Following the discovery of his parent's chest, Harry began to secretly learn more and more about the Wizarding Community.

It was both an exciting and saddening occurrence; exciting to learn more about a whole other world, one in which magical creatures and spells truly exist; saddening to eventually realize what he has been missing out, a lifetime of growing up learning about this, being loved by two clearly loving parents.

Nonetheless, Harry ensured he read and re-read each word in each chapter of the book, "The Life of a Lord: The Teachings of Aristocracy".

Some of the lessons were rather trite for the inquisitive, yet young 8-year old boy. Even so, he took each lesson to heart since he knew that this information would prove useful later in life when he was able to return to the Wizarding Community.

A lesson he quickly began to practice was taught in the later chapters of the book. Under the chapter, "Hygiene: A Simple Guide for Simple Men", it spoke about the importance of remaining well-groomed and appropriately dress for any occasion.

"The image of a Lord (or Lady) is one of vital importance. Hence, it can be used as a weapon against their counterparts, or as a crutch where it drags one lower in the eyes of their peers. As such, one must always maintain a grooming routine to set forth a continual maintenance in appearance. Bathing, shaving, fragrances, and hair styling are importance subjects that the aspiring Lord must become intimately familiar with in order to best develop their own routine. Each style must be as unique as each Lord. Therefore, it is a wise man or woman who seeks the advice of professionals in this endeavor to ensure no errors occurs."

Following that, Harry became conscientious of his appearance and understood that he was in dire need of a change. Therefore, he kept reminding himself to brush his teeth thoroughly, bath more often, and save whatever meager amount of money he could to buy himself deodorant and cologne.

These changes occurred slowly, as Harry felt it necessary to avoid causing any unnecessary attention being directed towards him.

As time went by, Harry began to incorporate more of what he learned from his parent's books.

However, a particularly memorable findings from within the chest is when Harry came upon a written letter from his parents.

{Flashback}

During another late night adventure, Harry decided to take an inventory of the contents to figure out just how much was secreted within this chest.

It was during this inventory that he found an envelope with the name, 'Harry', written upon it.

Taking care to open it, Harry gently removed the letter from within.

"To my dearest Harry,

I have written this so many times and yet it never feels right to do so. For Merlin's sake, I am too young to be writing a letter about my death! I do not know where you are, my dear, but I sincerely hope that you were taking in by a loving family, preferably with your godmother, Alice, at Longbottom's Manor. Since Dumbledore first told us about the prophecy concerning you and the Dark Lord, your father, James, and I both knew that the possibility of all of us surviving would be slim. Nonetheless, we have both put into motion a back-up plan to ensure your survival, Harry.

We went into hiding believing that if He could not reach us, we would be safe, but it seems as if its Fate that we are found. Using old contacts from the Potter family, we reached out to a Seer to seek counsel of what we should do. We are not meant to be together, my dear, it's been deemed that your father and I must die in order for you to bring the best chance of survival for Wizarding Britain from the hands of the Dark Lord Voldemort. I do not know how you will do it, but we have tried to give you the necessary tools that you will need.

This trunk has been keyed to your magic and blood so that it may follow you and be opened only by you. Within it, you will find several books that will teach you etiquette, magic, potions, Occlumency, politics and how to access the Potter fortune and its many assets. Many of the lessons may be tedious to learn but they are crucial for you to become the future Lord Potter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Take these lessons to heart, my son, for they will carry you far in this world.

We love you, Harry, so very much. Never doubt, not even for a second, that we do not love you. We love you beyond what words may describe. You are our treasure, and we will ensure that you survive, even if it means that we sacrifice ourselves for you.

Become strong, Harry. Be a beacon to the world, bringing light to all who meet you. Fight for those who are defenseless, protect the young and old and fight the demons of the world. Bring the Potter family to its former glory. Bring the Wizarding World out of its shadow of prejudice and let the Light of Justice and Peace shine upon it all. Ave lux potestas!

