Author's Note: So sorry this took so long, I read a truly awful - well written, but awfully fatalistic - fic while I was sick and it completely killed my muse. So if this is a rather forced chapter I'm sorry. Do know that I am happily back in possession of my muse and already working on the next chapter. This is a bit longer than most but do keep in mind that I'm no Runes expert, so all Runic references are a mixture of fact and my imagination. Thank you all for your amazing reviews, they make me so happy!

Little Gem

"Who died?"

Harry mentally marked his place and peered around the stack of books on the table. Mandy held three of her own, all on enchanted artifacts he noted silently. "No one, why?"

"You have to ask?" With a huff she dropped her books precariously close to Harry's leaning towers and dropped into the seat across from him. "Shrouded in black like death himself and you look like someone knifed your dragon."

"Lorelei is a monitor and belongs to no one, she is not a pet." Harry corrected with an amused smile. The man at the Magical Menagerie had been right when he said that Lorelei would grow to be huge but Harry hadn't realized that Skye Dragons bonded with the magic of their wizard and grew with it. It was only March and Lorelei was already four and half feet long, a little over twice the size she had been when she hatched. She had lost the nimbleness but even with her bulkier frame she could keep up easily even if Harry tried to outrun her. Most of the Ravenclaws stayed far away from her afraid that she would go into what was called bloodlust and attack them. It was funny for Harry to watch them now circle around her in the common room, giving her wide berth.

"Besides anyone stupid enough to bring a knife to a monitor fight deserves to meet death."

Mandy snorted rather loudly and leaned her chair back precariously to check around the corner to make sure Madam Pince hadn't heard. When it was safe to continue she let her chair fall forward and pinned Harry with a serious look. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry stressed and pointedly picked up Befuddling Muggles.

Thankfully Mandy only wrinkled her nose and didn't question his choice in reading material. Her own book was questionable, Behind the Bewitchments, but Harry returned the favor and didn't question it. It was beyond obvious now that her future was not in Diagon Alley. While Harry was immensely curious about seedier shops and how to find them he wasn't quite ready to risk the tentative trust that Mandy had started showing him by letting small details like this book slip.

Besides, it was only logical to learn to walk before you try to run. The books he found lying around the common room were enough to keep Harry occupied while he built a solid foundation to build on. Maybe once he was able to perfect animate to animate transfigurations he could start snooping around those shops.

Then again he was fated somehow to Voldemort. Maybe if Harry could find something of value those shops wouldn't be needed. After all what better way was there to learn about illegal branches of magic than from the champion of their rights? The sheer amount of knowledge Voldemort must possess left Harry feeling weak in the knees. The history books – as unreliable as they were – all agreed on only two things: that Harry was the Boy-Who-Lived and that Voldemort was so terrifying that even Dumbledore never stood against him face to face as he had with Gellert Grindelwald, the previous Dark Lord who championed the downfall of the Statue of Secrecy.

A complete lunatic if Harry had ever heard of one who had seemed more focused on causing as much chaos in as many countries as he could. Honestly it would only take one planned attack to bring the Statue to its knees and then one fell strike to cut off its head. The entire thing screamed a cover-up but Harry didn't fancy himself a conspiracy theorist and he didn't particularly care enough to try digging around. He was much too busy adjusting to the present with the sudden disappearance of Professor Quirrell to worry about some ex-Dark Lord who got thrown into his own prison.

Between the time Voldemort left Harry standing in the forest and the time it took for the staff to notice the Defense professor's absence, Harry realized two things.

The first was that without Voldemort Hogwarts felt exceedingly hollow, like a wand without a core – not really a wand at all, just a shameful mockery. There was no longer any afternoon tea chats or any conversations on restricted magic or their possibilities. If Harry received detention there would no longer be a teacher he enjoyed to scoop up the opportunity to spend the evening with him, teaching him things that were not found within the books in the Library. Neither were there any classes in which the students were encouraged to push beyond complacency and to grasp for originality.

