[A/N]: Sorry for the delay, here is the new chapter =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or anything you can recognise. I just play with it.
Harry's Wars: Episode 1 - Chapter 6 (part 1)
Summer 1993, Potter's Pocket Dimension, Entrance Room
Harry and Dobby stood in an entrance hall at the foot of the stairs inside the pocket dimension. The way down took some time, nearly three hours.
"Dobby, you saved my life here. My ancestors were a paranoid bunch. I think I am going to need a blood replenishing potion when I get back to Privet Drive. There were so many hidden traps and checkpoints." With an almost empty look in his eyes, Harry mumbled in a low voice "so, so many…"
Dobby just looked at him worriedly. "Everything will be fine, Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will protect Harry Potter, sir. We need to find the ward room, there you should be able to take control of most of the defences in here. Dobby will look for the elves taking care of the pocket dimension. Harry Potter, sir, should rest for a moment." Then, Dobby popped away, leaving Harry alone.
As he was exhausted, Harry sat on the last step and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Harry exhaled with a long sigh.
"Wow, I did not think this was going to be so arduous. Now at least, I have a much better control. I can kinda sense magic around me. Not far but at least I don't need my hands anymore, only for detailed stuff. But it puts a lot of strain on my mind to process that much more information. I have to keep my eyes closed if I want to use it. This is great, now I know how to train it further."
While Harry was resting, half an hour passed. As he was about to call for Dobby in concern, he heard a soft *pop* in front of him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the hilarious sight of Dobby holding another elf in a headlock, sporting a rapidly darkening panda eye.
"Wow, Dobby. What happened?" Harry asked in bewilderment. As far as he knew, Dobby only wanted to look for the elf responsible for this place, he did not say anything about kidnapping? Elfnapping? Dragging. Of dragging the elf in front of him.
'But considering how zealous Dobby is, it does not surprise me.'
As he saw that neither of the elves paid him any intention, Harry decided to intervene.
He tried to flare his magic and was again surprised at the ease of his magical manipulation.
"HEY! Both of you! Stop NOW!" he yelled while dialling his magic down. "That's enough! Dobby, release him and behave yourself! And you, elf! I am Harry James Potter, the only son of James Charlus Potter. You will cease, listen and answer when talked to. Am I understood?!"
In order to drive his point home, Harry flared his magic again, this time higher than before.
Both elves froze when Harry flared his magic for the first time. They stood straight at the end of Harry's outburst, both elves nodded like a bobble head. Satisfied, Harry crossed his arms and snorted angrily.
"Good. I don't want to see such a display again. Now, Dobby. Explain why your search for the elf in charge here resulted in a black eye for you?"
Dobby looked at the floor in shame and wringed his hands. "Dobby was searching for the elf in charge here, but Dobby could not find him. When Dobby was about to come back, Dobby was surprised by the elf appearing out of nowhere. Then Dobby was about to explain who he was, but Dobby was attacked immediately, so Dobby had to defend himself. When Dobby had the other elf in hand, Dobby decided to come back to Harry Potter, sir. Dobby is sorry. Dobby failed to bring the elf here peacefully."
Harry held his forehead in exasperation. 'Of course it had to be like this. Why in Merlin's name could this not be a smooth affair? Naturally, when Harry Potter is involved, things have to go sideways. Nothing is ever easy.'
"Dobby, you did fine when you defended yourself. I can't say I appreciate the way you handled things, but considering the circumstances, I think things could have gone much worse. So good job, Dobby. Thank you for bringing the elf to me. Now you. Elf. What is your name?"
The elf stood ramrod straight and looked at Harry with big disbelieving eyes.
"I, I am Sammy, young master Harry. I can't believe it. But you must be it. I can feel the bond to you resettling, the family's magic is growing stronger. You are so big. The last time I saw you, you were a baby. How much time has passed since master James sealed the dimension? Can you tell me what year it is?"
Harry was a bit overwhelmed at the elf's response. He did not expect this, at all. Well he did not know what to expect, but this was not it.
"Erm, it is 1993. It has been almost twelve years since my parents died." Harry finally cobbled an answer together. "Wait, what do you mean, when you say my father sealed this dimension? And why would you not know how much time passed?" he inquired, confused about the situation he found himself in.
"Well, when master James sealed the realm, he told me he was going to activate the stasis enchantments for the whole dimension. While most of the elves that came here after the attack on Potter Manor were already in stasis, he did not want to take any risk with the dimension.
