Surrey, November 1988

Harry sighed as he stepped away from the public library once again. It had been two weeks since he had last seen Ciri and he had come to the library every day after school to look up books on sword fighting. He hadn't really found any to be honest on how to actually sword fight. There were some on the weapons of the Middle Ages and some on the armor as well, none on how to fight, which made sense, of course. He had asked the librarian about it and she said that there likely wouldn't be books on the subject but she would reach out and see if she could see if any of the other nearby libraries had any. If not, then she could see about maybe ordering one. In the meantime, she had recommended I look into finding classes that might teach it.

He had tried to look into it in other places and actually had found a class at a studio that taught sword fighting, seemingly for things like theater and movies. It was supposed to be actual sword fighting taught though, although the swords were made from wood which was probably safer anyways. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly have money to take part in the lessons, though, maybe he could just watch the class if he talked to the instructor.

The next issue was that the class was in London which meant he would have to travel to it. He wasn't sure how he could travel there and then get back home without his relatives noticing. It was hard enough to sneak off to the library without getting caught.

He stopped his thoughts right there. He couldn't give up though. Ciri was counting on him! He just needed to figure out a way to get to that studio. Perhaps he should simply take the possible beating his relatives would give him. It would hurt but he would likely heal from it in one night so it would be worth it. Though how many days could he deal with it? He likely would have to go to multiple classes which could possibly mean multiple beatings.

He shook his head and cleared his thoughts for now. He needed to get back home and practice his attunement with his magic.

Thank God, his relatives hadn't blamed him for massive shaking that had hit their whole block and some other nearby ones as well. It was simply viewed as some sort of strange earthquake. His relatives had some of the things in their house damaged but they luckily hadn't taken it out on him and that's all that mattered.

As he arrived back at his home he quietly entered through the back door and went straight to his cupboard.

"Boy!"

Harry flinched and turned to his Uncle who was sitting in their living room with his aunt. His aunt glared at him while seemingly knitting something that would surely turn out terrible looking.

"Yes uncle?" He asked quietly.

"Where have you been boy?" His uncle demanded.

"I was at the library… I was falling behind a bit in class and I didn't want to get in trouble." He responded quietly and looked down making sure not to meet his uncle's eyes.

"Hmph. Fine! Get dinner started. I'm already feeling peckish. And you better not overcook or burn my steak otherwise there will be hell to pay. Do I make myself clear boy?" His Uncle Vernon told him.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon. I'll get right on it." He replied before going into the kitchen and got started on the dinner for his family. It was something tasty so he knew he would not be able to have any of it.

An hour later he closed the door to his cupboard after finishing setting the table and laying out the food spread. He breathed a sigh of relief at finally being alone. He then got into his crossed legged position and started his meditation.

At this point, he could easily reach out and grab his magic. The heat he had first felt was so familiar to him now. He almost felt it to some degree at almost all times of the day though much more muted compared to when he fully concentrated on it like in these moments. Though there was one small problem.

Harry physically grimaced as he heard a small crackling noise causing him to open his eyes. He looked to his right and saw another small crack on his wall that wasn't there a moment ago. He sighed and closed his eyes again.

It seemed no matter how hard he tried to control his magic, it would always seemingly slip through his fingers and cause some form of damage. He tried to concentrate on intricate things but for some reason, it just wouldn't work. He managed to prevent himself from almost destroying his house. Though he hadn't made much progress besides that. He was hoping to see Ciri soon and see if she could give him some more advice. If the schedule followed the last time though, he still wouldn't see her for another week. It was so frustrating.

He spent what was probably another couple of hours before he finally called it quits and sighed at another day of little progress. He wouldn't let it get to him though. He promised Ciri that he would be patient and he wouldn't go back on that promise. Though he wouldn't lie that it was somewhat disheartening to unlock this power and not be able to actually do anything with it besides break things around him. Then again, he did unlock it at what seemed like insane speed. Maybe this was good so he still had to learn patience after all.

He shook the thoughts away once more before closing his eyes and concentrating once more on sleep. Like usual, it didn't take him that long to finally drift off to sleep as usual.

It didn't take him long to once more open his eyes to darkness. It then took him another moment to realize where he was once again. He hopped up in excitement and immediately started to look around.

