Potions. As for his curriculum of the year, he taught the class with focus on the possible dark creatures we could face in the real world. He made sure we knew how to identify them, knew their weaknesses, and how to fight them, if we ever encountered them. Though we didn't get to interact with a boggart, Snape found them too weak to be taught about in his class. We had found that out after someone had given boggarts as an example for dark creatures that could be dangerous against wizards. Snape didn't hesitate to ridicule that answer before going on a tirade against boggarts. And honestly, I agreed with Snape; the method to deal with them was not only stupid but was one of the easiest compared to other dark creatures.

While the DADA position had changed from Remus, Hagrid's position as the new professor of the Care for Magical Creatures class had not. He had still been selected as the professor, and despite his unusual teaching habits, he was probably one of the most competent people to teach the course. Considering all the years he's been exploring the Forbidden Forest, taking care of any creatures he found injured or in need of care.

Just like canon, the first creature he introduced to us was Buckbeak, the Hippogriff. But unlike canon, where Harry was essentially forced to volunteer, I willingly stepped up. Not only did I have a general understanding of them, but I was very much looking forward to fly on Buckbeak.

"That's the spirit, Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed happily when he saw me step forward in response to his question of who wanted to try riding Buckbeak first.

I calmly followed his instructions, making sure to not show my excitement so as to not startle him. Once we bowed to each other, and I was able to pet him, Hagrid lifted me up on to the Hippogriff with ease.

I was in love the moment we took off, the feeling completely different from being on a broom. As on a broom, I had to split part of my focus on controlling it. I didn't have to worry about that while on Buckbeak. I could let myself be completely immersed in the feeling of flying. Instead of the quick tour around Hogwarts, I had him fly around a bit longer so I could properly enjoy the flight. I wasn't afraid to try some tricks with him either, performing many aerial acrobatics as we flew around. I was greeted to a round of applause jut like canon, when I made my way back to the class.

Knowing what was going to happen between Buckbeak and Draco, I made sure to keep my focus on the both of them. And it seemed like canon, Draco had a problem with the attention I received and decided to show off his prowess. Just like his canon counterpart, he didn't bother listening to Hagrid and insulted Buckbeak with his approach. And as Hagrid had alluded to, Buckbeak got incensed by Draco's approach and made to attack him. When Buckbeak growled angrily, Draco realized his mistake and started backpedaling. And when Buckbeak made to attack him, I was quick with my reaction, and used my wind magic to stop his advance on Draco. Because of my interference, Buckbeak probably felt as if an invisible wall had been erected between him and his target.

Speaking of his target, Draco obviously had no idea that I was going to interfere, and so when he saw Buckbeak raise itself to attack him, he fell back on to the ground. And as he saw Buckbeak's front legs hovering in the air ready to pounce on him, he fainted from fear. It took Hagrid sometime to get Buckbeak back under control but thankfully he had not harmed Draco at all. As for Draco, he was plenty embarrassed when he came to and learnt that the Hippogriff had not attacked him at all, only threatened to attack him. At least that's how everyone else saw the situation, as nobody had found out that I interfered in any way. Unfortunately for Draco, he became the butt of many jokes because of the incident. The same fainting act that Draco teased Harry with, in canon, was now being directed at him from many of the Hogwarts students. Poor guy, just couldn't catch a break. Last year, he had to deal with the rumors of him being the Heir to Slytherin, something he received plenty of pranks for, mainly from the twins. And now third year was spent trying to ignore the majority of the student body making fun of him. But honestly, better him than me.

One thing I hadn't accounted for coming into the third year was the attention I would receive because of Empire and Quibble. Any student who not been able to get their hands on the games tried to get one from me, while in Hogwarts. The first term I had to turn everyone away as I was not prepared for the requests, but made sure to tell them that during the second term, I would have enough games set aside for them.

Another thing I hadn't accounted for, was Ron to come up to me, asking for an autograph. But not on any of the Boy-Who-Lived merchandise but instead on his Empire playing board, he explained that it had become one of his favourite games. While I didn't agree to his request because I didn't want to encourage other people asking for autographs, I did promise to give him the first edition of all the new games we released.

