A/N- Harry's training is coming to a close and I m going to deal with a chapter with a week or two of training from the next one because there is not much left that is to be taught. Soon, we will be back in WIzarding Britain and then on to Hogwarts.

Thank you Hypergym for the editing that you did.

India

Harry appeared with Harsh in yet another forest. This one was not like the forest around Adrishpuram. It was darker, denser, more forbidding, more like the forbidden forest.

As he willed himself to see into the darkness, his leonine form responded to his need by giving him the eyes of the snow leopard. The darkness resolved into sharply defined shades of grey, revealing huge trees, undergrowth of exotic plants and some small creatures staring curiously out at them. Harsh noticed the subtle change and saying nothing and simply gave a brief smile and nodded his approval.

Harry was still in shock from the carnage that he had witnessed during the battle. He had seen the minions of the dark lord being cut down like a scythe levels fields of grain. The blood and gore had nauseated him. As he remembered the scene of battle, the smell of blood in his nostrils his stomach refused to stay settled. He bent double and began to wretch. After a good five minutes, Harsh levelled his wand at him and doused his mouth with ice cold water.

As Harry looked up, he had tears in his eyes thinking of the mystics who had died in battle but Harsh seemed to be crafted of stone, his eyes bearing no emotion. In that moment, Harry began to doubt if the man felt anything at all.

As he was cleaned, Harsh reached down and helped Harry to stand up straight again and said gently, "Harry, I know you are inn sorrow over all those who had to die in battle but they died doing what they had voluntarily accepted as their life's sole objective. Do not cry for them but smile and remember them in your heart. When you are in doubt again or when you think you are too tired to keep fighting, remember those who died so you may live."

As Harsh finished his words, Harry could swear that he had felt Harsh's voice waver a little but he chose not to comment. He knew in that moment that Harsh was a human after all who was grieving for all those who had died for him but he was a leader and one of their qualities was that they never cried. That is not in front of their subordinates so as not to damage morale. Harsh was just another human who had adopted a mask which showed nothing. He had feelings in his heart and they were private.

Harry looked around trying to get his bearings or some clue to his location but without success. At last, he did what he had come to do so often lately. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, where are we? We are nowhere near Adrishpuram."

Harsh still looked grave but said in an emotionless voice, "We are in an unnamed forest which houses one of the oldest schools of magic, Harry. One of those schools which do not feature on the list of schools with the ICW because they liberally teach all kinds of magic here including Mind Magic and Dark Magic. The ICW as a rule only publish list of those which are more or less inclined towards the light with the only exception being Durmstrang and even there, they are pretty restrictive about what to teach to their students in dark magic."

Harry asked curiously, "What school are you talking about?"

"The Takshshila School of Magic, Harry", he said, "is one of the oldest schools but secluded from the rest of the Wizarding World."

"What do you mean, Guruji?", he asked, "surely students from the school would know where it is situated."

Harsh smiled, "No Harry. This school is situated in middle of nowhere and the location of school is not told to anyone. The students are brought here by flying carriages which are laced with all sorts of anonymity charms to keep its location a secret. Anyone else who is not a student can come only through a portkey which is made by the Pradhan Acharya of the School."

Harry's knowledge of Sanskrit had reached the level that he did not need to be told the meaning of Pradhan Acharya which meant Head Master in English. The mystic who had been teaching him Sanskrit would communicate with him only in Sanskrit while they were talking. Many times in the past week Harry had to talk with the help of signs because he could not form long sentences in Sanskrit. However he had made enough progress to understand several words.

"Ummm... Guruji, if no one can find its location, how is it that we are here? I mean would we not need a portkey to go to the school?", he asked.

"Not when you are with me, Harry. You see, I am a frequent visitor to the Pradhan Acharya Shravya Vahan who trusts me enough to give me a re-useable portkey. Besides, he is bonded with a phoenix which can take me to him in event of need like when I had to rescue Prathimaan", he replied, his smile back in place.

"I thought that we would be going to Adrishpuram. There were a number of the mystics who died today. I thought that we would be there to honour and bury them", said Harry anxiously.

Harsh said gravely, "They will be given the honour they deserve but that will not happen for another 3 days. We are here to do something important which needs to done anyway. Shravya Vahan is one of the foremost experts of mind magic and he has agreed to teach you the delicate art of mind magic."

Harry frowned, "I thought you were going to teach me that."

Harsh said genially, "I was going to teach you that Harry but teaching you may lead you to some of my secrets and I would rather that those secrets were not given to anyone. This will not take long anyhow. In three days he will be finished teaching you the basics of mind magics and you can do the rest on your own."

Harry knew that he could not persuade the mystic to change his decision by any means so he merely nodded. Harsh started leading him westwards and after about an hour, they reached a copse of trees beyond which was a huge intimidating castle in the distance. The castle was at least as big as the Hogwarts castle and probably even older. From outside it looked like there were five floors to it and the distance between the gates and the castle was almost as much as at Hogwarts. The gates were flanked by two tall statues- one was a giant bird in flight the likes of which he had not seen and the other a giant serpent. The gates themselves were wrought of different metals fused together and enchanted to bar entry to anyone who was not authorised to enter. They were huge and there were two symbols carved on each gate- Om and Swastika (he remembered reading in his book in Muggle primary that it was a sign of the Nazis in the 2nd World War) drawn on either of the gates.

