Harry Potter and the Power of Time
Chapter 8 – Dancing with Myself
After another restful night, Harry woke early Wednesday morning to begin his new training regimen. It was hard to believe only a couple of days had passed since Harry had gotten home from Hogwarts; so much had happened already.
Dressed in his new workout clothes, with both his wand and dagger holsters, Harry quietly made his way downstairs to go for a morning jog. Since he'd be outside his house Harry couldn't afford to leave his wand and dagger behind, but the tank top he was wearing wasn't offering any protection at hiding his weapons. So with an easy concealment charm Harry had learned in his fourth year, both holsters were made to camouflage against his skin, and he set out the door.
He'd always been in pretty good shape, but Harry had never run for any lengths of time before, and he soon found out it was harder than it seemed. Not wanting to leave the area, Harry decided to run laps around the block. After only three and a half loops at a mild jog, Harry was more than winded.
"Jeez," Harry panted to his Seth, "I haven't even gone two milesss yet, and I'm about to collapssse!"
Seth was the name Harry had given his ring earlier that morning, as it reminded him of a ancient god he'd once seen in a muggle museum on a school trip. Set, sometimes called Seth, was an Egyptian god often portrayed by serpents. There were many descriptions about his loyalties, but one Harry remembered was that he was neither good nor evil, but often switched sides to balance the scales of the fighting between other gods. As the snake had told Harry the night before that he held no opinions about good and evil, Harry thought that Seth was the perfect name for him. Harry also decided to wear Seth on his right middle finger, as it felt most comfortable there. It was the only ring he wore, so Harry figured the middle of his hand was the correct place for it.
Obviously, his old master wasn't one for physical exercise, because Seth said nothing about Harry's running. Not surprising, as most wizards shunned physical exertion. The standard wizarding view was, "If it could be done with magic, why do it any other way?"
Harry took a short break, and jogged another two laps before he dragged himself back upstairs to his room. It had taken less than a half hour for him to exhaust himself, but Harry comforted himself with the fact that this was only the first day he'd been running, and that he had plenty of time before the summer ended.
Once in his room, Harry continued his exercises with a few push ups and sit ups, but only managed to do about twenty of each. Not having his gym equipment yet, Harry decided to stop there. More exercise would come later. So he went to shower down the hall, not having yet seen the fancy living quarters in his new trunk. He wanted to organize the books he'd purchased first thing that morning, so he could spend the rest of the day exploring his new living space. If he used the new bathroom before organizing his books, he'd kill the day exploring, and not get any work done.
The Dursleys had gotten up while Harry had showered, but smartly said nothing to him in the hallway, and went downstairs to eat. Harry went back to his room, and dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a tee shirt. The Birkenstocks he'd worn the day before were still a little stiff, but were becoming much more comfortable the more he wore them, so Harry put those on again as well.
Hedwig greeted Harry a good morning with a few chirps, and hopped over to the piles of books that Harry had made the night before.
"That's right Hedwig. I've got to organize all those now." He almost thought Hedwig wanted to help with the books. Either that, or she was teasing Harry because he normally wouldn't be caught dead cataloging a stack of books so big. "So you'd better move out of the way, I've got to haul all these into my trunk.
It took almost an hour for Harry to carry the over four hundred books down the ladder of his trunk and into the third compartment. The room, which Harry had only heard described to him before, was perfect for a small library and study. The three bookcases that Leeds had told him about weren't as small as he thought, and Harry was able to put all the books in just one bookcase, with only a dozen or so left over for the second case.
The room was paneled in wood like Leeds said, and the study table and four chairs were both comfortable and large enough to provide an ideal studying environment. All the shelves were at arms reach, and there were no wizard portraits, or windows, or other distractions of any kind. Not even Hogwart's library could claim that.
It took Harry almost four hours to properly organize his new books, and look through the ones he'd gotten from his family's vault. Most of those were quite old and rare, and many looked extremely useful. At first he was going to mix all the books together, but then decided to keep the two piles separate. His family books were placed in the third bookcase, organized by subject, just like in Flourish & Blotts. The other books, the one's that Harry had bought, were placed on the first bookcase, also by subject. The middle bookcase Harry decided to keep empty for now, as he'd be placing the books he was currently studying in that one. No doubt his organizational system would one day change, but Harry was happy with the system he'd set up, and he still had plenty of room for expansion.
After his new library was set up, Harry continued with his trunk exploration. He spotted the portal Leeds had talked about in a corner of the room, and found out it worked just like the other security circles. Harry had to place his palm on the portal door, speak his name and the desired compartment number, and then the portal would open. The forth chamber was as empty as the third, and the same size as well, but without the bookcases or furniture. It wasn't as fancy without the polished wood floors, and Harry didn't know what he could do with the space. So he left it quickly to get to the more exciting stuff.
The dueling chamber was in the next room, and held everything Harry could imagine he'd need. It was similar to the way the Room of Requirements was set up during the D.A. meetings, with a few exceptions. There were no books or charts in the chamber, nor was it as big. But since Harry didn't plan on inviting thirty people into the dueling chamber to practice, that wasn't a problem. The empty space off to the side was more than large enough to house the gym equipment he had purchased the day before, and Harry reminded himself to be out of the trunk by two o'clock for the delivery.
The floor and walls didn't seem to be charmed to cushion a hard fall, but when Harry walked on it or touched them normally, he could feel slight a difference. Taking a leap of faith, Harry discovered the full use of the charms when he jumped up and let himself fall to the ground back first. He would have cracked his head on the floor if the charms weren't in place, but luckily they were. It by no means felt like a soft bed or pillowy cushion, but the charms did prevent injury. They felt more like a muggle gym mat, and only slightly bruised Harry's backside.
The dummy rack Harry spotted along the wall opposite where the ladder and empty space were. It housed six figures that looked a bit like mannequins, all hanging off the walls by hooks placed under their arms. There was a large instruction manual on a small shelf, but Harry didn't feel like reading it right now.
Slowly, Harry made his way across the dueling platform to the dummy rack, and took one down. He was going to lean it up against the wall, but the second its feet touched the floor, the practice dummy stood up under its own power.
"Ok then," Harry muttered to himself, "I guess they do work. Let's see how well though."
After backing up a few paces, Harry drew his wand and aimed at the dummy's chest, deciding on what curse to use. He didn't want to damage the dummy, and since he hadn't read the manual yet decided on something that wasn't too destructive. The standard disarming spell; one of Harry's favorites.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry spoke, clearly and loudly.
The flash of light hit the dummy squarely in the chest, and pushed it back a few feet. Harry's couldn't see any damage, and was wondering how he would know how effective he'd been. He didn't wonder too long though, as a second later an illusion appeared above the dummy's head. It looks like a car's speedometer, and a red arrow rose to a little past the halfway mark before it hovered there for a moment, and then returned to the bottom. The illusion winked out of existence, and the dummy stepped forward to resume its original stance.
'It's like a gauge then,' thought Harry. "It tells you how strong the spell is. Okay, let's try this again. EXPELLIARMUS!"
He repeated the process a few more times, and each time the dummy's illusionary gauge rose a few more degrees. Harry figured by the time he had stopped with the dummy, his disarming spell was rating a seven out of a possible ten. Pleased with the dummy's capabilities and his performance, Harry hung the dummy back up on the wall and took another look around.
The dueling platform was just like the one he'd seen set up in the Great Hall in his second year. It wasn't raised at all, but was clearly marked off on the floor, and the space could be used for a number of things. The whole room itself was longer than the other two he'd seen, and Harry thought that was weird considering the size and dimensions of the trunk's exterior. Oh well.
