Chapter One
As Harry expected the moment he returned to Privet Drive, the Dursleys attempted to lock him in Dudley's second bedroom.
There were already numerous padlocks installed on the outside and even that ridiculous cat flap for giving him his meals.
Unfortunately for the Dursley's Harry had come prepared.
While they may have locked most of his belongings in the Cupboard Under The Stairs.
He managed to smuggle one specific item with him up to the room.
That item was a penknife Harry purchased.
It like the one Sirius gave him was able to unlock a large variety of locks.
Thanks to this Harry waited until the Dursley's had gone to sleep at night.
Used the penknife to unlock the bedroom door and snuck downstairs.
There he opened the door to the Cupboard Under The Stairs.
And proceeded to remove a potion phial.
From there it was a simple matter of dosing the food and drink within the Dursley's kitchen.
What is in this potion you ask?
Why it is a Draught Of Positivity.
A strange potion that makes anyone who is dosed with it feel more positive emotions towards the person it is keyed to.
This was Hermione's idea and he had to admit it was brilliant.
The following morning almost fifteen minutes after the Dursley's ate their morning Breakfast.
They began treating Harry in a much more friendly manner.
It was to such a degree that it was almost Dudley like treatment.
It was honestly kind of sickening.
Thankfully Harry had no intention of sticking around to see how the rest of it would play out.
Instead he used the Vanishing cabinet which was in his trunk, that the Dursleys allowed him to take to his room.
Harry then travelled to the cabinets twin which was stored at the cottage at Godric's Hollow.
Thus Harry had gained his freedom.
Sure he knew he needed the Blood Protections.
But nobody ever said he needed to be there twenty four seven to recharge them.
Instead Harry would do what he wanted during the day at the cottage and only return to Privet Drive at night.
Well that would be the case at least once he has finished what he intends to do next.
After all he had plans to accomplish and little time to do so.
As such the following morning Harry travelled to Diagon Alley.
The first place he stopped was at the Healer shop.
The woman there was an independent Healer.
But none the less still talented at what she does.
Harry had used her services several times after the war.
Back when he was pushing himself far beyond his limits to live up to the unrealistic expectations people had of him.
Just thinking back on that makes Harry angry.
Thanks to the borderline suicide missions he was sent on with no back up he quickly moved through the Auror divisions ranks.
What's worse they wanted him out in the field practically from the moment he signed up.
He was the Man Who Conquered after all.
Thus his training time was drastically shortened.
Where he was put through the crash course from hell.
Honestly Harry had no idea how he survived with only a few more scars to his name after those months.
All he knows was Ron crashed and burned under the same kind of training.
And was quickly sent back to the academy where he trained at the normal speed as was expected for a trainee Auror.
Didn't stop him being a jealous git about it though if Harry remembers right.
It was all "Potter gets everything handed to him" as you would expect.
Harry shook his head.
He quickly locked down on such thoughts behind his impenetrable Occlumency.
The rage that smouldered just under the surface whenever Ron Weasley was involved was quickly replaced by an impassive mask.
"What can I do for you?" Asked the Healer who Harry knows as Samantha Stephens.
She was a half blood with bright blonde hair and a strange tick that seems to wiggle her nose any time she is using magic.
She was much younger than Harry remembered her.
She looked to be somewhere between her late twenties early thirties.
And had the kind of figure that would make Madam Rosmerta jealous.
But despite that she was one of the best Healers Harry knew.
"Full work up please" Harry asked.
"A full work up?" Samantha asked in confusion.
Harry nodded.
"You'll understand when you do your scans" Harry stated.
"Oh okay. This way then young man" Samantha said leading him to the back of her store.
There he found himself in her small infirmary.
"Please take a seat" she said.
Harry nodded.
This was something he liked about her.
She obviously knew who he is but never speaks about it.
It almost makes Harry feel like a normal person any time he has to see her.
She then began performing some complicated Diagnostic Charms used by healers.
The more she did the more her calm smiley demeanour gave way to a scowl.
Obviously she was detecting the results of years of abuse and neglect.
It took all her considerable professionalism to maintain her bedside manner.
She walked Harry through everything she found.
Internal organs damaged.
Signs of Malnutrition.
Bones incorrectly healed.
Scar tissue over his back, buttocks, and legs.
And those were just the none magical ailments.
He needed all his magical (and none magical) inoculations.
He also had a binding on his core.
A Mail Redirect Ward.
And signs of possession through his scar.
These were all things he had to have healed in the future.
Sadly then it was too late and the damage was irreversible for some of the resulting issues they caused.
Samantha sighed.
"You certainly have had a hard life haven't you dear" she said sadly.
"Oh well. I'll make sure to get you in tip top shape" she said returning to her positive demeanour.
"I never doubted you for a second" Harry said earning him a bright smile from the Witch.
Harry then followed her directions.
First of which was to down a potion which would put him into a magically induced coma.
Without which he would experience quite a great deal of pain.
Harry easily downed the vile tasting concoction and laid back on the bed she directed him to.
He then began counting backwards from ten on her command.
Before he even got to six his entire world went black.
Harry woke up groggily some time later.
His body felt pain free.
Which was something he never experienced even after the war.
It was all rather novel.
He carefully shimmied up in his bed.
"Ah you're awake" came the calming tones of Samantha.
"How long was I out?" Harry asked
"Around four days" Samantha said sadly.