"Ciri?" He called out.

"Harry!" He turned and saw her. She wasn't wearing a dress or a nightgown this time. It looked like some pants, trousers, or something similar. She was wearing a white blouse sort of shirt on top of it and had her hair tied up at the top of her head.

"What are you wearing?"

"Oh, this is something I wear when I go out into the city to play with some of the other children. It's to help people not recognize me. What do you think?" She asked doing a spin. Harry looked at the clothes then looked at her face.

"I mean. It looks cool but… Your hair is almost white… Doesn't that make you still stand out a little?" Harry asked her. She just rolled her eyes at that.

"I wear a hat dummy. I just took it off before going to bed." She told him. Harry nodded finally understanding.

"Oh, that makes sense, I suppose. So, do you normally just fall asleep in whatever you wore for the day? I thought you said you normally got into a nightgown before going to bed?" Harry asked. Ciri's face lit up red at his words.

"Well, I… Shut up! Putting on night clothes is a hassle alright! Who cares what I'm wearing to sleep? I'm just sleeping! It's not even doing anything! I should be able to wear whatever I want." Ciri yelled while pacing back and forth. Harry stepped back for a moment as she did this and simply watched for a moment. He tried to keep his face blank but he could feel the pressure building up inside him. He could only hold it in for a few more moments before it exploded out of him. He laughed.

He couldn't help it, no matter how much he wanted it to stop, he couldn't. He knew it was probably wrong to laugh at his friends but how could he stop when Ciri looked so funny acting serious and stomping around the room about having to put on, what were basically pajamas. A legitimate princess was yelling about putting on pajamas. There was no way that wasn't funny.

He tried to open his eyes to look at her and when he managed to do so, he saw her glaring at him and pouting. Her cheeks were puffed up and she reminded him almost of a squirrel or a chipmunk. This unfortunately caused him to laugh even harder.

He felt something hit his chest and opened his eyes to see Ciri pounding her fist on to his chest. It didn't hurt but it did cause him to stop laughing.

"It's not funny." She shouted still looking extremely red. Harry nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry. You just looked so cute. I couldn't help it." Harry told her looking down feeling a little guilty for laughing at her.

"I… Don't…. Stop saying stuff like that!"

"Like what?"

"You can't call me cute!"

"Huh, why not?"

"It's… It's suggestive. People will get the wrong sort of idea!"

"What people? We're the only ones here. And how is it suggestive? I mean, you are CUTE so…" He insisted. Did Ciri think she was ugly? He would have to make sure she knew that she wasn't.

"Mrgh." Ciri tried but looked like she was trying hard to swallow something. Finally, she seemed to calm down and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a second.

"You… are clueless."

"Is… Is that bad?" Harry asked.

"Well… I guess not. It would be worse if you knew why it was suggestive and did it anyway. That would mean you were purposefully trying to embarrass me, which would be worse. I guess it doesn't matter. Here, give me a hug already." Ciri said opening her arms. Harry eagerly came over and did the same before wrapping her in his arms. He smiled into her hair as he hugged her and lost himself once more into the feeling. They stayed like that for a moment before Ciri pulled away again.

"Well, how was it that time?" Ciri asked him.

"I enjoyed it, thank you." Harry smiled at her. She nodded at that.

"Good. So, has it only been two weeks since we last met for you too?" She asked.

"Yeah. Did you notice anything different? I still haven't figured it out on my end."

"No… Wait, actually, there may be one thing. Every time I meet with you, its always if I go to bed near the same time. Usually about an hour or so after sundown. Maybe that has something to do with it." Ciri said.

"An hour after sundown… That's around 8 o'clock. That's when I go to bed every day." Harry commented trying to think about that.

"So maybe there's a correlation there. Maybe we can only meet if I go to bed around that time? How strange…"

"Well… Maybe its not about the time?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… It seems strange that it would be that specific time right. Why would it be that specifically?" Harry asked her.

"Maybe the walls between worlds are thinner at that certain time allowing us to meet?" Ciri suggested.

"Well… I still don't know a lot about magic but if that were the case, wouldn't that mean they get thicker again after 8, and wouldn't that then kick us out of the dream as soon as it begins?" Harry asked. Ciri made a 'hmm' sound at that as she thought about what he said.

