Chapter 7: The First Month

Here's the next chapter! I felt guilty for not uploading for so many days, so here's the next chapter, as early as I could do it. I don't have any pre-written chapters, so all this is being uploaded as I write it. Enjoy!

Hogwarts was once again bustling with activity, and Harry could honestly say that he had missed it. Classes had resumed, and Harry had almost slipped and called the teachers by their first name.

He still went for tea with Minerva every Friday and with Filius every Wednesday. Dumbledore called him to his office every weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, and they either went over the Horcrux situation, or he tutored Harry on something or the other.

By now, Harry surpassed Hermione on sheer intuition on magic. He could literally sense magic now, after lots of weeks with Dumbledore in the summer. It was a grueling, frustrating process and even now, he could only sense magic when it was very, very strong, or if it was very near him.

Hogwarts was saturated with powerful magic, and when he had first seen it as a kaleidoscope of colors, it had been overwhelming enough for him to feel dizzy. Later, he wondered how he had missed it.

Hermione, in particular, was miffed about Harry's ability. She was convinced that if Harry could do it, she definitely could. Not being able to do it time after time made her more and more irritated.

'It's like the Prince all over again,' Harry thought, particularly annoyed, after Hermione pestered Harry on how he did it again. 'If she didn't know Dumbledore taught it, she would have definitely called it Dark and told someone.'

Woah. Where had that come from? When did he begin to think Dark as something not evil? Was it?

The more Harry thought about it, the more it didn't make sense. 'Surely not all Dark Magic is evil.'

As he thought this, his hand lightly brushed over his scar. It tingled warmly, not painful, but pleasant. As he did this, his hand froze.

'What was he doing!', Harry stared at his hands, aghast.

He leapt up from his chair in the library, ignoring the exclamations from his friends and ran out of the library, no doubt leaving Madam Pince flustered at the noise.
He ran all the way to the Gargoyles guarding Dumbledore's office, panted out the password and rushed up the stairs.

Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk and got up in alarm when Harry burst into the Headmaster's Office. "Harry? Harry! What's wrong!?"

Harry stumbled to a halt, and panted erratically. Unable to speak, he just looked at his mentor's eyes and gave an invitation.

Dumbledore entered, and after some painful few seconds, he left, looking more somber than when he was on his deathbed.

"Professor?", Harry asked in a low voice, more frightened than he had ever been.

Dumbledore, hearing the plea in his voice, outwardly calmed himself a little.

"I will need to think on this, Harry", his mentor said dejectedly. "But if that was Tom, then he simply breezed past your Occlumency as if it wasn't even there. No, I think this came from inside."

"Inside?" asked Harry. His legs almost gave out from the relief, but confusion, and a slowly growing unnamed dread, that even he couldn't identify, was creeping up on him.

Dumbledore looked grief-struck. "Its time I told you something, my boy. When Lily's, your mother's, protection reflected the Killing Curse, and killed, explosively, I might add, the Dark Lord, a small part of his soul broke apart, and latched on to the only living thing it could find. You."

Harry stared back at Dumbledore, and then laughed. He laughed, and kept on laughing hysterically, as the alarm and sadness on the old man's face grew.

"Harry…", Dumbledore whispered. "My boy, I'm so sorry. So, so sorry…"

Harry didn't listen, and kept on laughing, even as tears ran down his face. His magic hurtled around him, so much of it, that even he didn't know he had.

Finally, he stopped, not because he didn't feel the urge to laugh, but because he ran out of breath. Without another word, he walked out of the office, starting to sob only when he was out.

Dumbledore sighed sadly. He would go to Harry, the next day, when he's had time to think it through. It was a huge burden he had just place upon the young man's shoulder, and it could break him.

Harry ran all the way to the Great Lake, where he just knelt, sobbing his heart out. This late in the evening, there was nobody out to hear him.