Harry nodded.
It was about what he expected.
Heck he was lucky. He was out for almost two weeks in the future.
A testament to how damaging his Hogwarts adventures and the war had really been to him.
"Anything I should know about?" Harry asked.
"The binding on your core" Samantha said with a hesitation.
"It was blocking some Metamorphic abilities" she said sadly.
"You will never be a full Metamorph due to the time you have been bound. But luckily we found it before it stopped those abilities working for good" she said.
Harry nodded.
He knew exactly what she meant as when the binding was removed in the future those abilities were completely atrophied.
And there were simply some things magic can't fix.
"I'm also sorry but I couldn't remove the possession from behind your scar" Samantha said sadly.
Harry shook his head.
"I wasn't expecting you to" he said soothingly.
"Don't worry I know how to deal with it" he said placating the woman.
Harry paid Samantha for her time.
And while she normally did what she did out of the goodness of her heart, Harry always rewarded her for her efforts.
After all he knew he would probably be coming back here at some point.
Harry left her store front and made a quick stop in Twilit & Tattings.
He had some business with the store that would be quite lucrative for him.
He soon called the store owner over and sold large batches of Acromantula silk.
Obviously he didn't tell them he procured it from an Acromantula nest in the Forbidden Forrest.
It always baffled Harry that it was just sitting around doing nothing for all these years.
And so Harry decided to put it to use.
This was mainly due to Harry needing large amount of money Just in case things go sideways.
And by large amounts of money he means Malfoy levels of money.
Sure the Potters were rich but they were what was considered new money in the magical world.
This was from his Grandfather Fleamont's invention of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion.
Harry was just annoyed the Philosophers stone was fake and thus why he didn't bother getting his hands on it this time around.
Harry still remembers when Dumbledore's portrait admitted that fact to him.
It was after then Harry introduced him to Muggle paint thinners.
"Boy was McGonagall pissed" Harry thought with a nostalgic smile.
That was around the time when Harry was put on desk duty for roughing up a "Suspected" Death Eater.
And Desk duty for Aurors is usually to cover Defence Classes at Hogwarts
That was a situation McGonagall and Kingsley came up with after the war.
It was a win win.
She was kept up to stock with Defence Professors.
And the DMLE had somewhere to sent their screwups that annoyed them more than Azkaban.
Funny how when given a choice between hormonal teenagers and soul sucking demons the choice is actually kind of tough to make.
Thankfully Harry only lasted three months in his role as the DADA Professor before Kingsley and Robards demanded him back in the field.
Something about him being the only one who can mitigate some of Ron's worst tendencies.
Harry snorted.
Which basically meant Harry was the only one who could prevent Ron from abusing his authority at every chance he got.
Harry then moved onto the next stage of his "make money now" plan.
He Transfigured himself into a decent disguise as a none descript adult.
He then made his way into Knockturn alley.
And more specifically the betting shop.
Harry then began betting on all the sporting events he could remember.
And given how much Ron used to talk about Quidditch to distract Harry from his studies that was a lot.
Obviously he threw in some losers here and there to cover his tracks.
It wouldn't do to be accused of cheating would it.
But all that mattered was that the wins would more than cover for the losses, and thus earn himself a large amount of gold.
His next stop was in a shop he knew of from his time as an Auror.
It was one he raided and shut down.
As such Harry knew they sold enchanted jewellery.
And obviously the enchantments were not of the legal nature.
Harry purchased the most none descript ring they had.
He didn't care what it looked like.
All he cared about was for what it did.
And as it was enchanted to block the Trace, that would do fine.
Harry shelled out large amounts of gold for that but instantly knew it was working when he slipped it onto his left hand.
With that done he then used his disguised form to get his School shopping done early.
He only returned to normal when he was getting his new robes made to order.
He even paid extra to have them charmed to adjust to his growth over the next year.
And as the Malnutrition had been handled he expected to grow a little more than he managed in the last timeline.
He then moved around the stores stocking up on the other items he would need for the following year at Hogwarts.
He did however skip out on buying Lockharts books.
You couldn't pay Harry to own the damn things yet alone have him actually buy them.
Thankfully he was here before the fops ridiculous book signing.
Unfortunately Harry knew he was going to have to be here for it.
If nothing else but to get the Diary Horcrux.
It was with such depressing thoughts Harry left Diagon Alley.
Apparating to the Cottage.
He spent the remainder of his Summer break working hard.
He kept on top of his studies, completing assignments that wouldn't be issued for months to come.
That and he restarted the Animagus training.
It galled Harry that this body had not undergone the process of becoming an Animagus and thus he was no longer able to shift into his Raven form.
He also began working on improving his physical fitness.
This was done by purchasing exercise equipment.
The room that was once his nursery has since been turned into his home gym.
This included a rowing machine.
Exercise bike.
various types of weights.
And even a manual treadmill.
Harry began spending large periods of time in here.
It was mostly due to how weak he felt after a few small exercises.
He was definitely nowhere near fighting fit.
Heck without Quidditch he was starting right back up from the very beginning.
To coincide with the health kick he was on he made sure his diet was as efficient for his body as possible.
That and he went to a Muggle Optometrist.
There he got a new prescription set of glasses as well as some contact lenses.
So caught up with everything was Harry that he almost missed the arrival of Dobby.
Of course he showed up exactly when Vernon was entertaining prospective clients.