Another portal door later, and Harry now stood in the sitting room of the trunk's living quarters, and Leeds wasn't joking about it being comfortable. The two matching sofas and three armchairs were all grouped around a low square coffee table in the center of the room, and there were tasteful decorations and knick knacks spread throughout. There was a small cabinet against one wall, and when Harry opened it he found a wizard chess board, decks of tarot and playing cards, and a few other games he wasn't familiar with. A large plush rug covered the entire wooden floor, and wasn't in any pattern that Harry could make out. There were only three tapestries on the walls, but the three were very large. The first was a large landscape that showed rolling hills and a small stream passing by a little cottage or house. The second tapestry was a large family portrait, showing a family of nine, representing at least three generations. Harry wasn't sure who the people were, but every male had unruly dark hair, so he assumed it was of some of his relatives.
The third tapestry was like one Harry had seen before; it was the Potter family tapestry. Just like the one Sirius had at Grimmauld Place, it was a large family tree that dated back generations. Harry spent a few brief moments going over it, and found himself, his parents, and his grandparents. Unlike the Black family tapestry though, the Potter's fortunately hadn't married any Malfoys, Blacks, Snapes, or other traditionally dark families. Harry did recognize a few other surnames, and was surprised to find himself distantly related to some of his classmates, but it seemed that the Potters were always on the side of the light. They also seemed to have no problem intermarrying with muggles. Although Harry's direct male descendants were all fullblooded wizards, he noticed many distant cousins, uncles, and aunts who came from mixed marriages.
The sitting room had three doors attached to it, and Harry entered the single door on the right wall. It opened up into the kitchen, and Harry was pleased to find it was at least as big as the Dursleys'. The enchanted icebox and pantry were quite large and fully stocked, and Harry did notice that there wasn't much variety. After remembering the butterbeer cases he'd bought from Tom, Harry summoned them to him and opened the first case. He placed six bottles in the icebox, and placed the rest in the pantry for future use.
The stovetop had four burners, and the oven underneath was large enough to cook for a family of ten. "Plenty big enough for just me," Harry thought. A look in the other cabinets and drawers, and Harry had found all the plates and flatware that Leeds had mentioned. The cookware was all high quality stuff, as were all the dishes and glassware. The kitchen table itself was pushed up against a corner, and Harry noticed the four place settings were placed along only two sides of the table. If Harry were to pull the table away from the walls, it could easily seat at least six.
Leaving the kitchen, Harry crossed the sitting room to the two remaining doors, and opened the left one. It opened into the bathroom, which Harry found quite large. It wasn't as fancy as the prefect bathroom that he'd been in forth year, but it was close. It was half the size of the library he'd set up earlier that day, and was just as useful. The whole room was decorated in cream colored marble and brown stone, with stainless steel fixtures and accessories. Two sinks were located side by side in a granite countertop along one wall. A mirror was placed behind the vanity, and again Harry was pleased it wasn't a wizarding one. Two medicine cabinets were placed on each side of the mirror, and seemed to be much deeper than possible.
A large tub, big enough for two, was in the back corner of the room, and Harry noticed water jets surrounding it. Harry recognized the jets as belonging to a muggle hot tub, and was excited about the first bath he'd be taking in it. The tub didn't have as many spigots as the one prefect's bath, but there were at least a dozen others than the standard hot and cold taps, and a quick experiment told Harry they offered a variety of pleasantly scented foams and bath oils.
Next to the tub was a shower stall behind a frosted glass door. There were three adjustable shower heads all attached to the single water control dial, and a small shelf in the marble wall to hold soap, shampoo, and hair potions. A towel rack was placed on the short wall between the tub and the shower, and Harry found the fluffiest towels he'd ever laid his hands on hanging from it.
The wall opposite the vanity held another two doors. One opened up to the loo, which was done simply and tastefully, and the other was a separate entrance to the bedroom.
The bedroom was just as Leeds described it, the most luxurious he'd ever been in. A large king sized sleigh bed was in the middle of the large room, with comfortable satin sheets and pillows done in Gryffindor colors. It wasn't a four poster bed like Harry was used to, but it was just as intimidating. The furniture was made of oak, and was all oversized for comfort. There was a large armoire, a dresser, two night tables, a full sized dressing mirror, and two chaise lounges off in a corner with a small table between them. The walls held no paintings or portraits, but they didn't need them. The walls were painted in soft shades of red and gold, and were designed with intersecting square panels that gave the walls a three dimensional look to them. Adding paintings or other decorations to the slightly dated geometric shapes would be too much.
Next to the dressing mirror was a bi-fold door that Harry assumed was the closet, and he was proved correct. The closet itself was the size of Harry's room at Privet Drive, and actually had a variety of clothes of different sizes in it already. Female clothes were along the left side, and the right side was all men's. Against the middle wall in the back of the closet were two cots that could be rolled out to have extra sleeping space. Harry remembered that Leeds said the room slept four, so he guessed that this is what he meant. Just out of curiosity, Harry rolled a cot out of the closet and placed in along the wall next to the dresser. It looked like a hospital cot, folded in half at the middle, and Harry wondered why such an uncomfortable piece of bedding would be found in a room like this. His question was answered when Harry unfolded the cot and it magically transformed itself into a standard double bed. It wasn't as nice as the king size sleigh bed, but it was much nicer than the cot it appeared to be.
Harry folded the cot back up and put in back into the closet, and left the bedroom through the last door, which connected back into the sitting room. It seemed the second door in the sitting room was another entrance to the bedroom. 'It makes sense,' Harry thought to himself, 'that I can enter the bathroom from the bedroom or sitting room. And if I ever have company, they can use the loo without going through my things.'
Once in the sitting room again, Harry's watch told him it was just past one o'clock, and he wanted to have a quick lunch before he had to be downstairs for the delivery. He entered the kitchen again, and fixed himself a large turkey sandwich. That, with a few crisps and a cold butterbeer made an excellent lunch, and Harry still had fifteen minutes to kill before the deliverymen arrived. Deciding to play it safe, Harry left his trunk grudgingly and went downstairs to wait for them. None of the Dursleys were home, and that was just fine with Harry.
Harry ended up waiting forty minutes before the men finally came, but he wasn't surprised. When do delivery men ever turn up on time? When they finally did arrive, Harry instructed them to just leave the equipment in the front hall. Harry signed for his things, tipped the two delivery guys ten pounds each, and after they left shrunk the two machines and free weights, and levitated them upstairs.
Harry didn't waste any time placing his new equipment in the empty space in the dueling chamber. The two machines fit just fine, and Harry placed the free weights on the floor for now. Once he learned how, he'd conjure up a rack for them later.
The last remaining trunk compartment Harry hadn't seen was the seventh, and according to Leeds it was just a big empty room. Boy was it ever. Harry thought the ceiling must have been thirty feet high, and the room was a perfect square. Harry might have not even had to buy a treadmill, as he could have just run laps around the room it was so big. So big in fact, that Harry didn't feel he needed to explore it further. There wasn't anything special about the room; it was just big.
With most of the afternoon left in the day, Harry returned to his library to do some actual work. He wouldn't be starting today, but wanted to organize the rest of the summer so it would be most productive for him. There was just over a month left until his birthday, and about a month after that till the start of term. So Harry decided to split his summer into two sessions, and set about planning each one out. He had five years of abiding by Hermione's revision schedules to thank for that.
Taking a seat at the study table, and pulling a quill, ink bottle, and parchment from an inside drawer, Harry set down to make a list of things he wanted or needed to learn. The first half of the summer would be dedicated to magical theory and advanced spells that would help him once he moved to his new home. Harry threw in a few defensive techniques as well, but mostly concentrated on theory. The second half of the summer would be more geared to offensive spells; learning to attack and restrain. He'd continue with the theory, but by then Harry hoped he would have a pretty good understanding of the subject.