The bird was huge. It was around 15 feet in length and around 10 feet high. Its wingspan was around 20 feet and elaborately carved. Its beak was curved and its eyes had a look in them as if he was about to kill the one before him. Its claws were razor sharp and its plumage was of a myriad of colours. The serpent was big and perhaps bigger than the Basilisk that he had slain. Its body was in coils with each coil as thick as Hagrid would be. The serpent had many hoods bared and it freaked him out to even look at it for more than a minute.

He asked Harsh, "Guruji, what are they?"

Harsh who had got down on his knees and folded his hands before the statues, started as if in awe, "These statues represent Garud and Sheshnaag. Garud, the son of Kashyap and Vinta is believed to be the mount of the primordial god, Vishnu and the Sheshnaag, son of Kashyap and Kadru is believed to be the god of Snakes. These are much venerated in Hindu mythology and are revered as Gods. It is believed that Garud is the king of birds and he has an eternal grudge with snakes. It looks for them to kill them but it never harms Shesh Naag who is the bed of Vishnu in the sea of time, Ksheer Sagar (the milky sea). The epics go on to state that they are always instrumental in helping the God to rid the society of evil."

Harry listened with rapt attention and was in awe of the story though he did not know what he was supposed to do. He was still thinking about the Swastika symbol on the gate which had disturbed him a little. He turned to Harsh, "Guruji, why is the symbol of Nazi Germany drawn on the gates?"

Harsh scowled at him, "Please do not say this in front of anyone inside the school. The Swastika is symbol of auspiciousness, of new beginnings and a sacred symbol among Hindus and to most of the school students. Hitler just used this sign and perverted it for his own nefarious means."

Harry asked again, "Why would they get angry if I mention that to them?"

Harsh smirked, "For the same reason that you would get angry if you knew that Grindelwald used your house crest as the insignia of his forces."

Harry gasped, "My house crest? What do you mean?"

Harsh kept silent for a few minutes gathering his thoughts about how to explain it to the teen beside him, "Gellert Grindlewald had a fascination with the heirlooms of the three brothers and he spent major part of his life looking for them. While he only wanted the Elder Wand, he sought the others because he thought he would become the master of death if he obtained the three hallows. Do you not realise what the symbol of House Peverell means, Harry?"

As Harry remembered the rather simple symbol for House Peverell realisation dawned on him. The circle in the symbol stood for the resurrection stone, the line in the middle was the elder wand while the triangle represented the invisibility cloak. His invisibility cloak which he had taken for granted. He had never tried to discover its origin. He had read somewhere that invisibility cloaks never lasted for more than two or three decades at the most and his cloak, which showed no signs of wear and had never failed him, had been in the family for generations.

He looked at Harsh ashen-faced and found the mystic looking at him with a grin on his face. A few seconds later, he said, "Now what would you say if someone claimed your house's symbol as their own and used it when they committed evil? Would you be happy?"

Harry shook his head. Yes, it bothered him to know that a part of his family heritage had been so misused. It was even frightening to think that some people who remembered that misuse might even think that the symbol itself was evil.

Harsh rapped his hands on the gates of the school and seconds later, two men came flying on brooms to the gate. They were tall heavily built and had the same tone to their skins as other mystics who he knew for sure to be Indians. One of them had a staff in his hand like he had seen Moody carry around but this one looked like it was made of metal, was about the thickness of Harry's wrist and the end was fashioned into two snake heads. The entire staff looked like it was made of two snakes intertwined with each other. The other man carried a similar staff in his hand but the end of his staff was fashioned into the head of a Garud.

They both pointed their staff at the visitors and one of the guards asked, "Identify yourself and your purpose. Keep it in mind that no one can lie under these gates without mother magic punishing them for lying. The ancient altar of mother magic would see if you are lying and smite you if it is found that you come here with malice in your heart."

Harsh clasped his wand in his hands and intoned, 'I, Sharanga Varun of the lineage of the mighty Sheshnaag, do hereby swear on the cost of my magic that I am who I claim to be and I come bearing no ill-will or malice to anyone in the castle. May mother magic smite me if I am found to be untruthful in anything that I have uttered. So I say so mote it be."

A pure white glow emanated from the gates and circled Harsh and kept hovering over him for sometime before it disappeared into his body.

He turned to Harry whose mouth was open in shock and the mystic deduced that he wanted to ask a question and immediately signalled him to keep quiet with the movement of his eyes. Harry shut his mouth with an audible click but he had a lot of questions for the mystic.

One of the guards (the one who bore the staff with the serpent heads) put his hand on the gate and it melted away as if it was an illusion. Harry gasped with wonder at the sight and the mystic stifled a chuckle. The guard addressed Harsh, "Welcome to Takshshila School of Magic, Sarang Varun. I, Karkotak, the son of Vasuki welcome you on behalf of the Pradhan Acharya, Shravya Vahan who is waiting for you in his quarters. May I know about your companion?"

Harry had been listening to the conversation with rapt attention and when the guard asked of him, he felt uncomfortable for some reason. Harsh was saying to the guard, "Why don't you ask him yourself? He can understand every word of our conversation with ease."

The guard looked at the mystic with confusion and then turned to Harry and asked him, "Who are you young man? Would you give me your introduction?"

Harry started speaking, "I am...' but suddenly he stopped as he realised that he was speaking in parsel tongue with the guard who was looking at him with interest. Harry looked at the other guard whose face was vacant of any kind of expression and it occurred to him that perhaps the other guard was not a parsel tongue.

Harsh prodded him to go on and he started again, "I am Harold James of the house of Peverell of Avalon."

Now the guard was looking him up and down, sizing him up, to determine if he was a worthy opponent and after a few moments said, "House of Peverell! It was my understanding that they were all extinct with the death of Ignotus and certainly none of them could speak the tongue".