Unfortunately for Dobby Harry had no issue using his wand now that he was wearing his enchanted ring.
As such Dobby never got chance to begin banging his head and trying to punish himself before Harry instantly hit him with a Petrificus Totalus.
"Now I will remove the spell, but only if you promise to pack this crap right in" Harry said using his Master Auror "I want what I said done. And I want it done five minutes ago" voice.
The look in Dobby's eyes told Harry his warning had been noted.
From there their interaction went much easier.
Harry informed Dobby he already knew of the danger coming to Hogwarts and was working on a way of averting it.
This earned Harry no end of praise from the excitable little guy.
Obviously Dobby was more than willing to help the great Harry Potter.
And thus Harry began sharing with him his plan.
That it also involved getting Dobby his freedom, just made Dobby even more willing to offer Harry his aid.
The day of Lockharts book signing soon arrived.
Due to that Harry arrived at Diagon Alley with plenty of time to spare.
So much so he got a little bit of shopping done for himself.
This enabled him to purchase himself a Nimbus 2000.
He debated buying a 2001 but he much preferred the styling of the slightly older model.
While looking at the brooms he also lamented that the Firebolt was yet to be released.
It did however give Harry the inspiration to invest in the independent broom maker before his broom would shake up the world.
This was easily accomplished with a quick trip to Gringotts.
There he saw the Potter account manager.
A surly Goblin named Throatcutter.
Harry knew this Goblin from the future.
And in that time he absolutely despised Harry.
Obviously due to Harry's breaking in of Gringotts.
That and the amount of gold he had to pay in compensation to the Goblins removed it from Thoratcutter's control.
And if there was one thing Harry knew, it was the more gold an account manager had to control the more prestige they had within the Goblin nation.
Thus he hoped to avert such hatred of him this time around.
Throatcutter was initially dismissive of Harry's desire to invest in the unknown Broom manufacturer.
But the more Harry spoke of the Firebolts stats the more agreeable Throatcutter became.
Obviously he didn't ask where Harry got his information.
It simply wasn't polite in Goblin society to do so.
But he soon came up with the perfect investment strategy to get the most return for Harry's money.
The two then shook hands and Harry left the bank.
Harry used his newfound Metamorphic abilities to change his hair, and facial features slightly.
Sadly this was the most Harry was able to do due to the binding blocking the abilities for too long.
Regardless of which it still allowed him to appear to be a nondescript Hogwarts aged young man.
And thus he was able to slip into the pandemonium that was Flourish & Blotts of this day without notice.
Harry observed as Lockhart puffed out his chest and proudly announced he would be this years DADA Professor.
Earning a lamentable sigh from Harry in response.
Fortunately his reaction was covered by the cheers of the mostly Witches who were excited by the news.
Unfortunately one of them he noticed was Hermione who was here with her parents.
Then came the brawl that occurred between Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley.
Lucius used the situation well and with slight of hand that wouldn't be out of place being used by a Muggle magician he slipped the Diary into Ginny's cauldron.
It was as they were leaving that Harry made his move.
He "accidentally" bumped into Ginny.
He knocked her and her cauldron to the ground.
And in his "apologetic" state helped her pick up her books.
Obviously while doing so he pocketed the Diary without anyone being any the wiser.
After all this was something he had done many a times in his time as an Auror.
Once the books were picked up Harry left behind the Weasley's and Diagon Alley as a whole.
He made his way to the cottage at Godric's Hollow.
There he dumped the Diary into a pre-prepared bucket of his own blood.
And much like what happened with the Diadem it killed the soul shard housed within while mainatining the integrity of the vessel.
As such it was now nothing more than a Muggle Diary.
Harry quickly cleaned it of his blood and threw it on the fireplace and watched in amusement as it burned to ash.
"That's two" Harry said with a smile.
Soon Harry was back on the Hogwarts Express.
He was thankful that Dobby hadn't closed the gateway on him again.
He and Hermione had settled into their compartment.
Hermione was glad to hear that their plan had been a complete success.
And thus the Dursley's treated Harry like an actual human being.
She was however dismayed to hear what they originally had planned for him.
"I can't believe nothing was every done about those people" she complained.
Harry shrugged.
"I get the feeling 'someone' wants me to stay there and have thus intervened anytime something would have happened" Harry said.
obviously he didn't tell her that someone was obviously Dumbledore.
And that he had his own little spy living nearby to keep watch over him.
That he learned in the future Dumbledore had Obliviated any social services agent or teacher (alomg with their magical counterparts) that picked up on the Abuse he suffered also went unsaid for obvious reasons.
This was accomplished by using the Resurrection Stone.
Something Harry retrieved before he he went on the run, along with pilfering the Elder Wand from Dumbledore's tomb.
Having all three Hallows in his possession at once boosted their usual abilities.
And thus played a huge part in keeping him from being captured again for the remainder of the time he was on the run.
That and it also gave Harry the chance to question Dumbledore's spirit.
At first he was obviously unwilling to answer Harry's questions.
But the longer Harry kept him here the more pain the spirit suffered.
Eventually Dumbledore's resolve broke.
And in it's desire to be released it answered many of Harry's questions.
Thus that was how Harry now knew so much.
He just never knew he would get the opportunity of a second chance.
So who knew such information would come in handy.
Hermione understanding the look on Harry's face quickly changed the conversation.