With all my love, forever and ever

Lady Lily Elizabeth Potter

Mum"

A well of emotion flushed throughout Harry.

Love: the sense of belonging to a family who loved him…who died for him.

Sadness: the loss of that love and family; the absence of his parents and his eventual incarceration with the Dursleys.

Loneliness: feeling, as he always did with the Dursleys, like an outcast; never truly fitting in nor feeling comfortable in his own skin.

But most of all, anger; anger at the world for the death and separation of his parents, anger at his parents for dying and leaving him to suffer under the hands of his aunt and uncle, anger at himself for feeling such despair and inability to do anything.

He didn't truly understood what his mother wrote.

'Who was this Dumbledore? Who and what was this Dark Lord Voldemort? Where was his supposed godmother, Alice? Or his godfather, Sirius? Why was he left here? In a place where his aunt and uncle made abundantly clear that he was not welcomed. Why did they keep him when so often they would wish to leave him in an orphanage?'

So many questions rushed throughout his mind, but no matter what, he could find no single answer.

In search for answers, he continued to look over each item.

Finally, he came upon a faded green journal with no writing on its cover that lay at the bottom of the chest.

Penned to the back of the cover, was a short note with scrawling handwriting.

"Dear Harry,

Within my journal you will find a set schedule of topics you must adhere to in order for you to facilitate your education. This will help you catch up in information that will be vital for your survival. As is custom in the Potter family, all children begin their education prior to beginning school so that they may enter Hogwarts better prepared. Hogwarts is a prestigious school that is attended by witches and wizards from across Britain, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. At the age of eleven, you will receive your letter of acceptance from there, so you must use the coming years to prepare yourself fully. I understand that this is a lot to ask from you, my son, but your mother and I are desperately trying to guide you to the very best you will become. Do us proud, Harry. Ave lux potestas!

Lord James Charles Potter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter.

Dad."

Tears running down his face, Harry stood there reading each letter over and over again, in a desperate attempt to memorize it.

In order to utilize whatever time, he had left, he closed the journal and placed aside to bring it down with him. Closing the chest, he made sure that nothing looked out of place before walking towards the exit.

{End Flashback}

That was two months ago and since then he had finished reading the book on etiquette and began to read the second book in the list comprised by his father.

"Art of the Mind: A Beginners Guide to the Mental Arts".

This was a more complicated book to read for the young boy, with so many words and terms he was unfamiliar with. Thankfully, mindful of his young mind and poor vocabulary, it was written with anecdotal notes and scribbles by his parents that explained it in a more simpler manner.

It spoke in detail in the importance of meditation and the control of one's emotions as a way to obtain control of your own mental faculties.

Therefore, it's first chapters teach different methods to meditate and 'bringing yourself into the center of your mind; a place in where one can look upon their memories as a series of images'.

Barely a week into this new book, he continued to have difficulties in keeping himself calm and collected long enough to ground himself. Nonetheless, he persevered in mastering this book before continuing to the next.

His father, written in his journal, set forth a schedule of topics that he would have to learn before continuing to the next.

As such, the second in the list covered how to organize his mind and implement mental barriers to protect his mind from any mental intrusion.

He definitely saw the benefit in keeping his mind protected, especially due to the wonderful side effect of optimizing his cognitive process which would allow him to have better recall, learn material faster, and require less sleep (due to his mind requiring less time to recover a day's worth of information intake).

This he found halfway through the first chapters, where it stated, "The most useful of uses in the mastery of the mental arts is the improvement in cognitive developmental for the individual; whereupon it directly correlates to a faster recall time to allow the practitioner the ability to have near-perfect memory, allowing the mental acuity of the person to understand new material at a faster pace, and a lessened need for sleep in the recovery of the brain to manage and sort intake information."

Regardless of its multiple uses, it was definitely a tough topic to master. To worsen things, the book even warned of the longevity needed to obtain full mastery of the discipline.

