Salazar Slytherin was looking humorously at harry, as apparently the ritual had some unexpected side effects. How could Salazar have predicted that something had been dampening Harry's growth?

The boy had come out of the ritual at least two or three inches bigger. His body was also way more defined, his muscles were slightly bigger, with broader shoulders, longer arms, bigger hands and feet.

He was currently at the mirror, evaluating himself.

"How is the possible? The ritual was only supposed to fix my eyes, right?" asked an amazed Harry.

"Well, no, not really. While the focus was clearly the eyesight, particularly due to the use of the Basilisk's eyes, the ritual corrects all the flaws of your genes and restores your body to his natural potential. One of the effects is the genes that made your eyes faulty would be repaired, other your physical form would be slightly improved, even though if you want to keep it you'll have to work out, and any genetic disease would be cured. What I didn't predict was that somehow, due to something I can't be sure of, your growth had been way slower than it should have been, and now that something was taken out of the way, your body, with the help of your magic, its making up the difference. The correction may have already been made, or you may grow a lot more. Only genetics and time will tell."

"So, I may grow more, as fast as this?" Asked Harry, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yes, you may. But isn't that good? Your being restored to what you always should have been! Strong, tall, imponent and, when I'm finished with you, powerful!"

"I mean, yes, its amazing! I'd be taller than most of my friends, but how will I explain this to other people? That all of a sudden, I look so different? I don't think it's a good idea to spread around that I'm doing rituals on myself. I'm not the biggest knower of the magical world, but I don't hear a lot of people bragging about performing rituals!"

"In my time, rituals were very common. Every family had their own set of rituals they would do, and usually kept them a secret from the rest. Some families were known to have several traits in common, some aesthetic and some magical. Some of the rituals had a presence so strong, that they stopped being needed, as they would naturally pass on through generations."

"Do you know any of the Potter traits? Or are there any even?" Harry was now eagerly curious, as he got with every opportunity he had to learn even a bit more about his family.

"The Potter's have always been a mysterious house, they were usually very reserved. With that said, it was hard not to notice the affinity your ancestors had for the field of transfiguration. I remember giving some advice in on a project that one of the Potters of my time was working on, and those projects ended advancing the study of the subject by a lot."

"Well, that's good to know. Defense and Transfiguration were always my best two subjects, so I guess that makes sense. Thank you Salazar" Harry's heart was warming up, having a new connection to his father's family, and a connection he was familiar with "But we still haven't figured out how I'm going to deal with my physical changes"

"Your welcome, my child. About that, as you don't have a way of explaining the matter, my advice is to just don't talk about it. Questions will rise, but just divert them or change subjects. Do something to change the focus of the conversation and eventually, people will get used to it and the subject will die down."

"I'll try. Now I need to eat. I'm starving!"

Harry had stored a lot of food. On the first few days, he had to run to the kitchens on a daily basis in order for the food not to spoil. Then Salazar had taught him the stasis charm, and after some tries Harry was able to keep the food from going bad for more than a week. So he had gathered reserves in order to not have to leave the chamber. He missed his friends, he missed classes, the meals on the Great Hall. Salazar's company, while very interesting and with an immense amount of knowledge, was not enough. He missed Blaise, Tracy and the rest of his friends. He missed worrying about dumb things, hearing the latest gossip, he almost, almost missed Snape. His relationship with his head of house was a complicated one.

On one side Harry was a Slytherin, and Snape always gave Slytherins some special treatment. On the other hand, for some reason Harry was never truly sure of, Snape seemed to hate him. He had his hypotheses on the matter, the stronger one going back to the first time they had met.

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."

Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black, cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. Like professor McGonagall in their previous class, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without any effort.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins. Bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

Silence followed Snape's opening speech. One Gryffindor girl, Hermione Granger, moved closer to the edge of her seat, looking desperate to prove she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to and infusion of wormwood?"

And that was the question Harry thought was the key to Snape's hatred for him. At the time he didn't know the answer, but later on when he went to study that question, in an attempt not to be surprised again, he was dumbfounded when he found out that asphodel was a type of lily. His mother's name. and that wormwood was often associated with regret of bitterness. Harry didn't though it to be a coincidence and had a suspicion Snape knew his mother in some way.

Shaking the thoughts of his head of house from his head, Harry sat down to eat, while making plans for what to do next. He knew the first task was to be on November 24th, even if he had no clue of what that first task would be. He would have to leave the chamber and try to gather some intel on the tournament. If they were going to force him to be a part of that, the least he would do was give is best, and maybe, with a bit of luck win it and put the arrogant French witch in her place.

