Here's the newest chapter for the "Harry Potter: the Serpent Lord", enjoy!

* Review response:
Naginator, loginanout, Kine X, sterata, god of all, NaruAndHarrHaremFan, SimFlyer, obsessivegirl73, fragglemaster, Super-Saiyan-3-Vegeta, jafr86, Penny is wise, thank you for the reviews, folks!
twilightnemo, early December 1993. not sure how many chapters before that.
Dark Dragen, Impstar, runinplace, replied you via pm.
ElementalMaster16, even too cautious can make some mistakes (like a slip of a finger from the rune...)
JPElles, yeah, definitely. whiskey rules the world!
Awsomeness7, a variation, where two ova are used to produce a fertilized egg. technique successfully performed in the 2005-2006 in the real world.
Still Not Dead Yet, I think that was Crabbe... anyway, this part stays as a canon (which now CAN SOD OFF).
Joe Lawyer,... don't even know what to say here...

* Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" and its characters in any shape or form.

"human speech"
"wraith speech"
'human thoughts'
"spells / parseltongue"

This chapter is not beta-read yet.

chapter 32: And the world changes

It was the end of the first week of July when the goblins finally finished their work on the saber, and the next morning Harry had already collected it. The blade itself was a fang, with many runes written in gold on it – to keep it strong and sharp. The handle and the sheathe were both made from some dark wood and had some ornaments in gold and silver for decorations... All in all, this saber was just as beautiful as it was deadly, definitely worth its high price.

The next morning after he got his saber, the young Potter put on his best robes (absentmindedly noting that he would need to by himself a new set of clothes as he had grown a lot, most likely thanks to the phoenix tears that not only cured him from the basilisk poison, but also made his body repair all of the damage caused by Dursley upbringing). Deciding that he needed some more impressiveness, he attached his saber to his belt. Yeah, this was gonna show his relatives what he became without them to hinder him...

Once he was done with the preparations, he apparated to one of the dark corners close to the Privet drive: even if he was no longer bound by the laws about underage magic, Statue of secrecy was still there. And as soon as he appeared in the neighborhood where he grew up, Harry, trying to project the air of aristocratic supremacy as best as he could, headed to the house where his family lived. While he was walking towards the number four, he had noticed that several girls were looking at him with interest, which was addressed to him as a whole, and not just to his 'strange' clothes, his sword or his eye-patch... Shrugging these looks off, the young wizard made his way to the Dursley's house.

Knocking on the door he waited for someone to answer him: since it was a Saturday, his entire family must have been home... Unfortunately for him, they also had aunt Marge over, if the barking that was coming from behind the door was any indication. Oh well, she too needed to see this new him, just to show her that he was not what the Dursley portrayed him to be... Finally, the door was opened. By his uncle. The walrus of a man studied Harry for a couple of second.

"We do not know where the boy is, and we do not want any of your freakishness tainting out house. Get lost!" And then he tried to close the door forcefully, but the young wizard didn't let him.

"Oh, I'm so hurt that you don't recognize me, dear uncle." Every word so far was dripping with venom. "But I'm here to collect the last of my things. Then we will never see each other again." Vernon looked at him, after some heavy thinking finally recognizing his nephew. Opening his door, he gestured into the house.

"Get in, take your things, freak, and get lost." Making a mock bow, Harry slipped into the house and headed straight to the smallest bedroom, which had been his room during his last year under this roof. While he was picking up those few things of his that were there, he could hear his relatives arguing downstairs, no doubt about him... As soon as he had collected everything that belonged to him, the young wizard headed downstairs, only to find all three of the Dursley adults standing there next to the door, waiting for him. "So, boy, is that true that we will not have you in our house any more?" Vernon asked, looking straight into Harry's eyes. The young Potter didn't even flinch under the glare.

"Unless they bring an army to keep me here, I will not be back to your ...generous home." Aunt Marge looked at her brother.

"Are you sure we should just let him go? Look at the freaky clothes he's wearing. As if a riffraff like him could afford even a patch of them. He must have stolen them! And look at his belt – there is a sword! He must be looked for life, or, better, put down right away: will save us, good people, money!" Harry fixed his eyes on the woman.

"These all are a ...compensation for losing an eye in a battle with a beast that wandered into my ...school." He noticed Petunia's eyes widen a bit, before an emotion he hadn't seen there ever before appeared: she was feeling bad for him. Maybe, she didn't hate him completely, after all... "Now, if there is nothing else, I'd like to be on my way. No doubt, you want me out of your lives, just as I want you out of mine." And not waiting for them to respond, he walked out of the house. "I hope we will never have to see each other again." Were his last words, before he disappeared from their view.

~/ *** \~

On the last Sunday of July, a small delegation from the Ministry for Magic, led by Cornelius Fudge himself, and a reporter from the 'Daily Prophet' made their way to an house known as the Burrow, where the Weasley family lived... Since was already quite late in the morning, all of the house inhabitants were up, and the head of the family, Arthur Weasley, could be seen doing something in his workshop, while his twin sons were degnoming the garden... Of course, as soon as the 'guessed' passed through the outer layer of wards, Arthur knew that they were there, but he was still very surprised to see such important people paying visit to his humble house.