"Do not despair when mastery of this discipline is not easily obtained, for a true master is one of years, if not decades, of constant practice and nurturing. Therefore, keep this in mind, for it is far to easy for the mind to give in. Many are those who begin, but few are those who can claim the honorific of master."

Even so, Harry persevered as best as he could with what he had available. Each night, he spent a few hours relaxing, following the instructions written in the book.

A trick he found that helped him relax was by using his mother's wand.

Now that discovery was deeply impactful to young Harry.

{Flashback}

Rested on the top of the chest laid two similarly shaped black boxes with no notable design nor writing.

Opening the shorter of the two, Harry laid eyes on a polished, sculpted piece of wood. Labeled on the back of the cover was written, "Property of Lady Lily Elizabeth Potter; 10 ¼ Willow, Unicorn hair."

Holding it with such reverence, he took it out of the wooden box and held it out in front of him.

A warm sensation spread around him. An eerily familiar warmth that he knew where it came from. From within his earliest memories, he remembered how he felt when he was a toddler being held by his mother. A warm, caring and loving sensation soothing his pain. That same feeling was how the wand made him feel, almost as if a part of his mother was embedded in it.

With damp eyes, Harry turned the wand around to get a closer look.

It was a light brown color with a smooth finish. Rubbing it gently with his hand, he felt no bump nor scratch to it. Etched to the bottom of wand were the initials, 'L.E.'.

After memorizing the image of his mother's wand, he returned it to the box before placing back bedside the other box.

Opening the other box with barely restraint excitement, he saw a reddish-brown sculpted piece of wood. Written on the back of the cover was, "Property of Lord James Charles Potter; 11 Mahogany, Dragon-heart string".

Holding it out, a warm energizing sensation overcame him. It was quite similar to before, but, where it was caring and loving with his mother's wand, it was powerful and filled him with confidence. Standing straighter, his shoulders erect, and his chin was lifted. The feeling was very strong that even when he put it back into its box, he felt its effects on his body.

Those wands were truly befitting of what he had always pictured his parents to be.

His mother, warm, caring and compassionate, willing to stand up for others.

His father, tall, proud and capable of fighting off anyone who would dare attack his loved ones. Even years without their presence, their wands held so much of his parents to instill such effect on him.

{End Flashback}

Since then, after a very successful attempt with his mother's wand, Harry would continue to use it whenever possible during his daily meditations.

The sensation of love, of feeling the warm embrace of his mother, calmed his mind and body to the point that relaxing became easier. A shortcut, it might be, but it definitely allow him to progress further than a child his own age would have normally achieved.

TIME LAPSE

6 months from the discovery

Finally, Harry reached a point in where he felt confident in the organization of his memories. Through arduous and meticulous organization, he was able to securely set each memory within a glass orb and placed in the location of his choosing.

In an attempt to keep his security simple enough for him to manage, Harry chose to have his mind resemble a library.

Made of dark brown wood with a cream trim, it held a series of shelves organized by year. A high-rise shelf, it had a moving ladder to reach the upper section. In the middle, there were four pillars of a shiny black wood which set within it a small room that had a mid-side mahogany desk with an overhead lamp, a comfy recliner to the side, and a small two-seater sofa.

Quite proud of his work, Harry would routinely return to his mental landscape and re-read a mental 'book', or a copy of a previously read book, and enjoy the solitude of being in the safety of his own mind.

By meeting this benchmark in his journey, he was able to continue onto the next topic in his father's agenda.

"A Compendium of Magical History" by Bathilda Bagshot.

Within the rather big book, the history of magic was neatly written; beginning with the first recorded collections of magic in history, to the revolutionary change to the way magic was practice, to the more recent magical wars that tormented Great Britain and the rest of Europe.

In fact, it was the later chapters that really held his attention the most.