Something for which Harry was grateful.
They then spent the remainder of the train ride talking about what they could expect over the next year.
Talking about their studies.
Or playing a few rounds of Exploding Snap.
A game Hermione turned out to be absolutely lethal at.
Harry and Hermione exited the express and made their way to the carriages.
There Harry shocked Hermione when he began stroking the Thestral.
"Harry what are you doing?" She asked.
"Stroking the creature here" Harry said like he was commenting on the weather.
"But there's nothing there" she said, her voice tinged with concern.
"Yes there is. Come here a second" Harry said confidently.
Hermione in her trust of Harry followed his instruction.
Harry then took her hand and moved it towards the Thestral.
She gasped the moment it made contact with the creatures leathery skin.
She remained rooted to the spot stroking the creature tenderly.
But it was clear from her expression her mind was filling up with questions.
Unfortunately before she could ask they were forced to board the carriage.
It was obvious to Harry that the first thing Hermione would be doing when she had the chance was making a trip to the Library to figure out what the creature was.
And trying to figure out why Harry could see it and she couldn't.
It was with her mind was awash with so many questions she moved on a sort of auto pilot.
They made their way over to their house table.
Both Harry and Hermione sat opposite one another as they usually did.
This would make conversation easier while they ate.
Thus they didn't have to keep turning their heads away from their food to look at their conversational partner.
It was in this manner they sat for the sorting, the feast, and Dumbledore's announcements.
As Harry missed this the first time around due to agreeing to going along with Ron's ridiculous plan, the experience was rather novel.
Of course this year there were no surprised in the sorting.
That was despite one Ginevra Weasley's repeated mouthing of the word "Ravenclaw".
Thankfully the hat sorted her into Gryffindor as it had done the first time.
What Harry did smile that Luna was once more sorted into Ravenclaw.
He however vowed to protect her, knowing as he did the kind of bullying she experienced before she eventually befriended Harry in his fifth year.
"Yeah definitely not going to let that happen to her again" Harry thought to himself as he and the other Ravenclaws walked up to Ravenclaw tower.
The riddle the knocker asked was a relatively simple one.
"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?" it asked.
"Footsteps" was the answer.
When the first years arrived not long afterwards Flitwick began his meeting.
Something Harry was surprised wasn't just limited to the first day here.
Ravenclaw had repeated meetings throughout his first year.
In those meetings your brought up any grievances, or issues you were experiencing.
And the Professor would do his best to try and rectify what ever issues you were experiencing.
That as you can imagine garnered a lot of respect from Harry.
After all in Gryffindor you were basically left to fend for yourself.
And sure while that worked for a few people, the sink or swim mentality resulted in far more people sinking than swimming.
The following morning they got their class schedules.
It didn't take him and Hermione long to settle back into the routines they established the previous year.
They would attend classes, and when not in class they would study together in the Library.
Harry would also use his Time Turner to enable him to have some time alone which he spent in the Room Of Requirement.
There he would work through lessons and assignments that had yet to come.
As well as working on his Animagus training.
Due to this Harry now has a Mandrake leaf stick to the roof of his mouth.
He can't wait to regain his ability to shift into his raven form.
Harry had also gone out of his way to befriend Luna.
At first Hermione thought the girl was bizarre.
And accused her of making up her many animals.
It wasn't until Harry reminded her of the Thestral and how he could see it and she couldn't that Hermione allowed her mind to open up to the possibility that there could be something behind Luna's animals.
After that Luna could often be found studying with Hermione and Harry whenever their schedules coincided.
Harry actually enjoyed helping Luna with her studies.
He imagined it would be like what helping a little sister with her Homework would be like.
That Luna was a brilliant young girl in her own right allowed her to keep up with Harry and Hermione's exacting standards.
Due to that she soon became the top student of her year.
Sadly despite that she did begin to get bullied again.
It didn't take Harry long to notice that and instantly put a stop to it.
He immediately confronted Cho and her friends who were the main perpetrators.
They soon learned why you never piss off Harry Potter and that Luna was now under his protection.
As you can imagine Luna was awestruck by Harry standing up for her.
Hermione was less surprised.
"He did the same thing for me last year" Hermione said dreamily to Luna.
Time moved on and soon it came time for Harry to move onto the next stage of his Animagus training.
He easily produced the potion using the Mandrake Leaf which he then stored in a quite dark place back at the cottage.
He then recited the required chant each morning and night for the next week which he timed this perfectly to coincide with the required Electrical Storm.
He experienced said storm from just outside the cave he remembered Sirius hiding in.
Both the location of the cave and the date of the Electrical Storm he knew thanks to his memories from the other timeline.
What shocked Harry however is that when he drank the Mandrake potion and went into trance like state that would show him his form there was more than one.
Obviously one of them was the raven form he remembered.
He instinctively knew he brought this form back from the future with him.
But it was the other form that had him baffled.
All Harry could surmise was that this was the form his previous younger self would have been more likely to take.
And it was the form of a lion with a crimson mane.
"I guess being back in my younger body effected the process" Harry surmised.
"Oh well" Harry said with a shrug.
It's just another thing that separated him from the common Witch or Wizard.
Something Harry was less likely to be bothered by as he grew older.
Heck he wanted to become the equal of Riddle this time around after all.
And thus simply being "Just Harry" wasn't going to cut it.
Once he snapped out of his trance Harry was ready to move onto the next stage of the Animagus training.
