POTTER RESURGENCE
Chapter 11
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners
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Harry woke and blinked slowly. The last thing he remembered was going to bed after he had spent hours admiring Hardwin's wings and milking the two Potters of every detail about them. How the tattoo had been created and what it took to activate it.
It turned out the wings had been impressions of Hardwin's magic. The man had perfect control of what little magic he had and had learned to manipulate it at unimaginable levels.
With Lola guiding it, he had traced the wings on his back simply with magic alone, the image he had wanted very clear in his mind and it was how he had made the tattoo. And now with enough magic to channel into the tattoo, he was able to get the wings to come out.
From what Harry managed to make out, the tattoo was like a focus but unlike a wand or staff, if someone, in this case Hardwin, channeled magic into it, the focus had only one effect and that was transforming into wings.
And they had been a marvel to behold. They were huge, easily twice the size of his body. Two feathery wings, seeming to merge with the skin on his back. They were black, same color as his hair and when Hardwin twitched his shoulders, he could feel how they were attached.
While experimenting with them, they had found that the feathers can be soft to the touch just like any other feather but with merely a thought, he could transform them into barred black and silver, and they were sharp, sharper than anything Harry had ever seen. He could make them soft as satin, and hard as steel.
If one of the feathers was plucked, it could cut through solid stone. Though it disappeared once he retracted the wings and they transformed into a tattoo again. Harry could think of numerous things that he could do with the wings if he had them.
He had managed to sweet-talk Hardwin into letting him see the memory of the tattoo's creation and all he needed was learning to manipulate his core and someone adept at witchcraft and there weren't many of those that he knew. It was probably going to take him years.
"Harry, talk to me, are you okay?"
Harry blinked and focused on the person above him in confusion. "Brother?"
"Yeah, it's me mate, are you alri_" He was cut off as Harry grabbed him in a tight hug. "Yeah, you're definitely not alright."
"You have no idea how good it is to see your stupid face again." Harry said as he pulled back, smiling at his brother.
"You're not making any sense, Harry." Hardwin frowned. "I saw you in the great Hall this morning."
"Yes, you did but for me it has been over six weeks." Harry replied as he pushed himself to his feet. He walked over to the drawer and saw the time-turner lying there harmlessly.
"Harry what are you talking about?" Instead of answering, Harry just showed him the time-turner and Hardwin's eyes widened. "You went back in time?"
"Something like that, yeah." He replied as he walked over to where Hermione was lying. Carefully, he removed the fake time-turner and replaced it with the real one. "What time is it?"
Hardwin checked his watch, one identical to Harry's which the two had received as gifts on their birthday from Tonks. "A couple minutes to six. If we hurry up, we can find supper."
"No, we are going to the kitchens." Harry replied before he waved his hand over Hermione's face. "Rise and shine, Granger."
"What...Harry?" She groggily opened her eyes before she glanced around. "We are still in the chamber? What happened?"
"You passed out." Harry said flatly.
"What?" She asked in confusion. "There was an explosion of light! You were covered in some dome of light!"
Harry raised an eyebrow and didn't reply. Hardwin was well used to receiving the look and snickered quietly at Hermione's frustrated face. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"
"I know what I'm talking about, Harry Potter!"
"Doesn't seem that way to me." Harry stood up with a shrug, not even bothered by her use of his two names. "Come on, we're going to be late for supper."
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After dropping off Hermione in the great Hall, the two brothers managed to sneak away and five minutes later, Harry was telling Hardwin about his time in the past with as much detail as possible while he ate. When he was finished, Hardwin was left speechless.
"Wow..." He breathed. "I...I'm speechless."
Harry just rolled his eyes.
"Are we going to tell Mom?" Hardwin asked. "You know I don't like keeping secrets from her."
"We'll tell her during the holidays." Harry replied. "This is not something we can talk about through letters."
"Yeah, you're right." He nodded. "So...are you still going to try to go back to that night?"
"Maybe in the future when I'm more knowledgeable about time." Harry sighed. "Living with those two, I realized that there's a lot I don't know about magic. Knowledge which is supposed to be basic for any wizard but has been lost. I plan to find all I can, learn everything that magic has to offer."