Even though he had bought his next two years worth of textbooks for school, Harry decided not to concentrate on schoolwork. If he did that now, he'd be wasting his time in class later that year. Besides, if he worked on advanced spells and theory, the schoolwork should come easier to him than to the other students. The only exception Harry made to this was potions. He really wanted to show Snape up this year, and knew he had some catching up to do. So Harry decided to work on the basic potion principles, and become more comfortable around burning cauldrons and bubbling ingredients.
The first and most important thing Harry needed to learn was the Fidelius Charm. It was how he planned to hide the thirteenth floor of the apartment building he saw. Harry knew it could work because that's how Dumbledore hid number twelve Grimmauld Place; but it would take a lot of practice. He had bought an entire book on the subject, and some of the ancient texts he found in his family's library had information as well.
Advanced transfiguration and conjuring was another subject Harry wanted to learn fast. It would come in useful once he moved to his new home, and Harry at least had a basic grounding in the field to start with. He needed to learn how to transfigure larger objects into more complex items, as well as conjure something larger than a pillow. Conjuring was especially difficult for Harry. Anything larger than a quaffle he attempted would lose its form and eventually disappear. To conjure an item and have it remain took great concentration, and Harry planned on learning it this summer.
Occlumency was a definite must this summer. After the events of last year, Harry had no wish to be exposed to Voldemort's evil mind again without him knowing about it. The standard visions he'd always had, although painful, were at least helpful in that they showed Harry what Voldemort was up to. It was the violation of his mind he wanted to stop. Harry thought about learning Legilimency as well, but wisely put it off until later. He figured it would be smarter to learn the basics of defense first, and then learn how to attack afterwards.
General magical theory was another subject Harry decided to study the first part of the summer, although not one he was excited about. Practical lessons were always more fun, but learning theory would help him out a lot. In the introduction to the text he purchased on the subject, the author compared magic to a muscle. Knowing and understanding how the muscle worked would make it easier to flex. And practicing advanced spells beyond one's reach would be like maxing out in lifting weights. The more one practiced advanced spells, the stronger the "magic muscle" would become. It only made a little sense to Harry at the moment, but enough for him to see the potential benefits of learning more.
Apparition was the last major ability Harry needed to learn before his birthday. He couldn't count on taking the Knight Bus everywhere he went, as the Order and Death Eaters would eventually catch on to his movements. Harry knew that learning apparition wasn't especially difficult, it was just dangerous. The twins had learned in only a few weeks, and Harry thought if they could do it, he certainly could. He would just take it slowly, and be careful so as not to splinch himself. Once Harry was able to apparate, he could move about in the world more freely, and be able to escape any dangerous situations that might arise.
By the time Harry had finished his list of learning tasks for both halves of the summer, it was only a few minutes till eight o'clock. Harry was getting hungry once again, and made his way to the kitchen for some food. He made an easy pasta dish with chicken and mushrooms, and had another butterbeer to wash it all down with. Harry noticed the dirty plates from lunch he'd put in the sink were now clean, and thought that he could get to like eating in this kitchen. Fifteen minutes later, Harry made his way back to the library to put his things up for the night, when he was met with a surprise.
Sitting at his study table, with his back towards Harry and his nose in a book, was a strange person with a hood covering their head. The person, Harry didn't know if it was male or female, made no notice of Harry entering the room, and continued reading the book as he flipped through the pages. Harry didn't know who the person was or how he'd gotten into the trunk, so he silently drew his wand out of its holster and crouched down low, ready for an attack.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded. "And how did you get in here?"
The stranger just chuckled to himself, and Harry didn't recognize the voice. He or she made no move to turn around, and kept on reading.
"Answer me!" Yelled Harry. "Turn around now and slowly, and I won't be forced to curse you."
The stranger laughed out loud now, and something was vaguely familiar. He put the book down, his laugh had given away the fact he was a man, and made to turn around. He did slowly, and as he did he spoke in a smooth and jovial voice.
"Curse me? Come now Harry, you were only going to use a disarming spell. That's what you always do. First tip of your new training, never begin a duel with a disarming spell; it's bad form." By the time the man had finished speaking, he was now turned to face Harry, and had lowered his hood.
To say Harry was surprised to the man's identity would be a gross understatement. If he had thought about the situation some more, Harry wouldn't have been surprised at all, but he was too shocked to think rationally. Now Harry knew why the voice was familiar. Although it had sounded different because he had never heard it before with his own ears, it was a voice he knew well. As well as the face, the hair, and the scar. Harry was looking into the emerald green eyes of himself.
"Surprise!" The second Harry smiled. "Before you say or ask anything, let's wait a few moments. We're expecting another guest." The second Harry continued to laugh at the original Harry's expression, and motioned for him to take a seat at the study table.
Harry did, getting over his surprise quickly, for he started to understand what was going on. It was about two minutes that they waited for the third person, and neither was much surprised this time when a third Harry popped into existence in a corner of the room. He was dressed in different clothes than either of the other two, but had a recognizable time tuner is his hand. The third Harry wasted no time and immediately took another seat at the study table, and all three Harrys faced each other.
"Now before we begin to start asking ourselves questions," the third Harry spoke to the others, "both of you be quiet and let me explain. Things will be much easier this way, and as I'm really you, I'll be explaining in a way that I know you can understand."
All Harrys nodded an agreement, and the third Harry began a very long winded monologue. Before he spoke though, he placed the time tuner in the middle of the table for all three to see. He gestured to it and began.
"As we know, when we were in the Department of Mysteries, this time tuner fell into our robes and we didn't discover it till a few days later. Having a closer look, we noticed that it was different than the model Hermione had used third year. She had used a time turner, and this is a time tuner, as the label clearly states. It's an advanced model, which allows more than a few hours time travel. As the dial clearly shows, the tuner allows for travel back a number of days, with the maximum number being seven. So, we can go back up to one week in time, but not more than that. We wondered how we could use it, and immediately thought of going back to save Sirius. But from prior experience with time travel, we know that it could be dangerous. And as we didn't see a future version of ourself in the veil room, we knew that we hadn't gone back to save him."
Harry paused here to let this sink in. All Harrys knew it of course, but the time let them bring their minds to the conclusions they had already made. After another moment, the third Harry continued.
"So the week before school ended, and during the train ride home, we came to a conclusion. We were tired of being treated like a kid, and we wanted to take some control of our own life. This means rebelling against the Order of the Phoenix, and taking a more proactive stance in the fight against Voldemort. So we decided to use the time tuner to provide extra time this summer to help us be better prepared. We thought about how best to use the time travel, and we decided. Now pay attention, this is where it gets tricky.
"Every Sunday night at eight o'clock, we will use the time tuner to go back exactly six days, to the previous Monday night. We could go back the full seven days, but it would get complicated and a chance of overlapping time travels could occur. So we go back six days instead, and at that point on Monday night there will be two of us. When Sunday night comes around again, the younger Harry will go back as the older one already did, and the older one will wait an extra half hour. At half past eight o'clock, we'll go back again, and will arrive exactly a half hour after the other did in the past, just as I arrived a half hour after you did. At that point there'll be three of us." The third Harry illustrated each time jump by pointing to the others, and made sure both were up to speed.
"If we keep on this schedule for the rest of the summer, there will always be three of us, except for the time between Sunday night at eight thirty, and Monday night at eight o'clock. By traveling back only six days instead of seven, it will allow the one day of normalcy, and wipe the slate clean of the two of us who are from the future. Because two Harrys will always travel back six days on Sunday night, leaving the Harry who's in his real time. I know it sounds confusing, but it will make sense in a few days. I know that for certain because I've already been doing this for three weeks. I'm your future self.
