The last of the chapters Quatreastrophe completed, reedited.
Chapter VIII- What testing?
Harry left the bathroom, his hair still damp from his shower. Finally, his body clock had woken him at five, and he had been able to do his proper work-out (in the restraining space of his room) before anyone else had awoken, though the residents were probably risen during the time he'd spent in the shower.
As a part of his daily ritual, his body mechanically began tying his bandana around his head as he began planning.
Firstly, he needed to find some library nearby. And then get there and back. And then find the way to repair his magic.
That was, after all, his most important priority, Harry told himself as he made his way to the kitchen.
Lily was standing by the counter, finishing preparing breakfast, platters of food on the counter. She turned as she heard footsteps, and smiled warmly at Harry.
Harry approached the counter warily, and gingerly took a plate from the woman. She gestured to the platters. "Take whatever you'd like."
Harry filled his plate, and after grabbing a fork, sat down at the table, eating as quickly as he could without looking like an animal. After mostly clearing his plate, he raised his head. "...So, this school I'm supposed to go to..."
"Oh, yes! Albus told us about your testing-"
"Testing?" Harry's fork had frozen on its trip to his mouth. "What testing would this be?"
"To...see...wait, surely someone told you. Wasn't Albus going to explain it to you after we...uh, made arrangements for you and your education?"
"News to me."
"He said he would take you aside...well, Albus was going talk some of the Hogwarts professors into testing you to see what level you're at for various subjects. You know, you haven't taken your OWLS, after all, he can't just put you into sixth year because of your age. It wouldn't be fair to you if you hadn't the proper education, or the other students who had to have the testing. We could tell you had some magical education, but we still have no idea where you are at schooling standards. If you'd tell us where-"
What warmth on Harry's face turned to a freezing stare, the hardened face of a warrior glared at Lily, who cut herself off.
"I suppose he was waiting to get agreement from the professors before telling you." She smiled at Harry cheerfully, momentarily forgetting the glare he had sent her. "That makes sense."
"So...when will I be...tested? And will that still require me taking these OWLs?"
Harry was wary of his (and he still was using the term lightly) mother, and for a good reason. She seemed far too comfortable talking to him. Far too comfortable for some long-lost son who had appeared as mysteriously as he had gone. Surely, she should have some doubt about him. And, that issue of the Headmaster 'taking him aside' bothered him. It could be just a misunderstanding, or had something else happened.
Damnit, he still needed to learn the mind arts, Harry told himself.
"Any day now, I should think." Lily's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "As for the OWL testing, they should let you take them before summer ends if any of the teachers think you'll be capable of passing them." And by that tone of voice, she didn't seem to have much confidence in his abilities. "James!" Harry turned to see the man enter the kitchen. "Did Albus tell you about Harry's testing date?"
James waved a slip of parchment. "Just arrived." He handed it over. "In three days."
"Is there a library?" Harry asked.
"A library?" James looked at Harry as if he had just said 'am I male?' "Of course Hogwarts has a library! One of the biggest-"
"I meant a public one," Harry hastily added, before James had a full-blown emotional breakdown in front of his wife and formerly long-lost son.
"Oh."
"No, dear," said Lily, turning back to the counter, missing Harry shudder at the term. "Nearly everyone around here who needs a magic book has to buy one. The only libraries are at Hogwarst and the Ministry, and neither is accessible daily to ordinary civilians."
Damnit, Harry shouted in his mind. He only had a few Galleons from his "job" at Ollivander's, and he wasn't going to ask his parents for money- especially since he didn't know the extent of their involvement in the messing up of his mind.
He could picture the conversation right now.
"I need a big ol' sack of gold," Harry would say.
"Why, dear?"
"Well, I found out that you guys have been screwing up my mind and magic, so I've decided to buy some books to counter this. But I don't have enough money."
"..."Lily was silent.
"OBLIVIATE HIM!" shouted James.
Back to the subject, Harry already now suspected when this incident had occurred- and who may have damaged his mind, possibly Albus Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, which meant he had to be even more careful. Dumbledore was supposed to be some kind of reigning light wizard, Harry wouldn't be too surprised that the man could be involved. The guy seemed to emit weird vibes, but that could just as easily be that ...colourful clothing.
Meanwhile, Harry would simply have to bide his time. Maybe the Potter parents gave their kids an allowance or something, and then he'd just have to find some way to get to a book store. If not, this school library would have to work. Unfortunately, he doubted he'd be allowed to go the library during his testing, meaning he'd have to wait till he actually was in the school.
