Chapter 5: A Lot of Planning

Harry awoke from sudden light, sitting upright at once, thinking for a moment that Aunt Petunia had opened his cupboard to wake him, which generally was a very bad sign.

"Hello Harry," a voice said, which Harry recognized as Death's voice after a moment. And everything came back to him.

"G-Good morning," he answered shakily, unsure about how he was expected to react, as he went to grab his glasses to be able to see everything clearly. Death stood next to the window, he obviously had opened the thick, black curtain that had blocked the light last night to wake him. "What time is it?"

"It is currently about eight in the evening."

Harry stared unbelievingly at Death. What? He couldn't have slept that long, could he? Or had he not gone to bed in the evening at all? Time was hard to judge if the light outside seemed always the same...

"It seems that you are wondering how that is possible. Just know that you may always ask me everything you can think of, I can not promise that I will answer it all, but a child that is not curious is like a Thestral that cannot fly," Death said and Harry, though still feeling a bit insecure - after all, the Dursleys had always drilled into him to 'not ask any questions!' - nodded. "Good. Now, the reason for it being eight in the evening is not - as you might think - that you have slept for too long. Actually, you have only slept slightly longer than children of your age should. The thing is, you went to sleep at around half past two in the afternoon."

Harry frowned. "But... didn't you tell me that it was already evening?" Also, he couldn't imagine that the whole day at Death's Lair had just been a few hours... it had felt much longer!

"That's because for your body, it was about evening." Death waved his hand, and a clock materialised next to him, making Harry stare surprised at it. "Do you see the second hand?" Harry nodded. "Well, watch it for a moment. Tell me what you see."

At first, Harry didn't understand what Death was trying to say as he focused on the hand of the clock. But after a few seconds he actually noticed something. The clock was ticking quite slow... Sure, he was no expert on time, but he had watched enough clocks at school to get a vague feeling about when something was off. And on this clock, the second hand was moving slower than it should, almost as if it ticked in slow-motion. He voiced his observation to Death, who nodded.

"Exactly. It might take a little getting used to, but in my lair, time doesn't move quite as fast as it does on Earth. To be precise, it flows exactly half as fast as you know it, making one day on Earth feel like two days here."

Harry couldn't help but gape at this information. Time was actually altered here? That sounded so... magical! But in a good way...

"But... wouldn't that mean I'm getting older much faster?" he asked after a moment. Because if one day on Earth was two days here, then one year would need two years, meaning that he would age basically twice as fast... right?

But Death shook his head. "Although we will be having much more time for you to learn, your body will not age accordingly. That means, he will age only half as fast as he normally would, as it is closely connected to the passing of time. I asked for that favour when I first heard of that whole 'the time moves different around here' concept. No worries about suddenly looking older than you should or something like that, although your mind is able to expand the way it can on Earth."

Harry blinked, not sure if he had understood it all, but he had gotten the gist of it. His body wouldn't age faster, but he would still be able to learn... or something like that. Though there was something weird about what Death had said...

"What do you mean, you asked for that?" Hadn't Death created his lair himself?

But Death just shrugged. "That is something I cannot explain to you without having to delete your memories of it afterwards. But it doesn't matter." And before Harry could say something else, the clock had been vanished and replaced with a parchment of some sort. "I have used the time while you have slept to devise a lesson plan for your time spent here. It is only a raw draft and it might be that we have to change something later, but for now this should suffice." Death pointed at the top, slowly moving his finger down while he continued to talk. "I have made a lesson plan for both days here that make up one day on Earth. On the first day - meaning the first half of an Earth-day - you will learn the basic muggle things. Maths, Geography and other people's cultures, Biology and, depending on your skill, writing. After all, I cannot use an apprentice who isn't able to write complete sentences without mistakes. Also in the afternoon of that day we will start with the basics of different magical things. History - magical and muggle - and Wandlore will mark the start, but there will also be practical exercises like the basics of Herbology and Potions. And, of course, once you have grasped the theory, real magic."

Harry looked at the parchment, every other thought forgotten. He would be learning magic! Sure, first would only be the theory, but afterwards he would actually be able to practise in the open! Not in the middle of the night. No Aunt Petunia who would want him to help her with cooking or cleaning or gardening and - the best thing! - no Dudley to always make anyone dislike him!