Harsh chuckled, 'He was born in the House of Potter which blended into the line of Peverell later. One of his ancestors was of the House of Black from the ancient country of Kemet."

Harry turned to him, "Guruji, why did I state that I am of the house of Peverell?"

Harsh did not answer for a few minutes before he started saying, "This place is situated on the site of old magic where one cannot lie. However it also brings one's real identity out of them. While the Potters were one of the most powerful families but I believe ever since you started on the path of becoming a war mage, perhaps the first war mage after the last war mage of Avalon Ignotus Peverell died centuries ago, mother magic identifies you as a Peverell and you are a Potter no more.".

Harry was saddened to hear of it but he remembered the rush of his magic whenever he would utter Peverell and could understand what Harsh meant however he had no idea how it would change things. He turned to Harsh who was looking at him carefully and answered the unasked question, "Harry it is your choice to become what you want. You can present yourself to the world as Harold James Potter if it pleases you or you can become Harold James Peverell which mother magic has decreed for you."

In that moment, Harry had decided what he wanted to be but the formal announcement would have to wait. It would not do to declare it where no one can hear it. Rachael had put it into his mind that a lord must speak when he can derive the most advantage from it.

Harsh took his arm and they began walking towards the castle in the distance. when it loomed near, it looked even more impressive. It was 5 stories high and spread over a much larger area than Hogwarts did. He could see that the castle was lit with ever burning magical fires and that there were many beasts prowling the grounds while wizards were walking the corridors, their eyes alert to the surroundings.

He asked Harsh, "Guruji, why all this security? If no one can find them then why is there so much security around the place?"

Harsh grinned, "This is because the castle is more than a school. It is a symbol of hope for the wizarding world in this part of the world and there are so many students from many countries studying in here that fights can break out in a second and unlike Hogwarts, they can be rather bloody with a death or two, therefore, the security. As I remember there are around 3000 students studying in the school right now. It starts when a child reaches the age of 11 and continues for 8 years till they reach 19 and they are taught everything that is there to teach about the subject. There are more subjects taught here than at Hogwarts and some students stay here for year around while rest get to go home for a month in the year in winters. There are around 150 teachers in this place divided into groups for the subject that they teach. Each floor has around 18 classrooms on each floor with 50 students to one section like a house in Hogwarts. Students are not divided by houses and they are divided into sections. The two blokes we met at the entrance are the Rakshak or the first line of defense. Their position is one of the most vaunted ones and only those who are the most adept are selected for them. The teacher's live in quarters assigned to them on other side of the grounds and the ground is barred for apparition."

Harry asked the question which had been nagging at the back of his mind, "Guruji, you can ignore apparition wards yet we are walking, why is that?"

Harsh smiled, "That is cost of my entrance in this place. I had promised on the cost of my magic to one of the head masters of the school that I will never try to enter this place except through the entrance."

He led them to the other side of the grounds where there were a lot of quarters scattered about and stopped in front of one of them. It looked rather normal considering it was the abode of the Pradhan Acharya of the school. Harsh raised his hand to rap on the door when suddenly a phoenix flashed in trilling and Harsh smiled, "Greetings Shuka. Is Shravya Vahan awake?"

The bird looked at him as if scrutinising him and then turned its gaze to Harry. It seemed to be looking into his soul and after a moment gave a long trill and the gates opened. Harsh led him inside where the front room was rather bare with just a portrait on the wall depicting some scene which Harry could not understand. There were a few people in it pulling a huge snake from either side which was coiled around a mountain hovering in a sea, apparently unsupported. The people in the portrait kept an eye on them till they took a seat on the mats spread on the ground. Harry found it odd but knew that most of the mystics preferred sitting in that fashion over sitting on a chair or a sofa.

A few seconds later, a man entered who was even more ancient in appearance than Dumbledore with his snow white beard long enough to make Dumbledore jealous and his pitch black eyes full of power, glowing like two brightly lit orbs. He was tall and muscled and had a staff in his hand the end of which was fashioned as a white elephant head. He wore a yellow dhoti and an angvastram (a cloth to cover the upper body) was draped around his shoulders. He took a seat on the opposite side from them and snapped his fingers. An elf appeared. This was the first elf Harry had seen outside of Avalon and this one was dressed like the Pradhan Acharya minus the Angvastram and said something in a deep voice which he could not understand except for snippets of the conversation and he understood that it had happened in Sanskrit. After a few seconds the Pradhan Acharya dismissed him and the elf returned seconds later with a tray of food and refreshments. Before Harry could touch the food however the Pradhan Acharya doused him with a heavy jet of water. Spluttering and coughing, he saw that Harsh was using a drying charm on himself meaning he also had been doused with water. After drying himself, he turned to the Pradhan Acharya who said to him sombrely, "While I ask pardon for giving you a bath against your will, it is not custom among us to partake food without a bath when one has returned from battle and is soaked in blood and gore."

Harry understood. He himself had been feeling unclean but could not figure out how he could ask for a bath without sounding rude. He bowed his thanks, then drew out his wand and set about drying himself and removing any of the grime that the dousing had failed to cleanse.

The Pradhan Acharya was saying to Harsh, "Now that we are away from battle, perhaps you both should get rid of your masks. We are all friends here."

Harry realised that he was still wearing his mask and put his hand to his face. The mask came off without an effort on his part and he turned to the Pradhan Acharya. Harry followed the familiar flick of his host's eyes to the scar on his forehead. He looked a little shocked, "You are Harry Potter. I never thought I would see you here of all places."