In here, it spoke about Gellert Grindelwald and his rise to power with one simple purpose; the rise of wizards above the muggles (a normal, mundane individual with no magic). Supposedly, in Grindelwald's view, the world belonged to those with power, regardless of their heritage.

Or, as he aptly declared, "the strong survive".

Irrespective of whatever his true aim was, the book detailed the horrible travesties committed by him and his army during their ascent to power. His army, or The Alliance, began to adopt a "either you're with us or against us" policy in their treatment of their enemies.

As such, they assimilated the German's tactic of 'Blitzkrieg', whereupon they would overwhelm their enemies with a superior numbers and advanced displays of magic which would leave the rest of Europe unable to effectively defend themselves against such tactics.

However, as interesting as this was, the true reason for Harry's interest lay in his discovery of who 'Dumbledore' is.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

A man renowned for his mastery of complex magics, holding a Mastery in Transfiguration (the discipline of altering own substance into another), former Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and current Headmaster; he was seen as the second coming of Merlin (who apparently, really did exist).

As such, he was held in such a high esteem among the community and held the ear of many important people within the Ministry and abroad.

Indeed, on top of being Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was voted in as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot (the magical version of a high court) and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (essentially the president of the magical UN).

In Harry's opinion, this man seemed to have much too power and sway over the magical world.

However, he seemed to be in the best place for Harry to reach out and asks for his assistance in returning to the magical world. The only drawback holding Harry back, however, was something that was written by his father in the etiquette book, under the chapter, "The Care of an Alliance".

"Have care in who you place your trust, Harry. There are many who see the House of Potter and see it weakened, ripe for their taking. Indeed, there have been one too many attempts by other families to steal the family wealth and property. As such, I would caution you in not reaching out to anybody until such time in where you are prepared to have your life thrusted back in the magical world. Remember, trust but verify."

Therefore, following the advice of his father, he chose that for now the best course of action was to allow everyone else to assume him ignorant of his heritage and continue learning in secrecy.

Another chapter that he found interesting was regarding the formation of the Ministry. As it turned out, the original purpose of the Ministry was to bring forth an official body of the ruling leaders of their time to agree in any accordance and trading. Over time, the Ministry began to develop into what has remained as the current body of government.

In honor of their role in the development of the ruling body, the original 13 families were given the titles of Most Ancient and Noble, along with a permanent seat in the Wizengamot. In addition to this, the 'ruling' families have the ability to invoke a temporary overturn in power and seat one of their own chosen to run the Ministry in time of great distress.

In the centuries that the Ministry has been in place, there have been only six different occasions in where the 'ruling' families invoked this power. Each of them occurring during a period of unrest where a Dark Lord, or aspiring Dark Lord, sough to destroy the Ministry or cause mass havoc across the country.

For this to occur, every single member of the remaining families must vote unanimously to begin this process. Once voted in, the chosen Interim Minister has 6 months from the date of voting to rectify and prevent any danger against the Ministry and its citizens. After that, a council of the 'ruling' families would reconvene and decide whether a continuation would be needed.

During this period, the Minister had the ability to essentially implement laws and regulations without requiring the rest of the Wizengamot members to vote it in; only the votes of the 'ruling' families were valued.

This immense seat of power requires someone of great trust within the families, as it had to be someone every voting member of the 13 Families must agree upon, unanimously.

Throughout the book, in sporadic mentions and anecdotal notes, the Potter family was spoken about. As an example, in 1302, Ludwing Potter was Prime Minister during one of the countless Goblin Rebellions, whereupon he is credited with coordinating a peaceful treaty with the then goblin leader, King Ragnok the Bloody. It was in this treaty that the goblins were permitted to remain the sole bank and treasurer of Great Britain and its citizens.

Throughout history, mentions of previous Potters filled Harry with immense pride.

'Here, written in ink speaks the truth of my family,' thought Harry, 'a family of powerful leaders and visionaries'.

With each mention of his ancestors, more and more was a spark ignited within Harry to return the Potter family back to its glory as a leading family of visionaries and power.

