They made their way through the castle, Dumbledore pointing things out for Harry and giving brief explanations or anecdotes. When they got to the kitchens Dumbledore asked the house elfs to pack up some of Fawkes's plant food for Harry, enough for a couple of days so that he wouldn't have to rush to find some. They also got a drink to take with them.

"I am very happy for you Harry, having a phoenix companion is a blessing, a gift you will cherish especially during difficult times." Dumbledore said with a wistful expression.

Harry smiled and looked down at the bird, "I am happy sir, and hopefully I'll be able to be a good friend to her too."

Harry was shown the great hall, the library, and a few of the classrooms. It was a short tour since they didn't know how long it was going to take Remus and Sirius to get back. As they neared the Headmaster's office they saw Sirius and Remus already waiting for them by the gargoyle. Harry was amused when he saw Sirius's face; he looked so pleased with himself, as if he had accomplished the impossible.

They said their goodbyes, and headed out. Once home they talked some more about the phoenix and Harry decided he was not going to name her until the bond was complete. He knew that their bond could range anywhere from empathy to a full telepathic link. Harry figured it would only be polite to wait so she could give an opinion on her own name.

-oOo-

The bond only took a day and a half, Harry was in his room when he felt the connection establish fully within him. The phoenix had been on in his stomach while he was reading in bed when it happened; the minute that they made eye contact he felt an intense love and adoration well up in him. Along with that he saw images in his head. The time when he first got Hedwig and when she died, the next image was of him receiving the egg. That was when he understood.

"Hedwig" his voice broke when he said this. Hedwig had been the one constant in his past life. He loved others in his past life but it didn't stop the knowledge that he felt betrayed by them at least once. Whether they were big or small deeds didn't matter, the feeling was there. Never Hedwig though, she was there whenever he needed her even if he neglected her or was dealing with his own problems.

"How?" He saw himself talking to Dumbledore in the in-between, next was him making the choice to come back. It was accompanied by a feeling of gratitude, he didn't know who had done this but he realized that this was like a thank you for his willingness to go through this again even though he might suffer for it.

Harry on his part was ecstatic, being bonded to a phoenix was an honor but for it to be Hedwig was absolutely fantastic.

-oOo-

The next few weeks progressed smoothly, he and Hedwig bonded quite nicely. It was a new experience to be able to communicate with her. Especially when she was upset about something, she made sure he got reprimanded quite thoroughly. When she was pleased or proud of him she would also let him know. Harry now understood why Dumbledore said what he did, Hedwig would fill him with warmth and love constantly making him feel treasured.

Luckily she and Apollo seemed to get along. Apollo was still young and Hedwig saw him as another to care for. Harry got the distinct feeling that Hedwig considered Harry and Apollo to be hers rather than the other way around.

She didn't necessarily spend all her time with him but a good majority of it. Whenever Harry was discussing something with others that she did not agree on she would make her opinion known. When he studied something or accomplished a spell she would trill in happiness even though she knew it wasn't his first time.

-oOo-

He had argued with Andromeda about the earring and they had finally come to a compromise. He would be able to get his ear pierced on his eleventh birthday. She was pushing for no earlier than thirteen and he was fighting for now. That was when Sirius stepped in and said that he would get it on his eleventh birthday. He said it as a fact not another suggestion, both understood. Andromeda wasn't too happy about it but didn't say anything besides stating that she would like to go as well. Harry was a little disappointed because it really did look awesome but knew that two years really wasn't asking for much.

They had also gotten Harry the animagus potion, it turned out he was a panther, a panther cub actually. Its fur was black onyx and emerald eyes that contrasted magnificently with it. Another distinguishing feature was the scar that carried over above his eye, interestingly enough it seemed to make the panther better, rather than take away from it. Harry couldn't wait to get started, now that he saw it he wanted to get it done soon.

Apparently both Remus and Sirius saw this because they told him they would help him as long as he only attempted it while one of them was supervising. They agreed two evenings a week would be dedicated to animagus training. He made sure to study the material on his own so that when he was with them it would be the practical aspect rather than theory to get it done quicker.

-oOo-

With a little less than two years left before Hogwarts he decided he needed to make a checklist of things he wanted to achieve before starting school.