"By the time September first comes around, about nine weeks will have passed in real time, but to us it will seem like seven months. That's almost an entire school year. And that's the extra time we'll be taking advantage of. If we're careful, as I've been so far, no one will catch us and no one will know. That's why this trunk is so important. Our future selves can never leave this trunk. To do so would risk our getting caught and disturbing the timeline. It's OK for us to interact with each other, because we know about it already. And since the time tuner is a Department of Mysteries object, which no one knows we have, the Ministry can't detect its use. The Harry who's in the current timeline will spend time outside of the trunk so as not to tip off the Order that something's going on, while the other two of us sleep down here. Once again, I already know that it works, because I've already done it." The third Harry said this with a smile.
"When school starts, only one of us will be riding the train, and we can decide later if we should continue the traveling, or stop it during term. It all depends on how far we come this summer. And the best thing about all this, is that I already know it's going to work. It's all a giant loophole. I already have lived through your part, so I know exactly what to say and do. And if a future self of ours doesn't show up on time, then the present one of us knows not to travel back to that time. Because we're all one person, it's impossible to lie or deceive ourselves, so we have nothing to fear. I already know the exact questions you're thinking of, and know that you've already agreed to this. Because that's what I did two weeks ago. And that's about it I guess."
The second Harry had already heard this speech once before. The original Harry however, the one in the real timeline who was new to all this, asked the others for a few minutes to turn all this over in his head. It was true that most of what was said to him made sense, as he was explaining it to himself. He just needed the time to go over everything and see if he was unsure about any of the possibilities. Harry did come up with one thing to question, and was about to voice it to the others, when he was interrupted by the third Harry, the one who had already traveled twice before.
"I know you have a question, because I had a question too. The answer is simple. Although there will be three of us, and we'll have to eat, sleep, train, and study together, you want to know if we can influence our future or past selves to create a paradox. To change something that's already happened. And the answer is no. No matter what I do or say, it's the exact thing you'll do and say in two weeks time, even if you try to say something different. Because we'll be spending so much time together, we won't be remembering perfectly every word or action our past selves take. Often times, you won't remember that you did or said something till your past self does it. You could worry about it endlessly if you wanted, but the fact is simple.
"Take this for example. Tomorrow you'll have a three egg omelet for breakfast with two pieces of bacon, and a glass of juice. And as hard as you try, for whatever reason, you won't be able to have anything else for breakfast. Now is that because I told you about it already, or is it because that's what you would have had anyways. It doesn't matter, and I don't think we could figure out an answer to that question anyways. It's like asking 'What came first, the chicken or the egg?' So you'll just have to accept it, as I've already done."
All three Harrys at this time were getting tired, as it had been a long day. Since the two future ones weren't going anywhere, Harry decided to call it a night so he could think on the problem. He left the other two to fend for themselves, and left the trunk for his old bed in the Dursleys' smallest bedroom. It was pretty early still, not even ten yet, and Harry spent hours tossing and turning in bed before he fell asleep. The next few weeks would prove interesting.
At the same time Harry was falling asleep in Privet Drive, a doorbell rang inside an invisible building, waking a screaming portrait that no one liked.
"TRAITORS! HALFBLOOD FILTHY BLOOD-TRAITORS! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! YOU DARE BRING YOUR KIND IN HERE? KREACHER, WHERE ARE YOU? GET THE MUDBLOODS AND WEREWOLF OUT OF HERE NOW!" The portrait of Mrs. Black continued in her rants as Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt entered number twelve Grimmauld Place, headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Be quiet you old witch!" As Severus Snape was the only Order member present whose family traditionally had studied the dark arts, it was his assignment tonight to shut up the vile portrait when other Order members arrived. It was known to her that he had been a spy, but he was still treated far better than anyone else in the house. Luckily for him, Moody and Shacklebolt were the last two members expected for the night's meeting. As Snape pulled the curtains in front of the front hall's portrait, the two aurors closed the door and went to great him.
"Evenin' Severus," Moody was gruff and to the point as always. "Any idea what the meetin's about?"
Snape had finished with the portrait of Mrs. Black, and motioned for the two men to follow him so she wouldn't be upset again. "Not really. Albus called the meeting, and almost the entire Order's inside. If I had to make a guess though, I'd say it had something to do with our resident boy-wonder." Snape's voice was dripping with sarcasm, and both aurors let his remarks slide. Neither of the two men knew Harry that well, but both knew that Snape wasn't a fan.
The three entered the drawing room and were greeted by the other members of the Order. Almost everyone was in attendance tonight. From Hogwarts there was Snape, McGonagall, Dumbledore and Hagrid. The elder Weasley's were in attendance; Arthur, Molly, Bill, and Charlie. Moody, Shacklebolt, Tonks, Amelia Bones, and Amos Diggory were there from the Ministry. The other random members; Mungdungus Fletcher, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle, Emmiline Vance, Hestia Jones, and Elpias Doge; were scattered throughout the room. And Remus Lupin sat alone in a corner, quiet and not conversing with anyone. There were other members not present, but the core, or rather inner-circle of the Order was all accounted for.
"Ahh, good evening everyone!" Dumbledore's quiet but demanding voice spoke out across the room. His eyes twinkled as always, and most people wouldn't know that he was greatly troubled. "I thank you all for coming tonight on such short notice. We have a few things to discuss pertaining to the upcoming Death Eater trials, and a subject which I'd like to breach on the matter of young Harry."
Snape sneered at the mention of Harry's name, and Lupin looked up from his lap, but the rest of the Order remained with a neutral look on their face. Most knew that Harry had disappeared two days before, but the notice Dumbledore had sent out about the night's meeting also included the news that he was safe and accounted for, so no one was worried. Well, except perhaps for Molly Weasley.
The Ministry employees, mainly Amelia Bones, briefed the group on the Death Eater trials that would be happening in three weeks time. It seemed Minister Fudge, in another act of grand stupidity, hadn't believed all ten captured Death Eaters from the DoM were guilty of their crimes. His "good friend" Lucius Malfoy had convinced Fudge that he, along with Avery, Nott, and McNair had all been under the Imperius Curse, like they had been fifteen years ago. Only the Death Eaters who had recently escaped from Azkaban were going back on trial, and as they'd already been convicted of life sentences, the trial really was only a political opportunity for Fudge. He got to show the public that he was putting away criminals, and the real danger gets to walk away scott-free.
"That's insane!" Yelled Bill Weasley. "How can Fudge just let that trash walk? We can prove that they were attacking Harry and the others. Hell, half the Order was there fighting them!"
Dumbledore only gave a grim smile as he calmed the oldest Weasley son. "I know Bill, but that's what Cornelius has decided. And although we could provide testimony of the truth, he has already ruled that we're biased witnesses because we were on Ministry grounds that night unlawfully. Add that to the fact we've uncovered Lucius Malfoy has donated 50,000 galleons to Fudge's reelection campaign, and it's clear to see where our Minister stands in this decision."
"Madam Bones, can't you do anything? You didn't have anything to do with the Order when all this happened." Bill wouldn't give up, and looked to the newest member for hope.
"I'm afraid not Bill. Fudge has forbidden the use of Veritaserum, and that was the only way to prove that Malfoy and the others weren't under the Imperius. To question a decision of the Minister would bring unwanted attention. Besides, we already know that Fudge has support from most of the Wizengamont. Last summer, if you hadn't provided an eye witness in his trial, Potter would have been wrongfully expelled. They won't go against Fudge as long as he keeps their pockets lined with gold. I'm afraid without further proof, there's nothing more to do."