This is the part most people have difficulty with.
As it involved learning how to shift into your animal form.
Harry already knew how to shift into his raven form thanks to his experience from the future.
Thus that wasn't an issue.
Something proven when he instantly shifted into raven form and flew around the outskirts of Hogsmeade before returning back to the cave.
What was going to be an issue however was learning how to shift into his lion form.
He was going to be in for months of difficult partial transformations as he taught his body how to transform into a lion piece by piece.
Chapter Two
Halloween came and with it so too did the determination for Harry to end this years dangers once and for all.
He was dressed in a large hooded robe that covered his features and used the Marauders Map to make it to Myrtles bathroom undiscovered.
It was just past curfew and thus he only really had to worry about Filtch and Mrs Norris.
Harry was also thankful that Myrtle was still at Sir Nicholas' Death Day celebrations.
Harry entered the rarely used bathroom and walked directly to the sink.
A hissed "OPEN" in Parseltongue had the sink give way to the large gaping entrance.
Harry quickly removed his Nimbus and flew down the pipe. Not wanting to get covered in the same sludge and gunk he did previously.
At the bottom Harry then made his way to the main entrance to the chamber of secrets.
There he hissed for it to open and thus made his way inside.
The torches on the walls began to light themselves upon him stepping foot into the chamber.
It was just as dark and dreary as he remembered it.
But Harry pushed such thoughts to the wayside.
Instead he began preparing for the Basilisk.
To do this he conjured a large tunnel like structure from the Statue of Slytherin.
At the end of the tunnel was a large domed structure which was made of one way mirrors that were also charmed to be unbreakable.
He then hissed the phrase he remembered Diary Riddle speaking.
Soon the Basilisk exited the stone mouth and made it's way through the tunnel like structure.
Harry listened as it crazily chattered about ripping apart and devouring it's prey.
Unfortunately for the Basilisk it had just exited the tunnel into the dome.
The one way mirror reflected the beasts own gaze back at it.
Instantly the Basilisk was Petrified.
"Booya!" Harry yelled excitedly.
"Who would have thought the Attack of the Titans approach would have worked" Harry said proudly.
Harry then removed a stunned Rooster from his robes pocket (which was charmed to be larger on the inside).
He then Enervated the rooster and compelled it to crow.
And crow it did.
Repeatedly and under the Soronus charm too.
The moment the Basilisk went from petrified to dead it's stone like exterior seemed to shimmer and vanish.
"Thank Merlin I prepared more for that this time" Harry said with a sigh.
After all he didn't fancy going against it with nothing but a sword, a hat, and a bird this time.
Harry then stored the remains of the Basilisk into his Extended bag he purchased form Borgin & Burkes.
All he had to do was enlarge the opening to enable it to fit the creature.
He then Apparated to Diagon Alley thankful that Hogwarts Anti Apparition Wards don't extend to the Chamber Of Secrets.
He was also glad that Gringotts was open twenty four hours a day seven days a week.
He then made his was to Throatcutter's office.
His account manager was already there, as Harry had sent word to him via Hedwig that Harry had business with him of an important nature.
And given how much money Harry was bringing in as of late, between the Acromantula silk sales, and his betting. Throatcutter was more than willing to stay late to take the meeting.
Never however could he have predicted that Harry had a fully grown, millennium aged Basilisk corpse he wanted to sell.
Throatcutter quickly schooled his features and got down to business.
This mostly involved negotiating the fee that Gringotts would charge for facilitating such a sale.
Throatcutters opening offer was 25%.
Harry's was 5%.
After some back and forth they settled on 13%.
But Harry would also retain enough hide to have a large leather coat made from.
And a phial of the beast's venom.
The rest was up for sale.
And Throatcutter knew his prestige would be risen when the sales were done and the gold was counted.
With his business done Harry left Gringotts.
But rather than return to the castle he first stopped in Borgin & Burkes.
There he purchased a Goblin made Dagger and sheath.
This he was going to impregnate with the Basilisk venom he had the Goblins set aside.
With no Basilisk, and no Diary there was very little to worry about at Hogwarts.
As such for the first time Harry could remember he had a relatively laid back year.
One in which he could focus on his studies.
This allowed Harry to move steadily past third year into fourth year material.
He also made good use of having Lockhart as a Professor also.
Obviously he couldn't learn anything useful from the man himself.
But that didn't stop Harry.
Thus he focussed on a two pronged strategy in regards to him.
The first was to use Lockhart as a guinea pig, to practice Leglimency on.
And the second came by stoking the mans ego, and as such kept a constant supply of passes to the restricted section.
After all who knows when such an opportunity would again arise, and Harry would have to go back to sneaking into the restricted section after curfew.
But while he could Harry would borrow as many a book on advanced magics as possible.
He would then take them to the Room Of Requirement.
And study them while wearing the Diadem.
That combined with his Occlumency and the Agilis Legere Charm enabled Harry to study, and remember large swaths of information within a day or two.
He would then return the books and repeat the process.
Sure he suffered from really bad Migraines but it was a sacrifice he was willing to take.
Due to that he kept large amounts of the Migraine relieving potion in stock.
Hermione obviously picked up on how much further along in the material Harry was than her.
Something Harry found hilarious as none of the schools Professors had yet to notice.
Or if they had they failed to mention it to him.