"I'm not versed enough in magic or worlds to know either… Did you have another theory?"

"Well, what if it wasn't about the time, what if it was just about us?"

"What do you mean?

"Well, like, what if it was just when we went to sleep at similar times, our minds kind of drift off to the same place or something, you know?" Harry asked. Ciri tilted her head in further thought at that.

"Well, I suppose, that could be possible too. At least as possible as any other theory… Maybe we should try it tomorrow. We plan to go to sleep at the same time and see if we can meet up again. What do you think?" She asked.

"I think it's worth a try. We don't have anything to lose after all." Harry pointed out.

"Then it's settled, we will try that tomorrow. In the meantime, we still have quite a bit I think until this ends. So, what do you want to talk about until then?"

"Well… we can talk about magic?" Harry suggested. Ciri didn't seem to have an issue with that and nodded in agreement.

"Sure, that's fine. Have you made any progress since we last met, I know it hasn't been quite as long so it's understandable if you didn't have any results?"

"Ah, well, you see, I did have some results… pretty immediate results actually."

"Oh? That's impressive, were you able to feel the magic in yourself and the world around you?"

"Umm, sort of. So, after I woke up from our last meeting, I decided to get some practice in before starting school. Within half an hour I found the magic within me and then the magic around me… It wasn't too hard." Harry told her.

"Wow! That's really impressive Harry. You must have a crazy high magical sensitivity or something. Ermion never mentioned anyone doing it that fast."

"Yeah, well that's the thing… You see, when I first accessed my magic, I kind of… Almost destroyed my house." Harry squeaked out. Ciri didn't immediately respond to that, instead she just looked at him with a blank expression as if she couldn't comprehend what he had just said.

"What?"

"Yea, I kind of tried to make my magic do something and it kind started an earthquake all around me that got super strong. It was so strong it felt like my house was going to collapse on top of me." Harry told her.

"So… On top of being extremely magically sensitive, you're also super powerful too?"

"… Maybe. I don't really know how to rank myself since I have nothing to compare me too. I know the shaking I caused reached several streets away from me and caused a minor panic in my entire neighborhood. Although, I was really tired after that, and could barely keep myself from falling asleep the rest of the day." He told her.

"You must've used up all your reserves and it wiped you out. Be careful Harry, if you use up all of your magic it'll use like your life force instead and can kill you. It's like the first thing anyone teaches about magic here. Don't use anywhere near your full reserve if you can help it." Ciri told him sternly. Harry gulped at that and nodded. It was easy to promise not to do something that would likely get him killed.

"Good. Now, it does sound like you're really powerful but I suppose you now need to practice control. Sorcerers use mostly their own magical reserves to make things happen. Druids like Ermion use their magic to intermingle with the worlds own magic to allow them to then influence the world around them. It is less taxing for things like making small storms or super windy, or conjuring lightning. That being said, he told me they have trouble using more complex spells that don't involve nature. I would recommend practicing with your own magic exclusively first before intermingling it with the world around you."

"You said I am powerful. Do you think that is why the reaction was so strong then? I used a lot of my bigger reserves to have a lot of influence over the world around me instead of a little?"

"I suspect that is the case but I'm no expert. I'm just repeating the things Ermion has told me." Ciri told him. Harry nodded slowly at that.

"It's okay. I know you're doing everything you can to help me and I appreciate all the help you give me. I mean, I wouldn't even have known magic existed without you, so you've already helped me a lot more than anyone else." Harry said trying to cheer her up a bit. Ciri smiled at that so Harry calmed a bit.

"Thanks Harry… Can you access magic here?" Ciri asked. Harry frowned at that. He hadn't thought about it.

"I don't know. Let me try it. Give me a second." Harry replied. He sat down and sat cross legged as he usually did. He then closed his eyes and reached out as he had practiced doing in the last couple of weeks.

He could immediately feel something different as he tried to his magic to him. For one, it felt like his magic was much farther or perhaps deeper inside of him. Even more, as he did call it forward, it responded much more sluggishly than it normally did. Normally it felt like the magic in him was almost too eager to come out, like it hardly even waited enough time to hear what he wanted. This time it felt like it couldn't come out fast enough.

"Is something wrong?"