Time Lapse

7 months from the discovery

'Enough is enough', thought Harry.

'I refuse to remain in this sorry excuse of a "room" when there is a perfectly good and available room upstairs. It's nigh time that I begin to regain control and a semblance of respect from my aunt and uncle.', he declared.

During the past month, as Harry continued to read more about the magical history and the impact his family had, Harry became bolder and bolder in his own self-worth, no longer allowing the Dursleys to mistreat him, nor in pretending to be dumb at school.

During each instance, the Dursleys would scream and yell at him, hitting him with the belt as he continued to cross their unspoken agreement. "Listen or else".

However, Harry quickly began to grow tired of this restraint. Why should he allow for this mistreatment to continue when he had the ability to change it? Why should anybody be treated with such discontent when there are those like him who could help?

As such, after a particularly invoking lecture by his school professor, Harry mustered all his confidence in confronting his relatives.

After all, as his professor, Mr. Burke, said, "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing."

No longer would he be treated as lesser than a human being. No longer would he be hit, abused, nor neglected.

And so, here he stood in the pathway to the living room with a palpitating heart and clammy hands. In an eerie similarity to the poem, 'The Tell-Tale Heart' by author Edgar Allen Poe, Harry kept hearing the pounding of his heart in his ear.

Thump…thump…thump…

With a shaking breath, he walked forward until he stood to the left of the Dursleys, who sat on their sofa looking towards their telly.

Thump…thump…thump…

"Uncle Vernon. Aunt Petunia. I need to speak with you.", he murmured shakingly.

"What do you want, boy?!" replied his uncle.

Thump…thump…thump…

"I wish to tell you that I refuse to continue any longer my abuse. I refuse to be treated as a slave. I am a human being. I have emotions and rights. I am not 'boy'. My name is Harry Potter. Proud son of James and Lily Potter. I refuse to be kept hidden away in that sorry excuse of a room."

Thump….thump…silence…

A sudden lull sprung.

The voices from the telly could be heard as the whole house remained silent, shock evident.

His uncle quickly turned angry with an angry red spreading across his face. His face contorted with rage, jaw clenched and foaming forming in the edges of his face.

"HOW DARE YOU, BOY!", screamed his uncle in reply.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, TO TALK AT ME IN THAT TONE?! WE LET YOU IN OUR HOME, WE CLOTHED YOU, FED YO-"

A roar of anger was felt spreading throughout Harry.

"Fed me?! How dare you, uncle?! You cannot be so daft to think your abuse to be kindness! You've abused me! Neglected me!", Harry angrily interrupted.

"YOU FREAK! YOU'LL REGRET TAKING THAT TONE AT ME! HOW DARE YOU QUESTION US, BOY!"

"I told you. My name is not boy…my name is HARRY!", he finished screaming.

With that, his uncle rushed forward, hand held erect, attempting to grab onto Harry.

Without a thought, Harry lunged to the right and jumped backwards, in an attempt to keep space in between them.

Hidden within his back pocket, Harry revealed his father's wand in his right hand. His fingers white as they tightly held on. Back straight, knees slightly bent, chin raised, Harry refused to be scared by his uncle any further.

At this, his uncle stopped as if he slammed onto a wall.

A gasp was heard behind his uncle. Eyes widened, pallor setting in his uncle's face, fear began to creep into Vernon Dursley.

"How do you have that?!", his Aunt Petunia whispered.

"What? This little thing? What would you know about this?", he snarked back.

"Where did you find that wand?! WHY DO YOU H AVE IT?!", shrieked his aunt, fear clear as crystal, as she shakingly pointed towards his father's wand.

"How do you know this is wand?!"

"You think I wouldn't recognize a wand, after all the bragging your mother made whenever she returned from that freak school, Hogwash or whatever it name is."

"You knew about this?! You knew about my parents being magical?!"

