Thanks for everyone reading my story! I have almost 3,000 visitors so far and I hope it keeps growing. Here's Ch. 9

Ch. 9: The Power He Knows Not

The next month for Harry Potter was definitely an odd one. Odd meaning it was new for Harry since he was always used to doing his education while battling something trying to kill him. So because no evil wizard at the time was plotting to kill Harry, that made it an odd month.

And Abubakar turned out to be a fantastic teacher. Unlike at Hogwarts, they didn't individually learn about a section of spells at a time, but combined them together to blend in their uses. Like conjuring a mandrake to kill your opponent, or performing a defense curse at a potion to make it explode on you enemy. This allowed Harry to grasp the concept of some subjects much easier.

Normally the pair would begin their lessons at 9:00 a.m in the L.K.S. to give enough time for breakfast and to wake up. In the morning Harry would find himself doing mainly physical exercises to warm up his body and magical core. At first Harry thought these would be the easiest for him (since he survived Wood's practices for years), but he soon found out he had lost much of his former build while on the Horcrux Hunt. Though soon Harry began to get better and better at the warm ups (but still was not nearly as fit as he could be)

Once that was over and the two had eaten lunch they would begin practical spell work, Harry's favorite part of the day. This was the time where he would review old spells to improve and learn new ones. Abe was impressed with the amount of power Harry could put in each of his spells and he was surprised to learn he had above average spell-casting. His Disarming and Stunning Spells being the best.

On his first day, Abe said to Harry. "Most wizards learn a spell, and once they perform it reasonably well they move on. But if each person perfected a spell, then it would increase its usefulness. An example would be when first years learn the levitation spell; when you first attempt it you use a feather, and most people will then just use it to say lift up a bag or furniture maybe. But if they perfected the spell, then they could, say, life a boulder or possibly a strong tree from the ground. Some legends say that Merlin could lift a mountain up from the ground!"

Abe also would bring in some rare plants native to Egypt and teach Harry the properties of them. Harry had never been one for Herbology, but after the Mirroring Stump (Takes the image of a normal tree before gobbling up its victim)Incident on his second day, Harry had found a new respect for plants. That, and a torn up pair of trousers.

The same happened for Potions and History of Magic. Honestly never found either subject entirely horrible like he did Divination, it was just that his teacher either made him fall asleep or verbally assaulted him. He found Potions similar to Muggle Cooking, and once he made that connection he found making the potion easier (since he had spent his childhood cooking for the Dursley's and wasn't half bad at that).

And Harry found the History of Magic quite fascinating too when he didn't have to hear it from a dull ghost professor; he enjoyed learning about not only the Magical Wars, but also the relationship between wizard and muggle history. These included the two World Wars, the Dark Days, the Witch Burnings, and others.

When they finished the practical spell work, they would either work on the theory of the spells they already practice or on Harry's Occulmency. Though unlike his other subjects, Harry did not improve with Occulmency. The idea of it was simple; to clear one's mind and build up defenses. The problem with Harry Potter is that he doesn't do anything simple.

Harry's thoughts had never been organized, leaving him clueless and unable to grasp some things quickly, but with the destruction of the Horcrux in his head, all of his thoughts seemed to be in shambles and out of place. Abe gave him some exercises like meditation to help first organize his mind before anything else, which helped Harry slightly, but he was no where near building defenses.

Harry would find himself spending up to 10 hours in Abe's 'layer' in one day, and he found himself finding something new everyday. If Harry wasn't paying enough attention during his morning workout, a dummy would animate from the wall and beat him up. If he didn't give 100% in the practical lessons Harry would find himself swarmed with either pizies, jinxes, or Abe (who wasn't against pranking Harry now and then).

And Harry couldn't count how many times he went to pick up a book off a shelf and be attacked by it. Despite these events and Abe's warning on the first day, Harry found he began to enjoy the room as it reminded him of Peeves.

After they had finished for the day it would be evening, and the pair would share supper as Abe gave Harry a review on his work that day and give him his homework if he had some. Then Abe would dismiss Harry to do as he pleased. At these times he would find himself drawn to the Giza Pyramid under his invisibility cloak and to the digs sights of the muggle explorers. Ariana would like to join him for these walks and enjoyed scaring an unwary animal. Sometimes Abe would join him as well, but most nights it would be just him.

