Yet another suggestion on a Harry Potter story that could catch your interest. Prince of the Dark Kingdom by Mizuni-sama.

And a thanks goes out to blackcallalily for your review. This is a little to tack on to the Christmas post. Though, a bit shorter than the rest. The next Chapter depends on responses to this one. Be prepared!

Update 12/30/18 - No big changes at all.

On the Wrong Side of Sanity

Chapter 11: The Free Bird Sings the Most

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Live the life you have imagined.

-Henry David Thoreau

…

I walked quickly into the store that I had seen while searching the minds of passersby for wizards that wouldn't mind doing a bit of illegal alteration to a wand. I was desperate to get rid of the trace that nearly every schoolboy worries about every summer.

When I made it through the front entrance, I couldn't help but allow my eyes wander, most likely easily marking me as new to the store. The place was dark, relatively similar to any of the other stores that I had seen in the area. It looked like the building had a history of being left un-cleaned with each new owner. The man behind the counter had an old look about him, although a look that had less to do with actual age and more to do with a lack of personal care. His eyes were slightly sunken, likely from lack of sleep, and his hair fell in unkempt waves into his face. He gave me a once-over before speaking.

"What c'n I do ya for?" he asked, his accent not at all what I was used to hearing.

"I need my Trace removed. Can you do that?" I asked. It was probably more polite than I truly needed to be, but I was nervous about this whole thing.

"No, I can't. So get yerself back to school," he replied without missing a beat. The man was fucking with me, I knew. I could feel his feelings of slight nervousness: a panic about an unknown waltzing into his shop and asking too outright for something that was a shady business. He thought of the possibility that I was an undercover Auror, which nearly made me laugh out loud.

"Stop fuckin' around. I know you can, and for this amount, I'm sure you will. Number four, if you will," I said with force. The code was simple, but I hadn't known it until I had peeked inside his head. Although the first part of that was just my temper. I didn't have time to waste. At any moment, Dumbledore, or even a troupe of Aurors, could come busting through that door to take me back.

After looking at the bag of coins that I had tossed on the table, the man gave me one last uncertain glance before nodding. Apparently, the gold was worth the risk. While the man tinkered with my wand, muttering a couple of quiet spells, I continued to look around the shop. It seemed his front was that of an old, used book store. Some of the darkly colored books actually looked as if they were about ready to fall apart at the seams. A grunting noise from the man brought my gaze back to him, only to be met with a suspicious glare.

"What the hell've you brought this here fer?" he snarled at me. "There ain't no underage Trace on this goddam thing! How old are ye, ye damn fool?"

And that was when I realized my stupidity. I wasn't exactly underage anymore, now was I? I felt like a fool, but it still didn't make sense. I never graduated Hogwarts, so how could the trace be gone? Unless it only had to do with age, and that's why the ministry takes and breaks the wands of anyone who dropped out?

"Check for anything else on it, then." I tried to project some authority into my voice, if only to cover my embarrassment for the mistake. Another glance from the unclean wizard, and then he was back to work.

"No Trace, but a tracker. Would'a been able to show whoever placed it right where you were at any moment" he finally said.

"Well, take it off!" I nearly yelled. How quickly could people have noticed that I was gone? It hadn't exactly been difficult to sneak out of Grimmauld, but that was because the place was warded not to keep people in, but to keep them out. I hadn't even been gone a few hours yet, only enough to stop by the thankfully war-neutral and somewhat ministry-hating Gringotts in order to get out as much money as I could carry.

A full twenty minutes later, I was finally walking out of that dingy shop, a deal of money lighter yet satisfied. Now all I had to do was get a better disguise, and I could probably elude everybody who was looking for me for a decent while. My disguise now only consisted of muggle clothing. A hat to cover my forehead and to keep my hair over as much of my face as possible, and a pair of sunglasses to hide my bright green eyes while I was in the streets. Nobody seemed to even truly glance my way, like I was invisible simply for looking like a muggle-born. It was sad, but then this disguise would only hold out as long as I steered clear of anyone who actually knew me.

But what could I do? Dye my hair? Change my eye color? Would that even work against people for long? I couldn't imagine that people would be dumb enough to fall for that for a long time, and I almost wished that I could just go somewhere where nobody really knew who I was.

Or could I? Did I really have to stay in wizarding Britain, or even in Europe? Merlin knows how much I had wanted to travel in my youth, well, in my childhood. I always wanted to see what was beyond Surrey and the house that was identical to every other on the block.

And now, perhaps I could.

Perhaps, I would.