Sure, Harry still was a bit unsure if all of this was real and hoping he wouldn't simply wake up back in his cupboard one day, but he certainly didn't feel very asleep right now... And he couldn't really imagine all of this, could he? He shook his head slightly to shoo away unwanted thoughts and focused back on the parchment as Death wasn't even finished yet with his explanation.

"The second day will be dedicated to the impression you will want to give of yourself later on. In the 'morning' you will have Calligraphy lessons - meaning lessons how to write with a quill and how to make it look good - as well as lessons in different languages. Seeing as you have already begun learning Gobbledegook I think we will begin with it before trying another language. After lunch you will then be taught another kind of magic. The one that is unique among all humans as none other has the powers you have gained through yours mother. Other than that you will have a bit of free time every evening and each Sunday you will have two days off, to do whatever you like. Regarding breakfast, lunch and dinner, Hugin and Munin will prepare your meals for you."

By now, Harry's head was swirling with all that information. He wasn't even sure if he could remember what lesson he would have when and why... But Death, noticing his confusion just pinned the parchment at the wall next to Harry's bed.

"There. That way you can always check when you will have what kind of lesson." He then conjured a clock and a calendar out of thin air, making Harry stare in awe again. "This clock isn't a usual clock. It will show you the time in relation to the longer days and is labelled with 'Breakfast', 'Lunch' and 'Dinner' as you can see. The coloured date on the calender is today, though only half of it will be dyed if it's the first day of the two," Death explained as he put the clock on Harry's bedside table and the calendar next to the timetable. "Did you understand that?" Harry nodded slowly, though he wasn't sure if he would remember it... "Just ask if you might forget something, I know it is a lot of information to absorb, but as you know now, we have time." Harry nodded again. "Good. Now, I am certain that the elves are waiting with breakfast, you should put on some clothes and eat something, I will wait for you in the entrance hall. Just meet me when you are finished."

With that, Death left the room, leaving Harry to wonder where exactly his clothes were.

ooo

After a moment of searching Harry had at least found some clothes. A simple black T-shirt and equally black trousers. They weren't his but fit him well and since he simply couldn't find his old clothes he resigned and put these on. It wasn't as if he missed Dudley's hand-me-downs after all and these ones felt really soft and nice.

He made his way to the dining room, but stopping short as he entered it to find the whole dining table full of food! What the...?

"Young master, good morning!" the house elves greeted him happily. "We are hoping that you will find something you like to eat?" Harry was still staring at the table, obviously making them uncomfortable.

"Is there a problem young master? Is this not enough? Then we shall make more," one of them - Hugin? At least he had an ornate 'H' embroidered on his small apron - asked.

That shook Harry out of his small trance. "No! No, it's alright, you don't need to make more! I... just thought it is too much!" he explained hurriedly. He didn't want to make the elves work even more when he would never manage to eat all of that. He wasn't even sure he had ever seen so much food at once! There was toast with different jams and ham and scrambled eggs and a whole lot of fruit he knew (like apples and strawberries) and didn't know.

"Well, we saw how thin young master was and thought that he must not have eaten enough! So we prepared a good, healthy breakfast," Hugin explained, before ushering him inside while Munin closed the door behind them.

ooo

After the biggest breakfast he had ever had - at least his stomach felt as full as never before - he made his way back to the entrance hall. Just like he was told, Death was waiting for him, sitting on a small sofa, reading some kind of newspaper. As Harry stepped into the room, Death folded the paper neatly and placed it on a table next to him.

"So, did you like breakfast?" he asked, even though he didn't sound very curious.

"Yes, it was delicious," Harry answered anyway, being perfectly honest. It had been the best breakfast he had ever eaten, even though the elves had insisted on him eating a bit of the fruits and drinking at least one cup of milk. "Thank you very much."

"Don't thank me, thank the elves. I just told them to make breakfast, though they did seem quite enthusiastic to do so."

Harry nodded, he had already thanked the elves, making them tear up a little, but still thought it polite to thank Death too, after all, he probably wouldn't have gotten much food without his order.

