Hello, I'm back! Sorry for the long, delay, but I've been busy lately, lots of projects going on for Uni...Anyway, I would like to thank the people who took the time to review and criticize my work. Even if I don't write something you write, you still took the time to give your opinion, so thanks!

This chapter is the last one where Harry is seven, the next one will be when he is ten (timeskip). Some may comment about how a certain character that will not be named acts a bit Out Of Character, though I hope I managed to make his reasons for acting this way valid.

Anyway, onto the chapter!

I don't own Harry Potter or Sekirei

03

Horcruxes, memories, and shopping

Harry groaned. He had just spent the night having his bones re-grown, and he hoped he didn't have to repeat the experience anytime soon. First of all, this "Skele-gro" potion tasted absolutely terrible, and feeling his bones re-grow was not, by any stretch of imagination, a pleasant experience. He had spent the entire night turning and trying to lessen the ache of the magic taking place inside him, but had not succeeded at all. It was only after the magic died down that he had been able to slip into blissful sleep, if only for a few hours.

As he looked around, he spotted Karasuba sitting on a chair, in the same position she had been each time he had turned to look at her. For some reason beyond his comprehension, she had flat out refused to go back to MBI Tower without him, and had even threatened the staff when they had told her they would force her out if need be. Needless to say, they had relented when they had been faced with a nodachi wielded by a woman sporting a bloodthirsty grin that sent shivers down their spines.

As he tried to get out of bed without making too much noise, as he didn't want to wake Karasuba up, he found himself pinned to the bed by said woman, who was apparently very much awake.

"Going somewhere, Harry-chan?" she asked, her voice teasing, though her eyes were not so playful.

"Ah! Uhh...I didn't want to wake you up, I just wanted to get a drink." he explained, a little fearfully. Even if he didn't think she would hurt him as badly as the Dursleys, he still wasn't sure that she wouldn't hurt him at all.

With a grin, she got up and stretched, making her look like some kind of giant cat. Once again, he noticed how beautiful she was, though he frowned when he saw the dark circles under her eyes. He was fairly sure they had been there before, but he had paid them no mind. Now, though, he couldn't help but notice them.

"Karasuba... Do you sleep well?" he tentatively asked. He only hoped that he wouldn't make her mad when he asked.

He was rewarded with an arched eyebrow, and a slight tensing of her body. Normal people would have missed it, but after being beaten black and blue by the Dursleys, he had learned to be observant of people's body language.

"And why do you ask, Harry-chan?"

"Because...I care about you?" he mumbled. He was not very good at expressing his emotions, a side effect of his upbringing, and while he cared about Karasuba, as she was the first person to spend so much time with him and treat him like a human being, he was still rightfully afraid of her.

He did not expect the woman to blush bright red for a second, before looking at him with her eyes narrowed. The next second, he was lifted by the collar of his clothes and thrown back into his bed.

"Stay here, I'll get you a drink." she said in an icy voice, before turning to leave.

"Karasuba?"

"What?" she growled, not turning to look at him.

"Thank you." he said, honestly.

Karasuba didn't answer, and left the room, leaving a surprised Harry behind.

-Break-

As she stormed out to find someone to get a drink for Harry, Karasuba had to refrain herself from growling in anger. He "cared" for her? What a joke! He didn't know what Love was, and neither did she, so there was no way he would be able to care about her! And WHY for the love of whatever retarded God created the world she was on, did she react like a love struck human schoolgirl? She was the Black Sekirei, the one feared by every MBI employee, a natural born killer, and if Takami was to be believed, a psychotic mass murderer. She personally preferred to say that she simply had a more gory way of relieving her stress than most people.

But on to the main problem: Harry Potter, while he was still a pathetic weakling, had the potential to become strong enough to warrant her interest and become her Ashikabi. She needed him to understand her, she needed him to feel like her! If a mere week was enough for him to "care" about her, as he so defiantly put it, then there was a serious problem with his psyche! How could he, after suffering so much at the hands of his own family, and from what she had been able to piece together, everyone else, still want to get close to someone?

Then she came to a realization, it was to her he was the closest to. It didn't seem he wanted to get close to anyone else, now that she thought about it, that she took the time to think rather than act as she usually did. In a sense, it was actually better that if his ability to feel had been destroyed completely, as it would mean that if she played her cards right, she would be able to guide his growth in the right direction all the more easier. If she managed to be the one person he looked up to, well more than he did already, then she would be able to influence him to get him where she wanted him to be.

She shivered in pleasure at the realization that if he grew up to her expectations, she would be able to wing herself on him, which would grant her the power she needed to squash that annoying Yume once and for all, and then she would take care of Miya. Yes, the benefits far outweighed the few drawbacks. So she would have to wait, so what?

With her insane grin once more plastered on her face, she went to find a drink for Harry.

-Break-

After another examination to make sure all his bones were properly healed, Harry was allowed to leave, along with Karasuba and Haruka. Karasuba looked like something good had happened to her, but he was smart enough to know that it would be stupid to ask the grey-haired woman about it. He had quickly caught on the fact that she was not likely to react well to personal questions, so he had decided that unless something was really troubling her, he would avoid asking her.