"I'm… not sure. My magic is responding and coming to me but… It seems to be moving very slowly for some reason, and it feels harder to reach than normal."

"Perhaps that is just because were in some sort of dream and not in the real world?"

"Maybe. I've not experienced it before so I guess we will have to assume that is the case." Harry answered, "Okay, I think I got it. I'm not really sure what to do with it though. There's no magic around to intermingle it with. That's what I normally try to do before trying to control it."

"You shouldn't need to mingle it, that's only what druids do. Sorcerers just use their own magic mostly."

"Oh… Well, what would you suggest I do then?"

"Hmm… Maybe try making a light. I don't think that's too hard to make from what I understand." Ciri responded. Harry nodded slowly.

'Okay, magic, make a light." Harry tried. He felt his hands get warm and then nothing happened. He frowned in annoyance.

"Hmm, it's not working. I tried to command it to make a light and I felt the magic move to my hands where I wanted the light to come from but nothing happened." Harry told her.

"Hmmm. Maybe you did it wrong?" Ciri asked/ suggested.

"What do you mean? How else would I do it?" Harry asked back.

"Well… Maybe just commanding it isn't enough. You should try to visualize it as well. I've heard that's an important part." Ciri said. Harry thought about that before nodding."

"Okay, I'll try that." Harry replied as he thought about what she said. He first thought about a lightbulb, a bright one like the ones in the kitchen of where he lived. As he thought of that and the brightness it produced, he then tried to modify the image in his. He took a way the bulb part and just tried to imagine the light that the bulb produced. He focused in on just the light as hard as he could and once more reached for his magic. When he was sure he had a firm grasp on both the image and the magic, he once more tried to force the magic to obey his mental command to produce said image.

He opened his eyes and there it was. A small floating light that produced a steady source of brightness throughout the entire room which still seemed to be made of darkness. It seemed to reflect of the black all around them as if it were a metal or a liquid shining the light around them brighter than it probably should have been.

Harry was about to say something before he grunted as the air was knocked out of him and the light in his palm was cut. He suddenly realized that Ciri had seemingly crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him again in another hug. He was a little confused by the action but decided to take advantage of the presented opportunity and just enjoy it. He wrapped his arm around her and held her again, once more basking in the gentle warmth. Ciri pulled away after a moment and smiled.

"You did it Harry! Oh, I'm so proud of you! That was really impressive."

"Umm, thank you." Harry said feeling his cheeks warm up at all the praise from his friend.

"Here, do it again" She commanded as she backed away and looked at his hands. Harry nodded and concentrated once more on the image he had thought of. Soon the light was once more back in his palm and illuminating the space all around them.

"It's beautiful, almost like looking at a miniature sun." She commented, seemingly mesmerized by the site in front of her. Harry couldn't help but agree as he continued to observe the light. He did his best to monitor the drain on his magic the little light caused but it seemed to be almost nothing. Nevertheless, he would still keep an eye on it. He didn't want to die from inattentiveness after all.

Suddenly though, the light in his hands started to flicker rapidly causing Harry to start panicking. He felt for his magic and noticed it was seemingly moving and fluctuating without his say so. A moment later, the light exploded in his hands, returning the room to the strange blackness they were used to.

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure. All of a sudden, it felt like my magic was spiking and dipping rapidly and it was like I could no longer control the light. Then it went out." Harry said in confusion and a little sadness over the fact that he couldn't maintain the light.

"Hmm. That might be normal, I think. Magic, at least here, in humans takes a while to sort of stabilize they don't really even start teaching students until they're in their mid to late teens. Since you're still really young, your magic probably isn't as stable as it will come to be one day."

"Huh, I guess I will have to make sure to be careful then. Maybe if I practice, I can stop it from doing that as much, or maybe, reduce how bad the weird spikes are."

"It's worth a shot. It would suck to have to wait years to do it when you can already access your magic to such a level."

"Hmm, nothing to do about it now, though."

"True. So… Did you figure out anything on sword fighting?" Ciri asked. Harry winced at the question.

"Well… No, not really. I went to my local library but they didn't have any books on how to sword fight, just books about swords themselves and other Medieval things. I did find out that there is a class in London that apparently teaches legitimate sword fighting.