Once again, Lily's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "I have most of my old school books in the attic, if you'd like to look them over to revise for your testing. I'll get them!"
The house had an attic?! Harry never remembered anything like that. But- a stroke of good luck- Lily had misinterpreted why he had asked about a library. If they were helping Dumbledore- presuming he had been the one to mess with Harry's head- no reason to make them continue their efforts to suppress him.
James was busy shovelling food into his mouth like it was his last meal. The man smiled over at Harry, who took some effort to not react to the chewed-up food James was displaying.
Harry soon finished his breakfast, and was about to stand up when Lily re-entered the room, carefully supporting a stack of dusty textbooks, which she placed on the table
"Here you go, s-Harry. Some are probably out of date and not on the curriculum anymore, but I'm sure they'll suffice. After all, it isn't the end of the world if you have to take a few- or all- classes below sixth year level."
Harry nodded over at Lily as thanks and glanced over at the pile. He doubted there'd be anything to do with Occlumency, but decided he may as well look them over. He picked up the stack and nodded over at his birth parents as he headed for his room, ignoring the urge he was having to sneeze from the dust.
'You have got to be...' Harry cut himself off in his thoughts, still staring at the Herbology book.
The island he had grown up on, was generally a more tropical area then Britain, and obviously did not support most the plant life listed in the fifth year book. He was well off when it came to tropical plants, but for some of these...he didn't even know how to pronounce the names.
Harry reached over for a book on Magical Creatures. A quick flick showed he knew mostly about more tropical life, but that was it. After all, if new animals were imported to the isles, they could upset very fragile ecosystems and ruin the environment.
Intent on throwing the infuriating book across the room, a yellowed parchment fell out from near the end pages. A quick read showed it was his mother's third year schedule, and apparently, Magical Creatures was an optional course.
Harry set aside the Magical Creatures books, hoping he wouldn't be tested in that particular subject. But thinking about it, how were they going to know what to test him in if he hadn't told them what classes he wanted to take. He didn't even know all the classes offered! Would Dumbledore have him tested in everything? Harry mentally made a note to look over the Magical Creature books later.
The next book was for another optional subject, "Ancient Runes." Harry opened the book to a random page, and to his shock, he recognised the symbols and glyphs perfectly. The Elumvians was fluent in this language, in fact, they used it as well as they used English, both writing and speaking in this. The runes were taught alongside spell theory and ward casting.
'Well,' thought Harry. 'I suppose here's one thing that I'll be doing for that OWL exam...'
Harry was then suddenly aware of loud footsteps approaching his door, which then crashed open. He swerved around, his hand outstretched, ready to cast a spell.
He then realised he was currently incapable of doing so.
But then again, since it was Oriana, things probably wouldn't have gone over so well if he had.
That was confusing. He was angry at himself for almost cursing his sister, then glad he couldn't have done so anyway, then angry he didn't have his magic, and then he wouldn't have made the error if his senses were okay!
Oh, when he found the person who screwed up his magic...heads would roll.
Oriana had been watching at all the different facial expressions, decided to speak up. "Mum says to come down for lunch. Dad says to stop being a nerd and get away from the books."
A nerd? Harry irritably sighed at these pointless words. But now Oriana mentioned it, he was feeling mildly peckish.
He still couldn't figure out why his parents wanted him back to live with them in the first place. Surely they didn't have anything to gain by it. And surely the government benefits for extra children wasn't that great.
Not in the mood to deal with anyone, Harry went down to the kitchen and filled a plate, before returning to his room, ignoring any indignant comments about his behaviour.
Through the rest of the day, the teen began skimming his way through the rest of the books. And eventually, he was sure he was ready for whatever they pulled, even though his magic was messed up.
Transfiguration and Charms were definitely in the bag. He didn't know half the pointless spells (who cares about changing animals into furniture and spelling things to do cartwheels?!) but they were probably used as training exercises. In Potions, most ingredients Harry didn't even know existed, but potion masters and makers hadn't memorised- nor would they ever- every ingredient in the world. He knew enough about reactions and properties and the instructions for most potions were in the book. If he was any good at Potions, it'd probably be in healing potions, but in the entirety of the subject, he was average.
No one disturbed him, and Harry fell asleep fully clothed, books and papers covering him and his bed.
"You have to got to be-"
"Take it!"
"It's disgusting!" Harry took a step away from the filthy shoe James was holding out to him, a repulsed expression on the teen's face.