They were headed for Gringotts, as apparently Breakbone had been able to find his notes about the ritual needed to remove the piece of soul in his head. He was quite glad that they would be able to remove it, as the idea of having a piece of the soul of someone whom Haruka had described as an "insane psychotic bastard" gave him the creeps. That and he was quite worried that said piece of soul would influence him. His mind was supposed to be his own, and he would make sure of that.

-Break-

"Ready Harry?"

Once again, he was laying on the block of stone he had been on the day before, and once again he was strapped to it, with a leather piece inserted in his mouth. From what he had gathered, the procedure would be even more painful and difficult than to free his magic, as while the block was tied to it quite closely, it was simply an inanimate piece of magic, little more than an object performing the duty it had been created to accomplish. The piece of soul, however, was actually alive, and while not a "full" being like a human, it did possess some basic intelligence and will of its own. And that made the procedure all the more difficult, as it was likely to try several tricks to avoid being destructed. What those tricks were, neither Harry nor the Goblins had the slightest idea, but it was quite clear that they were better off preparing for anything.

Surprisingly, the ritual was not nearly as complicated as what he had believed, but he was quite sure it was because the Goblins had dumbed the principle behind it so he could understand what awaited him. Basically, the piece of soul was tied to him, and strengthened the connection by leeching on his magic. That was a good thing in his case, as it probably still hadn't gotten the time to adapt to his new level of magic power, and by forcing Harry's magic to sever the connection, there was little it would be able to do to protect itself. Once it would be separated from him, the last part of the ritual consisted in transferring the piece of soul into an animal and off said animal. However, before any of this could be done, there was a cleansing part of the ritual, destined to erase the taint of the piece of soul, in case it tried to latch onto the magic of its host and contaminate it. If such a thing happened, usually the host magic got corrupted and usually ended up not obeying the person, making them end in some sort of timed bomb, that would eventually blow up when they tried to summon their magic.

"Begin!"

Once again, a chant started, and he waited, feeling something touch the scar on his head, prodding it, before slowly entering it. The sensation felt kind, benevolent, and was not at all intrusive, unlike what he had imagined. Then whatever had entered his scar touched what he assumed was the part of soul, and it surrounded it, containing the taint, enveloping it, before it started purifying it. Per se, it didn't remove anything from the fragment, instead it cleansed the Dark Magic inside it, and sent Light Magic to pacify the budding personality inside the soul piece. It was apparently one of the very few times Goblins made a difference between Light and Dark magic.

Then came the hard part. Now they were going to force Harry's magic to sever the connection with the soul piece, and it would not let it go quietly. The chant suddenly grew louder and got a shrill quality, hurting his ears. However, he was more worried about what he was feeling coming from his scar. It felt as if some kind of worm was wriggling beneath his skin, and the sensation was enough to give him goosebumps, his hair standing up on his neck. It was a very unpleasant sensation, and it was getting worse by the second, as the piece of soul fought against the magic trying to cut off the magic it was feeding on.

All of a sudden his eyes widened, and he felt his body arch, his muscles bulging under his skin, and his mouth open in a silent scream. He felt as if someone had dripped his body in a container full of acid, and his head was feeling as if it was about to split open. He could vaguely feel his limbs trashing around, but it was merely a distraction. The pain was even worse than what he felt the day before, as it was coupled with the knowledge that if the ritual failed, the piece of soul may take over his mind, making him into a replica of the very person who had tried to kill him.

For what felt like hours, he could only scream his throat raw, tears falling down his cheeks as the pain ravaged his body and mind, his body moving erratically, as if some mad puppeteer was using strings to move them in grotesque ways. A small part of him was amazed that none of his bones had broken nor had any of his muscles been overexerted, but he was quite willing to bet that he would pay for it as soon as the ritual was over.

-Break-

In the room next to the ritual room, Haruka and Karasuba were waiting for the procedure to finish. The Ministry employee finally gathered her courage, and asked the grey-haired woman:

"What are your intentions towards Harry-kun?"

The Black Sekirei grinned, her hand on the hilt of her nodachi, without turning to look at the woman that she considered as little more than a nuisance.

"Oh? And how is this your business, Haru-chan?"

She had the pleasure to hear the witch gulp audibly, and she could almost picture her fidgeting, something that amused her greatly.

"Harry-kun has suffered greatly at the hands of his relatives, it is the Ministry's job to see that he finds a suitable family. And he is a symbol of the Light, so it is our responsibility to ensure that whoever adopts him cares for him and do not use him for their own gain."

"Oh, really? And I suppose that after finding him a good family, you'd stay in contact with him, maybe asks some favors, like supporting your Ministry from time to time. That is the very definition of using someone for your own gain. Aren't you quite the hypocrite, Haru-chan?"

Karasuba felt the witch stiffen, but her senses didn't pick up the sound of anything having being brought out, so she didn't take out her nodachi. If Haruka ever so much as pointed her wand at her, she would slice her into tiny pieces and claim self-defense. And if whoever governed the magical part of the country wasn't happy, she'd be more than happy to deal with the teams they'd send to retrieve Harry.

"I don't care what you think, but Harry-chan WILL stay with me. I will make sure he becomes strong enough to decide what HE wants to do. And if you want any part in his life, you will go through ME. Anyone I don't approve of won't approach Harry-chan unless they wish to suffer a very...painful end. Is that understood?"