The talk about the trials lasted a few minutes longer, but nothing new was mentioned. With no further business Dumbledore calmly addressed the group again. This time he looked far older.
"The other matter I wish to discus is Harry Potter. As you all know, he left his home two days ago and went missing. Upon further investigation we found he had snuck out on Mundungus's watch using an invisibility cloak, and summoned the Knight Bus a few blocks away from Privet Drive. In reaction, I sent an owl to Harry to await his return, and asked many of you to go out and search for him. Luckily early this morning I received a return owl, and he is fine. Harry's back home, and has said he doesn't plan on leaving the area again."
Snape snorted out loud in disgust. He had spent a full day searching the muggle neighborhood for Harry, and wasn't pleased by playing babysitter. "What was his excuse, and how do we punish him?"
Dumbledore pretended to not notice Snape's attitude, and answered the questions. "It seems young Harry's owl was injured in her flight back to Privet Drive, and she needed medical attention. Harry also mentioned that he knew he wouldn't be allowed much freedom this summer, so went to Diagon Alley himself to purchase his school books ahead of time. It's only been a few short hours, but I asked Remus to travel to Diagon Alley this afternoon to check Harry's story. He wasn't recognized anywhere other than the Leaky Cauldron where Tom verified he spent the night, but there was a set of sixth year text books bought that day from Flourish & Blotts. It seems that Harry was telling the truth, and that's what worries me."
Molly Weasley, who had been uncharacteristically quite so far, now spoke up as the wizened headmaster mentioned his worries. "Albus, is he okay? What do your mean worry? It's those muggles, isn't it?"
Dumbledore was amused at Molly's over protectiveness, but gave a sad smile as he removed the letter Harry had written him from his robe pockets.
"Not to worry Molly, Harry is perfectly safe," Dumbledore assured her until she sat back down. "What concerns me isn't his safety at the moment, but his opinion of us. This is the letter he wrote me this morning, and I think his attitude explains why he ran off without telling us."
With the twinkle gone from his eyes, Dumbledore read Harry's letter aloud to the group, much to their dismay. Snape couldn't care less, but scoffed at the line about Harry being prepared for his Potions class. Minerva, Hagrid, Molly, and the others who knew Harry best showed surprise in the words he used to answer the headmaster's letter. Remus, who was showing signs of life for the first time that night, nodded an understanding as Dumbledore concluded the letter.
"Albus! That doesn't sound like Harry at all. He's never been that curt with you, or anyone for that matter." Minerva McGonagall paused hesitantly as she looked at her college, and added under her breath, "Except for Severus perhaps."
The other Order members all whispered similar comments; none of them could understand how a student could talk with such disrespect to the esteemed professor. Dumbledore quieted them all with a wave of his hand, and sat down showing his true age.
"Alas, I'm afraid there is a very good reason for Harry's attitude, but I had hoped he would have gotten past it by now. And I never expected his feelings to pour over to the other Order members."
Charlie Weasley spoke for the first time. He didn't know Harry that well; had only met him a few times; but couldn't imagine him speaking that way. "Professor Dumbledore, what possible reason could there be for Harry to speak like that? It seems as if he almost hates you."
The old man sighed. "It's a long story really. The night of the Ministry attack, I sent Harry to my office by portkey while I straightened things out with Cornelius. When I returned, we had a conversation we should have had years ago, but one which I've been dreading for quite some time. Harry has long wondered why he was targeted by Voldemort all those years ago, and why he was placed with his muggle relatives who seem to not like him. Even as early as his first year at school he asked these questions, and I avoided them until I thought he would be able to handle the answers. You all know that the prophecy was destroyed the night of the attack, and that Voldemort never got to hear it. I suppose that's the one bit of good news that came from all of this. But the prophecy was originally made in my presence, and that night I finally told Harry what it was about, and answered the questions he'd been asking for the past many years. Needless to say, he wasn't happy with the answers he received. He also blames me and the rest of us for ignoring him this past year, and partially for the death of Sirius. Initially he blamed himself I think, but I believe he's gotten past that, just as he moved past the false blame of Cedric Diggory's death."
Amos Diggory looked shameful then, as he too had initially blamed Harry, at least in part, for the death of his son. Remus continued to nod, as he too felt some blame for the death of his best friend. Snape, who didn't know what compassion was, didn't care about Harry's attitude. He was more interested in the prophecy, and demanded to be told what it said.
"I'm sorry Severus, but that information is for Harry to know, and him only. If he wishes to tell anyone else, he may, but even that I suspect he won't. If I told anyone else, especially someone whom he doesn't want to know, I'm afraid Harry might further separate himself from us. Judging by what he did to my office after our initial conversation, I'd hate to think of him becoming even angrier."
Snape wasn't satisfied with the answer, but said nothing as he sank back into his chair. Come fall he'd be forced to continue Occlumency training with the boy, and he figured he could find out the prophecy then. Molly on the other hand, spoke up loudly, wanting to know what Harry had done to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore actually perked up with a cheery smile as he told the tale of Harry thrashing his office. "I dare say he let off a fair bit of steam. Everything has been repaired since, but the damage was quite extensive."
"So what do we do now?" Moody spoke up, as it was him who was in charge of organizing shifts for watching over the boy.
Dumbledore though for a few moments, and then answered. "I think it's best to do what Harry asks, at least for the moment. We'll still keep a watch on him, but from a distance. I don't think he was deceitful in saying he won't be leaving the area again, and we'll trust him for now. Alastor, Nymphadora, Kingsley, Remus, you four are to continue your watch over the general area. I think it's best to shorten each shift, and you may use Arabella's house as a base of operations. Mundungus, I'm afraid I'll have to remove you from watch duty. It doesn't seem to suit you, and I think we can use your services elsewhere. With Voldemort publicly back now, there's bound to be much talk. Please investigate any rumors heard in Knockturn Alley and the other less reputable places. Voldemort might be organizing his men, or trying to recruit more. Find out all you can. Severus, please join him, but be safe. It's known that you turned spy, so don't take any chances. I know that you still maintain relationships with some high ranking Death Eaters, but if one of them were to catch you alone and bring you before Voldemort, I'm afraid of what would happen. The rest of you, business as usual. Let's see how the Ministry handles the next few weeks, and we'll meet back then. I'll give Harry some time to settle down, and then write him another owl. Hopefully by then he'll have calmed down some."
"Albus," Remus Lupin spoke up quietly. "When the time comes, I'd like to be the one to contact Harry. I think I know what he's going through, and I believe anymore contact from you would only anger him further, no matter how much time has passed."
McGonagall didn't think it possible for Dumbledore to make a mistake, and voiced her opinion. "Nonsense Remus. Albus is perfectly capable of corresponding with Harry."
Remus turned his head sharply at the transfiguration teacher. Those who knew him best would have noticed the glint of anger in his eyes. But unfortunately, those who knew him best were now all dead.
"Really?" He snarled. "It seems so far the only thing he's capable of doing is upsetting Harry! And I don't think it nonsense to want to look after him. He is my friend's son after all! I think I have the right to want to look after him!"
Remus noticed he was yelling now, and took a few deep breaths. Once he relaxed some, he continued in his normal calm manner. "I'm sorry Minerva, I didn't mean to snap. I simply meant that Harry seems to blame Dumbledore and the Order for many things, including largely ignoring him last year, which led to this whole troubled mess in the first place. I think it'd be best if I approach him not as an Order member, but separately. I've kind of been a distant uncle of sorts to Harry, and now more than ever, I'd like to fill those shoes. Harry needs someone who he's able to talk to and trust, aside from his friends. In the past that person was Sirius and Albus, but they're not an option anymore. If I can't be there for Harry, I don't know who can be. Even if that means I have to separate myself form the Order a bit to do so, I think it's best."