My conversations with Sirius over the summer, also made me realize that I was unfairly judging Ron based on his canon counterpart. And that I needed to give this Ron an actual chance, and make my decision on our friendship based on that. So the games, would act as a form of apology for being so biased against him till now. I wouldn't say that interaction led to us becoming close friends, but by the end of the year, we had become friends, at least. Especially since, he made more of an effort becoming friends with Hermione and Neville, as well. It was annoying dealing with him before because he would try to isolate them away from me, but no longer the case. I still didn't enjoy hanging out with him too much, since he still didn't focus as much on improving his magic. But that was his choice and I wasn't going to hold it against him. His life didn't have a reason for him to really push himself like Hermione, Neville and I did. But that was okay, as whenever we wanted to have fun, Ron was definitely the friend to have around. We did try and help him in his school work, but not to the point that he makes us do it for him. Frankly neither one of us had the time, as we only helped him the odd times we were in the common room, being too busy otherwise. Learning two different forms of magic, leaves you with little spare time. Even Hermione had only chosen to take the Hogwarts courses she found essential or was really interested in. She skipped out on courses like Muggle Studies, Divination and the like. As for me, when you added in Quidditch as well, it was a wonder how I had any time to help Ron.

As the end of the year approached, it was clear Gryffindor was going to get the house cup, for the third year in a row. I'd even heard McGonagall smugly laud that over Snape. As much as I would have love to share in the joy McGonagall was feeling, all of it was zapped from me when the Daily Prophet was delivered the day of the Leaving Feast.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione has asked when I slammed my head to the table. In response all I did was shove the Prophet in her face. The front-page headline read:

"Breakout at Azkaban! Peter Pettigrew, Traitor to Potter Family Escapes Captivity."

Hermione and Neville both tried comforting me, once they read the article, though they couldn't do a good job of it. It was because they assumed I was upset at his breakout and was worried he would come after me, as revenge. But that was not what upset me. If Pettigrew came after me, I would mop the floor with him. Literally, if I wanted to; not that hard to turn someone into a mop, when you have access to two different forms of magic.

What actually upset me was that if Pettigrew was going to breakout, why couldn't he do it earlier; before the school year started, not when it ended. At least then, it would have given Dumbledore a reason to hire Remus. I assumed in canon, that Dumbledore reached out to him as a possible deterrent against Sirius and maybe he would have gone the same way with Pettigrew's escape. Especially, with Sirius still giving him the cold shoulder. But that wishful thinking was for naught.

Now all I could do was hope that next year went according to canon as result of Pettigrew's escape. I was starting to worry how I would get the final encounter with Voldemort as I had no idea how to find him. I knew my Wand of Watoomb would eventually give me the ability to scry any person, place or thing I was familiar with but that was far away. I could tell that power was not within my grasps any point in the near future. So if the following year did go according to canon, I would use the chance to get rid of Voldemort once and for all.

Although, it also meant that Bertha Jorkins would be killed as a result, as well. I had previously been happy about her potential escape from death and it being used to make a Horcrux. But, if Voldemort was going to plan for the Triwizard Tournament, he would have to get his hands on her. I was very conflicted when I had the realization of Bertha Jorkins' death coming back into play. Now part of the plan would call for her death, and I wasn't sure if I was okay with that. I couldn't reason how to put the greater good above the life of one person. Especially, as that was the main reason why I had gripes with Dumbledore.

And so it was with a somber mood that I returned to Potter Manor, choosing to teleport from the compartment right when the train left the station from Hogwarts. Neville and Hermione left with me as well, but they went to Kamar-Taj, with Neville using his Sling Ring to make the gateway. They voiced their support for me as they left, reminding me they were available to talk to whenever I wanted. But as much as I appreciated their support, they wouldn't be able to help in this scenario, as they have never had to make a difficult choice like the one I was facing.

When I got to the Manor, the elves instantly knew something was wrong. Not only had I not greeted any of them, but I was sure I exuded the despair I was feeling; in both my body language and the expression on my face. Kreacher and Dobby had never seen this type of expression on me so while they were the very worried, they could not compare to the other 4 elves. The one time they had seen me this low was when I first came to Potter Manor; still feelings the effects of the Dursley's "caregiving".

Nabel instantly went to make some tea for me, specifically Indian tea or "chai" , as it's called there. I had developed quite a taste for it and it became the go to drink whenever I feel very depressed. As I sat down on one of the sofas, Sebas brought one of the newest games we recently converted. Another thing I loved to do when feeling downtrodden was playing board games with elves and getting distracted by the small world we created amongst ourselves when playing the games. Especially, with our newest one; Avalon, the wizarding version of Catan.