"Of course, I knew, you foolish boy. A witch for a sister, the obvious favorite. Beautiful Lily…Perfect Lily. My parents would not stop gushing over their freak of a daughter; they never paid a heed to me and my accomplishments. What did it matter what I did when Perfect Lily can change things and ride broomsticks?! I thought I was finally free of her and her ilk when she went and got herself killed with her idiotic of a husband by that dark wizard. But noo, that meddling Dumblydore comes and throws you at us. 'You're his only family left. He needs to be kept hidden from others who mean to hurt him.'. Not a single care nor worry whether we even wanted you. No money, no help to raise you. How dare we?! How dare you!", ranted Aunt Petunia, saliva spewed across the room.

Face set in pallor, trembling hands and a shaking chin, it was evident his aunt was afraid.

Never in all his planning did Harry ever suspect this to occur. 'They knew! They knew about him being magical and hid it!'

"If you didn't want me, why didn't you place me somewhere else? Why did you keep me if I was such a burden?!"

At this question, his uncle unfroze from his stance and replied.

"We tried! When you first arrived, we tried to leave you at the orphanage but every time that man would arrive back with you! Every time he said the same damn thing, 'He is your nephew and you his only living relative. He must remain here.' Even calling Child Protective Services did nothing!", he growled.

'Why did Dumbledore care? Who was he to choose where I should be raised?', hurryingly Harry thought.

"I never chose to be here. I never chose to be a 'burden' to you. But I refuse to allow you to treat me worse than rubbish for the actions of another. If that man, Dumblydore, forced it upon you, then he too is just as culprit in my abuse. I don't know why he felt he had any say in that but if I am forced to stay here then changes will be made. One way or another.", Harry stated firmly. Purposely hiding his knowledge of Dumbledore.

"No longer will I stay in the cupboard, from now on I'll stay in Dudley's secondary room. Any chore done will be if I chose to do it. You have a useless excuse of a son to care for that list, make that obese mug do something around here. If you wish to ignore me, other than required, that's fine by me. Treat me with respect and your courtesy will be extended back. Is that understood?", he questioned.

With a hurried look at one another, his aunt and uncle assented to this agreement.

"Fine, but we will have none of that foolish wand-waving around the house, you'll keep that in your room", Vernon affirmed.

"That's fine.", he settled. "But, I do have a question for you, Aunt Petunia.", he stated, looking directly towards his aunt in the back.

"Tell me, what do you know about the magical world?", he inquired with a rush of thoughts flowing through his mind.

Time Lapse

10 months after the discovery

As it turned out, his Aunt Petunia did not know much of the wizarding community, except for one incredibly useful tidbit of information.

The entrance to the magical world.

With that in mind, Harry began to concoct a battery of plans on how to best enter without arousing suspicion.

In the meantime, Harry's time within the Dursley's residence greatly improved.

Having his own room and a random set of bags filled with clothing from his Aunt Petunia, Harry felt that his quality of life improved.

Taking advantage of an evening where the Dursley's left for dinner, Harry lowered the chest down to his room. Surprisingly light for its size, Harry was able to move it all on his own.

Using the unsurprisingly empty shelf left behind in the room, Harry organized the books and albums in a neat manner. As luck would have it, a desk and chair were also left behind by Dudley, one that showed as much use as the aforementioned shelf.

This newfound sense of confidence and inner strength was even more evident at school where Harry decided to stop purposely lowering his grade in a vain attempt to lessen his punishments every time Dudley brought a failing progress report.

Along with improving his work and grade, he decided to engage openly with his classmates. Taking the time to greet everyone and taking an interest in their day greatly improved his previously held poor reputation of a ruffian.

Within the past three months, he quickly began to collect a group of close friends that he picked up along the way in his journey of self-worth. Many of them were once in a similar state as he; neglected, cast aside, and bullied by others who sought to push them down. As such, they were incredibly grateful to him and willing to follow his example of helping others, whether by protecting them against bullies or by tutoring them.