"And where will you be learning this lost knowledge from?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "Lola believed that Atlantis still exists, all those original magical settlements like Olympus, Asgard, Themiscyra, Tartarus, even the Bible's Eden and Heaven, and so many others that have now only become myth."
"That's...hard to believe." Hardwin shook his head. "But like you've said, they have been lost, even if there were even traces of them, they're probably only ruins."
"Maybe, but either way, I'm going to find them." Harry vowed. "I know that somewhere out there, a cure for whatever our father is suffering from exists. All I have to do is find it."
"But that will be years away." Hardwin said. "First of all you can't leave the wizarding world unless you've finished your OWLs and there is also Voldemort."
"I'm sure I can find ways of going around any legal restrictions. The problem is defeating the Dark Lord." Harry said as he retrieved Riddle's ruined diary. "This diary is probably the key. This and your scar."
"My scar?"
"Have you ever heard of a phylactery?"
"Not really, though it sounds familiar."
"According to the muggles, in ancient Greek, some magic users had them, like 'soul jars' where if their physical bodies were destroyed, the soul will be pulled into the 'soul jar' keeping them from dying completely." Harry lectured. "However, from what I understand the person's soul will be in the phylactery, if Voldemort had made one, then he wouldn't have appeared in our first year in that state or be in the diary looking like sixteen-year-old self."
Hardwin frowned as he tried to understand what Harry was saying. "Okay, so are you saying that my scar, just like the diary may be a...what did you call it?
"Phylactery, yes, though it wouldn't make sense for him to exist as a shade." Harry replied. "There is probably a better explanation for this but if we figure out how your scar and the diary are related, then I believe we would have found the key to defeating Voldemort."
Hardwin traced his scar with a finger. "Are you saying that I might have some form of Voldemort in my scar?"
"Yes." Harry said bluntly.
"Wow, Harry. No need to sugarcoat it." He said sarcastically and Harry just shook his head.
"Sugarcoating it won't change the facts." He was quiet for a moment before he looked at his brother again. "We need to talk to Dumbledore."
"Are you sure, Harry?" Hardwin asked. "You realize if we go to Dumbledore we'll have to tell him what happened in the chamber, right?"
At the end of last year, Ginny and Luna had been found unconcious, outside the hospital wing. Neither of them remembered much other than someone stunning them from behind as they went back to their respective houses.
Dumbledore had declared the next day at breakfast that it had just been a poorly executed prank. The fact that Hermione was up and about by morning just proved that fact as apparently the majority had forgotten about Lord Peverell and his mandrakes.
"Indeed, but Dumbledore, despite his flaws was the leader in opposing Tom the last time." Harry answered. "I don't think there is anyone who knows the Dark Lord as much as our dear headmaster."
"You're right." Hardwin nodded. "So, when can we see him?"
"Monday after lunch, I believe we both have a free period." Harry said. "We can meet him then."
"What about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is Sunday, he won't be in office and I have a few people I need to talk to before I talk to Dumbledore."
"Harry, you've been back for less than an hour and you're already plotting." Hardwin said shaking his head. "What have you got planned this time?"
"Something I'm hoping I won't be involved in but ultimately end up benefiting from it greatly." Harry answered mysteriously as he finished his supper. "I haven't slept in a proper bed in forever. I'll see you on Monday, tomorrow is going to be a busy day."
-PRPRPRPRPR-
Entering the common room, Harry went straight to one of the corners where the most of the thrid-years were seated. Draco seemed to be holding court, or rather he was boasting while the rest glanced at each other and barely stopped rolling their eyes.
When he arrived at the group, Tracey tried to create for him space to sit but he shook his head and just greeted them instead before looking at Draco. "Draco, may I have a word?"
"Uh, sure." He was a little taken aback at the request and glance at Crabbe and Goyle. "What do you want?"
"Not here." Harry replied and turned around left towards the dorms, clearly expecting Draco to follow.
"Does he expect him to just follow him?" Draco asked looking at the others. "Who does he take me for? I the heir to_"
"Just go, Draco." Nott interrupted him and when the blonde glared at him. "You know you will go, so please spare us the posturing and come back and tell us about it."