For the past few days, Harry had migrated to his room, going through the books- as well as trying to repair his magic. Hayden spent more time at friend's houses, and Oriana- well no one seemed to know what she did, but she reminded him when to eat, and James and Lily seemed to be busy at the strangest hours, and when he asked Oriana, she'd say something about a meeting.
What the hell were these meetings?
"It's just a Portkey!" James said, exasperatedly.
"Strangely enough I can tell. I've experienced quite a few before," said Harry with a glare, reminding James how he'd been kidnapped.
"Then what's your problem?"
"Damnit, take a look at it! It's disgusting!" James tried to push the shoe against Harry, but the teen dodged and backed away.
"Out of all the things to make into a Portkey, you pick a shoe that isn't fit for a tramp! Are you trying to give me some kind of disease?"
"Look, this is just what Dumbledore made, 'kay? Now take it unless you want to be stuck with the first years for your classes!"
"Aw, is my own bwover scared of the mean shoe?" said Hayden.
Harry spun around. "You want to be slammed into another wall-?!"
Something pressed into his side, and he felt a tug behind his naval.
Oh, whoever it was who'd damaged his mind, thus his magic, thus his senses, that would've detected that shoe a mile off, would pay. In cash and blood.
Harry landed steadily on his feet, and smirked as he saw James stumble. He looked around to see a crowd of eccentric looking nutters who seemed to be a collection of rejects from bad fairy tales.
Albus Dumbledore stood at the head of the crowd, beaming at Harry, even though Harry didn't seem to understand what there was to beam about.
"You! You're the imbecile that made that disgusting shoe into a Portkey?" Harry demanded to know, only receiving a smile and twinkles of the eyes as response.
'Weird,' thought Harry. 'Has he implanted miniature light bulbs into his eyes or something?'
"You're a maniac, a maniac I tell you! If that unhygienic shoe gives me some kind of a disease and offs me, I'm damn well making sure I haunt you."
"Harry!" James hissed.
"Now what?" said Harry, crossing his arms and fixing a smirk on his face.
"A threat I've heard many times in my life," Dumbledore smiled.
Harry was sure of it. The school could blow up and the man would still be smiling.
"Madame Pomfrey, if you would." Dumbledore gestured towards a woman who left the crowd and pulled Harry out of the room, taking him to some corridor.
"...Where are we going?" said Harry, noticing the woman was wearing clothing worn by medical people. "...Some kind of...doctor appointment or something?"
"We have to update your out-of-date medical records before admitting you into the school," said Madame Pomfrey. "We can't have you giving people "some kind of a disease" that "offs" them, can we?"
"...You know, if I did have some kind of contagious disease from before I came here, I think I would've noticed by now."
The woman ignored Harry's comment, as they entered the hospital wing of the school. She pushed Harry over to a bed before she put on a pair of translucent gloves, snapping them on menacingly. "Since we have no idea where've you been and who've you been in contact with, I'll just have to do every test in the book."
She opened a cabinet of tools and vials...menacingly.
"...This book is small, right?" Harry said hopefully.
Pomfrey pulled some syringes out of the cabinet, and approached Harry menacingly, like a deadly predator stalking its helpless prey.
"You make these taste bad on purpose, right?" Harry said grumpily, after he downed yet another potion.
The matron was still studying a chart intently, glanced over at him.
"So, am I done?" said Harry, climbing down from the bed.
"...You don't seem to have any kind of disease but..." She waved her wand over at Harry, casting some kind of diagnostic spell that she cast numerous times already. Each time, he'd felt a strange sensation- as if something was trying to escape.
Harry froze. There was only one thing that could be trying to escape. His magic...
The door opened to reveal Dumbledore. "Is he finished?" He inquired with a smile.
"Yes...but these readings!" She looked at them, still perplexed from the chart. "His magic levels seem reasonably large, but this other line!"
Dumbledore studied the chart. "I don't think it's anything to worry about. Most likely a fluke from some accidental magic or something normal like that."
Harry narrowed his eyes. His magic problem would not have originated from accidental magic. The Headmaster knew something.
"Come along my boy. It's time to see what you know!" He said enthusiastically, gesturing at the door.
Harry looked at the purple robes that Dumbledore wore, and made the same gesture. "Ladies first."
Finally, I've finished re-editing the first eight chapters.
By the way, Quatreastrophe sent me a near complete chapter nine, which I'll both re-edit and complete. From then on, all my writing- while still following the plan- and then I'll be making my own storyline, slightly darker than the original story was.