Celebwen Telcontar: I would like to say a few things before we get on with the story. I've had some reviews that are slightly confused. I did make a mistake by making Ron give two presents, but I have corrected that, and Dumbledore gave Harry Ptolemaic. Also, there was another reviewer who expressed concern that Harry was too powerful. The way I see it is that Harry knew all of the spells, including Apparition, but he couldn't use them until he was seventeen or he would get expelled. Thanks for reviewing! LOL!!

The Leaky Cauldron was relatively full for this time of day, and Tom was kept busy by the customers. Several of the Hogwarts students were checked into the rooms. As he was cleaning a glass, he heard the Knight Bus screech to a deafening halt by the curbside, and a young black-haired man in expensive clothing got off.

"Tom. It's me, Harry Potter. I'd like a nice cold Butterbeer, if you please," Harry said. He lifted a snake the size of a garter snake, and returned it to its normal size of over twenty feet long, and then he touched a horse pendant on his neck.

"Harry Potter?! Well, so it is."

"I'd like a room, please, and some space that my horse can run around in."

"Horse? Did I miss something?" Harry unclasped the chain holding the black horse pendant, set it on the floor, and Transfigured it back into Bucephalus, who neighed and jingled his bridle in greeting. "Well, that's certainly a large horse. It'll need some space."

"No kidding. Is there anywhere I can exercise him here?"

"You can ride it up and down Diagon Alley, but I don't see anything else you can do with it. I'd suggest you keep it in the area behind the pub but in front of the Alley, transfigure or conjure several bales of hay, and maybe a stall for it, and Vanish the… er…"

"Dung?"

"Yes."

"Thanks, Tom." He did as Tom had suggested, but magically enlarged the area to hold a relatively large paddock that was fenced in for Bucephalus to stretch his legs from time to time. The grass had the same charms the plates at Hogwarts had; making sure that it was always full and fresh. A clear pond near one end had the water supply for the stallion, and a tack shed as well as a stall for the horse.

"How long are you going to stay, Mister Potter?"

"Until September 1st. It won't be too long, I hope."

"Just under a month."

"Just under a month?! Ptolemaic, should we return to the palace until it is time for school to start?

That would be wise. The home is impenetrable.

Literally?!

Quite. You should go to Professor Dumbledore first, and tell him about your new acquisitions and homes before you go running off there, though.

I quite agree.

The pub had gone silent while Harry was talking with Ptolemaic, and now people were beginning conversations again.

Come on, Harry. I'll need to train you tomorrow on how to ride me with a sword. I don't want you flying off of my back, or managing to hack my head off. And I think you should do the same as Alexander did, and sleep with a copy of the Iliad under your pillow, next to a knife or your wand.

Bucephalus, you idiot horse, don't tell him what to do on the grounds of literature and strategy! That's my area of expertise! Yours is keeping him in the saddle and keeping him from killing anyone on his side of the battlefield!

Perhaps. But still, I need to train him on the ethics of battle, and several of those are in the Iliad.

Ethics of battle?! Did I miss something? Battle has no ethics! It has moves and ways to keep yourself from being killed, but that does not mean that it has ethics!

The ethics of battle require that you uphold your enemy's wishes for their body, which Achilles disregarded when he dragged Hector's body around the walls of Troy three times by his ankles!

If there were any ethics to battle, then why did the mighty Achilles, whom you swear to have done no wrong, could have broken them? That proves to me that there are no ethics to battle, stupid equine! Harry had had quite enough of this by now.

"Alright, you two. If you want to fight for who's going to be training me, then you can do it outside, where I don't have to hear it." Ptolemaic looked properly chastised, and Bucephalus tipped his head sideways, flicked back his ears slightly, and turned his rump on the tavern.

Harry, training begins tomorrow. I hope you don't break bones easily, because I am no soft taskmaster, and you'll have bruises to say the very least when I am through with you!

He is right, Harry. We need to whip you into shape in a short amount of time to be ready for Tom Riddle when he decides you've had too much leisure time. I would suggest you reform that army of yours, and use the other horses to get them into shape as well. Would anyone be thinking of you riding into battle on horseback, yelling, and wielding both wand and sword, wearing the armor of Alexander the Great? He never lost a battle, you know. Maybe we can take some of his battles to our use…

How would Tom Riddle react if you sent a huge heard of elephants into his armies? Bucephalus asked.

"Probably think I've lost my mind."

Precisely! Well, you need to get to bed in order to be fresh for the morning workout.

Celebwen Telcontar: Well, how do you like it? Good enough for you?

Balrog: Food! (Mouth is full with different kinds of rocks)

Celebwen Telcontar: I'll take that as a compliment.