1. Secure a safe house

2. Complete animagus form

3. Complete all seven years in wandless magic

4. Ally with a few more ministry families.

5. Decide what house

6. Initial friends

7. Find a potion's tutor

8. Read Hogwarts rules thoroughly

9. Get a trunk with at least one compartment warded

10. Let Sirius and Remus know about being a parselmouth

He knew that there was only so much he could do while being at home but he refused to do nothing.

The safe house was something he wanted for a worst case scenario. Hopefully it would never be needed, but he knew that Grimmauld Place would become order headquarters someday and he needed a place that had would afford more privacy. A place where they could go if things got really bad or to send someone for hiding if the need arose.

The best part would be that he could get Garuk to handle most of it. All he really had to do was make the major decisions and trust Garuk to make it happen. All this could be done through the mail with Garuk as the middle man. He would make sure to draft a letter with more detail to Garuk later.

The animagus training while useful was mostly for him. He hoped it would make his parents proud especially his dad. Also he longed to be able to spend the full moons with his guardians. He was already part of a family but he wanted to be part of the pack as well. He couldn't wait to run around in his form with them, he could imagine how exhilarating it would be to run full speed at night, going as fast as his paws would take him.

As far as his wandless abilities went he hadn't guessed he would be so far along already. His goal was to be able to perform the Hogwarts material in DADA, charms, and transfiguration before starting school. That way when he actually started classes he could focus on different or more obscure branches of magic.

Allying with other families was important because he wanted support if times got hard. The trial in his fifth year really only happened because there was no one willing to stand up for him. Sure Dumbledore showed up during the trial but it should not have gotten to that point to begin with. The ministry knew that the only person who could possibly stand up for him would be Dumbledore and he could only do so much. He was so isolated from others that he really didn't have anyone else with any kind of influence behind him.

As far as Hogwarts he would have to decide what house to go into. As an heir he could tell the hat what house he wanted to go in, that's why when he told the hat not Slytherin it went along with him. He wasn't sure what to decide but knew that he needed to think it through before the time came.

Along with his house he needed to decide who his core group of friends would be. Already he knew that Ron wouldn't be one, he was just too judgmental as a child. He saw the world in black and white and there was no such thing as a gray. Hermione on the other hand could be a bit off-putting to others. Some of her social skills where lacking in the beginning, there was no way he would not be her friend though so he figured he would play that one by ear. His core group would include Neville of course but he wasn't sure if that was going to be all or if they would add one or two more people.

There was one plan that would either be great or backfire on him badly. Harry couldn't bear another seven years with Snape again. While reading the Hogwarts rulebook he found out that a student can find an alternate tutor if he so chooses. He wanted to bring in another potions master to teach him if Snape acted the way he did last time, which he was sure was going to be the case. Sure he was a good spy and ultimately saved his life but he did that while hating Harry anyways, if there was a way to avoid him it would make both of their worlds easier.

Along the same note he wanted to know the Hogwarts rules like the back of his hand. He didn't want to be pushed around when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Along with the rules he wanted to know any loopholes that applied to heirs. The situation with Umbridge should never have gone that far, maybe he had the power to stop what she did to the rest of the school. It was bad enough that he had to use the blood quill but knowing that other students went through it too made him angry. His life had always been harder and he learned to endure it, sometimes things were going to be harder for him but if he was going to put up with it others shouldn't have to. There would be times were he wouldn't be able to stop it but when he could he would definitely try. Also when they went after McGonagall was inexcusable. They attacked a teacher in Hogwarts, a very good teacher. This was also something that he would not allow to happen, especially not to her.

He had this perception of people this time. He hated to see others suffer but if it had to be anyone he could accept it being himself, Dumbledore, or Snape. He wasn't sure why he thought this way maybe because the three of them willingly stepped into dangerous roles and accepted the risks. While others did the same he saw them as innocents. It was probably a weird way of seeing but he felt as if others had a choice whether to get involved while they didn't.

The trunk was pretty straight forward; he had things that needed to be hidden. Some were dangerous and could hurt others like the horcruxes, the rest were for his privacy or to keep his things safe like his pensive, things passed down from his parents, or his books. There was too much at risk to not take precautions.

Last but not least was his parseltongue, he still hadn't decided whether he was going to make it public knowledge or not but he didn't want to keep it a secret from his family or his closest friends. If it got out like last time then at least he would have people there for him that wouldn't shun or judge him.