With a half, Draco stood up went after Harry.
"He can be such a girl sometimes."
"And what is that supposed to mean, Zabini?" Daphne asked dangerously and the boy gulped.
When Draco entered Harry's room, the one he shares with Blaise, he found the other boy seated the edge of the bed. Harry reached into his robes and brought out a few pieces of paper. "Have a look at this and tell me what you think."
"What is this?" Draco frowned as he took the papers and Harry just stared at him. "Right."
Blushing slightly, Draco sat down and read through the paper, his pale eyebrows rising by the second.
"This is_"
"A proposal to reinstate dueling in Hogwarts." Harry finished for him. "All that is missing is your name at the bottom."
"My name?"
"Yes." Harry nodded sagely. "I would have liked for it to be my name there but the Potter name doesn't carry as much weight as Malfoy. I figured this proposal would have more chance of being considered if a great name like Malfoy was backing it."
"But if this proposal is somehow successful, it will be me that is remembered for bringing back dueling in Hogwarts."
"Yes." Harry nodded, raising an eyebrow. "What, your feeling conflicted of taking credit for my work?"
"Merlin no, far from it in fact." Draco scoffed. "I'm just wondering how you benefit from all this. It is not like you to just handover something as important as this."
"Oh, don't worry about me." Harry waved him off. "Anyway, if you agree to sign on that proposal, I'll forward it to every member on the school board, Hogwarts staff and also share it with a few students with important families that could be of use."
"I see." Draco said. "We're going to need people on our side, Dumbledore fought tooth and nail to take it off, I don't think he will just seat idly and let his work be undone."
"You're right." Harry smiled. "Which is why we need to get as many Hogwarts professor's on board as possible. Tomorrow we shall talk to Flitwick and Snape as they're the most likely to side with us."
"Yes, Flitwick is a former dueling champion and Snape will want to support me." Draco was grinning now. "I'll send this to father and ask him to get as much support from outside as possible. Knowing Dumbledore he will probably try to smother this so we need to get it before the Wizengamot."
"That shouldn't be a problem, and since his pull isn't as strong as it used to be back then when he removed it, then it shouldn't be easier for us." Harry told him. "I will help you but ultimately, it will be up to you to make sure this proposal is accepted and passed. After all, it will be your name that will be in the history books."
Draco nodded seriously and signed the papers that had the proposal. Harry reached over the bed and handed him the folder containing other copies. Draco picked the folder and left the room. Just as he was about to go through the door, Harry stood up.
"This is a serious project I'm trusting you with, Heir Malfoy." He said seriously. "I could have tried to persue it personally but it would take a lot of time. You'll need to give it your all and see to it that it succeeds because another attempt after you've failed will be even harder. I'm trusting you Draco with my project and I hope you won't disappoint me."
With his throat dry, all he could do was nod in answer.
-PRPRPRPRPR-
The next day, Harry handed out signed proposals to all the Heirs and Heiresses whose families had seats in the Wizengamot. They easily agreed to send them hoping to score some points with the 'Devil of Slytherin'.
The proposal was elaborate and clear. It clearly stated the process through which it could be executed and how it would not only benefit the students but the Magical world as a whole. He was hoping that it would rouse the people's curiosity enough to make it a Wizengamot affair.
Draco went and talked to Snape and got the man onboard. Meanwhile, Harry talked to Flitwick and the man had been very impressed. He even agreed to be in charge if Harry is successful and dueling is reinstated at Hogwarts. In fact he was very much looking forward to it.
On Monday, after finishing their lunch, Harry and Hardwin left the great hall. Harry led him to the Headmaster's tower on the second floor where they were blocked by a stone gargoyle.
"You knew where the Headmaster's office was?"
"Yes Hardwin." Harry drawled. "How were we supposed to talk to the Headmaster if we both didn't know where his office was?"
"Right." He blushed. "So you know the password then?"
Instead of answering, he simply turned to the gargoyle. "Blood pops."