And if Harry wasn't out viewing the scenery, he was at his desk working on his assignments or replying to his ever increasing pile of letters. The first two weeks of Harry being gone, practically everyone Harry knew wrote him everyday, which left him going to sleep at an unlawful hour and a flustered phoenix. Still he felt touched his friends cared so much for him. That or they worry I'm going to get myself killed, again.

Most of his friends like Hagrid, Luna, Neville, and Ginny asked how his traveling was going and told them of what Hogwarts was like this year. Though each person had their own individual questions or advice that made him smile (such as Hagrid's interest in ancient Egyptian beasts, Neville's obsessive fascination in the Mirroring Stump) From what Harry gathered, Hogwarts was almost as good as new. The amount of students in attendance more than doubled last years, and all of the students are noticeably cheerier.

And while the news made Harry feel great, it also made him feel homesick. Hogwarts was the closest thing he had to a home and while he had grown to like Kreacher and Grimmauld Place, it wasn't the same. But even though he missed Hogwarts, his thrill and excitement of exploring overpowered his sadness.

In Ron's letters he too asked how Harry was 'holdin up' in Egypt, but also told him all about the Auror Program. Apparently, many wizards and witches decided to join the program. The people Ron recognized were Katie Bell, Susan Bones, and Justin Finch-Fletchley.

He also said the program was really hard, and even on the first day people were kicked out. Though Ron said to him in one letter, "I think I owe you one mate. Without the DA I would have failed a long time ago." From what little Ron described about the tests they had to perform (he expressed more how difficult they were) in his letters, Harry did deduce it was an extremely strict job. And while Harry was particularly good at capturing dark wizards, he doubted he could do it under the strict guidelines of the ministry (he did have Marauder blood in him after all).

As the weeks fell into a month, slowly the amount of letters per day decreased; now Harry would get maybe a letter every two or three days. And while he attributed it to his friends busy schedule at Hogwarts and at the Ministry, it didn't silence that little 10 year old friendless kid in the back of his mind from worrying about his friends forgetting about him.

But not Hermione, despite the fact that Hermione had probably the most on her plate, she still wrote Harry every day. She would ask anything from the things he was learning (and if it wasn't something she knew Hermione would ask for a detailed description to go with it), to how Egypt was.

If Harry ran out of things to say Hermione would then move one to detailed descriptions of how she, their friends, and Hogwarts was. To Harry's relief Hermione said Ginny was acting perfectly normal and even went on a date with Michael Corner; she also expressed how she feels 'Neville seems to sulk every time a guy checks out Ginny...I think he might fancy her.'

This made Harry a bit confused. Had Neville shown signs of liking Ginny before. He then thought of how Neville took her to the Yule Ball, stood up for her against the Carrow twins when he wasn't around, and even the jewelry he gave her for her birthday. It then made sense to him, and hoped Neville would get the nerve to ask her out.

Hermione also talked a lot about Ron and his program. She went into much more detail then Ron did on their training, but this bothered Harry more than it pleased. Whenever Hermione obsessively rambled about something it usually meant she was hiding something, and Harry's gut told him it had something to do with Ron. Harry left it alone for a week, knowing if they were gong to work the two would have to work things out without him there. But neither Hermione or Ron gave any update on their relationship.

The day before Harry finally confronted Hermione about it in his letter to her, and she finally cracked. She told Harry how she did miss Ron while he was away at the program, and it turned out he wasn't visiting or writing Hermione much more than he was to Harry. What was worse was that Hermione knew Ron 'wrote to his mother every day, so he at least could spare a letter for her every now and then'.

Harry felt guilty he wasn't with Hermione as company. Surely with irregular boyfriend visits and the lack of your best friend it would get lonely; he could only hope Hermione's fear she expressed with him at the party wouldn't become fully true. So Harry silently vowed to himself he would do whatever it took to make Hermione feel needed and wanted, at least by him if he couldn't nudge Ron to write her more.

With that thought in mind, Harry fell asleep that night thinking, I would let you fade away 'Mione, I swear.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Come on Harry it's like your not even trying today!" Abe nonchalantly stated as Harry was hit by another jelly-leg jinx coming from seemingly no where. Harry sighed and tried to rub the remaining sleep under his eyes as he attempted to pull himself up from the ground; only once he regained enough sense to say the counter curse did he succeed.

It was true he wasn't on point that day. Because he spent most of the night reading and replying to Hermione's letter, slept did not come easily. And while with years of getting minimal sleep due to nightmares Harry was used the groggy fleeing, it also came with his temper (another attribute from his mother).