It was the first time since Harry had come to India that someone had exclaimed at his presence and the old feeling of being a celebrity and hating every moment of it returned. Rachael's training kicked in at the moment and he said rather amicably to the Pradhan Acharya, "I did not know that people know me even here."

He chuckled, "It would take even more farther than this for people to not to recognise you, Mr. Potter. You are the only survivor of the Killing Curse but I do not believe that it was due to any ability of yours. I mean you could not even hold a wand at that age. It's just that I have received news of your exploits since your started attending Hogwarts which makes me respect you as a warrior. You are a formidable wizard and soon in the future you will be one of the foremost leaders of the Wizarding world."

Harry wondered at how their host knew about his exploits at school. He turned to Harsh with a grieved look in his eyes but the mystic was already raising his hands in surrender, "I did not tell him anything Harry. He did not even know that I was bringing you here to meet him.".

Harry turned to the other man who was trying to rein in his laughter. After a few seconds, he started, "No Harry. He did not tell me anything. I had a second hand account of your exploits from a couple of your year mates."

Now Harry wanted to know who the informers were, "Who? What did they tell you?"

Shravya Vahan smiled, "That is story for another time, Mr. Potter. But trust me when I say that nothing negative has been said about you."

Harsh who had been mostly silent and eating the food as it was offered, started to speak, "Shravya, I have brought him here because I want you to teach him mind magics. While I could have easily done it but it is easier this way because I do not want to chance my secrets to someone when revealing them can be catastrophic."

Shravya Vahan nodded his head, "I will do it but I have only three days to commit to this task."

Harsh rubbed his hands in excitement, "Excellent. We will start tomorrow."

After dinner, Shravya Vahan showed them to sleeping chambers within his quarters and offered a change of clothes to Harry like the clothes that he wore. Left with no better option, Harry donned them and retired to sleep, fatigued by the exertions of the day.

Hogwarts

Albus was in his chair anxiously waiting for some news from the battle that the mystics had fought. It was early morning and he had not been able to sleep a wink. The mystic had said nothing about Harry Potter fighting in that battle and so, he wished to be certain that he was safe.

The door to his office opened and the mystic entered looking grim. Albus's heart sank with the anticipation of some unfortunate news however before he could speak, the mystic himself started, "The battle was won, Albus but we lost around 15 of our ranks."

Albus spoke anxiously, "What of Harry? Is he okay?"

The mystic took a full minute before he started answering, "He handled himself very well as it befits a wizard of his calibre. He had been made a part of the army and served at the front and he conducted himself as it suits to his station. I am told that he is learning very quickly and has already mastered sword fighting and erected his mindscape. Guruji is teaching him the delicate art of mind magics which would be useful to him in the long run. As it happens, he does not have much to learn now but still it would take him at least three weeks to finish his training. After that he will return to Avalon to pursue his destiny."

Albus was relieved but had some qualms about the mystics which he chose to raise, "Why was he included in such a battle? He has not learned enough to be a part of such an endeavour."

The mystic smiled, "I know you care about the boy Albus but this was necessary in order to tell him what can be the cost of war. He had to have taste of battle so that he would not falter when it came to fighting. He has learned so much in the past two weeks that I fear you would not be able to connect him with the boy who had left on the Marichika."

Albus said nothing but thought about what the teen was being taught. He never wanted Harry Potter to be inclined toward the Dark but the mystics were not fussed about such fine distinctions. He would just have to wait for the boy to come back so that he would be able to see for himself.

In the meantime Albus had work to do. The Cottage on the hill had been employed to train the less talented members of the Order to fight. Every evening Mad-eye would teach them things that may just save their lives. There weren't many members who were fit to fight but those that were able turned up every day and practiced. Sirius had brought some books from his library which Moody used to teach them.

His primary concern was the horcruxes and he intended to check one place where he was sure he could find one of them. He had found the wizard who had been sent to serve Morphin Gaunt his summons when he had been arrested for attacking Tom Riddle Senior the first time. Using his memory, he had found the location of their home which was more like a shack and he intended to visit the place once to see if one of the horcruxes was hidden there.

He turned to the mystic who was sitting on the other side of the table, "I think I know where one of the horcruxes is hidden."

The mystic eagerly asked, "Then why we are dallying here? Let us go and retrieve it at this moment."

Albus chuckled, "Patience my friend. I need someone to take care of the castle before we can go. As it happens, the castle is empty during the month of July and only Mr. Filch, the elves and I live here during that period. I need to secure it first because if Hogwarts fell, no other place would be safe."

With one motion, the mystic drew out and flourished his wand producing a patronus (a bull) and murmured to it, "Go to Vivaswat. I need him and a team of 10 mystics here in the next hour."

He turned to Albus, "Now your castle is secure Albus. I have called a team of mystics to stay around and look after the castle in your absence."

After a little less than an hour, a team of 11 mystics entered the grounds of the castle and Dumbledore met them at the double doors. The leader of the mystics raised his fist to heart and intoned, "Dharm aur Maan", and the gesture was reciprocated by Aparichit.

Aparichit addressed the man, "Vivaswat, we are going on a little mission and in the meantime, you have to guard the castle and the grounds with your life. We do not know how long it may take but you will remain here until I come to release you from your charge."

Vivaswat bowed to him, "As you say, Pundariksh."

As they left the grounds and approached the gates, Albus turned to the mystic, "Pundariksh?"

The mystic smirked, "Albus, you honestly did not think that my name is Aparichit, did you? Aparichit simply means Stranger and I take that identity when I do not wish for myself to be known. None of us use our real name when we are on some mission."

