The Shadow of the Wizarding World

By: Jamnaz79

Beta: Looking for a Beta for this story

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Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc.

-SotWW-

Luna lowered down to sit crossing her legs and leaning back with a bright smile, "I am your friend?"

The boy lowered down next to the girl with a smile, "Of course Luna Lovegood."

"It is nice to have a friend, I never had one before." Luna spoke up quietly as she looked over at the boy with wide eyes.

Harry held the gaze of the girl for long moments before he looked back to the sunset over the lake with a sad smile, "You do now Luna. Now tell me about these nargles..."

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the alley to get a new wand. Yet, Harry Potter was still standing there in the main room of Ollivander's after the noon sun was turning to afternoon. It had been six hours so far and Harry could swear that he had seen every single wand in the entire store. More than three dozen of the beautiful creations laid on the ground in shattered remains from the experiment to find him a wand. Kingsley stood in the corner of the shop close to falling asleep.

The old shop keeper at first had seemed ecstatic at the opportunity to match Harry with a wand. He had been a difficult customer before and now this was a chance to truly shine and show that he had everything possible for any customer. As the different wands tried started to pile up the man seemed to become more determined. But, after the hours had passed he slowly started to realize the fact. There was not a wand here for Mr. Potter.

The old man shuffled out of the back room with a pair of boxes and placed them down onto the counter with a frown, "Mr. Potter, I believe these are the last two in the shop that we have not tried this afternoon."

The wand crafter unboxed the first wand looking it over with consideration before holding it out to Harry. "Twelve inches, made of birth with a basilisk fang for a core."

Harry gently looked over the wand then gave a subtle flick at the plant in the corner. He could feel the wands strength, a vicious power filled the wand to bursting then the spell was released at the plant. A bit of smoke slowly rose from the tip of the wand as the boy lowered it down with a frown. "I don't think this was the one. It couldn't handle the strength behind the spell."

The old crafter took back the wand with a frown then placed it down into the box. Slowly he opened up the final box and handed over the wand to the boy, "Fourteen inches of Black Holly, tears of a sphinx willingly given."

Harry looked over the wand that seemed very ancient with runes carved into it. He looked up with a frown at the wand maker, "You didn't make this wand did you?"

Ollivander shook his head slowly back and forth, "No, it was an ancient wand from a powerful witch. The wand was crafted after a witch bested a sphinx in a contest of one hundred riddles. She won the tears for that wand and the land of her castle. That wand has been in my family for numerous generations and is considered priceless."

Harry gently examined the wand, his fingertips trembled as he could feel the care and history that it had been given. He could feel the eyes of the old man staring at him in curiosity, watching with a calculating consideration. Slowly the boy hefted the handle of the wand and closed his eyes concentrating. He could feel the power of the wand shooting through his core far stronger than his old wand. Just as when he first touched his original wand he felt the light seeming to wrap around his body and a wind pick up to swirl around him. His fingertips raised the wand upwards to point at the plant with concentration magic shot forth to cause the aged dried husk to grow into a vibrant plant.

The boy turned to look back at the old man with a smile, "We have found one. Now the only question to consider is how much is priceless Mr. Ollivander?"

Twenty minutes later the Auror walked from the shop following the young man. The boy had his new wand, for a price that was outrageous and would clear out most Wizarding families. The wand was now attached through a special holster to the right hand of the boy. He had two other holsters attached to his left arm and his right leg both empty but purchased for storage in case he had to hide the wand. At least that is the excuse given by the boy to Kingsley.

His orders had been to take the boy to get his wand then back right away but it seemed his charge had a mind of his own. The boy was walking away down the alley swiftly towards a supply and antique store. "Harry, where are you going?"

The young man looked back with a smile, "I need to get one item first before we go back to school. I hope they still have them available though."

Harry continued to move quickly to inside of the shop shooting the owner a quick smile as he walked around to look at the cases stopping before a selection of knives. His emerald eyes looked over the stock before stopping to linger on a trio of pairs. He raised his right hand and motioned to the owner.

George Smith, owner of Smith's supply and antique store walked over the young student that had come into his story. He had seen the man that trailed the boy, an Auror or at least part of ministry, before in the streets. Like hell was he going to be caught selling to minors a dangerous weapon and getting into trouble, "How can I help you young man?"

The young man raised his emerald eyes to meet the gaze of the older man. He made a quick motion to the three sets of daggers in the case, "I have an interest in those three sets of hunting knives. Would I be able to see them?"

"I do not mind showing you them young man but you know that you are too young to purchase them without your parents here with you."

The boy frowned as he looked up at the shopkeeper then tapped his right hand onto the display case. The distinctive sound of a ring knocking against the case was easily distinguished pulling the eyes of George down to it. The seal was one that was easily identifiable and easily remembered. The older man blinked then looked up at the boy searching for the telltale scar that used to be there on the forehead. Strangely the look caused the boy's smile to slip into a frown.