"London is a city, right? Is it close?"

"I suppose so but I would have to take a bus to get there and back."

"What's a bus?"

"Hmmm. Imagine like a carriage that is both taller and like three or four times longer. And it was filled with seats on the inside that goes along a route with specifically picked out stops for people to get on and off at." Harry tried to explain.

"Does that cost a lot?"

"Well, no, not really. But I am still a child so I don't exactly have a way to make money. I will have to steal some from my relatives." Harry admitted. Even the thought of doing so was already giving him anxiety. He knew he could do it. Dudley was always leaving money all over the place because he knew his parents would always just give him more. But if he was caught with it, he would be in for a world of hurt.

"That doesn't sound like a good plan." Ciri observed with a frown. Harry shrugged.

"Well, outside of a book, there was never going to be an easy way to learn how to do it so, that's the best I can come up with." Harry told her.

"Then maybe you shouldn't do it. I didn't want you to get hurt trying to do this for me." Ciri suggested, seemingly growing more and more worried.

"It's fine, I promise. I won't get hurt. I'll make sure to be extremely careful when I figure it all out. Okay?" Harry tried to reassure. This was the only thing Ciri had asked for in return for what she had given him. He would do anything to not let down the trust she had placed in him.

"Well… Fine, but you better not get hurt Harry or… Or I won't forgive you. Do you understand?" She said sternly as she looked him in the eye. Harry felt himself wilt away a little at the look but he made sure to nod none the less.

"Good… Well, what else?"

"Hmm… What other things is magic used for where you come from?" He asked her.

"A lot of things I suppose; healing, curses, protections, illusions, combat. It can be used for pretty much anything as long as you know how to do it." She told him.

"That's so interesting. I hope to one day learn all from each branch. They all sound useful. How do illusions work?" He asked picking one of the categories she mentioned that sounded more interesting to him.

"Well, again, I only have a limited understanding myself, so don't take it as fact what I say. As far as I know, illusions are just using magic to trick the sense of other beings?"

"Which senses?"

"All of them potentially, but the most common is sight and I thinks its usually the easiest." She told him.

"So, you trick people into seeing something that's not really there? That could be very useful."

"Yeah, though it usually only works well on those who can't use magic themselves since most other magic users can sense illusions and dispel them pretty easily."

"Still, as far as I know, there are no other magic users here so illusions would still be rather helpful. Do you know how to cast them?"

"Not really. I know there are two types though, static and complex." She told him.

"What's the difference between the two?"

"Hmm, Static is like illusions basic ones that you put on stuff to hide it, it reacts the same way to everyone I think. Complex are a little more complicated but Ermion knows some so he's mentioned that Complex are for like tricking specific people with specific types of things… Ugh, I don't think I'm explaining it right. Like, if I wanted to make an illusion that specifically tricked a person into thinking the color blue was actually green or something. Usually, you need to know spells to cast them but I doubt Ermion would tell them too me. Although you can likely make them yourself in your own world." Ciri told him. Harry frowned at that.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… Spells are usually just words you say to produce a specific affect with magic. But someone had to make them do that at one point. They had to assign the magic to the words. And different worlds all have different spells. So, technically, you should be able to make your own spells too if none exist in your world naturally." Ciri told him.

"Hmm. I guess I can try. Though I bet it's harder than it sounds. Still, it's another project I can work on. Being able to cast illusions on the Dursleys would really help me out, well, I guess on anyone. It would help keep me out of trouble in general." Harry mumbled as he got lost in his own thoughts. A moment later he felt something hit his head and he dragged himself out of his thoughts to see that Ciri had just flicked him.

"Don't go abusing your powers just because you're the only one who has them Harry."

"Of course not. I wouldn't take advantage of people or anything. I just meant to stay out of trouble and make sure people leave me alone and stuff." Harry reassured.

"Make sure it stays that way sir."

"Promise."

With that, they continued to slip into easy conversation with each other. Harry listened to her talk about some of the things she had to do recently as the princess. It was all rather interesting to him though she seemed to find it all boring and was probably just using him at the moment to vent.

"I suppose, I shouldn't complain. I know there's a lot of people out there with even worse lives who have actual things to complain about like not being able to eat and such…" Ciri trailed off as she gave a side glance to him. Harry couldn't help but feel she also considered him as someone who was less fortunate than her, which, to be fair, he was.