This was quickly noticed by the school faculty, who were extremely surprised to notice such a drastic change in young Harry. Having fallen for the lies spewed by Vernon, they had viewed Harry as a troublemaker and had written him off as a lost cause.

Nonetheless, the faculty decided to encourage this sudden change and openly praised him and his fellows whenever they were seen helping another classmate.

A rare few in the school remained upset at this change; none more so than Dudley Dursley, who quickly found out that his old methods of bullying were no longer effective. Where before he and his group of friends would be able to bully the younger years without consequence, now any attempt would be stymied by Harry or his friends.

As a result, in an ironic state of things, Dudley Dursley quickly found himself cast aside, neglected by his peers, and openly laughed at.

Another change in Harry was the decision to initiate a training regimen to improve his physical strength.

This was inspired by his father when he instructed Harry to maintain a health physical state and listed its benefits.

"Far too often, you'll hear a witch or wizard say, 'Why do it yourself when magic can do it faster?'. Unfortunately, son, many a witch or wizard become heavily reliant on magic to exist. I, myself, am not too proud to admit that once upon a time I too believed the same. It wasn't until your mother and my former instructor, Alastor Moody, showed me the error of my ways. Physical exercise provides a wealth of benefits to any magical. Increasing ones stamina allows you to survive longer in a fight, improved physical strength lends to increasing the magical power behind every spells, and being able to fight faster and stronger than your opponent can be the difference between living or dying. Therefore, I recommend you begin exercising as soon as possible to improve your magical prowess and prolong your lifespan."

So, after speaking to his physical education instructor, Harry began to incorporate daily runs around the neighborhood as a way to improve his strength. Any heavy lifting would have to wait until he grew more and would be able to handle the stress, as instructed by his PhysED teacher. Within a few weeks, Harry began to notice the differences in his days. Inspired by those changes, he continued with passion each day, ending them with a series of jumping jacks, push up and sit ups.

As a result of his newfound passion, and after speaking his coach, he decided to try out for the school's football team after returning from the summer break. This would allow him to continue his physical exercise, as well as improve his standing in the school's hierarchy.

Back in the Dursley's residence, each night, Harry would continue to learn and progress further in his mastery of Occlumency. Nowhere near mastery yet, Harry would continue to build a moat and walls surrounding his "library".

Mid-way through the book, the topic of defense mechanism, other than walls, were spoken about.

In essence, you design a trap or a "being" of your choosing that would defend your mind whenever any foreign intrusion was detected.

In this endeavor, Harry decided to incorporate an all-encompassing fog to obscure his traps that, when triggered, would trap the intrusion into a never-ending darkness where their senses (sight, taste, touch, hearing, and smell) would detect nothing. The only way to exit? Simple, either Harry would "kick" them out or they declared, "Blue is the best color".

A bit childish, but Harry felt the odds of any intruder uttering those words would be quite slim.

As for "beings", Harry chose to hide away nests of snakes throughout his defenses that would "paralyze" any intruder. Along with those, he created several camouflage tigers that would attack as a way to be the larger, distracting defense. This would allow the snakes the time necessary to attack them from the back and neutralize the threat.

Satisfied in his defenses, Harry focused primarily in perfecting his protective walls to remain seamless and without even the most minute of opening that could be exploited.

A surprisingly useful bit of information from his magical education, etiquette, proved to be a huge help in his endeavor to "win" over his classmates and teachers.

His implementation of the appropriate use of eye contact and portraying himself as approachable, his popularity rose as the school year entered into its last days.

Simple gestures seemed to go far in the eyes of his peers. Remembering small tidbits of information, such as asking them follow-up questions regarding their life ("How is your brother doing? I remember you mentioned he was feeling under the weather.") reinforced the image of genuine care and compassion.

Indeed, in many of the cases, Harry truly did care about his fellow classmate. After all, he better than most understood the horrible feeling it is to feel like a burden, ignored, and forgotten.