But then again Hermione is almost constantly around him and thus it was no wonder she noticed something.
And was she angry? Not in the slightest.
That was something Harry was relieved by.
This Hermione's entire identity wasn't based around being the smart one of the so called Golden Trio.
No she was just a curious, and inquisitive young girl.
And frankly Harry would very much prefer her to remain this way.
There was far less pressure on her that way.
And thus he was willing to let Hermione in on another one of his secrets.
After all showing her his Trunks Library (which has only expanded since then) worked out well for them both.
Thus Harry taught her the Agilis Legere Charm.
Which combined with her own Occlumency that Harry taught her, and a steady supply of Witt Sharpening Potions (he obviously couldn't share with her the Diadem for security reasons).
Hermione was amazed that Harry had come up with such a way to study.
But a week in and she had to agree it provided a huge advantage to doing it the old fashioned way.
Little did Harry know, that he was creating a monster.
If the old timelines Hermione could be called the Brightest Witch Of Her Age.
This one would eventually go on to be spoken of in the same vain as Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, And Morgana.
But that is a long ways away from the right here and now.
Soon came Christmas.
And once again Harry was staying in the castle, and once again Harry had to convince Hermione to enjoy spending time with her family.
Sure they remained in contact with the mirrors Harry gave her last year but it simply wasn't the same.
That and he figured it would also do Hermione some good to have a break.
That and it would allow him to brew some more Migraine relieving potions.
As since letting her in on that secret his stores had taken a massive hit.
Thankfully Harry knew the future recipe which prevented the issues of over using the brew.
Harry also took advantage of the winter break to do something he hadn't had time for while Hogwarts classes were in session.
He began exploring the Chamber Of Secrets.
Another thing he lamented never doing in the other timeline.
And boy was he glad he did.
This was due to him finding far more than he every even assumed he would.
The most important of which however was that he found Slytherin's own personal library/study along with his living quarters.
Harry as amazed by all the ancient Knowledge that was kept down here.
Of course he also wondered why Voldemort never took this with him.
It was only when he attempted to take a book out of the Chamber Of Secrets that he realised why.
As it turned out Slytherin's books were charmed to be unable to be removed from the Chamber.
Any attempt to do so, would have the books teleport themselves back to the Library/Study.
It was the perfect security system in Harry's opinion.
Not that Harry minded.
He simply began spending more time down here than in the Room Of Requirement
And from Slytherin's library Harry was able to extrapolate what he thought the Founders area of expertise was.
After all it contained huge amounts of texts on Potions, Care Of magical Creatures, Rituals, And the Dark Arts (with a leaning towards Rituals, and blood magics).
Harry assumed that it was the latter subjects that a young Riddle latched onto, thus creating the monster we know today.
Harry however was more intrigued by the potions knowledge.
After all the art had joined Defence Against The Dark arts as one of his favourite subjects in this timeline.
There was also a bit of intrigue in what kind of Rituals Slytherin (and Voldemort) might have done to themselves.
But the more Harry read of the latter the less inclined he was to follow in their footsteps.
Sure it would bolster ones magical abilities but the cost simply didn't justify the gains in Harry mind.
For example the one that gives the user a more instinctive connection to ones magical core and thus would make wandless magic far easier.
It requires giving up ones ability to feel positive emotions such as love.
Sure he could understand that was a sacrifice young Riddle probably jumped at.
After all the boy that Harry knew from the Pensieve memories was damaged emotionally.
He probably never felt love a single day of his life.
And thus it wasn't a big deal in his eyes.
But seeing that the lack of love spurred him on to do.
That he used the death of a student to create his first Horcrux.
Harry shuddered.
"No thank you" Harry said as he placed the book on rituals back on the shelf.
Instead he focussed on the Potions knowledge.
Of which there were over 200 books.
All detailing brews that have long since been forgotten.
Harry maintained this schedule for the entire winter break.
It was only really Christmas day that he took a break.
Of which he received a present from both Hermione, and Luna.
Along with a few chocolates and cards from acquaintances he had made across the school.
"Maybe I should branch out a bit more socially" Harry thought to himself.
After all he has been a bit isolated in this timeline.
Not that he wasn't in the other.
But that was mostly by Dumbledore's design.
And Harry was ashamed to admit he had simply allowed that mentality that was cultivated in the other timeline to continue.
"Oh well something to think about later" Harry thought.
Instead he focussed on his presents.
From Hermione he received a book on advanced potions and Defensive spells.
That they were books he knew he didn't have in his library meant Hermione must have spent ages looking for them.
The effort she went to definitely warmed his heart.
So too did the gift he received from Luna.
But for vastly different reasons.
After all it was a necklace made of Butterbeer caps, a year's subscription to the Quibbler.
But probably the thing he loved most was that she also sent him a drawing of him, Luna, and Hermione.
Harry instantly created a frame for it and stuck it to the wall nearest his bed in the Ravenclaw dorm.
Harry then lazed around in the dorm for most of the day.
Reading some of the items from the Claw's personal library to pass the time.
Then he went down for the feast for which the Elves had gone above and beyond once again.
"I should definitely thank them" Harry thought.
Luckily he knew just how to do so but that would come after the feast.
Once again Harry received some items from the magical Crackers.
This year he received a Pirates hat, some more white mice (of which Hedwig greedily ate last years), a pocket Sneakoscope, and a kit for brewing rainbow coloured hair dye.