…

I walked once again through the streets of Diagon Alley, whistling as if I hadn't a care in the world. The other shoppers were pacing by in their daily hustle from store to store filled with goods and services that I just couldn't be bothered with at this moment. The sounds were pleasant, surprisingly so considering the fear that my friends had expressed about the war against Voldemort. It was odd, but I guess that people wanted to forget what was going on in the world. They probably would rather simply enjoy the times while there were a lull in vicious attacks by the somewhat organized group.

I should have been more alert, but I was too relieved by my progress so far. No Trace or Tracker on my wand, and the freedom to use it. Although, should I? I couldn't help but look back to what Dumbledore had said to me about seeing someone to check my magic or something of the sort. Could something really be wrong? It didn't feel like it. Still, I wasn't too sure about taking a risk when I was so close to complete freedom. That, and there were still people looking for me in this place. Better that I get out first.

A woman in a bright green dress that seemed slightly short for the cool weather we were having passed me on the right, looking like she was in a hurry to get somewhere and leading a child by the hand. In her other was a small purse-size piece of luggage that looked like it had been shrunk. The only reason that she had caught my attention was how loudly she was admonishing her son for making them late. Without thinking as she caught my eyes, I checked and saw that she was going on a vacation. By portkey. That made me stop and dig further.

Before, I had always assumed that someone wanting to use a portkey had to apply directly to the ministry for permission, as it was a restricted method of transportation. But there were…travelling companies? Companies that allowed large groups of people to use a single portkey to visit a common area. Before I could go deeper, the woman and her mind were just about out of reach, further lost among the thousands of other intruding thoughts of the various people in Diagon Alley, and I was standing dumbly in the middle of the walkway. But what I had learned was enough to give me a start. I had to find one of these companies that used portkeys.

It took hours of what you could almost consider fishing to find anyone thinking about these companies. I needed a name or location, but it seemed that not everyone new about these places, or at least consciously thought about them. Even when I dug deeper into some minds looking for memories of travelling, it only seemed to bring up memories of broomsticks and apparition. This was ridiculous.

Finally, I found a couple that at least knew of the place that I was looking for. In fact, they seemed to be lamenting the fact that they couldn't afford to honeymoon through the company. However, they soon moved on to thinking about other places to visit that they could simply apparate to. I had to weave through a number of people to catch up to the young newlyweds and ask the old-fashioned way.

"Um, excuse me?" I said, not quite thinking everything through before just jumping in. "Do you know where the portkey travelling company is located?"

The couple turned to me in surprise before I continued on, trying to make my request make sense.

"I was supposed to meet a friend there to travel with, but he forgot to explain where it is." It was a poor excuse, and I just had to hope that they didn't think it too odd.

"I…well, we actually just went there today!" the man exclaimed, looking at his wife. He seemed like he must still be bitter about not being able to go where he wanted. "You shouldn't bother though. The prices are ridiculous. Anyway, the name's Fitz's Fast Travels, and it's in…uh…well, it's next to that one Quill Shop up the Alley a ways. I hope that helps!" he finished, glancing again at his wife. She simply shrugged and the couple moved on without waiting for me to reply.

I turned around to look in the general direction that the couple had come from, but was only able to see the many people still walking from store to store. Of the nearby shops, only one was a place to buy quills and writing supplies, but the stores beside it were selling books and children's toys.

Travelling further down the Alley brought me to a couple other quill stores. One had a store with no name next to it, so I tried stepping into that store hoping it was the one that I was looking for. Not a second later, I was hustling back out, trying to clear my nose of the acrid stench coming from the older apothecary. Thankfully, the travelling shop was just a few shops over, and I quickly entered. What I saw was surprising.

There were brochures for different places that you could travel to as well as prices listed down the side. I would have to go back to Gringotts to pick up enough money to pay for this. It didn't take long to come to the decision that it was worth the money. Still, I couldn't help but sigh. How much would I end up spending today? After a shake of my head, I was out the door and on my way to the wizarding bank once more, hoping that my shoddy disguise would continue to hold against the crowds in the streets.

Half an hour later or more, I walked back into the shop, once again feeling slightly uncomfortable about the way that I was dressed. I looked terribly out of place, surrounded by finely crafted chairs and side tables with large and colorful rugs underneath. Even the windows looked expensive, as they were delicate-looking and accented with gold. I would probably have fit in better if I had been wearing some dress robes from the Tri-wizard Tournament Winter Ball. I approached the woman standing behind the desk dressed in a deep blue fitted robe.

"One passenger for a portkey, please," I stated, trying to act like I knew what I was doing and belonged in a place like this, despite my appearance. My excitement about finally being free helped.

"Where will you be heading to?"

…

…

So, where should he be going? I'll let you guys help decide first! One vote per reader. Just let me know where you think that he should go in the comments for this chapter. I'll tally up your votes and choose from the top three! Happy Reading!