Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, I would have a lot of money and do the story differently.
Chapter 1
"GO TO YOUR CUPBOARD YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE FREAK!" shouted Uncle Vernon, "AND NO DINNER FOR YOU TONIGHT!"
An inaudible sigh left 8 year old Harry's lips. Harry was a small skinny kid. Brilliant emerald eyes shone beneath a veil of raven-black hair. His pale skin was gaunt, stretched over what little muscle and bone his small, 4 foot tall malnourished body had. He wore extremely baggy clothes that were hand-me-downs from Dudley Dursley, his cousin.
His relatives, the Dursleys HATED him. Just because he had magic! (Speaking of, he wasn't entirely sure how Vernon came to know about magic.) His mother was Aunt Petunia's younger sister for crying out loud! But no, just because he had magic, they hated him. The Dursleys did everything they could to squash the "unnaturalness" out of him. Because of their fear, he was heavily abused. If it wasn't for Ebony, he probably would have killed his relatives long ago.
Ebony was his best friend. Harry didn't know where she came from, he just knew that she was there for him, no one else could see her. He had asked what she was and she replied that she was neither an angel, nor a demon, nor a spirit, nor a mortal, but was something in-between. He had asked what she meant and she replied he would know when the time was right.
Ebony was just a little shorter than Harry. She had silver hair with black highlights that ran down her back like a waterfall and ended at the small of her back. Her face was very elvish, high cheekbones and a pointed chin, she even had pointed ears! She had extremely vibrant silver eyes and flawless pale skin. She looked like a six year old elfling.
Harry trudged to the cupboard under the stairs and went in. Uncle Vernon locked the door behind him. Like that was going to do much, Ebony could unlock any door. Ebony was extremely helpful to Harry. Whenever Uncle Vernon beat him, afterword Ebony would put Harry's head in her lap and sing a beautifully haunting lullaby to him while running her fingers through his hair. When he had calmed down, she would quietly explain to him how to ignore the pain and reach into his core and pull the magic to his wounds to heal them.
Ebony taught Harry everything he knows; he never went to preschool or kindergarten. Even before he could talk, Ebony would speak to him in numerous languages so that he would be able to learn them all growing up. Even at 8 years old, he knew several dead or useful languages well enough to have a conversation in them. Ebony would randomly switch languages whenever she talked to him, so Harry got a lot of practice in switching his thinking to that language. It wasn't easy, but Harry was an astute learner. This was in part due to how fast Harry was forced to grow up. Harry had no childhood, the Dursleys saw to that. So Harry was forced to be very mature for his age.
Whenever Harry was in the cupboard, and not sleeping, Ebony had him practicing touching and learning his magic. At first she merely had him meditate until he could find his core, the center of his metaphysical self that represented his magic. Then she coaxed him to slowly reach into his core and bring out strands or strings of magic and have them run through his body. She would guide him to direct his magic to his wounds and then manifest his Will into his magic to heal him. This took a long time, years even, before Harry felt comfortable manipulating his magic inside his body.
The next step Ebony had for Harry was to start reaching his core in seconds. He had familiarized himself with his core and how to use it in meditation, but now she pushed him to be able to reach his core with but a thought. This took another long stretch of time. Not quite as long as learning to direct his magic, but it still took harry until his 8th birthday until he could reach out and immerse himself in his magic, then direct it around his body. Today was the day she would begin to teach him how to organize his mind so that he would finally be able to manifest his magic outside his body by solidifying his Will. Harry sat on the bed and Ebony stood in front of him.
"Harry my beloved, now that you have proficient control of your internal magic, it is time for you to learn how to organize and protect your mind. The first thing you need to do is access you core, then bring a thread of magic up into your head and connect it to your brain. In this way your brain will be constantly filled with magic because it is directly connected to your magical core. This will greatly enhance your mind and allow you to directly affect your mind and consciousness at a much deeper level. Once you have a direct link, start meditating, but instead of reaching for your core, you need to sink into your mind." Here she paused for breath.
"Once you enter your mind, you will find yourself in your mindscape. Your mindscape represents your mental health and allows you to organize and defend your thoughts and memories. Everyone's mindscape is different. For example, someone's mindscape could be an open grass filled plane. Or it could be an icy cavern ravaged by a blizzard. Or it could be an onion where there are layers of access and different levels of private memories. Everything is open, there is nothing you can't do in your mindscape with enough Will and magic. Just use your imagination and do whatever feels right for you."
Harry nodded and repositioned himself so he was sitting cross legged on the bed, his back to the wall. He closed his eyes and reached for his core. He pulled out a tendril of magic and threaded it up his body from his chest until it reached his brain. Then he connected the tendril to his brain. Magic burst into his brain. He heard a roaring, rushing sound, like that of an enormous waterfall. His vision was encompassed by a flash of white light followed by streaks and flashes of colored light. His skin tingled and he could feel the air brushing against him; a sweetly metallic taste coated his tongue and his nose was filled with an acrid bloody scent. When his mental vision cleared and his senses calmed down, he could see a strong cord of magic connecting his core to his brain.