"Good morning. Something I can do for you, minister?" The head of the Department of the Misuse of muggle artifacts asked. Fudge beamed at him.

"Oh, nothing much, Arthur. Please have your family gather somewhere. There are some good news for you, and I want you all to be there when I announce them." The Minister said. Nodding, Arthur called his family to gather in front of the house (well, everyone but his two eldest sons, as Bill was in Egypt on a mission from Gringotts, and Charlie was in Romania working in the Dragon reserve). Once the Weasley family was all there, Cornelius continued. "As you know, this summer the Ministry for Magic had a lottery for its workers." Arthur nodded: he did enter this lottery after all. "And yesterday evening, you, Arthur, were picked as the winner. My congratulations!" Fudge said loudly, shaking shocked man's hand. Once the minister backed away, one of his lackeys gave Arthur a big bag, filled with a thousand galleons.

"Now, let's have a photo of the winner." The reporter from the 'Daily Prophet' said, with a camera in his hands. "Minister?" Understanding what the man had in his mind, Cornelius approached Arthur again, intent to pose for the camera with them shaking their hands... At this moment, a certain rat that so far was hiding in Ron's chest pocket, decided to see what was going on, and, placing its front paws on the edge of the pocket, peeked out. Just in time to see a flash of a camera. Shaking its head, the rodent hid back into its pocket...

"I believe that my part here is complete." Fudge said, addressing to the reporter. "But I'm sure that you want to have an interview with Arthur." The man nodded.

"Of course. Our readers would like to know what the winner of the Ministry lottery has in his plans for the prize." Cornelius nodded.

"In that case he is all yours." Turning to his lackeys, the Minister of Magic said something to them, and, after a brief exchange of words, they started walking out of the Weasley family property. Once he was sure they were gone (or at least far enough so that their talk would not interfere with his interview), the reporter turned to Arthur.

"Now, Mr. Weasley, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions, if you don't mind." The red-haired man shook his head. "Then, my first question would be this: do you have any plans on how you will spend the money you've just won?" Arthur though for a couple of seconds before replying.

"As you no doubt know, a tragedy had befallen my family this year, when my youngest and only daughter had to be sent to st. Mungo's hospital for treatment... from a nasty curse that was placed on her." He said. "And while some noble man had paid for her treatment, I believe the thousand galleons that I have won should be used to make sure that she and other member of my family are safe and sound and..." Arthur continued his speech, which could be surmised to the fact that he thought that his family was the most important thing in the world. This made the reporter smile: noble men were a bit rare nowadays: most would have spent these money on just themselves... The readers of the 'Prophet' needed to be reminded of what the family man is, and Arthur Weasley was someone who will help there greatly with his example.

"Thank you." The reporter said. "Now onto my next question: what..." And so he continued taking the interview from the head of the Weasley family...

~/ *** \~

On Tuesday, July 27, Harry's Hogwarts letter with the list of the books for his third year arrived. So, deciding not to waste any time, the green-eyed picked his trunk wizard apparated to London to do some shopping. After taking the galleons from his vault in Gringotts, and converting some of them into British pounds – he needed a new set of muggle clothes and some other miscellaneous things that he couldn't buy in the wizarding world – the young double lord Potter-Slytherin started his shopping.

First thing he visited madam Malkin's shop to get himself a new set of school robes, as well as some for casual wear. Of course, he preferred muggle clothes, but in his life there would be situations when he wouldn't be able to wear them... After Madam Malkin accepted his order and promised to send him his robes via owls once they were ready, Harry went to the next shop. Which happened to be that apothecary as he needed to restock his potion supplies and get some more vials for the school year...

When he was exiting that apothecary, though, he caught a sight of a familiar blond witch, who was there for some shopping of her own with her entire family. And seeing that she was wearing the wristbands that he had sent her for her birthday present, made Harry smile. Then, seeing that the Malfoys were entering Gringotts, he continued his shopping, deciding that he'll say hello to Draconica when he would see he again today.

His next stop was Flourish and Blotts. And he was surprised when he looked in at the bookshop window. Instead of the usual display of gold embossed spellbooks the size of paving slabs, there was a large iron cage behind the glass that held about a hundred copies of 'The Monster Book of Monsters'. Torn pages were flying everywhere as the books grappled with each other, locked together in furious wrestling matches and snapping aggressively.

The young Potter pulled his booklist out and consulted it. 'The Monster Book of Monsters' was listed as the required book for Care of Magical Creatures. If that was the required book... he was starting to have seconds thoughts about signing for the course. But if he really wanted to become a healer, he needed some NEWT for it, so... he'll have to attend it.