Worst of all, there was no pleasant tingle in Harry's scar. The constant unsettling feeling of being on edge was now more noticeable than ever before and left Harry feeling quite anxious most of the time. In order to try and counter this restlessness Harry had taken to sneaking into the forest after his classes, under the safety of his invisibility cloak, to a patch of wild Fanged Geraniums that he had worked into a small garden. Hours upon hours Harry spent in the dark with Lorelei experimenting with Herbology based blood magic as the hedge witches had done so long ago. Only returning to his dorm when sheer exhaustion began to creep in and hinder his gardening.

During the day when it wasn't safe to sneak out to the Forest Harry escaped from the absurdity of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff houses by retreating into the Legal section of the Library. It was with bitter irony that the Headmaster had temporarily replaced Voldemort with an Auror, which Harry quickly learned was a dark wizard catcher, named John Dawlish. The lions and the badgers fawned over the decorated Auror as if he were Merlin incarnate, reveling in the strict militaristic rules and the honor of learning from someone who had actually fought and captured dark wizards.

If only they knew…Harry lamented silently.

Auror Dawlish preferred to be addressed as such and did not answer to 'professor'. He did not allow questions that were not based on the lesson of the day and when you did ask or answer a question Auror Dawlish requested – forced – you to stand beside your desk and use the most concise wording possible.

There would be no more debates in class, even if they were on topic. Auror Dawlish's opinion was the law, quite literally. The Ministry of Magic's views were his views, their laws were his moral code, and their orders were his commandments. Anyone who expressed the slightest doubt in the Ministry or its views was corrected with the ferocity only a small minded bigot could possess. The man actually represented what Harry thought Ron Weasley would be like when he was older. Both of whom Harry was almost entirely sure had never entertained an original thought in their entire lives and absolutely regarded anything remotely Slytherin as evil, even the eleven year old first years who were so obsessed with who's castle was bigger or who's blood was purer that they could hardly tell a conjuring from a summoning.

While Harry had hated the man on principle at first for taking Voldemort's position and crushing Harry's foolish day dreams of the man returning; now Harry's hatred was based on fact and reason. The Ravenclaws and Slytherins also held a deep dislike for the rigid and simple minded Auror. The snakes because of the silent understanding they had gained by such an open minded and unbiased professor and the eagles because their brief taste of freedom had been viciously snatched away. For the first time Harry truly understood Nanette's words at the welcoming feast. For the first time he realized that being an eagle was being free to soar beyond the realm of general approval.

The second realization was that with the loss came a greater understanding between Ravenclaws and Slytherins, a greater sympathy shared. Draco Malfoy and his sycophants no longer harassed Harry in study groups or glared at him in the hallways. In fact it was almost as if the more Harry mourned the loss of Voldemort and Professor Quirrell the more the Slytherin first years forgot about his part in the Dark Lord's demise and began seeing Harry as just another student who shared in their suffering.

Now there were five different study groups shared between the two outcast houses and Harry found himself grouped up with Mandy, Daphne, Pansy, and Draco. Each one astoundingly civil and more than capable of keeping up with Mandy – though often times Harry and Draco found themselves deep in Magical Theory discussions that left the others turning away with no hopes of keeping up.

Harry found he rather enjoyed the scholarly side of Draco – who preferred Potions and Transfiguration but was still more than happy to help Harry think of ways to push his Charms work to the next level. In a way Draco was almost like Hermione Granger – brilliant and driven – but whereas Granger was condescending in her own arrogance Draco was more condescending towards Harry's half-blood status.

Oddly enough, Harry preferred the blood prejudice nonsense to patronizing superiority because Draco never had the overwhelming need to put Harry down to make himself feel better. That and Harry never failed to threaten the boy with arcane curses – not that Harry knew any yet – when he got mouthy. Their partnership was tenuous and school work related only but it was much better than the open hostility Harry had received in the first half of the year.

Harry was determined that by the time he graduated he'd be on good enough terms for Draco to show him the Slytherin common room. The Hogwarts rumor mill was now convinced that each Slytherin had their own rooms and there was a dueling chamber complete with training dummies.