The frown of the boy broke as he raised his chin with an arrogance that would make a Malfoy proud, "Mr. Smith, I am Harry James Potter, Lord of House Potter. I am old enough to purchase some hunting equipment. Now will you show me those three sets of daggers or will I need to go elsewhere and make known that I do not shop here?"

The idea of the boy-who-lived letting it be known that he shunned his shop was not a pleasant concept for his future business prospects. On the other hand, letting it known that Lord Potters shops often here would be a pleasant chance for his business to get some free advertisements. George Smith smiled at the boy, "My apologies my Lord, I was not aware that you had been emancipated."

Harry waved off the comment and looked down at the daggers as George pulled them from the case, "It was just done very recently by the minister. It is perfectly fine. Now tell me of these daggers."

George held up two knives that seemed to be modeled after the American Bowie knife style. They were crafted in all silver with a dragon hide leather handle and capped at the end in ivory. Along the blade was an etching of a rhino, "My lord these are fine African hunting knives crafted in the late eighteen hundreds for hunting in Africa. They are enspelled to easily sheer away hide from flesh, even the tough hides of dragons can be cleaned away. In addition they are self-cleaning. The price on these sets are fifty gallons."

The shopkeeper placed down the knives then plucked up a pair of slender silver daggers that were about ten inches for the blades. They were wrapped in regular tanned leather that looked worn and cut to groves. "These are throwing daggers once used by travellers for a throwing game. They are enspelled not always be sharp and to return to their sheath whenever they are thrown. The price on this set of daggers is one hundred gallons."

The man slowly plucked up the final set of final set of daggers. These two looked ancient in appearance. The dirks had silver blades that were only an inch and a half wide by around six inches long. The hilts were wrapped in horse hide and had Latin scrawled in small letting over the blades. Harry leaned over closely to try to read the words and whispered softly, "Alea iacta est."

The shopkeeper smiled at the boy nobleman with a nod, "The die has been cast. These daggers are ancient and the most expensive of the three pairs. They are enspelled for protection, it is believed that they will vibrate when they are in the presence of a sworn enemy. They were said to be crafted in ancient Rome for a man named Brutus as a gift for his friend. I believe the man is known as Julius Caesar."

Harry leaned back and frowned tapping his fingertips to his chin. "I am intrigued by each of them Mr. Smith. You did not name a price for the final set of daggers?"

The shopkeeper could see the eyes of the boy were drawn to the final set of daggers and he smiled. He always knew when he could drag in a nobleman for a sale. A muggle raised, supposedly, nobleman would love the idea of owning a knives held by the famous muggle. "The price would be five thousand gallons for the final daggers."

Harry frowned as he shook his head slowly with a sight, "Unfortunately that is far too much. I am sure you would consider to take three thousand for the trio of sets."

Smith frowned back at the boy not expecting the bickering over prices. While it was done by many, most would expect a youth to leap at the chance to purchase expensive items for their own prestige. "Four thousand for the three sets."

The boy again shook his head, causing his long locks to slide back and forth against his shoulders, "No, that is too much Mr. Smith. I would pay you three thousand four hundred."

The man frowned for a second time as he glared down at the merchandise, "We will be at this all day my Lord. How about we end the game and agree at three thousand seven hundred gallons for the set."

Harry held out his hand to the man with a smile. The shop keep went to reach out to accept the handshake with a returned smile, "three thousand six hundred gallons."

George Smith couldn't help but laugh at the boy's tenacity, "Very well Lord Potter. Of course I will make it known that you shop here."

"I look forward to being back regularly to inspect all of your available goods."

The words caused a slight raise of an eyebrow from Smith as he glanced towards the Auror noticing the man was looking around the shop away from the transaction, "I think that can be arranged perhaps over next summer. Please sign here and add your vault number."

Harry initialed in the correct places then smiled, "Thank you for the business Mr. Smith." He carefully tied the sheaths for the throwing daggers to his ankles. Then he took hold of the dirks and bowie knives and walked out of the store followed by the Auror.

The boy stopped a few feet from the store and frowned to himself looking down at the dirks, "Dobby."

A crack was heard as the House elf appeared before Harry, "How many Dobby help great Lord Harry Potter today Master?"

Harry gently handed over the bowie knives first to House elf with a smile, "Dobby these will help with the project we talked about. The hunting trophies that I want to acquire. You have gathered the other house elves that I wanted correct?"

"Yes Master Harry. I have acquired three other House elves for the rebuilding of the estate manor and they all are trained for the hunting project." The big eyes of Dobby shined as he carefully held the knives given to him. He smiled with adoration up at the young Lord.