"Not a bad haul" Harry thought to himself.
Then after the feast he made his way to the Kitchens.
Almost as soon as he opened the doors he was beset upon by an army of elves.
All of whom wondered if there was something wrong with the feast and thought he was here to complain.
That was until he removed from his enchanted bag a large selection of Honeydukes finest.
Something he usually snuck out of the castle for to satisfy his sweet tooth.
The elves were amazed that a Witch or Wizard would ever bring them gifts.
And thus they were all crying loudly.
And man were elves ugly criers.
But Harry was used to their eccentricities due to being around Dobby, Keacher, and Winky.
Compared to those three the rest of the Elves seemed positively normal.
Chapter Three
Soon classes were once more under way.
And Harry had no idea why but once again Lockhart introduced the Duelling club.
And it also didn't surprise Harry that he was once more called to duel with Malfoy on Snape's suggestion.
"Obviously his ignoring my existence doesn't extend to here then" Harry thought to himself.
Once again Malfoy cast before the count of three.
However unlike last time Harry dodged it with ease.
"I guess Malfoys finishing prematurely isn't just a rumour then" Harry said sarcastically.
Malfoy just stared at him.
He didn't know what Harry said meant but given the guffaws of some of the older students it was obviously an insult.
"You'll pay for that Potter!" Malfoy snapped.
And began throwing every hex and jinx he could think of.
The rules of the duel (to only disarm your opponent) had long since been forgotten.
Harry however batted away every one of Malfoys spells, and also quickly vanished the summoned serpent (not bothering to even speak to it this time) while looking over at Snape and Lockhart.
"You not going to do anything about this then" Harry said as he nonchalantly batted away another jinx.
Harry could see the scowl form on Snape's face at those words.
He was obviously hoping his Godson could put Harry in his place.
And no doubt given how easily Harry was handling him he was probably experiencing some Marauder based PTSD.
Not that Harry cared about Snape's feeling at all.
The bloke was an adult after all and in Harry's opinion needed to "get bloody over it".
"Okay then but don't blame me for what's about to happen" Harry said as he went on the offensive.
Obviously Malfoy didn't stand a chance.
And before he knew it he was turned into a ferret.
But not before one lucky charm got through to Harry turning his hair silver.
"Damn I'm really out of practice" Harry thought to himself.
He was however brought out of such thoughts by Snape taking 100 points away from Ravenclaw for using dangerously advanced Transfiguration.
Harry simply gave him the finger and walked out.
The crowd of students parted for him like the red sea for Moses.
Harry made his way to professor Flitwick's.
Where he shared the Memory of what happened and also allowed him to use his Pensieve to view it.
It didn't take long for Flitwick to return the lost points.
Minus a few for giving Snape the finger.
"You are quite a talented duellist Harry" Flitwick praised.
"Thank you sir" Harry said not feeling worthy of the praise.
After all his hair was still silver.
Flitwick then had a pensive look on his face.
It looked like he was mentally weighing the pro's and con's of something.
Whatever it was, was soon made clear when Flitwick said "Screw it".
"Harry how would you like to take duelling lessons from me?" Flitwick asked.
Harry couldn't believe his luck.
He had often thought of asking his Head Of House that very thing.
But it was common Knowledge that Flitwick only accepts the best.
After all his reputation as a Duelling Champion wouldn't allow him to train just anyone.
"I would be honoured sir" Harry replied.
And thus for the first time since Remus in his third year, Harry gained extra lessons after classes.
And no Harry wasn't counting those sessions with Dumbledore where they viewed memories as classes.
It was soon common knowledge that Flitwick had taken on his first dueling student in over twenty five years.
And that it was Harry Potter didn't surprise anyone.
After all everyone saw just how easily he handled Malfoy.
As such most people also knew now that you don't mess with Harry Potter.
The consensus being if he was that good of a duellist before. He must be absolutely terrifying with Flitwick's teachings added to the mix.
Not that Harry cared what the masses had to say all that much.
The only ones whose opinions he cared about were Hermione, and Luna.
Of whom both extracted a promise to teach them what Flitwick would teach him.
Thanks to that time began to fly by once more at Hogwarts.
And soon came the end of year exams.
Once again Hermione had worked herself up into a snit.
Thankfully she was brought out of her worries this time around much more easily.
That was mainly due to Harry having aid in the form of Luna to help pull her out of it.
Obviously the three all aced their exams.
It wasn't a surprise really given how much they studied together.
Hermione and Harry then had to chose their electives for the following year.
Once more Hermione chose every elective possible.
"Probably been offered a Time Turner again" Harry thought.
"Going to have to keep an eye on that to make sure she doesn't burn out again" Harry added to his to do list.
It was funny really how he wasn't offered a Time Turner.
No doubt Dumbledore's doing. After all he doesn't want Harry too smart and knowledgeable.
Unfortunately for him, he has his own Time Turner and his own methods of acquiring knowledge.
As for his electives he obviously chose Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.
Like hell was he going to chose Divination and Care Of Magical creatures again.
Obviously he wanted to chose something that would actually benefit him.
And not just repeat things for the sake of it.
Sure he felt a bit guilty for not taking COMC with Hagrid but he could honestly admit that looking back Hagrid wasn't the best teacher.
Not only did he not have the required qualifications as he never finished his education, but he also often forgets just how frail normal humans are.