Albus said nothing but fished out a piece of rope from his pocket and gestured for the mystic to grab hold. A second later, they had disappeared.

Little Hangleton

They appeared in the shade of some trees at a crossroads where a sign directed them towards Little Hangleton. As they walked, they could see the town in the distance but somewhere along the way a country road diverted from the main road and went off to one side. The path was old and neglected, very nearly obscured in the overgrowth. It had not been used, perhaps for decades now. They followed this path and after a little trouble reached the ruin of a very decrepit old house. It was so far gone in decay and obscured by climbing plants that if Albus did not already know exactly where it was, he might have missed it.

Albus amused himself by casting confundus charms at the numerous snakes that seemed too curious about them for his comfort while the mystic waved his wand casting detection spells around them and the ruin of the shack. After a minute or so, the mystic nodded that there was no one around. Albus started towards the shack when the mystic's arm shot out and restrained him, "Watch where you are going Albus. There are wards around this property which we will have to destroy before we enter. While we cannot still be sure that there is a horcrux inside but the security belies the fact that there is something precious inside it. The magical signature on the wards resemble to that of Tom Riddle."

Dumbledore employed his own wand (birchwood and unicorn tail core) and cast a series of detection spells then frowned, "He has interlaced these wards with some particularly nasty curses. Anyone who tripped them would die a rather nasty and painful death."

The mystic reached into his pocket and produced some small runestones. Turning to Albus, he said, "I am going to toss these into the air, Albus. Your work is to hit them before they reach the ground with a finite. These rune stones are ward explosives and will destroy most of his wards without tripping any of the traps."

Albus looked elated, "Really ingenious. Would you lend them to me to study? I could use them for better purposes."

The mystic smirked, "Hasn't guruji told that we do not share our proprietary magic with anyone? This is a special creation of mystics and we use it to break down wards such as these. For those wards which are older and more complicated, we have to destroy them with brutal force."

Albus sighed. He really wanted to learn at least one of their secrets but it looked like they would not yield to him. He gestured to the mystic to toss the rune stones and with a few seconds, most of the wards on the property had been destroyed except for a proximity ward which Albus insisted that they leave intact.

As the mystic asked him why they left that ward intact, Albus gave him a feral grin, "Sooner or later Tom will know that we are hunting his horcruxes. He will return to this site to see if it has been disturbed. The presence of his own ward should give him a feeling of false security . When he steps inside, he will set off the wonderous combination of jinxes, hexes and containment wards which we have linked to and hidden behind his own work. It is unlikely to kill him, but it should incapacitate him and keep him here. He may be able to apparate out eventually, but the effort will exhaust him."

The mystic had to give it to Albus that he was a genius.

The mystic started casting some more detection spells and Albus reciprocated the gesture but they yielded nothing. The mystic frowned, "Perhaps there is no horcrux here."

Albus smiled genially, "I do not think so. We have searched the upper surface but I believe there is a little hole in the middle of the floor where he has stowed the horcrux. We have to find a way to enter and retrieve it without tripping the proximity ward."

The mystic immediately disappeared and a few seconds later, he returned beaming, "You are right, there is a little hole in the middle of the floor rigged with all sort of protections and one cannot access to it without falling prey to them. I have opened the entrance to the hole but did not try to access it because there are many nasty curses tied to it to kill people instantly while Tom Riddle would know immediately that someone has found his secret but the curious thing is that it does not seem to affect animals, particularly snakes."

Albus transfigured a snake out of a tree branch and animated it to reach inside the hole and bring the horcrux, which he was sure was being kept here.

The snake returned a few minutes later with something in its mouth which it dropped before Dumbledore. It was a stone bearing the Peverell crest set in a silver band to be worn like a ring. It was clear that it was the famed Resurrection Stone. The stone awakened some long dead hope in Dumbledore's mind. It reminded him of a time when he was younger and sought the three hallows. Unlike his friend Gellert, he sought the stone the most because he believed he could have resurrected his sister with its help and escape the guilt that he carried in his heart for more than 100 years.

Dumbledore kept staring at the horcrux for minutes, captivated and as if in trance, he stretched out his hand to pick it up but the mystic pushed his hand away before it could touch the stone. Albus's vision came back into focus and he looked at the mystic, with confusion in his eyes, "What... why did you do that?"

The mystic was scowling at him, "Honestly, Albus? Did you not cast a detection spell at the horcrux? There is a withering curse over this stone which cannot be negated and a compulsion charm to force anyone to wear it."

Albus looked down embarrassed, "I was lost in my thoughts. It's just that this stone brought back some really old memories and made me lose my wits. If you were not here with me, I do not know what would have happened."

The mystic levitated the ring and secured it in a box made of cedar wood and lined with runes which Albus recognised as runes to contain the effect of something from escaping. The mystic slipped the box into his robes. With the horcrux contained, for now, the two of them went to work laying down a surprise for Tom Riddle, hiding their work, and then linking it all to the ward that they had preserved and made it possible to hide the last trace.

After a few minutes, they were back in Albus's office at Hogwarts. After Vivaswat sent off the mystics telling them to inform Harsh that they had found another of the abominations, they sat down to decide what to do with the stone.

The mystic said to him, "We should destroy it, Albus. There is no other way."

Albus looked as if the mystic had suggested committing sacrilege, "this...", he paused, "this is the resurrection stone, a heirloom of legends and part of Harry's rightful inheritance. We cannot simply destroy it. I thought that your leader, Harsh said that you had a better way to exorcise the soul fragment than our crude methods."