"Good Dobby. I want you to start working on the project right away. But first, please take these back to the apartment and let Nymph know that I got her a gift. Just tell here where to get it but not what it is. Understood?"

Harry watched the little elf nod repeatedly then smiled, "Good, if I need further assistance I will call for you Dobby."

He watched the little elf disappear in a burst of light then felt a hand on his shoulder. At first went ridged still not used to the human contact. But, his emerald eyes turned towards the Auror with a small smile, "I am sorry I have taken your full day Kingsley."

"It is no trouble Harry, but we should get back before the old man gets upset." The Auror offered back with a bright smile which drew a nod from Harry.

"Indeed, let us return. It has been a productive afternoon." Harry was about to walk over towards the Auror when out of the corner of his eye he spotted an art's gallery. A smile was given towards the Auror, "One more quick stop I think."

The pair walked into the gallery for a quick look around before returning to school.

The first few days back for classes were very different than normal for Harry. While Hermione seemed to be attached to him as a shadow, he sorely was missing Ron. The rest of the Weasley family had not yet returned to the school. Harry could feel the distance from the family just by their lack of being there. He may not be blood to them but he understood a bit of their pain right now. Harry tried to keep a bit of distance from most folks, including members of his house after remembering how last year he was shunned. Most of the school had shunned him from the belief that he was the Heir of Slytherin. A fact that he had disproven over dinner with Cyrus this summer, yet it still hurt to know that he was so easily turned on. He kept a list over the summer remembering those that turned against him over the incident. Perhaps someday he could pull a bit of marauder on them all, maybe once the twins returned.

Harry took the time to start a routine for himself. He would wake up around six in the morning and get dressed for a brief run. He would jog up to the quidditch field and run laps around it before heading back. Tonks always said to him, the stronger the body the stronger the core. He would then take a shower and head to off to an early breakfast normally studying at the same time. Now that he knew that he would have to make a proper impression for his family Harry was determined to be at the top of his year.

The teachers seemed to be much the same as every year. Binns was still terribly boring but now Harry was trying his best to stay awake. He even took some notes and with Hermione's help he was able to keep awake during the same droning lectures. Perhaps one of his next goals could be for next year to hire an exorcist to get rid of the ghost!

Potions seemed to be much the same, Snape was still a complete asshole to him. A few of his comments for the first class were caused Harry to be close to going over the line. Once again Hermione was there to help keep him on the correct path. The two of them now worked as potions lab partners since Ron was no longer there. Harry found it be far better having her as his partner then Neville. The poor boy was a good guy but terrible at potions.

A second thing that Harry noticed in potions was Daphne Greengrass. The Slytherin girl he had met over summer was in the class, of course, since she was part of House Slytherin. She seemed to do her work with a strawberry blonde girl at her side. He wasn't sure her name, but then he never really asked anyone's name in the first few years for those outside of Gryffindor. That was a practice he would have to change, hell his house hadn't really supported him fully perhaps he can make some more friends. Not to mention that many of the children in this school were future heirs of their family, he would be working with them someday. It was best to foster the business and political contacts now to grow for the future.

It did bother him at first that Daphne had never visited him on the train. He was looking forward to meeting her sister Astoria, was her name. At least he thought that was her name. Perhaps she had planned to come near the end of the train ride, if so he was sorely out to the world at that moment. Perhaps sometime he could quietly get a message to meet the girl and talk to her. She was a very intriguing individual, if a little distant and cold. Then again it could just be hormones and the normal belief to want what you can't have acting up.

Herbology was something that Harry still found relaxing. The subject was all about gardening, something that thanks to his aunt he had gotten plenty of practice in over the years. He never had been given top marks in the class but he was far better than most there.

Transfiguration had started off well for the year. Professor McGonagall had done a practical review with an essay for anyone that could not complete ten different transfiguration assignments that had been learned over the two previous years. Harry was actually able to accomplish it first for the class earning Gryffindor ten points. His new wand felt perfect in his hand, it made the magic feel easier than his old one ever had for him. It was as if the requirements to cast the spells that he once struggled to do were a breeze. This summer he had reviewed most of these spells while with Tonks, but this time it was far easier. It seemed a smooth class till the end when he was asked to stay late.

"Potter, please wait a moment after class. I would like a word with you."

The classroom quickly emptied of students so he packed up then walked up to her desk, "Yes Professor?"

The elderly woman gaze a tight lipped smile, the most one could get from the stern battle axe. "Potter, your performance today was very good. I was told by the Headmaster that you had been practicing. He also told me you might be interested in extra sessions during the year with Professor Flitwick, Professor Lupin and myself. That is of course if you feel up to it?"