-oOo-

Andromeda and he were truly developing a mother / son relationship. It seemed as if Sirius enjoyed this development. He liked that he could take care of Harry but didn't have to deal with too much with the discipline aspect. Andromeda also took care of him when he got sick, Sirius and Remus tried to help but the truth was they had no experience with it, when he had the flu they had to call Andromeda to come over. She had also come over one day and saw all three of them in the arcade, she asked how long they had been in there, when they answered three hours she got upset and set a limit for how long Harry could be in there. Apparently kids were not supposed to spend long periods watching TV and playing video games. All he had as an example was Dudley and he spent all his time in front of the TV. Naturally this didn't sit well with him; he started to complain since they had the arcade for about six months without limits but as always she didn't budge. So now he had a limit of two movies or two hour of video games a day. She even placed a charm that would let her know when he passed the time limit.

The funniest part was that she told the two adults that they should be setting a good example for him, so now all three spent limited time in there. They whined about it in the beginning but in the end it worked out, they flew more, read, Harry went over to the Neville's and helped him with his green house, and generally went out more.

It was on one of those trips that it finally happened.

They had gone to a park and decided to go and explore. By some bushes Harry saw a small snake that had to be a baby. Harry started walking up to it when Remus noticed.

"Step back Harry, don't touch it"

Harry looked back at him puzzled, he understood snakes were frightening to others but it really was a baby snake it couldn't possibly hurt him, "It's just a baby Moony, it won't hurt me"

"It probably won't but its mother probably will" By this time both Sirius and Remus were stepping closer to Harry and looking to his right.

When Harry looked he saw that there was a bigger snake getting ready to spring at him. He didn't think twice.

("I'm Sorry, I wasn't going to hurt your hatchling, she was just so beautiful I wanted to get a closer look")

Both his guardians and the snakes looked back in shock.

("You speak our language") the mother said

("Yes, I have always been able to, please don't bite any of us, we'll leave, we were just exploring and didn't know this area was already taken")

The snake appraised him, ("Very well go ahead but don't come near any of my hatchlings again")

Harry smiled, ("We won't, thank you")

He turned back and saw both men still shocked but not disgusted. He figured it was a good sign, especially from Sirius. He smiled walking toward them and leading them away.

"What was that Harry?" said Sirius

"What was what?" He brought up his most puzzled expression, "You heard her, she won't bite but we have to leave."

They didn't say anything then and followed him into the main park area. Once they were back they sat on a bench and Remus threw up a privacy charm.

"Harry, we didn't understand what the snake was saying, we heard you talking parseltongue, you sounded like the snake." Remus said a little bewildered but keeping his calm.

"Are you saying that we weren't speaking English? That's what it sounded like to me. Are you telling me I can talk to snakes like Voldemort could?" He asked sounding both terrified and disgusted.

"Don't worry pup there's nothing wrong with you, it's looked upon as evil but only because of the people associated with it. Don't think it means you're evil or anything like that. Remember you wouldn't have Hedwig if that was the case. Think of it as a gift and you choose what you do with it. We won't think any differently of you because of it ok?" Sirius said while hugging Harry, he looked at Remus and he smiled and nodded his head as well.

Later they had gone to Dumbledore to see if he knew why Harry was a parselmouth. He gave them the same explanation he gave to Harry at the end of his second year. Harry could tell that Sirius looked a bit relieved at the explanation. Harry appreciated that although Sirius was somewhat uncomfortable with the ability he put it aside for Harry's sake.

They ended up telling the Tonks and Neville. Harry said he wasn't sure if he wanted others to know but if he considered someone his friend he would tell them. He wasn't ashamed of it but knew that a lot of people where prejudiced and he didn't want to subject himself to their criticisms.

-oOo-

Remus was the one he came to for guidance, although they were closer than last time he still saw him as his teacher. Remus was always teaching him new things and he was the one Harry went to if he didn't understand something. He was a mixture between a mentor and a friend. While he lived with them and helped to raise Harry it seemed as if he liked being a teacher more and left the actual parenting roles to Sirius and Andromeda. Sirius would come to him for advice sometimes and he would give his opinion but that's as far as it would usually go.