As she said that, she leisurely stroked the hilt of her nodachi, ensuring that the young woman understood what she exposed herself to if she didn't comply to her wish. She wasn't sure that the intimidation would work, as for what she had seen, wizards and witches seemed to be quite proud, and since she hadn't showed any indication of having magical power, she seemed to be looked down upon. That is, when people were not in her immediate vicinity, since the sword at her side and her usual manic grin made it quite clear that those stupid enough to be insulting towards her when she was around would most likely suffer.

Haruka was about to answer, when a loud alarm started ringing, and a voice barked orders in what Karasuba recognized as the Goblins' language, Gobbledegook. That stopped both women from continuing their one-sided argument, as Haruka went to ask the nearest Goblin guard what was happening, the Sekirei right behind her. Usually, she would not have been overly concerned, but she had a feeling what was happening was somehow linked to Harry.

The Goblin Haruka was interrogating was not very forthcoming with information, though as soon as Karasuba walked up to him, he paled and started talking.

"Something's gone wrong with the procedure. Apparently the fragment of soul had tied itself to Mr. Potter's soul, and any attempt to dislodge it only harms him. Our best Cursebreakers and Healers have been called to find a solution quickly, otherwise he is going to die or become Voldemort's new body."

Haruka gasped, but Karasuba was almost snarling. She was furious. She had found someone who could genuinely relate to her, and was willing to spend time in her company, even though she was a psychotic murderer, something she had not hidden from Harry. His only reaction had been a shrug, before he asked if she intended to hurt him. When she had answered that she did not, he had simply said: "Then why should I care?", she had felt a pleasant warmth in her, something she had sorely missed. And now some Dark Lord residue wanted to take over her Harry?

With a growl, she opened the door, strolling past a surprised Goblin guard and a startled Haruka, before stopping in front of the door leading to the ritual chamber. She had been told that external interference could mess up the rituals something fierce, but she didn't care. If she had to choose between trying to help Harry, even if it could fail, and not doing anything, then there wasn't even a choice to be made in the first place. With a grin, she cocked her leg back, before kicking the door open and entering the room without a care in the world. She could see Harry trashing around and scream, while the Goblins chanting were surprised upon seeing her but were professional enough not to stop chanting.

Strolling up to the boy, she grabbed him by the collar and slapped him twice, before looking at him in the eyes and growling:

"Listen, Harry-chan, if you lose to that piece of soul I am going to kick your ass so hard you'll regret you were ever born! So be a fucking man and fight this fucker!"

She wasn't sure of the effect her words had on Harry, though she thought that for a moment she had seen something akin to determination in his eyes before a wave of magic blasted her into the nearest wall, breaking a few of her ribs. That only made her grin though, as she got up to her feet easily, clutching her side.

"That's more like it! Show us what you're made of, Harry-chan!"

In truth she thought it was a good test of character for Harry, after all if he wasn't able to at least fight back a piece of soul, then he would really disappoint her. If he was to one day be her Ashikabi, she wasn't going to let him go all scared pussy on her, and if he had to fight a piece of the soul of a supposedly extremely powerful bastard to prove his character to her, then so be it. She would not settle for a weak man, even if said man was able to understand her feelings. He may have a lot of power, but if he didn't have the will and the guts to use it, it was useless to have it in the first place.

With a scream that sent shivers of pleasure down her spine, Harry was engulfed in a dark light, before his body fell back on the stone he had been tied to, his breathing calming down. The Goblins quickly began to chant again, though this time it was much quieter and more soothing, though their gravelly voices made it strange to the ear.

After a few minutes, they stopped chanting, and begun speaking in hushed tones. Karasuba just shrugged and went to check on Harry. As she expected, he was unconscious and looked exhausted, however his scar was no longer the angry red it had been when they had met, as it was now more pinkish, and would probably fade to a dull white with time.

It was at this point that the doors banged open, this time pushed by a very irate-looking Haruka, who was followed by a no less irate Bonebreaker, who, upon seeing Karasuba, zeroed on her.

"You! Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea of what your actions could have caused? How much damage Harry could have taken?!"

At this point, he stopped, his eyes on the nodachi resting on his neck, courtesy of a grinning grey-haired woman.

"Now, now. All is fine now, right? Harry-chan got rid of that soul piece..."

"No, it isn't "fine"!" yelled Haruka, who was looking at Harry warily. "The Goblins said that he did get rid of the soul piece, but not before it transferred the memories it contained to Harry! Now he has Merlin only knows how many memories of torture, murder and destruction in him! We don't even know how he will react to them! For all we know, you just caused the creation of the next Dark Lord!"

Now it was Haruka's turn to stop talking, as the look Karasuba was giving her made it quite clear that not only she didn't care, but also that if she continued speaking, unpleasant things were going to happen to her, most likely involving sharp objects stuck in her body.

"Don't think Harry is the scared little kid you make him. If he managed to stay sane after all that happened to him, then more memories like that will not change him that much. Besides, I don't think you even begin to understand just how mature he is. After all he has lived through, I would be surprised if he isn't already more mature than some so-called adults."