Yet his determination didn't end in finding a way into the Snake Pit. For a week Harry prowled through the Legal section of the Library under Madam Pince's watchful eye. He had combed through every book, every record of trial on hand, and every damn by-law regarding children's welfare he could find. What he found was less than comforting. His childhood was something that just didn't happen in the magical world. Wizard culture cherished children and firmly believed in raising them for the betterment of tomorrow. But in their own ignorance wizard's had left the justice portion to a single option: a small hearing with the Head of the Department of Magical Children's Welfare followed by a criminal trial if necessary.

This wouldn't be quite so bad if the hearing wasn't public record. This meant that if Harry were to report his muggle relatives to an Auror or to the DMCW that the resulting trial would be open for anybody to peruse. However that wasn't the only problem, Harry found that there was also no magical version of a foster system or even an orphanage for kids in Harry's predicament. No one to replace the muggles and nowhere to legally go – he didn't see the DMCW allowing an eleven year old to live on their own even if he was perfectly capable – Harry couldn't fathom what option he had when it came to Dumbledore.

There was no way he would make his childhood open to public perusal and take a chance of winding up with an unfamiliar family but he also did not want to go back to Private Drive. If Dumbledore knew about Potter Manor who was to say the man couldn't find it? Harry loved his Ward books but he wasn't so arrogant as to think he could understand the wards around the manor or how to strengthen them. If anybody did come after Harry – Dumbledore or not – he couldn't be confident they would be enough to keep him safe to those who knew where the manor was. Then again, was he better off in an abusive muggle residence?

All of these questions were compounded when Harry realized that Dumbledore's fears were based off fears of Voldemort returning via the Philosopher's Stone. Granted Voldemort had said he would be returning but he didn't say when specifically nor did he even threaten Harry. Harry hadn't stood against him in the Forest and he'd even confessed his belief that they were meant to be friends – allies – which might have even pleased Voldemort. So unless Harry was truly mistaken he felt that there was more danger in returning to Private Drive than there was Potter Manor.

But there was no way to tell Dumbledore that or convince him of it. So how does one go about disappearing from a wizard that most considered the most powerful wizard of the last two centuries? And even if one did get away, where did they go? How did they stay hidden? What would the headmaster do when he realized Harry was gone?

The last question ate at Harry. What kind of trouble could he get into for refusing to return to Private Drive? As lacking as Hogwarts curriculum was, Harry wasn't about to jeopardize his magical education for anything.

In every legal case Harry found in the Reference section concerning minors there was only one about a boy who got in trouble for running away. Phineas Cepheus Black who lived from 1885 – 1980 and was officially disowned from the Black family in 1905 for his radical pro-muggle's rights views. Apparently as a teen Phineas was prone to running away and his father, a former Hogwarts Headmaster by the name of Phineas Nigellus Black, slapped a tracking bracelet on his son until he turned seventeen. After that Phineas Cepheus only lasted three years before being publically disowned.

Everything about Phineas Cepheus Black's case turned Harry's stomach. The horror over the existence of such a bracelet was only shadowed by the horror over the only known case in Hogwarts being from over a century ago. Harry could not possibly be the only student to ever have had an abusive home. How had other children survived? How had they gotten away? Harry felt nauseous as he threw the offending book away from him.

For a few months the idea of a magical world had been just that – magical, beautiful, and wonderous. But now every day the world lost its charm little by little until finally, Harry didn't see a difference between muggle or magical. For all wizardkind's glory they were pretentious, ignorant, prejudice, and so very stupid. They thought themselves better than muggles but Harry was under no such illusion – wizards had the potential to be better, but where they stood as of now they were just as bad if not worse.

So instead of fighting and risking any sort of chance with that horrific bracelet Harry left the Legal section of the Library for good. Instead of searching for a way out Harry began searching for untraceable ways to protect himself from the Dursley's and their presence.

All untraceable types of magic were considered and thoroughly researched but not many branches were undetectable especially when used against muggles. Most Transfiguration and Charms were thrown out of the window while Harry stockpiled books on Potions, Wards, and Ancient Runes.

When it came to Potions Harry felt less than confident about brewing quite a few on his own and with the term rapidly coming to a close Harry decided to snag an Apothecary owl order form from an upper year Ravenclaw in exchange for a book on the history of the Fidelius Charm. J. Pippin's Potions was located in Hogsmeade which made it ideal to order from.