I brought the dimension here after the death of master Charlus and mistress Dorea. Mistress Lily was very concerned about the lack of work for the elves that lost their occupation after the destruction of Potter Manor. The ancestral seat of the Potter Family had been moved during the war of Grindelwald into the pocket dimension's manor, so its security was paramount, but even if there was enough work for us, it was too risky to keep the dimension active while master James and mistress Lily were hiding.
Furthermore, mistress Lily wanted you to have a good base in case the worst happened and they were to die. She did not want you to be all alone without any support in any case. He instructed me to protect you from any kind of danger, especially Dumbledore, should master Sirius not bring you here on your seventh birthday. I should have been woken up on your seventh birthday, but it seems to me, by the connection of the family magic I can feel in you that there has been outside interference.
Master James sealed the dimension in September '81. It would seem that his worst fears came true if you are arriving only after twelve years. And with a foreign elf bonded to you, no less. Young master Harry, please tell me what has happened after the dimension was sealed? And where is master Sirius? Or mistress Alice?"
Harry stood there for a moment, shell shocked. He did not think his parents were even preparing a backup plan for their backup plan.
"Wow. I read about Sirius and Alice in a letter my parents left behind, but I never met someone called like that.
After my parents died on October the 31st, I was brought to my mom's sister. I was - let's call it housed - with Petunia and Vernon Dursley.
I only learned about my magic when I received my Hogwarts letter and got introduced to the magical world by Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts. They call me the boy-who-lived, there is an entire children's book series about my supposed life.
Dumbledore apparently is my magical guardian, and even had my vault key until my first year. He was the one who dropped me off at their house, in the middle of the night and left me there on the doorstep with a letter in my basket."
When Harry finished the brief summary about his life, Sammy had a stern expression.
He for the first time watched Harry intently and immediately saw some problems. He was smaller than master James was at the same age, he wore old clothes, way too big for him. He seemed to be very skinny, too. When he added the last big fight mistress Lily had with her sister, it all put together did not paint a very good picture of Harry's upbringing.
He would have to get the complete story another time. If necessary he would avenge his young master. While elves were not allowed to actively harm wizards or muggles, the rules changed if it was in defence of their master or family.
"Mistress Lily was very angry at her sister the last time they spoke. I can not believe she would have allowed you to be in her care for even a second, much less authorise her to be your guardian. Master James was also very angry with them. Master Sirius was supposed to take you in and raise you. He is your sworn godfather and you were adopted into the Black family. I was present at the ritual, master Sirius even used the blood of the family head.
It is impossible for your placement to be legal.
It seems Mistress Lily was correct to assume that Dumbledore had plans for you, young master. I have to ask you to describe your upbringing to me later, so we can try to cram all the things you should have learned about conduct, the Potter family and estate management in your childhood. As you get older, there are going to be a lot of expectations on you, young master Harry.
The Potter family is a very old one, and very important to the magical community here in the British isles. The family magic should have protected you in your life so far, and maybe even guided you up to a point. But as I can sense only a weak connection to you, I assume the connection has been suppressed. In time, when the connection strengthens enough, you will be able to use the connection to the Potter family magic to access the Potter family grimoire and call upon all the elves bonded to the Potter family in any form.
For now, we have to manually connect you to the dimensional core via blood and magical infusion. I recommend you to rest after we are done, as this should be very exhausting for you."
Harry was overwhelmed at the infodump. For now, he could only nod at Sammy. He wanted to think for some time, process all the information he now had received.
"Allright Sammy. Let's get this over real quick and then Dobby can take me back to the Dursleys. Some food and some time to process is exactly what I need right now."
Harry, Sammy and Dobby stood in front of a wooden door. Harry could see runes inscribed on all the surfaces, and when he tried to sense the magic with his magical sensing, it was the equivalent of staring into the bright sun.
"Young master Harry, you must infuse some of your magic into three drops of blood and smear them onto the middle plank. Then you have to keep your hand on the door until it unlocks and opens."
Harry gulped nervously. This was it. This was his true first step to independence, screw Dumbledore, screw Morty-V. He was going to rise above them.
With his knowledge of the muggle future and with the skills he is going to develop he is going to be a legend alongside Merlin and the four founders.