The discussion was cut short when the Goblins responsible for the ritual told the people present that Harry would probably not wake before the next day. Just to be sure, they offered to make him stay in the hospital he had been treated at, in case there was an emergency of any kind. They also explained they had used some magic to make it easier for Harry's brain to process the memories and differentiate those from Voldemort from his own. Unfortunately, there was little more they could do, after all, Mind Arts were not their forte, and even human Healers would have had trouble considering Harry's circumstances. Right now his mind would probably reject any external intervention, and it was best to not overexert him by adding that to the already heavy toll his brain would be under.

-Break-

Harry groaned as his head hurt. He knew that something had not gone quite as planned, but he couldn't for the life of him figure what. The last thing he knew, he had used his magic to try and help the ritual, but the piece of soul had latched onto it and used it to connect with him, and then, well he couldn't remember.

"Finally awake?"

Jumping upright, Harry found himself facing a handsome young man, probably sixteen, perhaps a little younger. He was quite tall, towering over Harry, and had a handsome face, dark hair and eyes. Instantly his instincts kicked in, and he analyzed the young man, searching for any kind of clue in his physical language. Fortunately, it betrayed no hostile intent, so Harry allowed himself to relax a little.

"Who are you?" he asked. He had to force himself a little to ask the question, as at the Dursleys, such a thing would have earned him a beating easily. He had started growing out of his old habits, since Karasuba had pushed him to assert himself, but it had only been a week, so he wasn't quite there yet.

The young man, however, didn't seem to take offense, and instead smiled warmly.

"Ah, well I will explain that in a moment, but for now, where do you think we are?" he asked, making a gesture to show around him.

Both males were in a sea of darkness, with images occasionally drifting by. It felt wrong, yet Harry couldn't really see why. After a little while, he spoke:

"My mind?" he answered, unsure of himself.

"Yes! Indeed, we are in your mind, Harry. Now, as for who I am, you could say I was Voldemort before he went insane and power hungry. Please call me Tom." said the young man, as he looked genuinely happy that Harry had figured out where they were.

Upon hearing who he was talking to, Harry recoiled slightly. While he had no memories of Voldemort, the man had apparently tried to kill him, and he wasn't very comfortable with talking to the man, especially in his own mind.

"Don't worry. I know I didn't really come across as someone you could just talk to with my actions in the real world, but please, allow me to explain myself."

Normally Harry would have tried to flee or find something to hide, however the pleading look on Tom's face was too real to be faked, so he slowly nodded, making the older man smile warmly as he sat down and gestured to Harry to do the same.

"Thank you, Harry. First of all, allow me to explain why we both are in your mind, and why I am quite different of what you have been told about me.

As you know, I created Horcruxes, or soul anchors, whichever is the easiest to understand for you, to become immortal. Unfortunately, in my haste, I had disregarded a warning in the book where I found how to do so. To put it simply, splitting my soul did make me immortal, however, it also irreversibly damaged my soul. Now, I know the Goblins haven't told you this, as even they don't know, but you aren't the only anchor I made, and to be frank, you were an accident."

"Excuse me?" asked Harry, confused. He was an accident? He had thought that creating an anchor was a deliberate process.

"Please, let me explain. You see, I created my first anchor when I was still sixteen. At first I was planning for it to be the only one I would create, however once I created it, my mind was affected by the aftereffects. Damaging my soul to create it had apparently amplified the worst aspects of my mind, and I was so drunk on my apparent power that I had what, at the moment, seemed to be the idea of the century: if one anchor made me immortal, then I would create more, to use as failsafe, making me truly immortal and not depending on the state of a single object.

As I grew older, I created more anchors, further damaging my soul and causing my mind to descend into insanity. I became...twisted, distorted, a shadow of my former self, a monster driven by less than noble ideals. When I had wanted to better the world, I now wanted to rule it, since I "knew better". That's when you come into play. For reasons you will learn later, I decided to kill you, but unfortunately for who I had became, something went wrong and my spell ended killing me instead, separating my soul from my body, as my anchors kept me from truly dying. However, in the process, my damaged soul further split, and the piece that had detached itself from my main body latched onto the only viable container allowable to me: you.

Now, the reason why I am here is simple: when the Goblins tried to remove me from you, I was purified, cleansed of the damage I had suffered at the hands of my former self, I regained some reason. However, I knew that nobody knew about my other anchors, and as such, I had to give you my memories. You'll need them, as I'm sure that the monster that was once myself will come after you sooner or later. Not only that, but I could also help and mend some of the damage your mind received at the Dursleys. Few people know this, Harry, but I was an orphan, and I lived a less than happy childhood, though yours was still worse than mine. I can understand where you come from, Harry. I truly can. And let me say that I want nothing more than to make up for my mistake. And mending some of the scars your so called family left on your psyche can help you, otherwise you will never be able to truly exploit your full potential."

Harry just sat there, too stunned to even utter a word. Finally, his brain managed to piece together what he had been told, and he croaked:

"What?"

"Ah, I guess it's a bit much to take in, unfortunately I can't really afford to take my time, since me-this personality- is dissolving quickly. Let's just say that I'll be helping you organize your mind, okay? Oh, and find yourself someone to love. I made the mistake of thinking I was alone in the world, and I still regret it. See you!" said Tom, waving cheerfully at him as his body dissolved into green particles.