Molly Weasley shot up at this. "What about us? We've always been there for Harry if he needs us; he's like a son already!"
Remus smiled "I have no doubt that you care for Harry Molly, and no doubt that he cares for you. But the simple fact is that you mother him too much. You'll want to protect him at all costs, and that's exactly what Harry doesn't want right now. He wants an equal to tell him the truth, not a parental figure to shelter him from it." Remus paused as his breath hitched. "And I need this too. With him gone, just like Harry, I'm all alone now." Remus didn't need to mention Sirius by name, everyone understood. Snape rolled his eyes, but the others remained quite. Molly shuttered at the realization that Remus was indeed alone. Being in such a large family, she couldn't imagine how hard it was to have no one else in the world.
Dumbledore spoke up again, ending the discussion. "I think that's a fine idea Remus. You've always gotten along well with Harry, and we'll leave him to you. Please make sure to keep me updated though, and make sure he realizes the need to remain at his relative's house. You may send him letters or visit in person, but please do not share with him any Order business. He's not a member yet, and until he's mastered Occlumency so Voldemort can't access his thoughts, sadly he remains a liability."
Remus and the others agreed, and the meeting quickly came to a close.
The five weeks before his birthday passed relatively quickly for Harry, considering it felt more like four months to him. The plan he had laid out so far was working, and even he didn't expect to accomplish so much in just a short amount of time.
Remus kept to his promise, and it was him who contacted Harry by owl a week after the Order of the Phoenix meeting. After the initial scolding and worry, Remus explained to Harry how he was feeling after Sirius's death, and Harry was surprised to find his once stoic teacher had just as many angry feelings as he. Through exchanged letters the two got to know each other better than they had before. They even met in person once. Harry didn't want to have Remus over at Privet Drive (to protect his secret and to avoid the Dursleys), so they decided to meet in a park.
The park was the same one from the previous summer when Harry was attacked by Dementors, but being able to use magic comforted Harry against a repeat occurrence. The two spent the afternoon together; about a week before Harry's birthday. They talked about school, girls, Harry's parents, both their childhoods, and just about anything else that suited them. Harry felt guilty for having to lie to Remus about what he was doing with his time, but it was a necessary evil.
Remus wasn't Harry's only contact the first part of the summer. His friends wrote letters too, all delivered by owl from Ron. Because Hedwig was out of commission, or so everyone thought, Ron sent Pig or Errol by each week, delivering letters from himself, Ginny, Hermione, and even Luna and Neville.
In true Ron fashion, he had nothing of notable interest to write in his letters. As interesting as the chances were of the Chudley Cannons making the play-offs that year, Harry found he didn't much care after the first three letters. He knew Ron couldn't write anything too personal because owls weren't a safe method of transportation, but with the exception of Quidditch talk and saying "Don't let the muggles get you down," Ron had nothing much to write.
Ginny on the other hand was surprisingly refreshing in her letters. She had much to say, and addressed the questions Harry had about Percy and the rest of the family. It turned out that Harry was smart to not mention Percy to Ron, because the two weren't on good terms. After Fudge admitted that Voldemort had indeed been resurrected, Percy did make a trip to the Burrow, but not to apologize. He "forgave" his family for going against the Ministry, and welcomed their support of Fudge in his time of need. He was kicked out by five outraged brothers shortly afterwards. By the way Ginny had made it sound; Harry figured Percy was in even worse shape than he had been in before. Only Mrs. Weasley wanted to talk with Percy after his visit, and none of the brothers would even mention his name. In fact, the morning after Percy had visited, Bill went to the Ministry building to return the visit, and reamed out Percy in front of his co-workers. Bill had told his siblings later that night exactly what he had said.
"Don't you even think about showing your prat face until your apologize to Mum and Dad! And if I hear your criticize our family again in public, I'll show you first hand some of the nastier curses I've had to break over the years! This job is the worst thing that's ever happened to you Perce, and if you decide to side with a corrupt Ministry over your family, you're going to become a very lonely person!"
Aside from Percy, Ginny also wrote about how the twins were doing in their business. Since they left school, they had been inventing and producing like crazy. The shop they had opened shortly after leaving school in Diagon Alley was an initial success, but the twins soon ran out of products and ideas, and therefore ran out of money. After a lot of talks, it was decided that they'd close the shop while concentrating on product research and development, to once again save more money. They'd still fill orders by owl post through their catalogue though, and that way the wouldn't have to worry about attending a counter, or all the other bothers that come with running a store. Harry was glad to hear about the twins, and was curious as to how Ginny's relationship with Dean Thomas was going, but she never wrote about him.
Hermione's letters were practical and motherly like always. When she heard that Harry had escaped to Diagon Alley to buy advance copies of his school books, she praised him for his initiative and work ethic. That is, right after she scolded him for worrying everyone. Hermione also mentioned that she would be traveling through Europe the last month of vacation with her parents, so she wouldn't be able to visit him or Ron before school started. Harry was actually happy for Hermione; that she was going to enjoy a trip with her family. In the dangerous times of the wizarding world, it was nice that she could escape into muggle society to have some fun and forget her problems for awhile. Harry was glad at least someone could have a trouble free summer.
Luna had only written one short note, most of which didn't make any sense. She seemed to jump to different topics randomly, with no train of thought whatsoever. Harry replied as best he could, and thanked her again for her help during the Ministry fiasco. He also wanted to thank her father again, for publishing his interview in the Quibbler. Harry mentioned that in the future he might want to do that again, seeing as how he couldn't trust the Daily Prophet.
Neville's letters seemed to avoid the topic of current events, but did stress his thanks to Harry for helping him with his defense work. He told his Gran all about how he was taking secret lessons, and she seemed to think Neville was a hero of sorts. Neville also talked about his new wand endlessly. He and his Gran were surprised when Ollivander knew that Neville would be coming, and then even went as far as giving him a new wand for free. Of course Neville hadn't used the new wand yet, but he wrote that it felt much more comfortable than his dad's old one.
Speaking of wands, Harry's new one was owled to him from Ollivander's eight days after his Diagon Alley trip. The short note that the wand maker included stated that it was among his best made ever, and that he looked forward to hearing how it handled.
Just like Hedwig, the wand made from her tail feather turned out to be very strong and powerful, if a bit temperamental. Harry found that if he used it to cast spells that he had great proficiency in, the results were staggering. However, if Harry used the wand to try new spells, or to use it in situations where Harry wasn't as confident as he'd normally be, the wand would give varied results. So Harry made it a point to learn and practice with his old wand almost all of the time, and only switch to his new one once he had mastered a spell.
The new broom arrived the day after his wand, and it was just as remarkable. At first Harry didn't know what the strange owl was carrying, as he had never seen a trombone case before. That's what the broom was cased in, along with a new broom servicing kit, handle polish, and a small manual highlighting some of the broom's features. Harry didn't have much chance to fly the broom at Privet Drive, but he did take it for a short spin in the seventh compartment of his trunk. The room was barely tall enough to allow safe flight, and the length didn't allow for Harry to reach maximum speeds, but Harry was encouraged at how the broom handled and responded to his direction. True, it almost looked beat up compared to his old Firebolt, but as Harry had proved himself, looks can be deceiving.
Aside from letters from his friends and the new toys, Harry's training was making outstanding progress. By the day before his birthday, Harry had already completed the tasks he had set down for the first half of the summer, and was well into his plans for the second half.