No one is going to control him ever again, even if he has to lay low for the near future. His time will come, he will prepare. He will learn, master and improve any kind of magic he can get his hands on. And when the time is right, he will soar.
With a firm step, Harry marched to the door, resolutely cut his palm on a knife Sammy generously provided and began pumping his magic into the indicated spot.
After close to a minute of pumping his magic into the door, Harry started to get nervous. He was getting close to magical exhaustion.
Just as he was about to stop the infusion, the door sprung open. Harry nearly fell right into the room, so exhausted was he. Dobby immediately appeared at his side and tried to hold him up while giving Sammy the stink eye.
"Master Harry Potter, sir! You should take a rest. Dobby will bring you a chair!" and then he popped away. Harry could only let out a wry laugh before Dobby was back. Deciding to accept Dobby's goodwill, he sat down and closed his eyes, trying to speed up his recovery by manipulating his diminished flow of magic.
Sammy was astounded, his young master should not be this exhausted. His core was clearly full when they arrived, so how come he was exhausted this fast? He needed to clear this up before anything else, as this was important for the future of the Potter family.
As Dobby was still staring daggers at Sammy, Harry spoke up in a low voice "Sammy, do you know what happened? You did not tell me this was going to be this exhausting. I did expect quite some drain, but this was very close to my magical limit."
Dobby looked ready to apprehend Sammy again for crimes against the great and wonderful Harry Potter.
Sammy took a moment to formulate his response "Young master Harry, I do not know what happened. Usually the door only takes about a quarter of your magic. Maybe because the door has been opened the first time after unsealing the dimension, it needed more magic.
As long as I was in charge of this place, this has never happened. Not when your father master James took control of this place, not when your grandfather master Charlus accessed it. My predecessor did not mention this occurrence. As far as I know, so far the door consistently took about a quarter of the magical power of the entering Potter."
Harry was silent as he heard this, he had a suspicion but did not want it to be true and did not know if this is even possible.
"Sammy, do you know if it is possible to bind a child's magic in a way it does not have complete access to its magical power?"
Sammy looked at Harry with a hard look. "Yes young master. This is possible, but this is dark magic. If the caster is not careful, he can cripple the child or leave it magical underdeveloped. It can even stop magical gifts from developing correctly. Why do you ask, young master?"
Harry let out a deep sigh. He had feared that to be the case.
"Because I think that is what Dumbledore has done. In the letter my parents left behind, mom did mention I was using my magic to summon my toys. But I can only remember to use my magic in extreme cases, never with the ease mom hinted at. It would explain quite a few things from my childhood."
Sammy froze for a second and Dobby looked murderous. Then he was almost shaking in rage as he exclaimed "Young master, you suspect to have been bound as a child? Who did this? I will get all the elves to hunt them down to the last of their bloodline! This can not stand! The Potter family in its long history has never let such an insult and attack go unanswered!"
Sammy was breathing heavily at the end of his outburst and Harry was worried he would faint any moment. Dobby looked with approval at outburst, as in his opinion, any slight against the incredible Harry Potter should be met with harsh retaliation.
Harry opened his eyes and gave his elves his full attention.
"Sammy, calm down. If this is indeed the case then Dumbledore should be the culprit. But if he is, then we are going to have to play the long game. Tomorrow I have an appointment with the goblins at Gringotts. There I am going to get an in depth examination of any magical influence on me in order to prove the presence of a mail redirection charm on me.
It is nice to see you both this upset for me, but as I have come to realise, I have quite some enemies out there. And in order to be a step ahead of them, I need to be smart about it. Revenge is something I will get, but only when I can be sure I can handle the consequences and not a moment earlier. I can't risk any kind of scrutiny from the bigger players. Can you both understand where I am coming from?"
Dobby and Sammy nodded after a brief moment of hesitation.
"Yes, young master. You are the last scion of the Potter family main line and as such we lack the support and backing we would need. Even if the Potter family branch in MaCUSA were able to help, they hold no power here."
"Dobby understands, Harry Potter sir. Dobby will be a good elf!"
When Harry heard the affirmation from both elves, he nodded, smiled, made a mental note to ask about the MaCUSA branch and closed his eyes again. He needed to speed up his recovery, so he closed his eyes again and focused on his magic flowing through his body, gently encouraging it to speed up.
Ten minutes had passed since Harry began to immerse himself in meditation and his magic, when he opened his eyes. "That's enough. Let's go." he said while looking around.