Healing potions were first on the list incase either his wards or runes failed or if Harry was caught unaware by anyone. Everything from a bottle of Skelegrow to mend bones to bruise cream was ordered and Harry even splurged in the Health and Wellness section. It was quite a delight to find out that there were potions to fix his eyes and reverse some of the damage from malnutrition.

Aside from healing potions Harry ordered an array of Wit-Sharpening and Memory-Enhancing potions purely for experimental purposes. If he were locked up at Private Drive then he'd at least have some fun. Which was exactly his reasoning for ordering a few more malicious prank potions; if he could not protect himself or torment the Dursley's right back with a wand, then potions would have to do it for him. So Harry ordered all sorts of devious concoctions like a Screaming Snakes Hair Potion, a Pompion Potion – which encases heads in pumpkins for an hour, a Maximum Turbo Farts Potion, a Laxative potion, a Fungiface Potion, and two bottles of Everklena – a 'cleaning' spray that made more of the grime you tried to clean.

All in all Harry ordered enough to warrant use of his Gringotts card and to produce a maniacal thrill. At least when he returned he would be able to make the Dursley's lives absolutely miserable.

Several of the Memory and Wit-Sharpening potions were used secretly to help Harry in his attempts to give himself a crash course in rudimentary wards and runes. The problem with wards was not that they were very difficult – in fact they were fairly simple if all one wanted to do was keep out a muggle. Then you didn't have to weave them together or counter any gaps or worry about a wizard breaking them. No, for a muggle you could literally just put them up one by one and they would work perfectly.

Harry's problem was that he did not know how to make a wardstone safe for travel. Once he left Hogwarts the trace that had been placed on him upon entering the school's wards would prevent him from being able to legally cast any magic with his wand when he left. Wardstones helped with this because once set they were tied to the stone and mobile. Yet Harry had no idea how to make a trigger so that he could turn the stone off and on for transport. The only obvious solution was ridiculously complicated and required use of a wand outside of school.

For weeks Harry attacked the problem from every angle relentlessly, yet no solution allowed for mobile transport and a power switch. Harry even considered using blood as the switch that activated the gem but while it could work theoretically there was no time to teach himself how. In the end Harry ordered a Mokeskin Pouch from Dirvish and Banges from yet another owl order form he'd traded Daphne Greengrass for a Charms essay. Mokeskin Pouches were not only helpful in that they had undetectable extension charms – a clever little Charm that Harry was desperate to examine – but they also hid magical signatures. The wardstone, which would be active all the time, would be temporarily disabled within the pouch making it safe for transport.

So with transportation covered Harry began delving deep into the Warding books. Layer after layer of enchantments were used, anything that Harry found even remotely possible was cast upon the stone. Cave inicium, Repello muggletum, Facere intrusus, Repello dominium, and Sonorus mitigent were all the wards suitable for a muggle repelling wardstone that a first year was capable of, or at least that Harry was capable of in the short time he had to learn.

Ancient Runes turned out to be quite a bit more difficult than either Wards or Potions. Students weren't meant to even begin studying them until their third year and even then it was an elective – meaning that only those with the aptitude would be taking it. Even after studying Ancient Runes Made Easy and scouring through Spellman's Syllabary Harry was left with only vague notions on Runes and absolutely no idea on how to string them together or use them in any other way than rudimentary divination.

What Harry did learn was that the most common Runic language was Proto-Germanic and called Elder Futhark. According to someone named Barty Crouch Jr. who had defaced Advanced Rune Translation quite thoroughly even under Madam Pince's wrath, Elder Futhark was an introductory alphabet because of how easy it was to both learn and string together. The meanings were fairly simple and straightforward and left little wiggle room which more advanced practitioners preferred. However much this Barty Crouch Jr. seemed to hate the Elder Futhark alphabet the man was absolutely brilliant at joining them together to create simple little protections.