The gargoyle jumped aside to reveal a circular, moving stone staircase, they stepped on it and it brought them to a large oak door. Harry raised his hand to knock but was stopped by a voice from inside.
"Come in, Mr. Potter."
Harry paused and flicked his wrist to summon his wand. He then waved it over the door in intricate patterns that Hardwin had no idea about before he hummed in satisfaction. "Interesting."
Stepping into the office, Hardwin gawked at the mere eccentricity of the office. It was just so... Dumbledore, exactly as h had always pictured it.
"You're most welcome, please take have a seat." The headmaster greeted, not even standing up from his chair.
"Thank you headmaster." Harry replied politely. "And we apologise for coming over here without an appointment, I hope we're not interrupting anything important."
"Oh, don't worry my boy." Dumbledore waved him off, closing the tome he had been reading. "I can always create time for my students."
"Still, we are sorry to drop on you like this. I know you're a busy man." Harry said. "It's just that we wanted to get this over with as early as possible."
"Well, in any case, I'm glad you came now, I was starting to nod off. Don't let anyone tell you that reading a history book is fun." Dumbledore replied with a smile. "I was expecting you anyway."
"You were?" Harry asked in surprise and the headmaster nodded.
"Yes. I may not have received one of your proposal's but I have my sources and while I may not know everything that happens in this castle, I know a few things." His eyes were twinkling. "Like the fact that while it's Malfoy's name on the proposal, it is you that's behind it."
Harry glanced at Hardwin before sighing. "This should save us some time then." He reached into the pocket of his robes and withdrew paper and handed them to the headmaster. "I imagine you've read through already but this was supposed to be sent to you."
"My own copy?" Dumbledore smiled. "And here I was under the impression that you were trying to keep me out."
"If I had wanted to keep you out, I wouldn't have sent a copy to Sirius, McGonagall, Moody and Snape. All members of the Order of the Phoenix who answer to you."
"And why didn't you just come to me directly?"
"Because he is a Slytherin." Hardwin said. "And from what I know, they're supposed to be secretive or something."
"Oh, I can relate." Dumbledore said. "You should see Severus when he is trying to get some of my lemon drops."
"You want honesty, I'll be honest with you, headmaster." Harry said. "The Dark Lord is still out there, I have read the stories about the last war and I realized that Voldemort was winning through fear. People were afraid to stand up and that was because they they wouldn't change anything. There are adults who can't create the most basic shield!"
"You're probably right." The headmaster said. "But don't you think if the people had tried to fight back, it would have just escalated the situation?"
"Maybe, but it would have given the Death Eaters pause knowing that the people will nolonger just sir there and suffer silently." Harry replied. "The war is coming, headmaster, we both know it. And while I'm not trying to create an army to fight Tom Riddle, I would rather the people have atleast a chance to defend themselves and their families like my father did."
Dumbledore was quiet for moment, staring at Harry over his half-moon spectactles. "You called him Tom Riddle."
The headmaster finally stated and Harry nodded. "Yes but we shall get to that later, it's actually the other reason why we came here." He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table. "The reason why I sent the proposal to those people was because I hoped that they would help me in convincing you why the students here needed even the barest of training."
He paused and looked at the headmaster in the eye and Hardwin got a recollection of Tom Riddle's monologue back in the chamber last year and how he had thought the two were similar.
"The war is coming, headmaster. I can feel it, and I know you feel it too. Luna says we probably have two years or less and I'm inclined to believe her because honestly, Riddle isn't the most patient person around." He said. "These students will not even be at the front lines but we will need everything we can get to defeat Tom, and this time we won't have a miracle baby to deflect his own spells."
The office was silent, except for the Puffs and whirling of the weird balls on the desk behind Dumbledore. The man himself looked from Harry to Hardwin who nodded in support of his brother before he sighed. "I agree. Let's do it."
Harry chocked on his saliva. "I'm sorry, what?"
Dumbledore grinned, his eyes twinkling merrilly. "You make a compelling argument and I couldn't help but be moved." He chuckled. "Besides, I've always wanted to do it but the minister is of the opinion that I want to take his position and would probably think I'm trying to create a little army of my own."