Dobby and Sammy stood straight and simultaneously answered him with a loud "YES!"
Harry just shook his head and made his way to the door.
Inside Harry found an incredible sight.
In the middle of the room was a huge block of granite, surrounded by three equally spaced heptagonal pillars and encircled by seven triangular smaller pillars. All completely covered with some kind of inscription.
If he had to take a guess, the heptagonal pillars were seven metres and the triangular pillars were three metres tall.
In awe, Harry walked towards the outer circle of pillars. The closer he got, the more he could feel the magic emanating from the formation. He did not dare to try and use his active magic sensing, his pitiful passive one was almost blinded when he reached the pillars.
"Young master Harry, you have to bleed three drops of blood on each of the seven outer pillars and pump a bit of your magic into it. Then the core will connect to you as its master." Sammy remarked, clearly excited for the dimension to be active again.
Harry sighed in exasperation, this whole endeavour was beginning to annoy him with the constant need for his blood. First the wards in the house, then his parents' trunks and the chest and the bloodsucking door to this damned room.
"Fine. But if something else is going to need blood I'm going to take a break and return tomorrow. This day has been long enough."
Sammy smiled at that, "no need to worry young master Harry. After taking control of the core, all the protections tied to the core will be under your control. With a bit of training, you can essentially control everything in here. The weather, the seasons, the day night cycle, the magical saturation to a degree and you can even teleport after you have completely mastered it."
Dobby and Harry were astounded at that revelation. Dobby at the grandness and Harry at the possibilities this granted him. With luck, Harry could copy the teleportation and use it outside as well.
"All right. It is almost noon, so I want to get this over with and get back to my parents' trunks. I need to take stock of all the things they left me behind, make a list of what I need to buy asap, what I can buy tomorrow and what I need to buy in the near future.
Furthermore, I need to figure out if I can change the form of the Glamour necklace and adapt it to my own body. That way it will be more useful. Maybe there are notes…"
As Harry began to get distracted, Dobby approached him with silent steps.
"Harry Potter, sir. Dobby will help you, so you don't need to get worried. It is a house elf's duty and honour to support their master."
Sammy quickly arrived at Dobby's side, "Yes young master, Dobby is right. You are not alone anymore and we will help you. Every elf bonded to the Potter family will be at your disposal as soon as the family magic settles in you."
Harry chuckled at the sight of the two elves who could not be more dissimilar. Dobby emaciated, a bit hunched and clothed in dirty rags and the other one hale, standing proud and straight clothed in a uniform with the Potter crest over the heart. But both of them stood together with loyalty shining in their bright, big eyes.
"Thank you, you two. Let's get this over with."
Harry braced himself and stepped closer to the pillar next to him, feeling the intense magic it was radiating. 'I hope I can get used to this feeling fast. At least it is only discomfort. Like looking into a very bright illuminated room. Hopefully the intensity will settle after I activate and bind this and not get intensified.'
"All right, Sammy can you please fetch a ladder and Dobby please be ready to pop me out of this room as soon as I have activated the core."
Sammy and Dobby both nodded and Sammy fetched a ladder in a matter of seconds.
"Here young master. Please be careful."
Harry only nodded and began his task. It only took him a few minutes to arrive at the seventh pillar. The other pillars were already shining brightly, the shine increasing with each pillar Harry activated. "This is the last one. Dobby be ready." And as soon as he had pumped his magic into the pillar Dobby popped both of them outside, Sammy was already waiting with a chair, table and a fresh cup of tea. As soon as Harry was outside the room, the door snapped shut, concealing the happening inside.
Harry plopped on the chair and drank greedily before sighing. "Whew, thanks again. Wow, I can already feel the connection to the core, but it is weak and subdued." he commented.
"This is normal, young master. You can either wait for the connection to strengthen by itself, which will take a few years to decades, or you can train it and actively strengthen it. That way you can shorten the time massively. As it is now, you only have the most basic connection to it."
As Sammy informed him, Harry only nodded. "I think I will do that. It does not make sense to leave this to time if I will have need of the dimension in the future. Now Sammy, why don't you show us around? I would like to have a tour of the place, this way I can plan accordingly."
Sammy nodded enthusiastically, his head bobbing rapidly up and down, "yes, young master Harry. I can show you the important places and give you a brief summary about the functions. Follow me!"