And with that, the most bizarre encounter Harry had had in his entire life came to an end as he felt memories, feelings that were not his own, crash down and enter his mind. For a moment, he felt as if he was going to be overwhelmed by the onslaught, as it was like a tidal wave crashing down on his mind and about to break it. However, as he was about to give up, to let the foreign memories destroy him, the wave receded, and became a light stream instead, only one or two memories at a time.

The feeling was extremely strange, as he knew that what he was seeing weren't his own memories, his own feelings, though they felt as though they were his own. He was glad that Tom had apparently started to help him filter and organize what he was receiving, otherwise he would have lost himself in the flow. As for the memories themselves, most were gruesome, extremely so, though for some reason he wasn't as repulsed as he should have, probably a combined effect of his upbringing and of Tom's actions.

And so, little by little, he managed to integrate the memories as his own. It was a long, tedious process, but for some reason that Harry suspected to be Tom, organizing his mind efficiently came easily to him. The most surprising part, though, was that he was not only receiving Voldemort's memories, but also his knowledge. He didn't know how much time he had spent organizing the flow of memories, but he had gone from "total beginner in magic", to " Master in several fields of magic and knowing more than your average wizard in the others". It felt extremely weird to find that a piece of information he could make no sense of moments earlier, was in fact qui easy to explain thanks to the latest one he had gained.

And so, he worked.

-Break-

Later that day, Karasuba was sitting in one of the few rooms not strictly devoted to the bank's business and polishing her nodachi as she kept an eye on Harry when she saw him move. At first it wasn't much, but then his eyes fluttered open and he groaned.

"I think I'm starting to have enough of waking up feeling like shit after dangerous magical rituals that can potentially be lethal."

She just grinned as she watched him groggily get up. One of the few rules she had set for herself was to not help him too much. He needed to toughen up. He may already be tough after his experiences at his relatives' hands, he was still too meek and depended too much on people. She wanted him to learn how to do things by himself.

"Awake then? How do you feel, Harry-chan?"

"Like shit. I've got the mother of all headaches, and I'm trying to get used to know things I'm not supposed to know."

That made Karasuba curious. Putting her blade back in its sheath, she walked over to where her potential Ashikabi was sitting.

"Oh? Like what?" she asked, her usual grin on her face.

Harry just gave her a glance, before he sighed and waved his hand. As soon as he finished, she found that she couldn't move, no matter how hard she tried, something that made her grin even more.

"Impressive. Mind freeing me, Harry-chan?"

Shrugging, he waved his hand once more, and she found that she could now move.

"If you think that is impressive, wait until I can use some of the more powerful spells Tom knew. Some of them can literally level houses if you put enough power in them."

"Tom? Who's that?"

"Tom Marvolo Riddle, the true name of Voldemort. The funny thing is that he isn't even a pureblood, he's a half-blood preaching about blood purity."

Karasuba blinked, unsure of what he meant. The way he was talking made her think that he had learnt quite a few things since he went unconscious, all of them related to the politics of the magicals.

As she pondered what "purebloods" and "half-blood" could mean, Harry seemed to understand her questioning look, as he scratched his head.

"Oh, sorry about that. Pureblood refers to someone who is born in a family where everyone up to the grandparents have magic, while half-bloods have at least one person in either their parents or grandparents that can't use magic.

Apparently, in Britain, there's a lot of fuss around blood purity as they call it. To put it simply, purebloods are the old families, and most of them are convinced that those who aren't purebloods are inferior to them, and they go quite far to keep their blood "pure" as they call it. Some of them even marry their cousins to ensure that, bloody morons. They even try to make laws to restrict the rights of those that aren't purebloods."

"So, basically, they want to keep the power for themselves? And they screw their own families to make sure their children aren't half-bloods?"

"Yeah on both counts."

Karasuba gave Harry a look that told him just how stupid she thought the British wizards were, not that he could blame her. While Tom had eventually accepted it, Harry, for his part, found it incredibly idiotic. The purebloods were basically screwing themselves over, since in a few generations they would be so inbred that their genetics would become deficient. It was a good thing he was so curious that he read far ahead of the school program (that and he had to make sure he understood the subjects well enough that he wouldn't get beaten), otherwise he wouldn't have known that.

"Anyway, Harry-chan, the Goblins want to run a few tests on you, just to make sure you aren't possessed by that fragment." the grey-haired woman said, causing the wizard to groan as she grinned. She knew full well that it was indeed Harry she was talking to, she could feel it.

"Should have expected that. It's either dangerous rituals or tests these days for me. Hopefully it'll be the last time, because I'm starting to really have enough of those. Let's get this over with."

-Break-

The moment Harry entered the room, several Goblins pointed their axes to him, while Haruka pointed her wand, looking slightly uneasy. It was quite obvious that right now they were almost expecting him to start cackling madly and throwing killing curses around. Sure, he knew how to do that, he had Tom's memories after all, but he was only seven, and recovering from a life of malnutrition! He had only enough power to cast a powerful stunner at most, before he fainted from overexertion! Though, considering how much reserves he had, when they would be full, he would be able to cast quite a lot more, though he doubted he would ever use the killing curse. Sure, it was efficient, but if he missed the risk of touching someone he hadn't meant to and killing them by accident was real.