"So, the problem is the minister?" Hardwin asked and Dumbledore chuckled.
"Among other things yes, he is certainly the biggest obstacle." He turned to Harry. "If you can get the Minister to endorse it, then I'm perfectly with you on this."
"So all that plotting was pointless?" Hardwin asked incredulously and Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, my boy." He said sagely. "Plotting is never pointless."
"Indeed." Harry agreed in a similar tone. "Besides, do you honestly think I didn't plan for the unlikely event where the headmaster agrees with me?"
"Right." He said sarcastically. "How could I not have thought of that. From what you told me this morning, there was absolutely no chance the Headmaster would agree to this. In fact your exact words were 'He will fight tooth and nail against it.'"
"Yes well, in my defense, he did fight tooth and nail to remove it." Harry shrugged looking at the amused headmaster. "It's only natural that he would fight to maintain something he worked so hard to achieve."
"Under different circumstances, you would probably be right but things are different now." Dumbledore replied. "And speaking of, how did the two of you come to know the Dark Lord's name?"
Harry brought out Riddle's ruined diary and placed in the table.
"What is this?" Dumbledore asked as he picked up and examined the Diary.
"That was Tom Marvolo Riddle's diary and the artifact responsible for the petricifications last year." Harry answered. "It had a...'memory' of the Dark Lord when he was sixteen and was feeding off a student's life force so it can get a body of its own."
"I suspected as much." Dumbledore said to the surprise of the twins. "I knew it was a case of possession and after examining Ms. Weasley, I knew that some dark artifact had been involved. However, seeing that the artifact in question had vanished, I couldn't make any conclusions."
He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I take it the two of you ventured into the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve the two girls and that was how you came across the diary?"
"Yes sir." Hardwin answered. "We confronted Tom Riddle, defeated the basilisk and destroyed the diary."
The Headmaster continued watching Hardwin expectantly, hoping for more explanation. When it became clear he wasn't going to get any, he asked. "And how exactly did you do it?"
"I stabbed the basilisk through the roof of its mouth and then stabbed the diary with the same sword." Harry said with a perfectly straight face. Dumbledore looked at the diary and raised an eyebrow at Harry, it was obvious the man didn't believe him.
"I'm glad you two finally came forward with this." Dumbledore said as he stood up from his chair. He walked over to a book shelf and from the top shelf, he removed two plaques in the form of shields and came back with them. "I was starting to wonder what I would have to do with these."
The older man presented the two plaques to the twins and Hardwin remembered seeing one just like this in the trophy room with Riddle's name on it. Only the words on his were written in gold with a red background. He looked at Harry to see that his were written in silver with a green background.
"An award to the both of you for special services to the school." Dumbledore said. "I made those at the end of last year but I figured the two of you didn't want your involvement in ending the Heir of Slytherin fiasco to be made public."
"Thank you, headmaster." Hardwin said and Harry nodded too. These were not earned easily.
"I should be thanking you." Dumbledore said. "You did something that not even I was able to do, you risked your lives to do my duty and for that you have my external respect and gratitude."
It seemed like that was the opening Harry had been waiting for and like the dangerous feline that he was, he pounced immediately.
"In that case headmaster, we are counting on that respect very much and will be doing so for the remainder of this conversation." Harry said very seriously, his tone bussiness like. "I have been honest with you and if you respect us, I hope you be honest with us as well."
Dumbledore nodded just as seriously. "Ask away, Mr. Potter."
"How is the Dark Lord still alive?"
Dumbledore was slightly taken aback. "I can't say for certain, though I have my suspicions."
"Does the diary have anything to do with it?"
"If my suspicions are correct, then yes. It is."
"Are there others like it?"
Dumbledore hesitated, though his eyes were fixed in Harry. "It is likely, that there are others. Before I got the diary, I was only just considering the thought but now, I'm becoming more certain about my suspicions."
"If your suspicions turn out to be right, does it mean that unless every one of these things is destroyed, then the Dark Lord can't be defeated for good?" Harry asked and Dumbledore sighed.
"That, I'm afraid is very correct, Mr. Potter."