There was something foul inside him. Something so disgusting that no amount of water, soap or magic could get rid of. Nothing except for death. The tears stopped falling. He took out his wand with trembling fingers and held it near his chest.

Voldemort's voice floated through his head with a hiss. "You know the incantation, Harryyyyyy."

He would see Sirius again. He would see his parents, he could apologize to Cedric…

Harry almost said it, summoning up all his hatred of the thing inside him, but at the last moment, his resolve shattered like frail glass.

Cursing in despair, he threw his wand down and hid his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably again.

Hours later, when his tears had dried up, Harry had a thought. This thing had been part of him almost his whole life. He had never just been Harry for as long as he could remember. The horcrux had always been with him.

'NO!', Harry thought furiously. 'That was an unacceptable line of thought!'

And then another wave of revulsion rose up in him, reminding him that there was a piece of the killer of all of his family in him.

But what Harry didn't know was that when he admitted to himself that the foreign part of him was actually a part of him, something changed. Pathways opened, and defenses that held that outsider in place finally broke.

And yet, the outsider was not alone. There were three others. One was Harry, who remained woefully unaware. Another was the spirit of his Mother's Love, a warm entity locked in constant battle with the outsider.

And the last, was an ancient entity, that was slowly awakening, It had helped Harry before, in the Tower, when Harry's desperation had helped it wake, just a little, before it slept again.

And now, all the despair, and its host's acceptance, finally allowed it to stir properly. The first thing it noticed was the two other entities constantly fighting.

One was clearly helping its host, and another was trying to take control. It poured energy into the one fighting for its host, and the fight was over.

There was a metaphysical explosion in Harry's mind that he didn't notice. Lily's love finally won, and Voldemort's sliver of a soul screamed in pain as it was finally defeated and vaporized.

The next day dawned bright and cheerful. Harry mechanically got up, avoided talking and just trudged to the Great Hall. As the day passed, his friends continued to grow worried, especially as Harry almost never talked and straight up ignored any of their questions regarding his state or the previous night.|

Finally, Hermione decieded enough was enough and dragged Harry to a peaceful cliff overlooking the Great Lake.

"Harry, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to tell us what's wrong! We can help you!"

All the bottled-up emotions came bursting out in anger, as Harry turned to glare at Hermione with such rage the Hermione flinched and stepped back.

'YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!", Harry screamed at her, causing Hermione to look even more shocked and afraid. "YOU – NONE OF YOU – UNDERSTAND!"

Hermione took another step back and her foot stumbled on a small stone. Hermione made a shocked yelp, and fell backwards, off the cliff.

All the anger in Harry was replaced by shock and desperation. He leaped forward, desperately trying to catch Hermione – catch the girl who he had saved from a Troll, a girl that had stayed loyal to him since the beginning, and caught her.

Harry's scar burnt slightly as he sighed in relief. Hermione was staring up at Harry, horrified and taken aback. Harry could feel his hands gripping Hermione's back. And yet, something was wrong.

Harry's eyes widened. Hermione had fallen of the cliff, and was floating 10 feet below. His own hands were outstretched, but nowhere near her. Yet, somehow, he had caught Hermione, and could feel her trembling in his invisible hands.

Harry's scar was burning.

AND DONE! This Chapter was a bit short, but lots of important stuff happened. Also, next chapter is going to be the big one.
Some of you have DM'd me questions, and I will do my best to answer them.

Q: Is there a Horcrux in Harry's scar?
A: Not anymore. *wink* *wink*

Q: Does Voldemort really know how to break out of a Petrificus wandlessly?
A: Well, if he does, I don't know about it. [This is a clue]

Q: What did Harry learn during the Summer?
A: Harry learnt some advanced Transfiguration and Charms. He also learnt how to sense Magic from Dumbledore himself. He practiced and went a little more ahead with his Occlumency as well

Well, that's it for now. Be free to DM or review any suggestions or questions. The next chapter will be up in the next week or so.