Shaking back those thoughts, he walked towards the throne-like chair he had been pointed to. While he didn't like the idea of people trying to determine if he was himself or not, he couldn't really afford to tell them that, unless he wanted to have an unpleasant encounter with axes that would result in his death, and probably a new war between wizards and Goblins if it ever got out.

As he sat down, he was given three drops of a water-like potion that he instantly recognized. Veritaserum, uh? Guess it's the best way to check, since there's no way to resist the serum. While that was true, someone with enough training in the Mind Arts could purposely leave details out, details that sometimes could make all the difference. Unfortunately, there was no way to lie when asked a very direct question, like what your name was.

"Name?" asked Stonebreaker, his axe quite close to Harry's neck.

"Harry Potter." he answered immediately, much to the relief of everyone present.

"Have you been influenced in any way by the piece of soul of Lord Voldemort that was stuck inside you?"

"Not to my knowledge. However, I met a man that called himself Tom Marvolo Riddle in my mind. He was Lord Voldemort before he went crazy and power-hungry."

Everyone in the room tensed, and Stonebreaker asked another set of questions, to which Harry ended up describing his encounter with Tom and everything he could put into words that happened afterwards. It took the better part of a half-hour and several more doses of Veritaserum, but the people present managed to get the entire story out of Harry, though most of it came as a shock to both the Goblins and Haruka.

"Lord Voldemort was a half-blood? He created more Horcruxes?" asked the ministry employee, too shocked to focus on anything else.

The Goblins, despite having heard the same thing, had a very different reaction, the guards were still pointing their weapons on Harry, however their faces had contorted in a mask of fury. Stonebreaker, Ripbone and Bonebreaker, the latter two having being called at some point during the interrogation, were shouting things in Gobbledegook, and if Harry was to believe Tom's knowledge of the language, they were cursing like sailors. He managed to catch the gist of their conversation, though.

Goblins had apparently a very, very big dislike of Dark magic, and as far as Horcruxes went, they were the Darkest of the Darkest, meaning that they really, really wanted to destroy all of the ones they came across. To know that, according to Tom's memories, there were at least five more, made them beyond furious, as the very idea of splitting a soul was against nature, and Voldemort had done it repeatedly. And the fact was that only Harry knew where they were, and what defenses were around them.

Finally, the group seemed to reach a decision, and Ripbone made a sign, immediately making a guard give Harry the antidote. The young wizard felt immediately better, not that the effects of the Veritaserum were uncomfortable. In fact, the serum made the user slip into some kind of blissful state, making it easier for the person to answer the questions, and the magic it was laced with forced the person to tell the truth.

"Harry, I am sorry to ask you this, but could you tell us what you know about those other Horcruxes? It is extremely important that we destroy them. So long as they exist, Voldemort will never die, and the fact that you were one means that he is still alive in one form or another."

Carefully choosing his words, Harry answered:

"There is a problem. I can tell you what and where they are, and I am sure you would be able to get past the protections Tom placed around them, but at least one of them will be impossible to retrieve for now."

Seeing as the Goblins were about to protest, he quickly raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Please, listen. I don't doubt that you have what it takes to get the Horcruxes, but one of them has been handed to Lucius Malfoy, and another to Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix has put hers in her vault at Gringotts, so that one will not be too difficult to get. It's the one Lucius has that will be difficult to get. As far as Tom memories goes, Lucius has a lot of power in Magical Britain, and it would be impossible to get inside his manor to get it without ironclad proof that he still has it.

There's another one that will prove difficult to get: Tom hid it in a special room at Hogwarts, and only I know how to get inside and get it. Not only that, but we can't really storm Hogwarts' grounds without a reason, and alerting Voldemort that we know about his Horcruxes would be counterproductive.

I can tell you where the others are, but those two will be the most troublesome to get."

The three Goblins nodded. It was easy for them to understand what he meant, as all three of them had, at one point or another, worked in England, and were familiar with the blatant racism that was shown towards their species there. It was so bad that they couldn't do anything without proof of the involvement of Lucius Malfoy in reprehensible activities, and their accords with the wizards prevented them from looking for said proof. Not only that, but if the man had half the power Harry said he had, then it was quite possible that proofs would be outright ignored. Nobody wanted to anger powerful people, save for other powerful people.

With a sigh, Ripbone simply said:

"Well, for now, could you give us the memories of where they are hidden, so that we can at least get rid of those?"

"Sure. Uh, does someone have something to put them inside?"

-Break-

After a last check-up, Harry was deemed fine enough to be let out of Gringotts' care, and both he and Karasuba hurried out, though not for the same reasons. Harry did so because he feared that if he stayed any more, he would need to partake in yet another dangerous ritual, and he had had his share for the year. Karasuba, for her part, wanted to leave because staying in a bank with warriors surrounding her made it difficult for her to ignore her bloodlust, and she knew that if she wanted Harry to one day become a worthy Ashikabi, alienating the species that overlooked the financial part of the magical world by slaughtering some of them was a bad idea.