Harry picked up the ruined diary and stared at it in silence for a moment. "Is there any way of destroying what is in the object without destroying the object itself?"
Dumbledore looked at Harry with a frown before his blue eyes glanced at Hardwin. "Untill this moment, I didn't think it was possible to destroy even the object in the first place."
"Thank you headmaster, for being honest with." Harry said, standing up. "Is there any chance of you telling me how these things are known as in the wizarding world?"
"They're not exactly known, they're in fact a result of one of, if not the darkest ritual in magical history and most definitely not public knowledge." Dumbledore said pointedly. "And no, I will not be telling you what they're called for all our sakes."
"I understand professor." Harry said. "I'm actually glad that I was wrong about what you thought of the dueling club. It's actually... refreshing to be wrong for once."
And with that, he left.
"Oh Slytherins, it's always a joy to see them being so modest." Dumbledore sighed happily and Hardwin just shook his head and followed after his brother.
He found him at the end of the stairs admiring his award. When he heard him approach, he looked up with a smile. "A special services award? There are like only a dozen or so students who have received these, and certainly not personalized."
"So what do you plan on doing with yours?"
"Hang it in the trophy room at Potter Manor I guess." Harry replied. "And steal dad's from the school trophy room and take it at home with us while at it."
"And how do you plan on explaining these to mom?" Hardwin asked as he followed Harry.
"By telling her everything." Harry replied simply. "We only kept this from her because we didn't want the story to get back to Dumbledore. Now that he knows, there is no harm in telling her."
"She is going to be mad, you know." Hardwin said. "We should have trusted that she can keep the secret if we asked her. Not to mention Dumbledore already knew and it was all pointless anyway."
"It wasn't pointless, brother." Harry shook his head even as he entered a secret passageway and Hardwin followed. "If mom had confirmed to Dumbledore what happened, he would have asked for the diary sooner and we wouldn't have found out that it was a phylactery. Which means that we would never have had the talk we just had with Dumbledore."
He stopped in the middle of a corridor and ran his hand along the wall. "So this all worked out in the end."
"Are you trying to say that you planned for all this?" Hardwin asked and Harry just smiled at him.
"What do you think?"
A small part of the wall seemed to disintegrate in a way similar to the entrance to Diagon Alley and a doorway to a well illuminated room appeared. Harry stepped through and Hardwin followed, looking around in amazement. His mind was still on the conversation.
"Well, it's not like we are any closer to defeating Voldemort." He sighed, plopping himself into one of the chairs in Harry's lab.
"How so?" Harry asked as he sat in the one opposite. "We are now sure of his little soul anchors, all we have to do is find them and I'll skewer them in half with the help of Osiron here."
Harry summoned his dagger and twirled it around his fingers. It helped that it couldn't cut him or his fingers would have been twitching on the table.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Hardwin asked, his voice rising. "For all we know, we he could have have bloody well sent them to outer space or something!"
"Relax, brother no need_"
"Relax!" He roared. "Easy for you to bloody say, you don't have a frickin soul of a dark lord stuck in your forehead! I could be the only thing keeping that monster alive and the only way for him to die is with my death. So don't bloody tell me to relax."
Harry raised an eyebrow at his brother who was breathing heavily. He opened his mouth to answer but Hardwin wasn't done.
"I'm going to die, Harry. If Voldemort is to die, then I have to as well and you just there all caught up your plots for world domination or something." He stood up, looking at Harry in disgust. "I hope you enjoy your time here while I'm gone."
He made to leave but was stopped by Harry's cold voice. "Sit down."
Without even a single thought, he found himself back in his seat. Harry stood up an approached him, his face set and green eyes glinting slightly, the dagger, Osiron held tightly in his hand. When he reached him, Hardwin's anger seemed to vanish immideately and was replaced by trepidation.
"Interesting." Harry frowned as he leaned forward, his gaze locked on Hardwin's scar. "It would seem little Tom isn't as impassive as I had initially thought."
"What?" Hardwin asked in confusion. Harry returned to his seat and banished the dagger.
"You doubted my concern for you, you doubted my ability to deal with this and even accused me of plotting for world domination." Harry said slowly. "That is nothing like you."