Harry blinked in surprise, with all that had happened he had forgotten the Dumbledore's agreement over the summer. Then he offered a warm smile, "I would love the chance to have sessions for study professor. Do to my unique circumstances I fear I might need them someday in the future."

A frown etched at the corners of the woman's mouth at his statement, her eyes locked onto Harry's for a moment, "Very well. You will be meeting with each of us for two hours a night, one to two days a week. That will take up a lot of your time and I expect to not see your grades fall in your other courses. It was made clear to me that this year you will work diligently to keep up with Ms. Granger at the top portion of the class. If you fail at this, I might even have to remove your quidditch privileges. "

A bit of whiteness crept into the cheeks and neck of Harry at her statement as he swallowed, "I promise, you won't have to worry about that. I will work as hard as possible Professor."

"Good." The single word seemed to sum up the conversation and act a dismissal. Harry smiled to the Deputy Headmistress then turned to depart the room.

Just before Harry left the room he paused not looking back at the Professor, "Professor, I found a journal of my mother's this summer. She wrote that you were always my father's favorite"

If Harry had turned around he would have seen the cheeks of Professor McGonagall turn pink and a bit of wetness start to creep at the corners of her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out of the woman that always seemed to have a word ready at all times. She was surprised by the statement and hit emotionally.

Harry smiled to himself as he pushed open the door and spoke as he slipped out, "I just thought you should know that he was thankful and cared."

The door closed slowly as an old woman walked over to her window and looked out at the grounds in silence for a long time in her memories.

Charms class was a repeat of transfiguration in that it was a review of the previous years. Harry again performed the practical parts very quickly, getting a slight look of surprise from Hermione. Harry earned ten points for his quick and perfect execution of his charms work. After class he was asked to stay afterwards.

The classroom had cleared as the diminutive professor sat at his desk. Harry walked up with a smile on his face, "Professor, I was told by Professor McGonagall that I would get some time to tutor with you this year?"

"Yes Harry, I was asked to help you out learning some charms and other things. " The diminutive charms master spoke up with his squeaky voice.

The smile given to the man was genuine as he always seemed happy and willing to help students. Even more than his own head of house the charms master was truly a pleasant person, "Professor, I read in my mother's journal that you are a dueling champion?"

The little man's chest puffed up a little bit at the title as he ruffled his mustache end, "Yes, I was before coming to Hogwarts in the early 1970s Harry."

"Would you be willing to teach me the art? I was thinking of trying my hand at junior competitions this summer. The chance to learn from a true master would be a wonderful thing." Harry smiled brightly to the teacher.

A blink of surprise at the request as Flitwick was quiet in thoughts, "I never have taken a student Harry. I put that part of my life behind me when I came to here. But, perhaps we can work something out in your extra sessions."

Harry bowed his head respectfully with a bright smile at the professor, "Thank you Master Flitwick. I look forward to our training sessions."

Again the charms master was surprised at the title then smiled brightly, "Just remember to do your homework young man. I expect you to be one of the best in the class this year if I am giving you extra training. Now off with you to your next class before you are late."

Harry turned and started towards the door, "I promise you Master Flitwick, you will be surprised at how good I will do this year."

For defense class it seemed the teacher was competent. Harry knew who Remus Lupin was from his mother's journals and just as important he knew what Remus Lupin was. The boy was curious how long would it take for one of his father's former best friends to actually talk to him and tell him who he was. The man was supposed to be an uncle to him. There was a good chance he would have been a close family member if his parents were not killed. Instead the man had disappeared and never bothered to check in on him. Was Harry upset by this fact? Of course, he was very upset at the man, to the point that the mere sight of him made him grit his teeth.

For the class itself, it seemed to be run well. At least it was not total crap like Lockhart or unable to be understood like with Quirrell. Instead, Harry merely left right away instead of getting drawn into a conversation for his special studies. He managed to ignore the calling of his name, pretending not to hear as he left the room to his next class. Eventually of course he would have to meet the Professor and have a conversation. But, he would take his time for now.

That was how the first week went for Harry Potter, no near deaths, no possible murders, not even a trip to the infirmary. Perhaps for once Harry might get a quiet year, then again he was Harry Potter, fates bitch so that was unlikely.

Author Note:

Hello Everyone,

First I want to say thank you to everyone that has been reading the story and letting me know how much they are enjoying it. I am truly surprised that so many are following and I hope enjoying the story. I really do appreciate and love the critical views and support for the story. I try to answer back as many reviews as possible. So please keep up the comments, I love to read them.

Beta – WSW hasn't reviewed the last couple of chapters and I haven't heard back for a few weeks. I know they are most likely busy which is cool. Everyone has a life. I am looking for a new Beta if possible. Anyone want to assist please just say so. I really do need the help with my grammar.

I hope you all enjoy

J

PS: Year 3 should go by pretty quickly, but there will be a few major events.