He focused on his brain and tried to sink into his mind. It took a few minutes, but he knew when he has succeeded because suddenly everything went black and he felt the sensation of falling. He didn't know how much time passed as he fell, all he knew was that it felt like forever before something changed. He looked down and could see a small speck of light that grew brighter and bigger as he fell closer to the light. Soon the darkness around him was completely replaced by white light, with flecks of red and silver and purple whizzing by. The light continued to get brighter until Harry had to close his eyes because it was too bright. Suddenly he felt his speed decrease a few moments before he slammed into the ground.
Harry kept his eyes closed as he stretched out his senses. It was eerily quiet, the only sound he heard was his own breathing. The air was cool on his skin and he felt a slight breeze ruffling his hair. His fingers gently brushed across the soft dirt beneath him and the smell of freshly rained earth wafted up his nose. Taking a deep breath, Harry opened his eyes and sat up. His mindscape was filled with gently rolling dark brown hills stretching into the horizon and roiling dark purple clouds covering the sky, silent flashes of lightning constantly jumping between clouds. Harry stood up and looked around, searching for any other distinguishing features of his mindscape. Nothing looked different to him, just more clouds and hills.
Taking another deep breath, Harry sat down cross legged and began to think of what Ebony told him about organizing his mind. Immediately, one of the clouds above him zoomed down and stopped right in front of him. This one was colored silver, exactly like Ebony's eyes. "What is this?", Harry wondered out loud. He leaned forward to inspect the cloud closer when it turned transparent and an image appeared inside the cloud. It was the memory of Ebony explaining mindscapes, "... allows you to organize and defend your thought and memories… use your imagination and do whatever feels right…" Eyes wide, Harry considered what this ment and started talking to himself, "Hmm… so these clouds are my memories and if I focus on a specific memory, it will present itself to me like a video. So if I want a memory of the first time I met Ebony…" At that, the cloud with Ebony rose up to join the other clouds and a seperate cloud, this one silver with a golden glow around it, came down and stopped right in front of Harry.
The cloud became transparent and the image of Harry's cupboard ceiling came into focus. The video panned over to the door and suddenly the image of Ebony appeared in the doorway. Harry watching this memory nodded and dismissed the cloud. Then he focused on the land around him, "What should I do? What do I want my mindscape to look like?" Wracking his brain, he started pulling down clouds of memories of different landscapes and stories told to him by Ebony; first was a story of a castle far north that was surrounded by water and forest, next a brief discussion of how technologically ignorant wizards are; then a picture Ebony created for him of what muggles think Hell looks like.
Harry didn't know how long it took him to make a decision. All he knew was that some time had passed and he had reviewed quite a lot of memories. He stood up and stretched, shaking off the stiffness in his body. Lowering his arms, he stared at the landscape in front of him, and began to focus his Will.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Harry was shaken awake by Ebony, "Wake up beloved. It's morning. You have been organizing your mind for the whole night. How did it go?"
Shaking his head, Harry pulled himself out of the meditative state he had been in and answered, "It went well. I found my mind and I began to construct what I want my mindscape to look like. Also, I was able to stash all of my memories inside a secure vault until I have a more permanent place to sort and secure them."
Ebony beamed at him, "Excellent beloved. Now all that is left for you to do is to meditate each night until you have your mindscape completed and all your memories sorted." She reached up and ruffled his hair, "Once you finish sorting your memories and complete your mindscape, we can move on to you really learning how to manipulate magic."
Bouncing on the bed excitedly and punching the air, nearly hitting the ceiling, Harry exclaimed, "YES!" Immediately he froze, listening hard, afraid he had awoken his "family". Ebony smiled sadly, "Its ok beloved. I silenced your..." here she paused and looked distinctly irritated, "...room. You won't wake up your relatives this morning."
Harry gave a sheepish smile, "Thanks Ebony, you always think of everything." Ebony gave him a brilliant smile and just hugged him closer, "Anything for you beloved. Anything."
Harry 'woke' up a month later to his Aunt Petunia screeching, "Wake up and make breakfast you freak!"
Harry sighed as he got out of bed and got in his hand-me-downs clothes. He opened the cupboard door and walked to the kitchen to start making poached eggs, bacon and toast, as he did every morning.
Ebony appeared at his elbow and gave him a quick hug. "How did organizing your mind go last night beloved?" Ebony asked, her mental voice ringing through Harry's head.
Harry gave a small grin, still focusing on the eggs, "It was great! I got the last of my memories categorized and sorted!"
Ebony flashed him a large smile, "That's excellent beloved! Once you finish making breakfast we can talk about how you can really start learning magic."
"YES!" Harry exclaimed, he turned around and hugged Ebony as hard as he could, then turned back and continued to cook the eggs.