Sirius was the one Harry came to for almost everything. It was like Sirius was the big brother who took over raising his kid brother after the parents couldn't. He took on the role and did it to the best of his ability but enjoyed having fun with him best. With Andromeda around it allowed Sirius and Harry to have this relationship rather than a complete parent and child. Sirius was his best friend and now that he knew how great Sirius was to live with he would never regret coming back.

Mrs. Weasley used to say that Sirius was irresponsible but Harry never saw it. In the beginning he seemed a bit unsure of himself but was never to proud to ask for help from others. That's what probably made the biggest difference, while Andromeda saw herself as a parental figure she never look down on Sirius. Once he caught them having a conversation about the arcade time.

Sirius never cared about it but she talked to him why children should have limits. She explained that Harry was going to be given a lot of extra things in life because of his name. He had to show him now that to everything there are limits. He didn't have to be deprived of anything but there should be moderation for it. Andromeda talked to him and explained her opinion of it but never forced it, instead of Sirius becoming defensive about it he took it for what it was as, advice. That was why he allowed it when Andromeda set some boundaries. If he would have said no, she would've listened and respected it. She might have been upset but she respected the fact that he was his guardian.

Because of how well they worked together Sirius trusted her to do what was best for Harry and stepped more into a big brother role. He was the one that showed Harry to fly, to play pranks, took him out to see things, when they went to a muggle park and saw two kids playing catch he got the gloves so that they could play together. He gave him tips on girls, tips to get out of trouble, Andromeda did most of the shopping but Sirius told him the "cool" way to put it together. Harry knew that when he would have problems he would talk to Sirius rather than trying to solve things on his own because he knew he could count on him. When Harry had gotten Hedwig Sirius was the one that took him to buy books on phoenixes and helped him learn important things about her.

-oOo-

He drafted the letter to Garuk right away. Wanting to get the process started as soon as possible. Once he got the first draft done he reread it and made the appropriate changes before sending out.

Dear Garuk,

May your gold always flow.

I trust you are doing well and find yourself in good health.

First I would like to thank you for your wonderful gift. It was very thoughtful especially for someone like me. I am anxious to wear it and explore its uses. Unfortunately I find myself with a maternal figure that deems me to "young" to wear it at this time. You can understand my frustrations.

She means well so I didn't take offence, luckily we have reached a compromise. I will be allowed to wear it when I become Lord Potter at age eleven. I made sure she understood that a lord needs to be as protected as possible. Please do not take offence if I see you and am not wearing it.

I also write because I need your assistance. I am hoping to prepare a safe house of sorts. Here are some of the requirements.

Fidelius – Once we locate an appropriate site I would like this location to be placed under fidelius as soon as possible.

Werewolf safe – As you are aware one of my guardians is a werewolf and I need a safe location in the house where he can transform and not be a danger to others living there.

Largest available – I would prefer this house to be as large as possible. I don't know how many people I will ultimately have here but I don't want to ever have to turn someone away.

Medical Room – I need a decently sized room stocked with medical supplies. I want this room to be ready to use at a moment's notice.

Potion's Room – Keep a room available to brew potions. Start stocking basic ingredients now, especially the ones with a long shelf life. Once I begin Hogwarts we'll start buying more depending on what I believe we'll need the most.

Food Supplies - I'm not sure where exactly in the wizarding world it's possible to get food with a long shelf life. If not we can send someone out to the muggle world and gather some canned foods and other food meant for long term storage.

Wards – Although it is under fidelius I want it warded. Including both offensive and defensive wards, not only for someone with the dark mark but anyone with an intention to harm any residing in the house.

I'm sure by now you have some theories on why I would be setting up a house like this, what I'm preparing for. I implore you to take such precautions as well. I fervently hope that it will be money wasted and never be necessary but I'm not willing to take that risk.

Please take a look at my properties and see which ones would be compatible. Once you do please send me a list and we can take it from there.

One more request would be if you could start looking into a small shop up for sale in Diagon Alley. We have another business venture that we're hoping to open early November. I don't know if you've heard of contacts. They're quite common in the muggle world and we're hoping to introduce them into the wizarding world.

We're only planning on opening the shop perhaps three days a week and don't need that much room since the product is quite small.

I truly appreciate your assistance with this.

With Regards,

Harry James Potter