Ten days since we have last seen Harry Potter, one of Britain's heroes

By Rita Skeeter

Ten days have now went by since Harry Potter was last seen, leaving the Slytherin common room, after a fight with some of his house mates. As this reporter has written before, after that event no one has seen or heard of the Boy-Who-Lived. The school and Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, who is also the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has made no visible effort to find our young hero, and questions are being made. The ministry of Magic has started to make some pressure on Dumbledore and the Hogwarts board of directors in order for some more active investigation on the matter, even threatening to hand over the case to the aurors, to be handled as a kidnaping.

Lets all hope and pray for young Harry to reaper safe and well, very shortly.

Albus Dumbledore was feeling the immense pressure he was being put on. The prophet wasn't wrong when they said the Ministry was pressuring him. Fudge had indeed spoken with the board, and Lucius Malfoy, as their president, was always looking for an excuse to fire him.

On the other hand, the presence of Aurors around the school was a terrible prospect to Albus, as his control would be severally diminished. Moody had to come up with something, and fast.

Sending a Patronus message to the former auror with a summon to his office, Albus stroke Fawkes' feathers thoughtful.

Alastor Moody arrived shortly after, and Albus eagerly question him "Any news about Harry? Have you been able to find where he is or where he's staying?"

Taking a seat in one of the two chairs in from of the Headmaster, he ex-auror responded "Nothing. Hogwarts is a dead end. I wonder around the entire school, looked around with my 'special' eye, and couldn't find anything. No traces of the boy or of a long stay somewhere not supposed to. I don't thing the boy is in the castle, Albus."

"That is impossible, Alastor. As you know the wards warn me every time someone enters or leaves this castle. And I have not received any warning of Harry Potter leaving!"

"Hogwarts always had a lot a secrets, maybe the boy is somewhere we don't know of. Maybe somewhere inaccessible to us."

And all of a sudden it hit him. And could he forget such an obvious answer? Harry Potter had to be in the room of requirement. It was the only option Albus could think of. The room would provide him with everything he needed to live except for food, which would justify his need to go to the kitchens. It was so obvious Dumbledore facepalmed himself. He had to go there.

"Very well, keep your eyes open for any signs. If anything new comes up, please keep me posted." Dumbledore quickly dismissed Moody and made haste in the direction of where he knew be the entrance of the room of requirement.

Fleur Delacour had one thought that couldn't leave her mind at night. In the last few days, she couldn't stop thinking about Harry Potter. This was not a normal situation for her. She had never thought that much about a boy, specially not a boy three years younger than her. It wasn't a physical attraction, that was for sure. After all, he was way younger than her, and had quite a boyish and small appearance. No, she was interested in his power.

Veela had a tendency to be attracted to the most powerful wizards, being those the only ones with enough strength of mind to resist their allure, and tails of Harry Potter's prowess where widely known. Being the sole defeater of Voldemort, and doing it as a baby, was already a hint of his power. Even if a lot of people though about that as a very lucky incident, defeating a fully grown wizard at eleven and slaying a Basilisk at twelve, those were definitely proof he was someone above average.

And because of that, Fleur caught herself think more and more about him. She felt the need to speak with him again, to make sure he could resist her for real, and it wasn't just a coincidence or a one time thing. But the fact he'd disappear after being sorted as a champion and that no one knew where he was, made that impossible. And only increased the mystery surrounding him.

She knew the Wand weighing ceremony was approaching, and that the presence of all the champions was required, so he had to make an appearance there. And then she'd have her chance. Making her plans on how to approach the boy, she slowly drifted into sleep.

AN: And with this, another chapter is finished.

Yes, harry is going to grow quite a lot from the ritual. As some studies show, physical and mental violence and abuse can lead to physical growth being slowed down, and as its very explicit in the story, Harry was a victim of both with the Dursley's.

And about the affinity for transfiguration, they always pointed out he was a genius in the field, achieving being an Animagus from a very young age. I like this explanation for the source of that ability and helps with the idea that each family/house had unique traits passed down from generations.

AMidsummerknightsSlumber: This may become Harry x Daphne, may became Harry x Fleur, or even maybe Harry x Daphne x Fleur. I have it semi-planned in my head, but thing may change. I'm finding it easier to write Fleur at the moment, but due to age, Daphne may be more obvious. Who knows? Only me I guess.

Sonia25: Of course the rituals should be maintained mainly a secret. But with physical changes so big, sometimes its hard to keep quiet.

Raymondjay41: I leave them as cliffhangers mainly when I know I'm going to be able to put out the next chapter fast. About longer chapters, I expect most of them to be around 2-3k words, with some longer ones at bigger events. I like them this way, because I don't lose myself in chapters who are too big

Thank you all who reviewed and followed. Keep those comments coming