Harry finished cooking the eggs and bacon and filled two plates and set them for Vernon and Dudley, and set a small plate for Petunia. He grabbed a piece of toast, a small piece of bacon and a spoonful of eggs and fled to the cupboard.
He sat on the edge of his bed and nibbled on his toast, waiting for Ebony to start the conversation. Ebony spoke, "Harry, now that you have started on your mindscape, I can begin to use that time-dilation I told you about. From now on, as soon as you finish your chores that the Dursley's make you do, we can go out and I can take you to some remote places where I can teach you what you need to know before you return to the magical society."
Harry nodded, "How long will it take before I am ready?"
Ebony chuckled, "As long as necessary my beloved."
Harry finished eating and left his cupboard, determined to finish his chores is record time.
Harry was elated, he had finished all of his chores almost 2 hours early and now Ebony was going to take him to his training place! He slipped out the door and raced to the park near Privet Drive, excitement bubbling in his chest. It was a cloudy day, the storm clouds forecasted were rolling in. The wind was gusting occasionally, causing the trees to shake and twist.
When he got to the park, it was deserted, everyone was inside because of the oncoming storm. Harry crossed the park and entered the woods on the other side. As soon as he got deep enough that he couldn't see the park any longer, he called out, "Ebony!"
Without a sound, Ebony appeared in front of him. "Are you ready, my beloved?" she asked.
Harry bounced on the balls of his feet, his head bobbing furiously, "Yes! Yes! Let's go Ebony!"
Ebony smiled at his enthusiasm and held out her hand, "Grab my hand then."
Harry immediately grasped her hand tightly and with a twist, they vanished into the night.
One moment of disorientating darkness and motion later, Harry opened his eyes to see that he was definitely not in the woods in Little Winging any more.
Harry looked at the world around him and the first thought that came to his mind was grey. The sky was grey, not an overcast cloudy grey, but the color of the sky looked grey. No sun could be seen, no brighter patches of the sky to tell you where the light source was, just uniform, endless grey.
The trees looked dead and only seemed to come in shades of grey. The ground looked like a very dark brown, almost grey. There didn't seem to be any animal life, or any life at all. Just dead trees and endless sky.
Harry turned to look at Ebony. She seemed to have an otherworldly look about her, it almost looked like she had a grey aura around her. She also was the only thing other than Harry himself that had any color other than grey.
Harry asked, curiosity and fear filling his voice, "Ebony, where are we?"
Ebony turned her face to Harry. Her eyes had this gleam to them that Harry had never seen before. "This is a realm, my beloved, where time does not matter. Here you can train as long as you can handle, and no time will have passed in the normal world. Let us begin." She continued in a soft, even tone, "Magic, Harry, is an energy that some people can use to manipulate reality around you. This energy is everywhere and nowhere. Magic has, to an extent, an intelligence, an almost sentience. For instance the point me spell asks magic to turn your wand and point it in the direction of the object you are searching for. So magic has to have some form of intelligence or it would not be able to answer that question. Now beloved, many people think that magic is in special words and wand motions. They are wrong, magic is in the intent and will. All magic is, is merely gathering the energy inside you and, using your willpower and intent, directing that energy to cause change in the world around you. That is the basics to all magic."
Harry asked, "Are there any rules to magic?"
Ebony smiled, "The only rule to magic is that all magic comes at a price. For most magic, the price is energy from your core, but for rituals and greater spells, there is a greater cost. Now all magic can be done solely with the energy in your core, but most people, if not all, do not have enough energy to energize rituals, so they use sacrifices. With enough energy, anything is possible with magic."
"Ah,'' said Harry, "So what should I do first?"
Ebony ruffled his hair affectionately, "The first thing you should do is try to levitate this feather," Here she conjured a white feather. "Remember to submerge yourself in your core, then bring the magic out slowly."
Harry easily sunk into his magic and brought it to the surface of his palms. "Good... Now push the magic out of your body and to the feather." Here Harry's brows furrowed as it became much harder to control the magic. Sweat beaded his brow as he pushed the magic out of his skin. Slowly, his magic reached out and engulfed the feather.
"Good… Now direct the magic to lift the feather." Harry strained and the feather burst into flames. Harry slumped, disappointed. Ebony wrapped her arm around his shoulder, "It's okay beloved, try again." Here she conjured another feather.
Harry straightened up, took a deep breath, then pooled the magic in his palms. He slowly reached out with his magic until it engulfed the feather, and slowly, surely, the feather rose until it was a foot off the ground. "Excellent my Beloved!" cried Ebony.
Harry grinned as he let go of the magic and the feather floated down to the floor. Suddenly Harry sagged. He felt like he had been running for hours.
Ebony gently picked. Harry up and carried him over to a chair that he hadn't noticed before, "Don't worry beloved, it takes a lot of energy to force the magic out of your body the first few times. Your body isn't used to the magic being passed through and out. After a few times it will adjust and it will be easier and easier. For now just relax. Next we will go over how magic travels through your body."
AN: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. If you have any suggestions or questions please review.