Heck he probably doesn't even know why his predecessor Kettleburn lost so many appendages, to such a degree he retried simply to keep the ones he had left.
Also at the end of the year, "the curse" struck again resulting in Lockhart being dismissed.
This was due to Lockhart being pictured leaving a seedy Knockturn Alley Brothel.
That in its self wouldn't be so bad, after all Prostitution was legal in the magical world (go figure) but he was making the poor sex worker take Polyjuice to look exactly like himself.
It was safe to say Rita Skeeter had a field day reporting on that kind of information.
That she also then received an anonymous tip (that may or may not have come from Harry) that Lockhart's stories were mostly fake.
And the true ones really belonged to others, and that Lockhart Obliviated them upon learning their stories was just the icing on the cake.
Lockhart was disgraced and seemingly vanished without a trace.
Rumour had it he had snuck into the Muggle World where he was going to lie low.
Thankfully nothing else of note happened.
Well other than Slytherin winning the Quidditch cup.
Obviously most would say it was due to their unfair advantage of all having top of the line brooms.
Ravenclaw however were just able to eek out a victory in the House Cup, and that was despite Snape's tampering with the point system.
It was later that night that the opportunity he was waiting for arrived.
Lucius Malfoy came storming into the castle.
Harry observed the confrontation between him and Dumbledore.
Where Lucius accused Dumbledore of perpetrating a cover up when the students had been in danger.
Of course he didn't mention he was the reason the students were in danger.
With no proof either way however it all amount to nothing more than a penis measuring competition between the two supposedly grown Wizards.
Soon Lucius were storming back out of Dumbledore's office.
And Harry made his move.
First he froze all the portraits.
"Don't want word of this getting back to Dumbledore do I" Harry thought to himself.
He used a short cut to intercept Lucius.
"Ah Mr Malfoy" Harry said confidently.
"What do you want boy?" Lucius demanded.
"Just returning your property" Harry said and he handed over a very recognisable Diary.
Obviously it was just a recreation as the real one had burned to ash.
"I don't know what you're talking about" Lucius said.
All the while thinking "So it was Potter that ruined my plans".
"Really? Oh well my mistake" Harry said with a bored tone of voice.
Lucius then handed over the fake Diary to Dobby.
Dobby instantly opened it and inside was a pair of Harry's socks.
Harry was originally going to put in a pair of underpants but given how he remembered Dobby wearing the sock he was free'd with had second thoughts of it.
Even if the idea of Dobby with pants on his head was secretly hilarious.
At Dobby's shriek of joy Lucius looked over.
"You cost me my servant boy!" he yelled.
He removed his wand from his cane and began the act of casting the Killing Curse.
"You shall not harm Harry Potter!" Roared Dobby and once again the Peacock was blasted away.
Harry then took advantage of the downed Lucius and quickly cast a high powered Leglimency probe on him.
Thanks to the practice he had with Lockhart with subtle Leglimency he had no issue with this brute force use of the Mind Art.
He battered his way through Lucius Defences.
"That's going to give him one hell of a migraine" Harry thought as he shredded through barrier after barrier.
Harry soon learned all of Lucius dirty little secrets.
He then withdrew from the git's mind before he Obliviated him of his memories of the past few minutes.
Harry then hid under his Cloak again and enervated Lucius.
The man with glassy eyes and shuffling steps left the castle as though he was on auto pilot.
All in all it was a success.
Thanks to the intel Harry had gained he could take down Lucius when every he wanted.
Sure he had to fight not to kill him there and then when some of what the man got up to was laid bare to him.
Unfortunately for Harry he knew that if he was to do so he would be left with someone like Nott Snr taking Lucius' place and he would have to start from scratch.
Thus Harry was playing the long game.
It was with those thoughts in mind Harry went about his business as though nothing significant had happened.
And thus came to an end another year at Hogwarts.
Harry Hermione, and Luna were all in "their" compartment.
They were talking about what they would be up to over the summer.
Hermione was going aboard with her parents.
Luna was going hunting for Snorkacks with her Father.
And Harry had plans of his own.
He played it off as him being a little burned out after the prvious year.
And saying how he could do with a break.
With that in mind he planned on travelling the length and bredth of Britain.
Only instead of having a break like he was portraying it at. It was all part of his further plans to combat Voldemort.
Harry shook his head.
Instead he focussed on the time he had remaining with his two closest friends while he could.
He enjoyed the back and forth between Hermione and Luna as they debated several of her creatures.
Hermione using logic to detail why even if they were real they wouldn't be found in the places Luna was suggesting.
While Luna would answer in the most delightful form of nonesense you have every heard which just infuriated Hermione to no end.
On his part Harry would shift alleigences at a whim which infuriated both of them equally, which was kind off the whole idea behind his actions.
It was fun in all it's pure innocent nature.
Something Harry appreciated more than you could imagine after the lives he has lived.
And despite the seeming arguing of the group it always ended up with them laughing in the end.
Especially when Harry takes either Luna or Hermione's arguments to their absolute extremes.
Resulting in the most obsurdist sounding rubbish that even Luna and Hermione would agree had to be untrue.
His favourite ever was when he argued that Crumple Horned Snorkacks were forth dimensional beings and thus simply couldn't be perceived by us lowly third dimensional ones.
The laughter that created was most definitely Patronus worthy.
And it was that kind of laughter Harry vowed to protect in the coming future.