"But, I know I felt that way, even though...now that you mention it i don't feel like that anymore." He paused. "Are you saying that it was Tom doing that to me?"
"Probably. Anyway, we shall find Riddle's soul anchors, all we need is to get our hands on one and with a little bit of luck, I can build us a tracker and use the one we have to find it's comrades." Harry said.
"What about the one in my scar?"
"Let's think of the ones we're in a position to do something about first." Harry smiled. "If we can't find a way if getting rid of it, we can always capture the Dark Lord, feed him a jerrycan of the Draught of the living them and keep him in statis in a coffin until we find a permanent solution."
"That could actually work." Hardwin mused.
"I know it will, I came up with it after all." Harry grinned smugly. "Anyway, now that you're nolonger being dumbed by Riddle, what do you think of my lab, pretty cool right?"
"Woah..." Hardwin breathed, getting his first good look at where he was and Harry's grin became even wider.
-PRPRPRPRPR-
As the days went by, life started moving smoothly at Hogwarts. Harry spent most of his free time in the library trying to get as much information on phylacterys in the magical word but there wasn't a single mention of anything even close.
With Draco busy with preparing for the dueling club, Harry offered to cover for him as Seeker for Slytherin untill he got time to take back his position. The quidditch matches from then on were interesting to say the least as Harry tried to keep up with his brother.
Gryffindor and Slytherin thumped the other teams thoroughly and everyone, even those usually uninterested in quidditch were looking forward to the game between the two teams.
Harry continued granting favours as his influence grew. The Weasley twins after Ginny had explained what truly happened in the Chamber had acknowledged the contract and Harry had asked them to get him at least two serious clients from Gryffindor.
By Christmas break, Harry finished consolidating his power in Slytherin and he could have anything happen in the house as literally everyone in the house owed him a favor in some foam.
As they were preparing to break off, Harry approached three purebloods and asked them to get him the list of all shareholders in the Daily Prophet. Having control of the magical world's leading paper would sure make life a little bit easier for him especially given his future plans.
It would also help him in getting a few clients outside of Hogwarts. As of right now, it was only Jennifer Walters that owed him anything outside Hogwarts and her payment was exclusive. And speaking of Walters, she had told him that the minister hadn't been happy when he received his copy if Draco's proposal.
Harry had definitely held up on his end of the bargain in regards to Walters. It had been much easier than he had expected thanks to Liz's own cunning. The girl, had taken advantage of Harry practically declaring her under his protection and had secured herself the position of head of her class in the house.
Unlike the third-years who didn't have an official head, the heads of class were given a bit of respect more than the other students and were left alone for the most part. With the 'Devil of Slytherin' backing her, Elizabeth Walters was practically untouchable.
Harry's other projects were not going so well either. Hermione had managed to get a basic understanding on Lily's notes and they had worked together and re-assembled the phone Harry had opened before he trip in time.
They had modified a few things and they got the phone to work for three days without the battery dieing. Only it had no service and they couldn't make a single call. When they tired to find a way to boost the receiver, the phone melted.
When they opened and re-assembled another one, it only lit up for two hours before it's system was fried as well. Just before boarding the train, they worked on another and it was working well enough and they Hermione was to go with it home to see if it will have service.
He hadn't managed to access his magical core yet which meant he wasn't about to get wings any time soon. Or order people around with just his voice.
"So Harry, any plans for the holidays?" Tracey asked from where she was seated as close to him as possible. "I know a place in London."
Looking at the nine people with them in the compartment Harry couldn't suppress a mischievous smirk.
"Well, there is Malfoy's ball for one. I will be meeting with my company manager to open a bank, take over the Daily Prophet while looking for ingredients for Felix Felicus. Other than that, nothing much." He savoured the looks on their faces for a few seconds before he pulled out a few board. "Anyone up for a game of Monopoly?"
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AN: Hi guys, I certainly took my time to upload this but in my defense, I was reading some pretty amazing comics. And man, I can't wait for the Hogwarts arc to get done so we can start with the xovers already.
As a matter of fact, one of the characters I've been reading about will be showing up next chapter so, see you soon.