Uruz, Thurisaz, Perthro, and Kenaz linked together beautifully to create what Barty called a "Bedroom Adventure". The man connected Eihwaz, Algiz, and Sowilo, intricately to create a rudimentary protection barrier that left Harry worrying that this Barty might have had the same problems Harry himself had. Merkstave Mannaz, Berkano, and Tiwaz were only marked as "For Annoyances". There was also another set marked "For Enemies" that held Isa and Hagalaz lying in opposition and a merkstave Eihwaz.

Harry wasted no time in copying these down – promising one day he'd find Barty Crouch Jr. and thank him. He also jotted down the entire alphabet and their meanings, both normal and in opposition or merkstave. Harry had no idea how Barty linked them together so fluently or creatively but he promised to pick up some books on Ancient Runes during the summer that went over using Runes in actual practical magic and not in Divination.

By the time Harry's preparations for the return to Private Drive were complete the madness over end of term exams – W.O.M.B.A.T.S – had fully erupted and the study groups Harry had been part of became a nightly occurrence. The study group had laid claim to a table in the back of the second floor of the Library, far away from Madam Pince's watchful eye so that actual discussions over theory could be held.

Most of his year mates grew increasingly worried that Harry would fail Potions and History of Magic since he had stopped attending. Even Draco Malfoy and his little group hovered in attempts to make themselves available for mutual tutoring. It was nice to have them worried for his wellbeing but Harry was fully confident that he could brew every potion in the text book. Even further, Harry had been memorizing herbs and ingredients in attempts to learn how they react with one another.

Still, even though Harry assured them, books on cutting techniques or Goblin wars found their way into his bag or under his pillow. One book, Potion Making Volume 1, was embossed with a large golden 'M' on the spine and actually given to Lorelei to give to Harry. Inside was a note that read:

Potter –
Read this. If you fail it's your own stupidity and my conscience is clear.
Draco Malfoy
P.S. I need the book back it's from my family library. Father will be displeased if he realizes it's gone.

Harry had made quick work of devouring the book. Finally he had a book that reviewed remedial potions and explained the logic behind the brewing steps. He had been extremely reluctant to give it back but Nanette had warned him against crossing the Malfoy lord. Apparently the man was as proud and powerful as he was merciless. That he had been a Death Eater – a follower of Voldemort – was whispered quietly because Lucius Malfoy had several loyal upper years in his patronage that would be quick to relay any talk of such things. Officially pardoned as he had been "Imperiused", Lucius Malfoy's past was the elephant in the room that nobody acknowledged out of fear. Nobody actually bought the claim but nobody challenged it either.

All Harry knew was that he didn't particularly want to make a powerful political figure and a - possible - Death Eater angry. Not that Harry led on to the fact, Draco Malfoy was absolutely insufferable when it came to his father.

Charms was by far the easiest test out of all of Harry's tests. He had had to make a pineapple dance and Harry gave it a top hat, a cane, and even a little bow tie. In the end it greatly resembled a cartoon peanut he'd seen on the television once. It tap danced its way across the desk and with a childish grin Harry had charmed a quill holder to join in and together the pineapple and the quill holder performed a thoroughly entertaining number. Professor Flitwick wasn't shocked after Yule but he was delighted at the attention to detail.

Harry had been happily prepared for Professor McGonagall's exam. Lorelei allowed Harry to practice animate to inanimate transfigurations on her. She also loved to test different potions – her favorite being the hair growth potion – and even helped Harry master his Charms. It had been rather adorable when she had stated that if Harry needed a live animal to practice on that she should be the one to aid in his spellwork. She took her duty very seriously and had even offered up a few armored scales or other potions ingredients should Harry ever need it. So it was mostly thanks to her that Harry was easily able to turn a mouse into a rather ornate snuff box.

History of Magic was a dreadfully dull hour of answering questions on Emeric the Evil who had terrorized the south of England and the batty old wizard who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons. Astronomy and Herbology were no more difficult, Professor Sprout had them working with Bouncing Bulbs. Auror Dawlish had tested their knowledge over Red Caps and the Knockback Jinx. Harry knocked his Red Cap back nearly fifteen feet and it slammed into the far wall, though he did miss the first time which Harry was sure the Auror docked him a few points for.