Entering the shop, he had purchased all of the books he'd need for his third year (including 'the Monster book of Monsters', much to the shop owner's discontent), along with a couple of extras, mainly for DADA as the experience was telling him he should be prepared to study it on his own once again. He also got a couple of more advanced books on magical healing for his self-study, as well as some extra books on the Ancient runes. Finally, Harry bought a rare Herbology book as a gift to Neville and a charmed note book in a red dragonhide cover for Hermione. So far, though, he had no idea of what to get for the two newest members of what now could be called 'the six': Daphne and Tracey. Oh well, he still had some time to come up with ideas...

His next stop was a Magical Menagerie, where he got some owl treats for Hedwig and some food for his pet project: it did hatch a couple of day ago, and now he needed to mother it till it was big enough to protect itself from whatever beasts were there in the Forbidden forest and could go down to the Chamber of Secrets – Harry had found that there was a tunnel that connected the pipes under the castle with a small cave somewhere deep in the forest.

His final stop in the Diagon alley was the shop that sold parchments and writing utensils. Of course, with the enchanted muggle pen he had, Harry didn't need any (new) quills or inks, but that didn't mean the didn't need parchments to write on as well... Plus there was a couple of interesting things that the young Potter bought as well. As he was exiting the shop, he once again saw Draconica. This time, though, she saw him as well. The two nodded a 'good day' to each other, before they were on their ways. Harry headed to the 'Leaky Cauldron' for some lunch, before he'd go into the muggle world for his shopping there...

As it turned out, a teen of thirteen (though Harry now looked closer to fourteen for some reason), with a scar across his right eye and an eye-patch there was attracting a lot of attention from the people in the streets of London, far more than the young wizard was comfortable with, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he just tried to complete his shopping there as fast as possible. Still, getting a couple of sets of casual wear and some training clothes – if nothing else, being fit will allow him to last longer in a magical fight by dodging his opponent's spells. But according to Salazar's journals, magic was intimately tied to the physical body, so the better this body was, the stronger was the magic – took some time...

~/ *** \~

On July 29th, it was Weasleys' turn to do the shopping. Since Ginny was in st. Mungo's hospital and, according to the healers, won't be able to leave it for several more months, buying school things for her seemed to be more or less unreasonable... Still, Molly got some books on magical theory so that her only daughter would not be too behind once she was allowed by healers to continue her schooling.

Her other children, though, needed the whole sets of books, potion ingredients, some new robes and lots of quills and parchments. And Ron needed a new wand as his was broken (completely) at the end of the previous year... At least with the money Arthur had won and those fifty galleons that someone had sent to Ron, she had enough money to afford all of the things. And not even second-hand, which made all of her children, even Percy, though he was trying to remain impassive, happy.

After buying everything else, and sending three of her older sons back to the Burrow via the public floo at the 'Leaky Cauldron', Molly brought Ron to Olivanders' wand shop. After greeting the red-haired woman in his usual manner – saying her maiden name and recalling her wand – the old wand maker turned to Ron.

"Unfortunately, I don't recall you ever being to my shop before, Mr. Weasley." Molly nodded.

"My youngest was using a wand from his older brother's." Seeing that Olivanders wanted to say something about the wizard needing to have his own wand, she hastily added. "Don't worry, that was a good match... But this wand broke this spring." The elderly wizard shook his head.

"That's bad... But don't worry, young man, somewhere in this shop there is your new wand. Let's find it. You're right handed, right?" He asked, summoning his measurement tools. Ron just nodded. Once the young redhead was measured in every way possible, Olivanders brought him the first wand to try: "How about this one? Willow and unicorn tail-hair, fourteen inches." The wand produced some red sparks, but the old wand makers thought that it was not the best match. "Hm... no, not this one. How about..." And so Ron had to try another wand. And then another... And another. After eight wands, it appeared that finding him a match was harder than Olivanders thought. ...As he was looking for the next wand to give to Ron to try, his eyes landed on a certain wand. "Hm... Why not?" He said to himself, before handing the wand to the youngest Weasley boy. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches." Much to his surprise, this wand produced by far the best result so far. "Looks like we've found your match, Mr. Weasley." Olivanders said, before turning to Molly. "This will be seven galleons."

Once the Weasleys left his shop, the old wand maker moved to his cabinet: he needed to write a letter to Dumbledore – he had promised to inform the man when this wand was sold, after all...

~/ *** \~

Two days later, it was Harry's birthday, and he was going through the gifts his friends had sent him. He got some rare and quite expensive herbal extracts from Neville and some books on newest developments of muggle medicine from Hermione. Daphne, Tracey and Susan collectively sent him a thick tome on the history of magical law from before Merlin was born and to our days. The Gryffindor Flying Foxes, aka the chaser trio, sent him a decorated in an ancient Greek style casket with a runic puzzle instead of a lock, and a group photo of themselves in rather skimpy bikinis made on some beach (probably in Greece). Oliver gifted him new and enchanted for durability seekers gloves. The rest of Harry's friends, mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, sent him various sweets...

But there was one very special gift Harry received this year, and it was from Draconica. The blond witch sent him silver pocket watch with a Potter coat of arms engraved on the front lid... The green-eyed wizard wasn't ignorant of the significance of such gift: by gifting him this watch, Draconica was saying that she was accepting him as an adult...

That's all, folks!
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