Alembics and retorts, calcinators and mortars and pestles - Harry'd gotten more than he'd ever dreamed of. And, even better, the owls had obeyed when he'd requested them to deliver it to this small room. (Well, he'd had to sleep here to make sure that they showed up, but still...). He had a pile of potions ingredients strewn across the floor (still wrapped), and three different cauldrons (He'd get more as necessary).
He already knew what he wanted to make first, but before then, he needed to have all this... hidden away. Luckily, the Weasley twins were willing to cast any sort of illusionary spells for a suitable bribe, so he'd been their guinea pig on turning into a scabrous, shambling horror. Really did a number on Ron, that one did. Neville, curiously enough, didn't look scared at all. When asked, Neville had responded, "You didn't look hungry, is all." And Neville, being a bit on the chubby side, sure did know hunger, now didn't he?
Harry's transfiguration skills were small, if growing, and so when he started to make shelves and places to store all of this wealth and industry, he used the bricks of the castle itself, extended alternate ones into crude shelves. The bricks liked to hold things, after all.
It took hours before he had everything settled, and he could start...
Shite! It's time for class! I even managed to miss breakfast!
Harry Potter raced downstairs in his still rumpled robes, plummeting past Ollie who was surprised to see that Harry could move faster on foot than on a broom. Well, relatively speaking.
Harry's pell-mell pace didn't stop him from giving Malfoy a shove as he went past, the other boy stumbling as Potter hit him with the force of a rocket.
Harry's face developed into a wide grin as Malfoy shouted curses at him from behind.
"Coward!" was Potter's only response, although the insult was softened irredeemably by the wild gales of laughter that followed. Harry Potter was in too good a mood to be upset. This was better than Christmas. This was all his, and would remain his. No Dudley to take it, no Vernon to smash it. No obligations, no strictures - just whatever he wanted to do.
Freedom, now found in jars of flobberworms and pixie wings.
[a/n: Thank Oblivion for the Alchemical glasswork.
Harry's in rather a good mood. Probably won't last.
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