Professor Snape went rigid when Harry entered the class along with the others but he didn't say a word. With a fierce glare he waved his wand and two words appeared on the chalkboard: Forgetfulness Potion. Harry thought it was pretty funny when Padma Patil moaned and complained quietly about forgetting how to brew a Forgetfulness Potion but his snicker cost the house twenty points.

The only tricky part to the whole brew was remembering to slowly heat the Lethe River Water. Draco's blessed book had made that very clear and Harry filed a note in the back of his mind to return the favor somehow. Three Hufflepuffs and Padma both forgot to do this and their potions were cloudy instead of clear. Poor Mandy completely mixed up the Valerian Sprigs and the Mistletoe Berries so her brew ended up pure white with bits of twig that hadn't be properly ground sticking out.

Harry managed fairly well considering he'd been teaching himself. His potion turned out clear but the watery texture it should have had was instead the oily consistency of melted butter. One look at Professor Snape's smug smirk left Harry with no doubt that he'd only be in for another degrading insult if he asked what he did wrong. So instead Harry broke off from the lamenting first years to find Nanette.

"You dolt," Nanette lazily flung her hand out to smack him. Harry dodged easily as he fell into step beside her. "You're only supposed to use the sprig. If you use the flowers as well you not only get an oily potion but one that makes the drinker sleepy and forgetful. The flowers have sedative and antispasmodic properties."

"Oh."

Nanette shrugged as sprawled out on the grass underneath a tree. She moaned loudly as she stretched out her muscles, "The worst part of O.W.L.S isn't the studying it's the damn time it takes to do written exams. Bloody quill cut into my skin and my back feels like it's been petrified.

"Anyways don't worry too much. I heard that Longbottom kid in Gryffindor somehow managed make his poisonous. My money says he mixed up the berries for some other Mistletoe ingredient."

"And you don't find this at all disturbing?" Harry sat down beside her and leaned back against the tree. "That Snape is allowed to pervert the privilege of teaching and we have to suffer for it?"

"I've been here for five years already Harry," she shrugged nonchalantly. "Snape is just a part of Hogwarts like how our Defense professors never stay or how Professor Vector never answers questions until she's had at least three cups of coffee. You just get used to it and carry on."

"That's appalling. I was told Hogwarts was the best."

Her answering snort depressed Harry. "Notice how they say best in the United Kingdom. There's only one other school in the U.K. and it's a trade school. Hogwarts is the best "Light" magic curriculum. Beauxbatons is renowned for their acceptance of all sorts of magical creatures like Veela, Nymph, Vampire, and Werewolf. Durmstrang is known for their extended curriculum; they attend for eight years and cover a variety of "Dark" magic as well as your basics like Transfiguration and Charms.

"Could you imagine having Rituals and Martial Magic as classes?" Harry very nearly sighed at the prospect. "I heard they even offer Wards and Healing as electives. Even Necromancy…"

Harry looked over to Nanette with his head tilted. "Necromancy?" He asked.

"Well obviously not everyone can practice it; it's really rare and runs in the blood. But they have a Necromancy scholar on hand if anyone ever does show the talent. Merlin I heard whispers of a student practicing Illusion Magic. Two of the five Black Arts and they don't even hide it…"

This was the first time Nanette had really expressed her opinion on all things "Dark" and Harry found he wasn't too surprised. He was beginning to think that almost everybody in Ravenclaw held some kind of fascination – even if it was only curiosity – with what the Ministry of Magic dubbed illegal. Still it made Harry smile because he liked Nanette; she was brave like a Gryffindor and sly like a Slytherin. He really enjoyed her company and now he was eagerly anticipating the day they could enjoy each other's company without fear or trepidation.

"I want to go to Durmstrang." Harry sighed rather distantly, trying to picture himself in thick fur coats or conforming to their rigid martial structure.

"Your blood's too dirty. Purebloods only and even then entrance is strict."

Harry groaned in frustration and chucked a rock into the Black Lake. There was a loud thunk and it took several minutes for the ripples to die out, then when the surface was calm as glass once more a giant tentacle burst forth and slapped the surface wildly. Harry grinned happily, maybe Hogwarts did have some areas in need of improvement but it certainly wasn't all bad.