"Yeah well I am Professor! And just because I'm not good enough to block all of the bloody spells and traps you've hidden in this place doesn't mean I'm not! ." Harry snapped at Abe. Once the words slipped from his mouth Harry immediately regretted them. This was the first time Harry had yelled at Abe, and he had no idea how he would react.

Would he punish him? Refuse to teach him anymore? Turn him into a ferret!? The different possibilities raged around his head as his fear began to grow.

To his surprise Abe merely conjured up two chairs and sat down in one of them. "Sit down, Harry" Abe said calmly pointing to the other seat. In shock of Abe's reaction, Harry did as he was told.

Both were silent for a few moments before Abe asked seriously, "Why did you come here, Harry?"

The question confused him a bit; not because he didn't know the answer but because of its simplicity. "To learn and become a better wizard" Harry stated simply.

"Yes but couldn't have you done that at Hogwarts or as an Auror? Surely training under an old man whom you barely knew was not your only option." Abe stated.

Harry thought about this, and realized his words were true. "So I'll ask again, why did you come here?" Abe continued.

Why had he come? Did he know exactly why himself? It was true he had come to become better at magic, but even he had to admit to himself there was more to it than that.

Breathing deeply Harry closed his eyes and searched for his answer. Just clear your mind, a voice said to him that sounded vaguely like Hermione's. I need to stop staying up so late writing to her, Harry mused. But he did as he was told, and soon did find the sad truth.

"I-I came here, honestly, to escape. From my past I mean. I guess I didn't realize this myself, but I think its true. In Britain I was this built up hero who had to save everyone from the villain. But the problem was that I wasn't a hero, and I'm still not; I wasn't strong enough or powerful enough to save more than I did. Because of me, families were broken apart. My own friends died! And sometimes all I can think is that if I were only as powerful as Dumbledore then I could've saved them."

Hearing his words out loud Harry now realized how cowardly they sounded. Wasn't he supposed to be a Gryffindor, where the brave dwell at heart!

Surprising Harry again, Abe just smiled. He stood up and said, "Well done, Harry! I didn't think I'd get that out of you for at least another week. You're definitely ready."

"But-ut-What!" Harry sputtered out. "How'd you know I felt that way when I didn't even know?" Harry questioned.

"Oh I didn't know for certain, but after spending a month with you I could tell you hated any praise given to you even when it's deserved. You, barely qualified as an adult, lead the entire war efforts! Don't you understand Harry, that because of you more lives were save not less?"

Harry assumed this was a rhetorical question and made no move to answer it.

But Harry's silence seemed to answer Abe's question. He nodded and mumbled more to himself, "Yes yes now need to get the runes out and-" Abe's rambled continued for a while as he summoned a table and books to where they were, but Harry had quit enough confusion and questions for one day.

"Abe! Can you just tell me what the hell is going on!" He yelled. Harry was tired of people always beating around the bush he just wanted answers.

Abe stopped his preparation and said as if it were obvious. "We're going to see you Magical Core."

Before Harry had time to even stutter out something stupid Abe went back to his preparations. While placing down an extremely dusty book on the table, Abe answered his question. "A magical core is the aura or magical soul of a witch and wizard-" Abe coughed over the dust.

"Which means it cannot lie. Each wizard has a unique core, no one has the exact same. There's a spell that allows someone to see their aura, and this is something I want you to do today.

Now, no one can describe exactly what an aura looks like." Abe said as he scrolled through the book. "For very few have ever performed the spell to look, so most of what is known is legend. But it is now believed the aura is this warm glow of some sort that can cover any part of the body; most of the time it surrounds the heart, wand arm, or brain of the wizard. The more powerful the wizard, the more the aura spreads in the body.

Some legends of the magical core say it appeared in different colors, or in the shape of a thing that somehow was connected to the user. Some of the wilder claims even swear they heard voices speaking to them. Quite an under appreciated medium of magic, aura research is... I do hope your generation, Harry, improves it."

"But Sir, if it really shows the witch or wizard their potential why doesn't everyone learn the spell!" Harry asked. Had never heard about seeing someone's soul before, not even from is walking encyclopedia Hermione.

Abe sighed and stopped what he was doing to look at Harry. "Well most wizarding governments have outlawed the practice and use of this spell since it's safety is unknown and half of the wizards who performed it went mad. But! Lucky for us Egypt has long forgotten the existence of this type of magic so we won't be going to prison any time soon!"