After a few hours of playing with the elves, I was in a much better mood. Enough, that I could think a lot more clearly. And I realized that there was someone I could talk to, the Ancient One. While I had not learned how old she actually was, I did know that she had lived for a long time. And so, I assumed she must have faced somewhat of a similar situation in all the years of being the Sorcerer Supreme. So assuring the elves that I was feeling better, I made to teleport to the Ancient One, though this time, I did create the gateway. I figured I owed her some mode of respect for everything she has done for us and so didn't want to just appear in her inner courtyard with no warning. Thankfully she was already present when I arrived.

"Hello Harry. I didn't expect to see you here today. Hermione and Neville informed everyone you weren't feeling up to par." The Ancient One said when she saw me step through my gateway.

"Yeah, I wasn't planning on coming today but I realized you might be the only one that could give me any useful advice right now." I said a little cryptically.

When she agreed to hear me out, I explained my situation as best as I could. I didn't include the exact details as I didn't have anyway to explain my foreknowledge. But it was enough that she understood the severity of the choice ahead of me. I had also clarified that I came to her because I assumed in all her years of being the Sorcerer Supreme, she must have faced a similar situation.

"You are right Harry; I have been in similar situations before and so I do not envy the choice you have to make." The Ancient One said sombrely. "A very important thing I can pass on to you is, whatever choice you make, know that there is no right or wrong one and should not be judged simply on, if it was a moral or immoral choice. At the end of the day, you are trying to save the lives of innocent people and there is nothing immoral about that."

"But how I do know which choice to go with?" I asked beseechingly.

"It must depend on what you can control and what you can't. You indicated, you had no idea where Voldemort is currently, and that it could be years before you track him down. And so you need to ask yourself, are you okay with the consequences that will come out of Voldemort living for however many years it takes for you to find him?" She replied perceptively.

I didn't respond right away as I didn't know the answer to that question. Instead choosing to switch focus to something else that was on my mind.

"You know, I kind of expected you to be more concerned with my potential meeting with Voldemort and that you would try to convince me otherwise. That facing him, wouldn't be the best option for me." I commented curiously.

"While I am concerned for your well being, I also know you have a great destiny ahead of you. And your impending encounter with Voldemort seems like it will be one of the first steps in your journey." The Ancient One explained with a warm smile on her face. At my confused expression, she continued further.

"You see Harry, I have had the unfortunate foreknowledge of knowing when I was meant to die." The Ancient One started. Her smile got a little wider at my shocked expression. "It's been years that I have been glancing at the fateful day and it has not changed once. But from the day I met you, that future has started to become unclear. It quickly, became evident that you were the catalyst for it. And it's the reason why I was so welcoming to you all and have helped you, however I can. I don't know if you will change my particular fate, but I have a strong feeling that your path in life will change many future events to come and I would like to help make that path easier for you to take." The Ancient One explained as I became more and more stunned, the longer she went on. I let out a deep exhale when she finally finished, it was a lot to take in. I knew I was going to be changing things but not to this scale. Not to the point that the Sorcerer Supreme would look at me, as such an important figure.

"I mean, could you find him for me?" I asked eventually, after getting some of my bearings.

"Unfortunately no I cannot. Whatever form he is taking now is making it difficult to trace him. I already tried that the day we removed the Horcrux from you. I tried using the remains of the Horcrux before it completely disappeared for reference for his signature, but no luck." She replied back with a little laugh. Probably at my wishful thinking, that everything could be resolved so easily.

"I know what I just revealed was very overwhelming, and you'll need time to process it. But I felt with the difficult choice ahead of you, I needed you to know how highly I think of you, Harry Potter. No matter the choice you'll make, I want you to know that I will support it. I know I said that your fight with Voldemort is your journey to take, but it doesn't mean you can't ask for help." I felt a little relieved at her words, but I was going to need a few more days to digest everything I had learned.

Knowing that the Ancient One saw her own death was definitely jarring but it also told me what her decision would have been, if she were in my shoes. Agreeing to help without pushing to avert her own death, told me she would place the lives of the many over the life of one individual. Well, at least, if it was her own life. She never stated what she had done in similar situations, I assume that was because she didn't want me to feel pressured into making the same choice as her. Either way, I only had a few more days before I had to make that choice. I didn't know when Bertha Jorkins was killed so the sooner I found her, the better it was. Now that I think about, there may have been an innocent non-magical who was killed by Pettigrew, when that person saw him handling Bertha Jorkins' dead body. Or something of that nature, I couldn't remember the details exactly.