The Fidelius Charm wasn't as hard to learn as Harry thought it would be. As it turned out, the charm wasn't difficult at all; it was just not well known. The book that Harry had purchased proved it. It gave a very thorough description of the charm, as well as all the benefits and disadvantages. However the actual information listing the procedure of the charm, as well as the incantation and criteria that must be met, were all withheld from the book. Now that Harry had thought about it, he seemed to recall that Dumbledore, when speaking about the charm when it was placed on his parents, mentioned that the spell was almost ancient and very obscure. Luckily, the texts from his family library, which were all very old, had the additional information that Harry needed.
Three weeks after he began learning, Harry decided that he had mastered the charm. By then, he had successfully hidden the Dursleys' refrigerator, loo, telephone, front door, car, and entire house from them. It amazed Harry that once the charm was activated, how the Dursleys immediately forgot that there was anything wrong with the scenario of not having a door to their house, or having to shower in the back yard with a hose. Once Harry had his fun and ended the charms, he simply obliviated the Dursleys and they never knew that something had happened to them.
That also proved easier than Harry had suspected. The Ministry controlled basic Obliviate spell was simple, about as easy as the majority of the third year spells he had learned. It allowed easy removal of all thoughts related to what the caster wanted to obliviate. There were more advanced versions of the spell, but Harry had only started to practice those, and hadn't had much success yet. Those were the spells that allowed for large memory wipes like the one he had promised his uncle. When a wizard erased such a large portion of memory, it has to be supplemented with new artificial ones, and that's where Harry was having difficulty. The farthest Harry had gotten so far in advanced obliviation was to make Dudley think he had worn a brazier for the past two years. Harry thought it was quite funny to see him beg his mum endlessly about washing his "unmentionables" for the next day, because he had run out.
Magical theory turned out to be as boring as Harry had feared, but the results from long hours of studying couldn't be denied. In school only basic theory was ever mentioned, but Harry found that learning why a spell worked increased the strength and consistency of his spellwork. He had never before wondered why pointing a stick and yelling out a word had caused magic, but now he understood. Judging by the results his practice dummies showed, the mixture of practice and studying magical theory increased Harry's magical strength by almost twenty persent in just the first two months.
Learning about theory went hand in hand with Arithmancy, a subject Harry had planned to learn anyways. Technically Arithmancy is the study of magical numbers, but in actuality Harry found it to be much more. It's almost magical algebra. Using advanced theorems and postulates, it is possible to break down a spell into its simplest parts, for easier study. Inversely, it's also possible to modify an existing spell, or create new ones all together, by building new formulas. Harry found the work slow and painful, but the results spoke for themselves. In fact, once he got the basic information out of the way, Harry set a goal in his Arithmancy work. Using the knowledge he had learned, along with what he knew of magical theory, Harry wanted to modify the standard Stunning Spell to allow it to be broken only by its original caster. That way, stunned enemies couldn't be revived by just anyone. At the rate Harry was learning, he estimated it would take a year before he could begin testing the modified stunner. But considering how many of the Death Eaters from the DoM had been stunned only to be revived by later by their allies, Harry felt it was well worth the wait.
The other school subject Harry studied, Potions, he actually found to be enjoyable without Snape hanging over his head. He didn't do much advanced work, but Harry concentrated on reviewing the first five years worth of work instead, and greatly improved upon it. Once he had the basic potion principles down, it was amazing how easy the work became. Simple things like the fact that you couldn't mix dragon's blood with wormwood, or that a bezoar had to be stored in an alcohol base, was the difference between a ruined or perfect potion. Harry wondered why Snape hadn't taught these easy principles from the first day, and couldn't figure it out. One of the books Harry had bought even had a small, simple chart of potion mishaps to avoid, which Harry had never learned. Now he knew why pureblood wizards like Malfoy and Parkinson found potions so much easier than other students; they must have been brought up knowing the simple rules governing correct potion making. It was just like Snape to take advantage of a muggle-raised wizard's ignorance. No wonder so many non-Slytherins found Potions to be unbearable.
By the end of July, Harry was able to correctly make any potion from his first five years, and had started to read ahead in his sixth year texts. The empty fourth compartment Harry had actually turned into his own potions laboratory. One half of the entire room housed his many cauldrons, ingredients, and finished potions. Harry decided to stockpile useful potions, and they included a variety of sleeping aids, Pepper-Up Potion, Polyjuice Potion, potions to counter the effects of the Cruatius, standard poison antidotes, wit-sharpening potions, and truth serums. The other half of the room was closed off with a conjured curtain, as it was the personal quarters of Dobby and Winky.
Harry had almost forgotten his idea to send Hedwig with a letter to Dobby, but was reminded by his future selves. Telling Hedwig not to let anyone but Dobby see her, Harry requested that Dobby come to Privet Drive for a meeting. When he showed up, in mismatched socks and sixteen knitted caps, he was very happy to see Harry, and that Harry had asked for him. In his own words, "Dobby is most happy to have great wizard Harry Potter sir asking for Dobby to visit!"
It was always a sort of unspoken arrangement, but both of them knew that whenever Harry wanted, Dobby would leave his job at Hogwarts to work for Harry. And now was the time. Harry had told Dobby that he was soon moving to a new home, and that he needed help in setting up the place, and keeping house. Dobby agreed right away, and only paused at the fact that he would be leaving Winky alone at Hogwarts. Once Harry agreed that Winky could come too, Dobby tackled Harry in a hug around his knees, and couldn't have been happier.
Two hours later, once the tiny elf had calmed down some, it was all planned out. Dobby would have increased pay (five galleons a month was the most he'd accept), and time off to be decided latter. Since she wasn't present, Winky would have to work free of charge in the beginning, but Harry wasn't worried. In fact, he'd be surprised if he ever was able to convince her to accept wages. The cover story that the house-elves gave Dumbledore was also quite brilliant; simple, yet misleading. Dobby and Winky were to give a two week notice, telling Dumbledore that they had found a nice witch family to look after. It was a well known fact that Winky much preferred traditional house-elf work, so Harry didn't think it would raise suspicion. On the off chance that Dobby would get so excited and give away the secret of working for Harry, they decided to drop the notice letter on Dumbledore's desk, and have Dobby avoid the old wizard as much as possible.
The plan worked smoothly, and two weeks later the three Harrys had company in their trunk in the form of two new helpers. Dobby and Winky took over all cleaning and cooking responsibilities, and stayed out of their master's way as much as possible. Considering just the amount of laundry three Harrys provided, it was easy enough. Both elves thought it strange that there were multiple Harrys, but neither questioned it too much. They understood that the trunk was only temporary until the move was made, and the elves spent their free time getting ready for the major changes they would be making to the thirteenth floor. Harry had apparated (yes, he learnt that too) to London's Guild Hall, and had gotten blueprints of the apartment building. He gave Dobby a list of the number and types of rooms he wanted, and left the rest of the design work up to the elves. Hopefully when the time came, they would be ready to make the necessary changes.
Dobby and Winky also helped Harry learn how to better conjure and transfigure large objects. As those were two of the most important skills for house-elves to know, they each were far more experienced than Harry was. And even though their methods were different, they helped Harry learn how to conjure large objects without having them deteriorate in the future. The racks that Harry wanted for his free weights were his first major breakthrough, and took over a week to perfect. Harry's skills at transfiguration also greatly improved. He didn't learn how to transfigure jewels exactly, but Hedwig's perch now looked much more posh. The only thing Harry hadn't started yet was human and advanced animal transfiguration. After watching Dumbledore and Voldemort's duel in the Ministry lobby, Harry knew that both were dead useful as fighting techniques. However, Harry had put off further learning until the second half of the summer. His plan so far called for him to be able to properly decorate his new home, and his skill level now allowed him to do so.