The mystic smirked, "Of course we do but that would not remove the withering curse or the compulsion charm. We need to destroy it so that it would free of any taint. This is one of the most powerful relics ever made and I do not believe that its powers would be broken anyway."

Albus conceded the point, "so how do we destroy it?"

The mystic grinned, "The sword of Gryffindor of course."

An hour later, the men returned to the castle with the stone showing a crack down the middle, free of the taint of Tom and working as the resurrection stone again. The mystic handed the stone to him, "Keep it safe in your possession, Albus until Harry Potter returns."

Albus was genuinely curious, "You do realise that this stone can call back anyone who has passed to the other side? Do you not want to use it to talk to someone you feel you should make your peace with?"

The mystic smiled humourlessly, "I do not have any ghosts in my past Albus. When I became a mystic, my old life ceased to exist. There is no one that I wish to see again but I feel like you need to come at peace with something that happened in your life sometime. Just remember that it is not wise to disturb the dead more than it is really needed. Use this wisely."

Albus said nothing but only nodded. There was someone he needed to make his peace with and perhaps he would do so in the presence of the only family left to him.

Takshshila School of Magic

Harry Potter was sitting in front of Shravya Vahan who was telling him the intricacies of mind magic, "Mind magic is a delicate thing Mr. Potter because the mind controls the body and any small mistake on can cause great harm. Mind magics are not practiced except those who have well organized mind and then too, most of them can only use it to employ occlumency or legilimancy. Most of the more exotic applications of mind magics are not available to general public for a simple reason that it will lead to chaos and anarchy. Imagine every wizard capable of intruding other's mind. That is why the exotic applications of mind magics are kept out of the reach of people. Most of these include using force to bring down someone's mental shields even when they are keeping it raised to the full, utterly destroying their mindscape, making someone insane with a little force and these must not be used liberally but with a little caution and not be taught to someone whose morals are questionable."

Harry nodded, taking in every word that the venerable Pradhan Acharya was telling him. He had been interested in learning mind magics because Dumbledore had hinted that he would keep the prophecy away from him until he was sure that his mind was his own. Besides Legilimancy sounded cool and a little part of him wanted that kind of power.

Shravya Vahan was saying, "The first and most important thing is to have well organized mind which is very useful for a wizard or a witch. Having organized mind gives them the ability to learn a spell quickly and also to recall information with perfect clarity without having to shift through one's memories to find it saving a lot of time."

As Harry listened he realised that the main reason that he had to work harder to learn new spells was that his mind was a jumble. Often when he tried to concentrate, old memories and unwanted emotions connected with them would intrude and distract him. That was why Hermione was scarily smart because her mind was well organized and she grasped things easily. He also realised that things were a lot easier for him since he had started to sort his memories through the mindscape that he had made.

"Do you know about occlumency, Mr. Potter?", Shravya Vahan was asking.

He turned to the other man, "Guruji told me what it is but not how it works."

Shravya Vahan sat gathering his thoughts for some time before he started to speak, "Occlumency comes from the word 'occlude' which roughly translates 'to hide or guard' i.e. hiding something from others. An occlumens has the ability to hide his emotions, his feelings, his memories from others. To be a proficient occlumens, you must have substantial mind defences which would hold against any attack. To be able to hold against any attack, you must learn to identify if someone is trying to enter your mind."

"How do you know if someone is trying to enter your mind?", Harry asked, his frank curiosity plain in his every word.

"That depends upon one's sensitivity to magic. Has it not ever happened that you felt like someone else was in your mind or that you felt like someone was watching you but it turned out there was no one around", Shravya Vahana asked.

Harry remembered a few times when he felt like someone was reading his thoughts especially in the presence of Dumbledore or Snape. Harsh (or was he Sarang) had told him that they were master Legilimens which meant that they likely had read his mind. Dumbledore always seemed to know what he was thinking when He peered at Harry from behind his half moon spectacles with that twinkle in his eyes.

"Mr. Shravya Vahan, is it possible to read someone's mind without using your wand?", he asked, just to be certain of his assumptions.

The other man smiled mischievously, "It is possible to do that however it requires one to be proficient in wandless magic and extreme will power because to maintain the spell and to shift through someone's memories requires intense concentration. The magical power itself required to cast the spell is little and the only effort is required to maintain your contact. A master Legilimens can shift through your surface thoughts without making a connection through eyes but to see your memories, it is essential to maintain eye contact. The next thing required is to have mental shields which would protect your mind from an intrusion."

"Mental shields?", he asked, "but I have a mindscape I thought that was a mental shield. Is there more required?"

The other man chuckled, "Mr. Potter, mental shields are required so that one would not be able to enter into your mindscape. It is the first and foremost line of defence before one can have run of the mindscape. It's like tearing the gate before you would be able to intrude into Hogwarts in case of intrusion."

"So how do I make a mental shield?", he asked the other man.

"To make it by yourself requires time which we do not have on our hands. There is another way which we can use but that requires complete trust between two persons. It would require me to enter your mind and construct your shields. You can decide how you want them to be", the other man explained. "Now the question is whether you trust me enough to enter your mind and construct your mental shields?", the other man asked him, his stare intense and fixed on him.

Harry did not know what to answer. Since he had started reading about occlumency and legilimency, he had become conscious of his privacy. He now knew that his mind could be invaded with a mere flick of thought. He did not know if he could trust the other man to keep his secrets from anyone else.

He turned to the other man, "I would not choose to offend you in any way. We have only just recently met and I must carefully consider the consequences before I allow you into my mind. May I have some time to think it over before I give you my answer?"