She looked Harry over, and she had to admit, she was quite happy with how he had ended after gaining that Dark Lord's memories. While he hadn't changed physically, his posture had changed quite a bit, going from slumped and trying to disappear to standing straight and proud, showing confidence, the kind of confidence that wasn't outright arrogance like some people could display. That was a very good thing, it meant that he had gotten over most of his mental scars. Sure, she knew they were still there, but like physical scars, they probably had faded to the point where they should be far less noticeable.

"So, where to, Harry-chan?" she asked, her usual grin plastered on her face.

Harry simply glanced at her, before saying:

"To the bookstore. Thanks to Tom's memories, I've got a lot of knowledge on European magic, but I'm rather curious about what I can learn from Japanese spells."

And with that, Haruka led them to the bookstore, while the grey-haired woman was inwardly cackling in glee. Harry had learnt a very valuable lesson: there is always something to learn. It was a good attitude, after all considering that with the knowledge he had, he could simply decide he didn't have to learn more, but he didn't. Of course, she was thinking of the variety of potentially lethal spells he may be able to learn, after all magic was made to be used, right?

-Break-

The evening saw the group of three looking to a sign saying what Haruka translated as "Animals and Yokai far Wizards and Witches". It was quite common for magic users to have magical pets, and Haruka had said that Harry could probably use one.

As they entered the shop, they found that it was, unsurprisingly, bigger on the inside than on the outside, a use of magic they had found in most other shops, save for the wandmaker's. The shop had two floors, the first being linked to the second by spiraling stairs made of wood. It was tastefully decorated in red and golden tones, and the overall feeling it gave off was quite inviting.

The animals were separated by types, the birds being on one side, the mammals on another, while the back was apparently dedicated to snakes, which, unlike in Britain, were considered like servants of the Gods, sometimes Gods themselves, and were not feared or shunned as a symbol of Evil. The upper level was reserved to the more magical species, as most of those that were present on the ground floor were more or less variants of "normal" species, like owls, cats or dogs. Haruka told the two of them that owls were apparently used a way to deliver letters in the magical world, and Harry simply shrugged as he already knew that thanks to Tom's memories, while Karasuba snorted.

Harry though it was unwise to tell Haruka he was a Parseltongue, after all, while snakes were not ostracized in Japan, the ability was probably not common here either, therefore he preferred to keep it to himself. He didn't want the Ministry to start knowing too much about his abilities, and he was quite sure that they would try to compile as much information on him as they could, after all information was power, Tom knew that better than anyone. By changing his name he had been able to gather followers that were attracted by his charisma and power, something that would have been impossible to do had it be known that the Dark Lord Voldemort was a half-blood.

Looking around and seeing no animal that interested him particularly, save for the cats (cats had always been good to him at Mrs. Figg's, they were one of the few comforts he had had when he was still living at the Dursleys'), he climbed the stairs while Karasuba browsed for herself. Harry was quite sure that if she ever found an animal she liked, it would probably be deadly, and he thanked whoever he could that Nundus were NOT allowed as pets.

He was on the last stair when he saw a black cat, slightly bigger than most he had seen at Mrs. Figgs, that was sitting on a table and licking it's paw. Its fur was as dark as night, and shone slightly, showing it was in good health. The most surprising thing about it were the two tails it had, clearly making it a magical species. While he knew most of Europe's magical species thanks to Tom's memories, his mind drew a blank as to this particular one.

Upon noticing Harry's gaze, the cat stopped it's toilet, opting to return the gaze. Neither Harry nor the cat turned away, and it took a good minute before Harry tore his gaze away, his eyes burning from the fact they hadn't been properly moistened. The next thing he knew, he had a black cat bumping into his leg, demanding his attention like only cats could, and he crouched, scratching it behind its ears and under its neck, making it purr loudly.

It was at that moment that an elderly woman came upstairs and saw the scene. Harry assumed she was going to pass next to him, however he heard the sound of hasty footsteps going down the stairs. Deciding he didn't really care, he continued to scratch the cat, which had been purring all the time, pushing into his hand with its head each time he scratched the side of its head. Now that he could see it up close, he could see that it was indeed bigger than a normal cat, though it was more...graceful? Than the ones he had seen at Mrs. Figg's.

A few moments later, the same woman came back, dragging Haruka with her and pointing at him. Karasuba was behind the two of them, grinning all the while. Once the Ministry employee saw Harry and the cat, she pinched her nose in a gesture that said Why me? and sighed, before the old woman started to speak. Haruka hurriedly translated what she was saying.

"Harry, she says that you shouldn't touch that Bakeneko. Apparently it belonged to her mother and has been here for the better part of a century, and only recently transformed."

"...Sorry, I don't understand."

"There's a species of magical cats called Bake-neko, or ghost cats, that can live up to one hundred years old. If they reached that age, which happens only about once for seven members of their species, they become Bakeneko in the truest sense of the word. Once they reach that state, they grow another tail and gain supernatural powers. Unfortunately, or fortunately, they can bring fortune or misfortune to their owners depending on how they feel towards them."

"So there shouldn't be any problems, right? I mean, he lik-ouch! What?"