"I don't mind. One of my teachers once told me that everyone struggles with their own battles and that it's unfair to pass judgement on someone unless you've walked a mile in their shoes and know their struggle too." Harry recited.

"A strange saying but I believe I understand its meaning. I suppose that's probably a good outlook to have. It does explain quite a bit about you."

"How so?"

"I don't know. You're so… passive, I guess. Like you never really want to fight for anything not worth your time. You don't even want to fight your relatives and they treat you like horse dung." Ciri pointed out. Harry thought over that before reluctantly nodding in agreement.

"I suppose you're right. I've never been a fan of conflict… Maybe because I'm usually the loser in them."

"Well, you need to think about the future Harry. Soon you'll probably be able to win a lot of the conflicts you get into very easily. It'll likely be you as the top dog and you need to be careful that it doesn't go to your head. I'm not saying don't smack around your relatives a bit as a little payback just… don't let how easy it is to teach people a lesson make you think you always need to teach people a lesson who cross you."

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind but I don't think it'll be a problem. I can't imagine myself as someone who would willingly go looking for fights."

"Not now, but power can do bad things to people Harry… I'm just saying to watch out is all." Ciri finished.

"I will." He promised before going silent.

For a while after that, they just sat in a comfortable silence while leaning on each other. It was quite odd, Harry realized how quick Ciri seemed to worm her presence under his skin. In the outside world, he hadn't changed much. He didn't like speaking with people and didn't like it when they tried to speak with him. There was a constant feeling in the back of his head that he could not trust anyone and that anything he said or did might result in a punishment.

Perhaps that was why it was so easy to hang around Ciri. With her, there was no pressure around him. He didn't have to worry about her telling the Dursleys anything or that she would try to hurt him. Sure, she was sometimes a little rough with him but even that had faded from concern by their second meeting as he was able to tell she meant him no harm.

She was a true friend to him, giving him both knowledge and constantly worrying about his wellbeing even though she could do nothing to change it. She gave him hugs which he quite enjoyed. He could recognize why others liked them so much as they were such a pleasant, warm experience.

He truly hoped that their theory on meeting up was accurate as there was nothing more that he wanted to do then spend even more time with her. He wanted it even more than he wanted to learn about his own magic. If he was offered Ciri's friendship forever in exchange for his magic, he would gladly take such a deal.

"Oh bother, it looks like it's time to wake up." Ciri told him, holding up her hand, which was now fading, to inspect. Harry held up one of his own and saw it was doing something similar as well.

"So, it seems." He said back sadly. He had a feeling that leaving this private oasis would continue to be one of the bigger disappointments in his life.

"Well… If all goes well, I will see you tomorrow, won't I?" Ciri said with some nervousness in her voice. Harry nodded anyway though.

"I hope we will. If we don't then… I hope to see you as soon as possible." He told her. With that Ciri came in and gave him another hug. Harry, as always, returned it immediately. This time, however, there was no pulling away. They remained that way until they both faded from their own small paradise.

The Next Day

Harry looked at the clock carefully as he counted down the seconds until that night. He had just finished eating his dinner and had quietly cleaned his dishes before putting them away. He could hear his relatives watching tv in the living room as they ate in front of it. He made the obvious choice not to go in there. Instead, he thought of Ciri. He still had some time until they were supposed to meet but perhaps, he could get some practice in.

He went to his cupboard and closed the door behind him before getting into his practiced crossed legged position. He began his meditation and began to reach out with his magic. As soon as he began to feel the flow, he did everything in his power to shut out the magic from the world around him and not let it mingle with the magic within him. It felt almost unnatural at this point but that just may have been because that was the only way he had done it up until then.

He waited patiently before feeling it sort of begin to get more under control. He held out his hands and pictured the light he had created in his dream world last night. Unlike his previous attempts, without the world magic around him interfering it almost immediately popped into existence. Harry smiled as he looked at the small ball of light that had suddenly sprang to life. That hadn't been too hard at all actually.