The other man smiled, "If you had allowed me into your mind promptly, I would have been surprised. You have started to realise the importance of keeping secrets which is a good thing. Take a couple of hours to mull over this and let me know. In the meanwhile, why don't you step out and see if the school is anywhere up to the standards of Hogwarts."

He clapped his hands and a man entered, "Rajveer, Mr. Potter here is our guest for the next three days and I want you to give him a tour of the school. If he want to see any of the classes, inform the teacher that it is my wish."

Harry followed the man out and to the castle. There were big dungeons in the castle which were used for duelling classes. There were at least 5 arenas dedicated to duelling and there were a couple more which were used for physical exercises and athletic games. The entrance to the castle was flanked by two huge doors made of a type of wood that he did not recognise and were covered with carved runes. Harry identified many of the runes from his study of Sanskrit. Beyond the gates was an entrance chamber like the one at Hogwarts, but; twice as big as it looked from the outside. Perhaps it was done with extension charms. The great Hall was likewise extended. He turned to Rajveer, "Umm... how do the extension charms hold together and never fail?"

The man smiled genially, "The charms are done by Runes which are etched into the foundation and are powered by the 8 ley lines that pass through here. This castle stands on the site of the most ancient of magics."

Harry nodded. As they progressed, someone called him from behind. He turned and saw Harsh Vardhana who was beckoning him to a class room where he was sitting
with another man. The other man was square jawed, his face marred by scars and his brown eyes bore such an expression in them as though they had seen everything in the world.

Harsh introduced him, "Harold James Potter meet Sarveshwar Markand who is a duelling master at this fine school. Sarveshwar, this is Harry James Potter, a protegee of mine."

The man extended his hand to Harry, "There are a very few people who do not know you and none of those are found in places such as these."

Harry did not know what to say. With few exceptions, the people he had known either fawned over him, hated him or treated him like a child. These people knew of him and treated him as an adult. Harry thought he could get used to this.

"So Mr. Potter, Sarang here told me that you are very proficient dueller for one who does not use lethal spells. Would you like to try your hand at duelling?", Sarveshwar asked him.

Harry considered refusing, but; somehow, he wanted to see how good the best students at this school were. Of course he knew that Bulgaria and France had their schools but he had never heard of Takshshila and his interest was piqued. He nodded his head and the duelling master took him to one of the arenas where students were practicing. As they saw him coming, the students ceased their practice and made room for them.

He called one of his best and the duel was set. It was to continue till only one of them was standing on his feet and only non-lethal spells were to be used.

As the round began, Harry began circling his opponent sizing him up. He had become proficient in casting and defending but he had to see if he could use it here. His opponent waited for a few minutes but Harry did not lead the charge. His wand was hung loosely at his side, his knees bent slightly ready to dodge to either side according to need. Finally his opponent lost patience and fired a stunner which passed through the place where Harry had been a split second before. Harry cast an answering Tarantallegra before the stunner even finished passing by. His opponent looked befuddled, not understanding how such a simple charm could be useful in a duel. Harry thought he could use that to his advantage. He followed up with petrification hex followed by a stunner and a stinger. The opponent raised a protego and took all three on his shield but almost dropped his shield seeing the stinger. Taking Harry to be immature, he started casting some dangerous but non-lethal curses at him which he could dodge or shield easily. He waited for a few seconds before he began his own barrage and peppered his opponent with bone breakers and added a shield shattering hex in between the bone breakers. His opponent who had been shielding all the bone breakers gasped as the shield in his hand exploded with the shield shattering hex and his wand hand was broken by the bone breaker. Harry immediately cast the petrification hex, stunner and completed the chain with an incarcerous. By the time he finished, his opponent had been stunned and bound with chains.

The duelling instructor clapped enthusiastically, "Bravo Mr. Potter! You did great."

Harry bowed his head and accepted the praise being lavished on him. Then he enervated his opponent and returned his wand to him. His opponent bowed low to him and Harry felt he had gained a few more allies.

Harsh escorted him with Rajveer throughout the castle showing him the classes. The stair cases were made of sand stone. Although they did not move like their counterparts at Hogwarts, there were many trick steps concealed in them. There were a lot of ghosts in the school just like at Hogwarts. What amazed him was the absence of any House divisions and the students mixed with each other freely. Then there were the subjects. He was told that they taught many subjects that were taught at Hogwarts and many more which were no longer taught at Hogwarts. There was Duelling, Defensive & Offensive Applications of Magic (DADA was not a subject there), Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology (they were taught a few more plants which were not available in Britain), Ancient Runes (The Seven Languages and Brahmi Runes), Arithmancy, Muggle studies (there were many muggle-born among the students and staff, so the curriculum was fairly recent), Wizarding Culture of Bharat (for those who were uninitiated), Introduction to Alchemy, General Healing classes, Astronomy, Magical Creatures, Enchanting. For some reason, Harry found that Quidditch was not very popular at this school and as such, brooms were used only for flying or to commute.

Their broomsticks were not as he was used to seeing them. His companion Rajveer, had told him in an undertone that every broom had been made and enchanted by students in the past which was a terribly long process. Most of their brooms were prototype versions which fascinated him but as he knew he would never get his hands on them, he simply shrugged. He thought that making flying brooms sounded like a good career option. May be something to ponder upon later as he had 45% shares in the Firebolt Broom Company.