Harry paled a bit and responded. "Okay, well then if it is so dangerous why do you want me to do it?"

"Because it is the only way you can reach your full power!" Abe said passionately. "When you know you can do a spell well, it is some of the most beautiful magic I've ever seen, but when your unsure of yourself, you're no better than any other wizard. You need to know you are able to do it so you can do it."

Harry was about to argue again, but then thought over what he was implying. It was true; whenever Harry knew he would succeed he did better. It happened in his third year when he cast his first corpeal patronous, and it happened with Voldemort when he knew he was the true master of the Elder Wand. So could performing this spell really confirm to himself that was was strong enough?

So without countering Abe with another question or retort (something he would have done just a few minutes before), Harry said to him, "What do I do?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Harry was surprised how much work was needed to prepare the spell. First a potion needed to be brewed that would cause him to go unconscious and weaken him enough for the aura to reveal itself. It was a very complex formula that would put even the most skilled Potions Master to the test. Luckily for Harry Abe was there to make sure he didn't poison himself.

The potion would take a few hours to brew, but while it was doing that Abe prepared Harry in the next step. The Ancient Runes of Magic and Soul had to be drawn on the users back, then magically fused together by the Harry himself. This made Harry sheepishly confess he had never studied Runes, and as a result Abe smacked Harry on the side of his head, vowed to teach him basic Runes before the month ended, and started explaining how to combine runes to Harry.

The process of combining the Runes came easily to Harry, as it was like a puzzle of removing some pieces and adding new ones. The tricky part was drawing the runes themselves, but to Harry's relief Abe could draw them for Harry without ruining the spell.

Finally Harry had to learn the Incantation for the spell, which unfortunately had to be wandless magic. Abe had covered bits and pieces of wandless magic use, and Harry had done simple spells using it like the levitation or lighting spell, but his experience was no where near that needed .

"This spell isn't like normal spells." Abe assured Harry. "For this you just have to return to what kids do with accidental magic. Just really want something to happen and let it happen. It's much simpler than it sounds." Harry could only hope that was true.

By the time the potion was done and Harry had learned the spell and Runes, it was evening. Though neither wanted to wait; it would be done that night.

Abe silently drew the runes on Harry's back in charcoal. While the process require the runes to be carved into the skin, Abe merely stated that was an outdated practice that wouldn't be necessary.

Once he was finished, he gave the signal to Harry to fuse them together. While nervous, Harry managed to say confidently, "tempera ars!" and began combining the symbols. He concentrated on what each rune looked like and what it had to become since he was unable to look at them directly. Slowly but surely, Harry did it successfully. The rune glowed for a second, and suddenly gave off a blinding white light. When Abe could finally look at the rune again, it was no longer on Harry's back, but imbedded in it.

"Well done, Harry." Abe said, but Harry felt no relief in finishing, for he knew what came next.

Abe quickly summoned the potion and turned to Harry saying. "This should be tasteless and odorless, but once you take it you will have about 30 seconds before you black out. In this time you will have to perform the incantation."

He nodded and in his head kept going over what he needed to say and think. Expergiscor Spiritus. Expergiscor Spiritus.

"You can do this, Harry... I know you can." Abe reassured Harry, and somehow his belief allowed Harry to finally gain some of his own.

Harry slightly smiled and replied. "Thank you, and if I die or go mad because of this, I'll kill you."

This made Abe laugh, and he calmly handed the flask of the potion to Harry.

Quickly Harry drank and swallowed the potion, pretending it was a shot of firewhiskey. Immediately after Harry felt his strength already diminishing, but he did not loose focus and fought on.

Harry tirelessly thought of all the moments he felt truly powerful and happy like Abe had told him, and found himself settling on the memory of him saving Sirius with Hermione. With this single thought in mind, Harry's eyes seemed to glow an unnaturally color and in a voice not his own, he yelled, "EXPERGISCOR SPIRITUS!"

Harry's last coherent thoughts before blacking out was his mother's and Hermione's screams.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Okay Ch 9 over and done with!

If you didn't notice I started the wheels of Neville and Ginny pairing. I know many people put Neville/Luna together and I think they would be cute too, but to me Neville seems like the most fitting character for Ginny to be with.

I also introduced magical auras in this story. I know many stories do this as well with differing results, but I hope you thought mine was well done because they will play a HUGE role in the story.

Until next Chapter ;)