He hadn't thought about it much but Magic actually felt pretty nice. In a way, the warmth it gave would have been unplaceable if not for Ciri. Luckily, he knew because of her that the warmth he felt from it reminded him almost like her hug. He wasn't sure but it wasn't just the warmth from it either, it was the feeling behind the warmth that was the same, almost like it was trying to reassure him that everything was going to be alright.

If he had nothing to do, he could see himself simply sitting here and almost basking in the feeling it gave to him. He wondered then why exactly it gave off such feelings. Was Magic alive somehow? He could see that, especially since it seemed that his magic had seemingly taken care of him even when he didn't know it was there. Even if that wasn't true, the thought made him feel nice inside, like someone had been secretly watching over him.

'Thank you' Harry sent a silent prayer to the force that had been taking care of him. He may have imagined it, but he could've sworn he felt a small pulse go through him after he sent it but it was gone as soon as it came.

'I wonder what I else I can do with magic? Ciri told me about those two types of illusions, maybe I should try that.' He thought to himself. Ciri had mentioned that the easier type of illusion to make was apparently the Static one. The one that you apparently put on stuff that didn't really change but just made people who encountered it think it had changed. Ciri herself had admitted she wasn't sure how reliable her information was but it was also all he had to work with.

Harry looked at his door which now had a few cracks in it from the last couple of weeks. He could start there maybe. He could try to cast some sort of illusion on the door and see if he could cover up the cracks he had accidentally placed.

'Okay, let's see. Magic, hide the cracks,' Harry commanded as he concentrated hard on the cracks. It was strange, he could feel the magic in his body move from it after he gave the command but when it tried to leave his hand and touch the door, nothing happened. It almost seemed to hover around it for a moment before seeming to simply disappear. He frowned in confusion at feeling that. Had he done something wrong?

Was this like with the light, did he need to try and visualize the door without any cracks for it to work? Why did his magic sometimes work at his command and other times seemingly just act on its own? It was so strange.

Either way, he decided to try and see if visualizing it helped. He closed his eyes and tried to picture what he wanted to happen. How did an illusion even work? They weren't real, he knew that. It was more like hiding something real with something fake, right? So maybe it was like covering over something like when you painted a wall a different color to hide the original color, perhaps? So, maybe he should try to layer the cracks with his magic with almost a fake wall to hide them?

'Alright… Magic, coat the cracks on the wall and make it look like the rest of the door that's uncracked.' Harry commanded as he thought about the uncracked part of the door that he wanted it to mimic. Once more, he could feel the magic seemingly coming from his fingertips until it went into the door. He kept his eyes closed and kept visualizing as hard as he could for a little longer, hoping it would help his efforts.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes once more and looked at the door. He was surprised for a moment at what he saw. The cracks were still on the door and could be seen but they also seemed much more faded than they originally appeared to be. There almost also seemed to be a strange shimmer over them, something you wouldn't notice without looking hard at them.

Harry smiled at the cracks. Sure, they were still there but at least he had made some actual progress. He wasn't sure if magic was supposed to be this easy or not but he was enjoying the progress he had been continuing to make. Despite his success though, the use of magic combined with how late in the day it was had made him quite tired. Luckily, it was about time for him to go to bed since he needed to see if his theory was finally correct. He felt a lump in his stomach from nervousness as he laid down in his bed.

'I can't wait to tell Ciri about this. She mentioned Spell words too. Maybe I should try and turn my illusion into a spell. She said I should maybe be able to just make it up myself. Hmm… How about… Miran, because it kind of reminds me of a mirage.' Harry thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Within a few moments, he felt his eyes blink before realizing he was looking at a black empty room. He felt his heart begin to soar at that.

"Ciri!" He called out into the darkness. He had no time to look around before he felt something jump onto his back and wrap around his neck. He froze before realizing it was arms and that there was a head next to his.

"Harry! It worked! Do you know what this means?" Ciri said as she hugged him from behind.

"What?"

"We can meet every day. Isn't that great?" Ciri cheered. Harry smiled and felt the warmth that only Ciri and Magic seemed to cause within him. The feeling though seemed to spread throughout his whole body from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. For some reason, he could feel something change. He wasn't sure what it was exactly but he could tell that this was a changing point for him, like his whole life just got shifted into an entirely different direction. He smiled as he felt his eyes strangely feel like they were watering up.

"It is… It really is."