They spent about three hours touring the school. With all there was to do and see, Harry felt that he had only just begun. Harsh took him to the kitchen which like Hogwarts was situated in the Dungeons and manned by Elves. The Elves served them happily and as they ate, Harsh started making small talk, "So Harry, what has worried you?"

Harry now knew how the mystic could know everything that was going on in his head, "Guruji, Pradhan Acharya asked me if he may enter my mind and construct my mental shields for me. He told me of the risk of exposure of my secrets to him if he is in my head but we do not have to do it the normal way."

Harsh smiled, "Harry, this is a decision you have to make. Understand this that to trust him or not to trust him is up to you. If you refuse, we will find someone else to teach you mind magics but he is the safest person that you can get."

Harry asked him, "What makes you say that?"

Harsh winked at him, "While we are here he is bound by the duties of a host to do our bidding and by that duty he cannot expose anything that has been confided to him by me or you. To do so would be a breach of etiquette and this is a practice punishable by mother magic. However there is another way which is equally safe and we can be more certain that he would not divulge your secrets to anyone."

Harry grinned but said nothing.

Half an hour later, Harry was in front of Pradhan Acharya, "I allow you to enter my mind to help me construct my mental shields, however; this invitation does not extend to you going any farther or to see my memories or to try to enter into my mindscape. My mindscape is private and a lot of lives depend on me keeping their secrets. If you transgress the trust confided in you, I hope mother magic will smite you for your transgression."

The Pradhan Acharya smiled, "A smart move Mr. Potter. Did Sarang put you to it?"

Harry just smiled then sat down and entered into meditation. As the Pradhan Acharya entered into his mind, he felt it and stiffened but a calm voice pervaded his
mind, "Do not worry, Mr. Potter. I will ensure that no harm is caused to you in doing this."

He relaxed and he could feel the other man in his mind chanting something. A few seconds later, he said, "Now while I am chanting start imagining what kind of mental shields you want in your mind. Imagine them to rise from nothing and form fully. Imagine what you want them to do if someone is trying to enter your mind."

Harry started imagining a trap that he had heard once from Pashupati when he was out grooming Black Storm. The mystic told him about a trap that he had run into once. This trap was a sturdy wall which he could not scale therefore he started prodding around, looking for the weak link and when he found one, he stormed his way in. As he did, the wall repaired itself and walls around him started closing in. It was only due to his ability to disapparate that he lived to tell the tale. He imagined such a wall around his mind, slippery and unclimbable. There was a little place in the wall where it was weak and once one entered with very little difficulty, the breech in the wall would close behind them and the person would be trapped with the likeness of a torture curse being used on them.

As he kept imagining the mental shields, it kept rising from his mind while Shravya Vahan chanted. When they were done and he opened his eyes, it had been 6 hours. Shravya Vahan dismissed him for the night and he happily went to sleep.

In the next two days, Harry visited the castle twice more and saw the portions he had not seen the first day and was impressed but still nothing would ever replace Hogwarts for him. Hogwarts was his home.

The master of mind magic had taught him to guard his mind against intrusion, how to detect an intrusion and how to fight it. After he used the Legilimens spell (with Harsh's permission since it was illegal to use it on a minor without permission from a guardian) on him for an hour, Harry had been able to detect his presence and raise his mental shields to repel him. He still entered despite the shields a few times before Harry was able to successfully oust him from his mind. He taught him to use diversion i.e. place a horrifying image before the intruder and then oust him while he was distracted. Harry had a few such memories and he relished the idea of scaring someone who would try to enter his mind the next time. The important moment had been when Shravya Vahan taught him wandless casting telling him that passive legilimancy could not be done except wandlessly. He told Harry to practice wandlessly for the simpler spells at first and as he succeeded, he should try it with more complex spells. So far, Harry was able to use petrification hex and stingers wandlessly and he was confident that he would be able to cast more wandless spells with more time and practice.

On the third day, he taught him the theory of how to destroy someone's mindscape and told him not to try it on an accomplished Legilimens or someone who was able to fight back. If someone was petrified or otherwise disabled, they could not resist it. He taught him how to utterly destroy someone's mindscape with fire or to cause enough agony to break their spirit (like with Slughorn) to gain something they had.

Harry was thoroughly tested by Harsh on occlumency and legilimancy and he was pleased with the progress Harry made during his time with Shravya Vahan.

At the end of three days, they returned to Adrishpuram. That evening they had the funeral of the warriors who had fallen in battle. Their bodies were placed on pyres made of wood, draped in the mystic cloak and their wands on their chests. A mystic stood on one side chanting some hymns while other mystics stood rigid, their faces impassive but their eyes full of tears which fell without any inhibition. When the mystic was done chanting, Harsh raised his wand and cast a wide area "Pavakam (Fire)" which engulfed all of the bodies. The blue-white flames roared heavenward for some time, then left the ground, leaving no trace of the bodies or the pyres behind.

Harsh summoned Harry to his room that night, "Harry, I trust you have some questions for me."

He nodded, "What is your real name? Why did we not place the bodies of the fallen warriors into crypts and bury them with honour, but; burn them instead?"

The mystic sat and considered before starting, "My real name is Sarang Varun. Centuries ago, I was the prince of this little kingdom where Adrishpuram is now situated. When one becomes a mystic, his old identity burns away and there is nothing left but only the mask and the cloak. We do not inter them into the crypts because we are not like other magical families. We believe that we return to where we come from. We mystics come from nothing and we return to nothing. Only thing that is eternal is magic and soul."

Harry nodded yawning. Harsh saw this and immediately dismissed him. Harry returned to his room thinking all the while that the whole of Adrishpuram once belonged to the mystic.

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