After a moment of silence, Death stood up and walked over to Harry, who hadn't moved much from the door. "So, after you have been properly fed, allow me to ask another question," Death said and, without waiting for an answer, continued. "Do you like wearing glasses?" Harry blinked, slightly confused. He wasn't sure if he had understood the question correctly. "Alright, let me rephrase that: Would you prefer being able to see clearly without your glasses?"

Harry nodded again, though much slower. He still didn't really get what Death was referring to. "But that's impossible, isn't it?" After all, the doctor had clearly explained to him that it was unlikely that his vision would ever go back to normal.

"Improbable, yes, but not impossible. You must not forget that I am no mere Muggle. There are potions to correct almost any physical disadvantage a human body can have, as long as they are administered early enough. So if you want I could brew enough of it to correct your eyesight. Otherwise I would suggest getting another set of glasses, yours are hideous. No offence." Death added the last part as if it hadn't occurred to him before, which didn't make it sound very convincing, but Harry wasn't all that focussed on that wording anyway. He knew his glasses were ugly. No, he was actually imagining how cool it would be to be able to see clearly without glasses again...! Just with the help of a potion of some kind...?

Though it didn't seem all that easy after all, as Death continued after seeing Harry vigorously nod his head. "You would need to drink one vial of that potion every morning and it will probably taste very bad. But it will gradually sharpen your sight again until it is perfect again and will permanently stay that way. Just know that once you have agreed there is no way out, I will not brew a complicated potion like that just to have you whining over it after your first dose, is that clear?"

Harry nodded hastily, the emotionless tone in which Death told him that had intimidated him pretty much. But he still wanted to get rid of his old glasses, it held only bad memories for him, as the children in his school had never been particularly fond of him and the glasses were just another reason to poke fun at him.

He had already experienced a lot of bad stuff, he couldn't imagine drinking something icky each morning would be any worse. And if he understood it correctly that potions were just like medicine it was supposed to taste bad anyway. As long as it worked, he would be fine.

ooo

Once they had decided that the house elves would give Harry the potion every morning before breakfast once it was ready Death proposed yet another thing to him: They were going to buy clothes for him today! His current fitting clothes had really been made by Death but the man had decided that he did not want to conjure all of Harry's clothes and he apparently needed more than just one or two different sets... and then there was something about enchanting the fabric, but Harry wasn't really sure what that meant. Still, he was horribly excited about it, especially after Death told him not to worry about the money, even though Harry could afford it to buy clothes for himself. He had never ever gotten any clothes! Any that fitted him, that was.

So when Death told him to take his hand again Harry eagerly did so, having forgotten that he had actually been quite scared of the man a few minutes ago.

Hello folks!

I think I have slightly changed my plans regarding where this story will go, though of course everything that's currently published will stay the same. It's mostly some stuff way in the future for now, I just wanted to tell you about it since some of the new ideas were inspired by some of your reviews so I thought you might like to hear (well, read) that.

I know this chapter was a bit dry, with so many explanations and stuff, the next chapter should be better. It will feature the shopping stuff, obviously, and I hope you will be (maybe even positively?) surprised as to what I have planned considering that. :)

Other than that: Thanks to all people who have read, followed, favourited or/and even reviewed this story even after so muich time has passed, it means a lot to me! Glad to have such awesome readers.

Regards, Violet-san

Edit: Since I have gotten a few reviews about that time-stuff Death explains in this chapter, let me clarify it: Time as it runs on Earth is the only time that exists in this story. Meaning when Death says to Harry that time moves half as fast in his realm, he is talking about the "Earth-time". If Death's realm had time of it's own, it would run twice as fast, that is true, but Death mostly travels on Earth so he has no need in making clocks work normally (=one second as fast as we know it) in his realm... because he doesn't care about the "two days" he has in his realm. He needs to measure time the way it is on Earth to be able to plan his visits, so he tells Harry that time moves slower. (Or you could simply say that Death's realm moves in super speed.)

I hope that clears it up a bit, although I know it's pretty confusing the way I'm phrasing it... I don't know a better explanation.