Harry looked dispassionately at the Horcrux he had just drained out of the Ravenclaw Diadem after he had found it once he had done some research. The ending of Lord Voldemort hadn't been a spectacular battle.
It was just simply a young kid who had gotten lucky after doing a lot of research work.
Right now he didn't care what the magical world did; it wouldn't take long for them to discover that the Death Eaters had all lost their magic, but as they were responsible for the deaths of so many people, Harry's sympathy was nonexistent.
With a bit of luck, nobody would discover he had anything to do with it, any of it.
Closing his eyes, Harry willed the Room of Requirement to conjure up a chair. Opening his eyes again, Harry smiled when he saw a chair had appeared.
Sitting in it and sighing in pleasure as it took his weight in its loving embrace, Harry rested his eyes. He found it hard to believe it was practically over.
Harry had never wanted to be involved with the war; nobody in their right mind would want to be involved in a war, especially one that made little sense.
With a bit of luck, he could finally live his life the way he wished, without anyone interfering. When he had lived with the Dursleys, Harry had been forced to try to live life the way they wanted, while he crudely mastered his magic before Hagrid came to rescue him. But even when he had arrived and quickly learnt that Dumbledore was responsible for leaving him with the Dursleys.
While he resented the old wizard, Harry quickly worked out he would need to be careful since he didn't know what the old wizard was going to do.
Even his sorting was done to keep the old wizard off the scent.
When he had been sitting under the Sorting Hat, Harry had learnt that he was suitable for Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw.
In the end, he had been forced to dismiss them all to keep his 'fans' (more like watchers, minders) happy, so he had gone into Gryffindor, although he would have preferred something like Ravenclaw in the coming weeks after he had seen how dedicated they were to knowledge.
For five years, Harry had played the game their way, but he had secretly been searching for a way out. He had found a massive treasure in this room in his third year.
Xxxx
Harry took a deep breath as he looked around the Hogwarts library. It was the dead of night, and after making sure some of the spells and enchantments had been blocked off temporarily, Harry walked to the Restricted section of the library.
The security enchantments were stronger in this part of the library, so he had to be careful.
Most of them were beyond his repertoire, but if the book he'd found before this year started in Knockturn Alley after he'd learnt about Sirius Black chasing after him to finish the job Voldemort had started was accurate, then he had done a good job in disabling them. His safety and survival were more important than a piffling little enchantment.
He would need to be quick, though; with the Dementors outside and Black somewhere nearby, Harry was under nearly constant watch.
It didn't take long for him to find a decent book on Dark Magic. He knew if he had checked it out of the library then it would arouse suspicion; with so much attention on him, it was not worth the risk. Harry had been delving into the Dark Arts for some time now.
His thirst for knowledge which had been spawned into him during his years at the Dursleys had only grown and grown as he had developed a love for the written word.
It was his solace. Hermione Granger was not the only one who loved books, he only masked his love for them because he didn't want them to know how smart he was since Dumbledore had his agenda.
From books, Harry discovered how life was different. From Shakespeare, he had discovered the very best, the very worst traits of humanity wrapped up in wisdom; from Charles Dickens, he had learnt how disgusting Victorian Britain was and how unfortunate a version of the French Revolution hadn't started; from Jules Verne and HG Wells, he had gained a love for sci-fi, and a look into worlds where there were more things in heaven and Earth which were never dreamt of in the Dursley's barren philosophy; from Rudyard Kipling, he had journeyed to India and had adventures with Mowgli; from Isaac Asimov, he had seen the future; from Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he had seen how deduction and psychology could help in an investigation; from Sun Zhu, he had learnt of the Art of War.
Harry had been hiding his true self for a long time now ever since the day he had tried to escape from the Dursleys only to discover from letters Mrs Figg had kept, she was in touch with the magical world, with Dumbledore.
He had tried to escape several times, only to be sent back to the emotional neglect and mental abuse from Petunia Dursley, and the physical abuse from Vernon and Dudley. Once he'd read the letters and learnt of the existence of the magical world and how there were enchantments on him that he did not know how to remove himself, Harry had done the logical thing.
He had decided to stay at Number 4 until he could go to Hogwarts.
It was simplicity getting away from Hagrid. The large oaf of a man was friendly enough, but he didn't have much sense. That was something Harry could agree with the shade of Tom Riddle about. All Harry had needed to do was wait until Hagrid had left him, and he had gone back to Diagon Alley, and from there he had collected dozens of books on magic. He had spent the summer poring over them. Granted he had done his best to dumb himself down, but there were times he wished he didn't have to.
As he looked around the library books, Harry finally shook his head.
He couldn't come back here again, and risk being caught. But where could he study dark magic? He needed to study it so then if Black did appear, he wouldn't be intimidated by a third-year kid who had only a knowledge of the third and fourth-year spells (yes, he'd read ahead). He needed lethal spells to survive.
He needed more books to practice with than the one he'd gotten during his summer after taking advantage of the freedom in Diagon Alley, and as he thought about it, Harry realised he would need a place to find a place to practice the spells.
The Chamber of Secrets was a possibility, but Harry did not know if Dumbledore hadn't placed spells on the place to let him know if anyone was going down the tube.
No. There had to be someplace close by.
And then it occurred to him; only a few nights ago, he had asked the Weasley twins about the kitchens and learnt how to get in, after learning where it was in the castle. They'd been greeted by House Elves, who were responsible for cleaning and feeding the castle, so logically they might know where there was somewhere he could go.
Mm, it was worth a try.
Xxxx
Harry was right, the House Elves had known the perfect place where he could be. They had shown him where he could find the Room of Requirement and where it was, and when he discovered he could not only train there, but he could use it as a way to practice spells.
He could summon books, and while he had one or two theories of where the books came from, he was delighted since he could finally bridge the gulfs of magical knowledge and ability that separated him from people like Dumbledore, Voldemort, and Black before discovering his godfather's innocence.
It was in the Room of Requirement that Harry kept practicing the Patronus Charm to help him survive against the Dementors.
It was in the Room of Requirement he began reading parselmagic books, even if his lack of a magical snake held him back.
It was in the Room of Requirement that he learnt more about Ancient Runes, and what they could do for him.
It was in the Room of Requirement Harry mastered many dark arts spells.
It was in the Room of Requirement that Harry had used as a bedroom when life in the Tower became unbearable after his name was drawn out of the Goblet of Fire.
It was in the Room of Requirement Harry gained the magical knowledge needed to get through the Tasks, before Voldemort's resurrection.
And… it was in the Room of Requirement where he stressed his inner Ravenclaw. When he learnt he was Voldemort's primary target, even with Umbridge trying to bring him down and drag him to hell, Harry realised if he researched Voldemort, then he could finally end the war before it began once again.
And he was right.
Harry didn't have a clue what was going to happen now, but he would deal with it. He had the Room of Requirement, he had so many resources at his disposal.
But one way or another, with Voldemort gone, Harry could now focus on his life with only a few distractions.