In physical and magical training, Harry dedicated time each day for his workouts. After a daily afternoon jog and workout (one Harry still ran outside, the others on the treadmill), Harry would spend an hour fighting the future versions of himself, using both muggle and magical means. It actually worked out well, as all three Harrys had about the same level of experience, with the older version being only slightly better than the others. His dueling sessions were a bit more extreme than others Harry had seen, as there were three participants, but Harry didn't think that Death Eaters would object to teaming up against him. Harry also didn't have an exact style to his fighting method, so he just improvised. The three Harrys spent time grappling with each other, not throwing any actual blows, but more wrestling and throwing each other around. Had Harry known better, he would have recognized his workouts as a type of Judo, which used an opponent's body weight against them. The few punch and kicks he did practice were directed against the dummies, and their programming showed the physical power put into each hit. Harry may not have as much weight or force behind his blows as Dudley did, but over the month of July, Harry gained a little muscle mass and tone that wasn't there before.
The few times that Harry did hurt himself, either through spell damage or physical injury, the other two Harrys and both house-elves were on hand to give aid. He made good use of the potions supply he kept, and Harry even got to practice reversing curses. The most painful injury so far had been the small splinching accident when Harry had left a few toes behind as he appartated. But given time, that and the rest of the injuries were fully reversed and healed.
And finally, the most important part of Harry's training regiment proved to be the most time consuming as well; Occlumency. Like the physical training, Harry dedicated a portion of each day to meditate and relax, while building his mental shields. Just like Potions, in his limited teachings Snape seemed to have skipped over the basics of Occlumency, and jumped right into the practical lessons. In other subjects Harry might have enjoyed that, but with something as serious as Occlumency, it was important to not skip any steps, and to have a thorough understanding of the fine art.
The many books that Harry read set out different methods for mastering Occlumency. Each method was developed by a different scholar, and not one was more advantageous than another. Harry tried most of them, and eventually settled for a combination of the ones that came easiest for him. To begin, Harry pictured a physical representation of his mind. The image he chose was a sphere, with two separate barriers. The inner barrier housed all his important thoughts. His emotions, his memories, and the parts of himself that Harry didn't want others to know. The outer barrier was just superficial; so intruding Legilimens would think that they had passed Harry's mental defenses. The only thoughts that would exist between the two barriers were unimportant, nonsense memories. The type of things that wouldn't matter if someone found out about. Things like what Harry ate for breakfast, what his grade had been in a pop quiz, etc.
That's where the time consuming part of Occlumency came in. Especially at first, as Harry literally had to sift through every one of his memories and categorize and file them away. Anything that was impersonal; something that he didn't mind someone like Voldemort or Snape to know about; Harry left in the outer layer of his mind sphere. To an outside observer it would seem like the random thoughts of a normal person. The tricky part came when Harry had to work on his mind's inner sphere.
The toughest part was deciding on how many categories, or files, that Harry wanted to include in the inner sphere. Besides the main fact of existing separately from his inconsequential thoughts, Harry learned through trial and error that he had to further categorize his inner sphere. So slowly, over the course of many months, Harry began to group his remaining memories together. His times before Hogwarts were grouped in two; bad memories of the Dursleys, and worse memories of the Dursleys. A more optimistic person might have called them the bad and the good, but Harry knew that the few decent memories he had from that time period were few and far between.
Once Hagrid had delivered his acceptance letter, Harry's memories became more complex. But through trial and error, Harry came to a workable number of categories. All good memories and thoughts, like the ones he had used to summon a Patronus, were all grouped together. Hagrid delivering his letter, finding out about possibly living with Sirius, flying a broomstick, and so on. Likewise, all his fear and worry, mostly concerning Voldemort, were also grouped together. Another section was his annoyance with people like Malfoy and Snape, etc. Harry didn't really count the number of subsets he created in his mind because he could visualize and almost feel them, and sometimes they even overlapped. In muggle primary school Harry had learned about pie charts and other ways to group information, and what he did in meditation was a highly organized form of just that.
It did cross Harry's mind that using his new pensieve would help facilitate organizing his memories, but more than one book warned against using one. Although the time factor would be cut in half, using a pensieve would cheat a person of the intimacy and familiarity of each remembered memory. A person's mental shields would be much stronger if they had to shift through their own thoughts and relive each memory in their own head, instead of a stone bowl. Besides, Harry still hadn't looked through the memories of whoever "E.R." was, and didn't have the time to begin now.
Once Harry had set up a visualized mental picture, which he referred to as his mind sphere, he began the second part of his Occlumency training. Every night before bed, Harry would spend a good half hour going over the past day. He supposed that this was the part that Snape referred to as "clearing his mind," but it was a lot easier now that Harry had an idea as to how to do that. As he relived each day, and thought about what decisions he had made, what things he had seen, and what accomplishments he had achieved, Harry would file each thought into its appropriate sphere subset. If the memory was trivial, it would be placed in the outer sphere, and would drift randomly with the others. Harry also took this time to adjust his visualizations. He could almost feel if a memory was placed in the wrong subset. He also spent time discovering long forgotten memories; ones he hadn't gone over yet. It would take much time, but by repeating the process every night for four months, by the end of July Harry had a very well organized mind.
The day before his birthday had finally arrived, and it was the day Harry had decided to move out. On a second visit to the apartment building, he had discovered that the builders were behind schedule, so no one would be moving in or even signing leases until mid August. Harry took the extra time and made sure everything he had practiced was well mastered. The Dursleys proved to be excellent guinea pigs for the most part, and Harry wasn't disappointed that his Uncle Vernon did in fact lose his temper more than once. Harry didn't curse him, but that promise of obliviation flew right out the window. To keep some form of dignity, Vernon forbid Petunia and Dudley from partaking in their well earned rewards. Both actually looked quite glum, but neither wanted to further upset Vernon.
And so it was that in the early afternoon, after packing his trunk with two of himselves and two elves still inside it, and retuning his bedroom to its original uncomfortable state, Harry grabbed the tail feathers of his pet phoenix and disappeared in flames of white and gold.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Sorry this update took longer than expected, but in writing future chapters I had to make some adjustments to this one. Hope everyone is liking the plot development and the use of the time tuner. I know it's hopelessly confusing to explain the three versions of Harry, but I tried my best to give an explanation while avoiding real confusion. We've all seen those SF films where the characters get lost in explaining time travel, and I didn't want that. My version is what I believe would happen if time travel were possible, and it also happens to coincide with what little was written in PoA. Let me know what you think. If anyone has smart suggestions, I'll gladly update this chapter to include them. On a separate note, I've been getting a few reviews about my writing style, and how I seem to be dragging along. Sorry if I am, but like I said on my bio page, a high school senior has more writing experience than I do. Frankly, I'm surprised at how well everything is turning out so far. Once I finish the story, or come to a nice middle point, I might go back to seriously edit, but for now I won't. If I get too caught up in edits and revisions, I'll lose the fun I'm having with the story, and that's the reason for me writing it. Next chapter, Harry moves to his new digs, sets up shop, and has a very happy birthday. But will his friend's owls be able to find him? I haven't decided yet.
Updated 11/18/04
I know originally my grammar and spelling could have been better, so I've gone through (I had to for the Schnoogle version anyway) and corrected all that I could find. This is the final version, folks! If you would like to reread the entire fic, there's also other stuff I changed to, besides the spelling. Nothing that will confuse a reader if they don't, but just enough to clean up some edges, and fix some mistakes in the mythology I made. Later all!
Ross