The cat had hissed and scratched him, drawing blood. It looked at Harry, then towards the woman, and gave a subtle jerk of its head towards the woman. While most people would have been puzzled as to what it was supposed to mean, Harry understood immediately.

"Oh, you're a girl? Sorry, then." he said, scratching the female Bakeneko behind her ears. He was surprised when she stood on her hind legs, putting her paws on his shoulders and licked his nose.

The woman then said something else, and Haruka looked at her quizzically. Asking something to the old lady, she then turned towards Harry.

"Well, she says you can keep her. She's been doing nothing here for the last years, save for scaring some customers, so she says that if you want to keep her, you can. Her name is Rin."

Looking at the Bakeneko, who was still licking his face, Harry managed to ask:

"So, Rin. Wanna come with me?"

He was not expecting her to understand, apparently she had been around Japanese people all her life, so there was little luck that she'd be able to make sense of his words. Well, that was what he was thinking, until he saw her get back on all fours and start walking leisurely towards the stairs. Once she reached them, she turned to look at him and patted the ground next to her with her paw, in a gesture that meant "What are you waiting for? Come on!".

Harry just sighed, and resigned, finally acknowledging that nothing that happened to him could ever be normal.

-Break-

Later that day, they had gotten back to the wandmaker's shop, and the man was grinning in a rather disturbing way, though neither Harry nor Karasuba reacted to it.

"Aah, Potter-san, welcome! I have finished your wand, and I have to confess that it has been the first time I took such pleasure in crafting a wand. Why, it was quite tricky, indeed!"

Disregarding the man's enthusiasm, Karasuba asked:

"I trust you have it around? It would be such a waste if you didn't bring it right now."

The man's smile dimmed a bit, but he simply walked to the back of his shop, before coming back with a beautifully crafted box. It had small gravures all around it's frame, but neither were they too ostentatious or exaggerated, they were simple, yet beautiful in their design.

"Here it is. Do open the box, Potter-san, I am sure you will find my work to be satisfactory. In fact, I can think of no wand that would best deserve the title of masterpiece."

Taking the box in his trembling hands, Harry carefully opened it. Inside the box was an eleven inches wand. It was beautifully crafted, with a handle that he was sure would perfectly fit him, no matter how much he would grow. The wood was a deep golden brown, though he could see faint golden and blue lines that circled around it. Small signs were drawn on it, and Harry recognized them as Runes, though he didn't know them.

Carefully grasping the wand, he gave it a small wave, and a giant flash occurred, forcing everyone in the shop to close their eyes, lest they get blinded.

When they opened them, though, they were stupefied to see a what looked like a golden fox with nine tails sitting in front of them, and a feminine silhouette made of ice. Both gave Harry a deep bow, before vanishing, the fox leaving small dancing flames and sparks, while the ice woman left ice crystals and snowflakes.

The wandmaker was bouncing up and down with a grin so large it threatened to split his face in half, looking exceedingly proud of what had happened, as if he had been the event's instigator. Harry, for his part, was looking overjoyed to finally have his wand, as it filled him with a sensation of deep acceptance, similar to how he felt when he first made contact with his magic. Haruka was looking rather baffled by what had happened, and Karasuba was grinning, again.

"What was that?" asked a curious Harry, as he studied the wand with a respectful stare.

"That, Potter-san, was something that was essential for you to be able to use your wand at its full power. Those manifestations mean that the beings that gave parts of their bodies so that you could have a core for your wand accepted you and who you truly are."

""Who I truly am"?"

"Yes, it is a rather difficult thing to explain, but you have to understand that for a wand like yours, where there are two cores, both need to bond to you, otherwise your wand wouldn't work. That does not mean that someone who has bonded with both cores can use the wand to its full capacity, no, for that, the magic of the beings that gave the elements constituting the core need to acknowledge your inner self, your personality, what makes you yourself. Most wizards reach this state far later in their life, and there aren't any manifestations, as it is a gradual process. It can also happen that someone will never be able to use a wand to its full power, simply because they are insufficiently linked to their wand, or because they are not true to themselves.

Allow me to give you a simple example: if someone was to have a strong urge to protect people, but later in life became an Auror and at some point stopped protecting people because of new regulations or a change of personality, their wand would either never work as well as it could, as the owner went against their true self, against what they wanted, or gradually stop working for them altogether.

This means that if someone was to have a complete change of personality, often due to some kind of traumatic event, then the wand would subsequently either work better for them if they finally did what they truly wanted, or stop working if they went against what their true self was when they first got their wand."

It made sense, Harry mused. If the wand was attuned to one person, then if said person changed too much, the wand would either work far better or stop working altogether.

He didn't even realize that Karasuba had already paid for his wand and was pushing him to return to MBI's Tower.

Here, done. So now Harry has his wand, Tom's memories, and a lot of power. For those that say that it is a cheap power-up, I will remind you that a soul piece is sentient, and the one in Harry's scar had been leeching magic for six years. Therefore, I do not find it impossible that it may attempt what happened in this chapter.

As for the manifestations from the wand, they aren't unique to Harry. They happen from time to time, but they are rare, since they mean that the people getting their wands are completely honest with themselves, something few manage to do, even less eleven years old.

Anyway, Reviews are welcomes, constructive criticism too.