And here's the forty third chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!

* Review Response:
The Pathological Liar, orion0905, Yaw6113, DarkRavie, Urgazhi, The Shadows Mistress, Majerus, Jostanos, BMS, nkh1, Wulfkin17, Blue Luver5000, mizzrazz72, Uday Sra, TheGreatBubbaJ, sonofthehills, kyuubi7, Nice Egan, thank you for your reviews, folks!
Gehoji, let there be fanon then. If such quills aren't unique, it would certainly make proving that a document was signed by the person they signed as much easier.
Clavyus, the twins should be back in the story the next chapter. For now, though, it's Harry visiting the (ruins of) Potter estate.
Wyrtha, I don't see Dumbledore as someone who would do that intentionally, but he's definitely not helping Harry gain the 'necessary skills' either.
magitech, known isn't the same as used. It was just some obscure Magics that can't be learned from the Hogwarts' Library or from books that one can acquire in Diagon or Knockturn Alleys. And even if some of those spells are actually used to protect the Department of Mysteries, any changes to them Croaker orders aren't likely to show up in the story anyway.
Luiz4200, 'No' to the latter, doesn't really matter within the story for the former.
ARega1s, actually, no, the stone is currently with Croaker and after this chapter, the cloak won't be in Dumbledore's possession anymore either.

* AN: As always, great thanks to my friend Skelekitty for his help in polishing this chapter.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.

"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells

A Year Too Soon
Chapter XLIII: The Potter Estate

Harry's morning of August 3rd began with the arrival of a sidy Ministry owl carrying a congratulatory letter saying that his request for emancipation has been granted. The letter then listed things he could now legally do in the Magical world as well as the things he needed to be a full adult to do.

Thanking the owl for the delivery, the green-eyed teen put the letter away. Now that he was emancipated, he could finally go full steam ahead with his plans to rebuild the Potter manor. And the first step, of course would be assessing the state the grounds were in: he had been told by the Potter Account Manager that the manor had burned to the ground a decade ago, but not much beyond that. But before he could go sightseeing, he needed some breakfast first.

So, dressing up, Harry descended to the pub and asked Tom the bartender for a nice, filling meal.

Alas, he didn't get to enjoy his breakfast for long as soon the floo in the corner of the pub roared to life and let one Albus Dumbledore through. At a glance, the man looked like his usual grandfatherly self, but the Potter scion could tell that the Headmaster was far from happy with him at the moment.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter." The aged warlock greeted. "I was hoping to catch you before you go on business. There are some matters that I need to discuss with you as soon as possible. In private, if you will." Harry nodded, before returning the greeting politely - there was no need to make a scene.

"Good morning, Headmaster." He said. "I'd prefer it if you let me finish my meal first. We can then discuss whatever business you have with me in my room. It should be private enough." Dumbledore nodded, and ordered himself a cup of tea.

After Harry had had his breakfast, he and the Headmaster went back to his room. Once inside, the man cast a few privacy Charms to make sure no one would overhear them. Once done, he finally allowed his grandfatherly façade to fall, revealing that he indeed was quite angry with the Potter Heir right now.

"That was a very foolish thing you did, Mr. Potter." He said without a preamble. "You are too young and naïve to safely navigate the treacherous waters of Magical Britain's politics. And your hasty decision to reject a guiding hand of those older and more experienced in these matters could have ramifications you're not ready for. What would your ancestors think if you lost everything they had worked so hard to achieve through your rash and thoughtless decisions?" Harry's only response was to glare at the man unwaveringly. Seeing as he wouldn't be getting anything out of the teen right now, Dumbledore let out a tired sigh before reaching into his robes to pull out a rather small package wrapped in rough brown paper. "This is a relic of your family, which your father had graciously permitted me to study shortly before his death. I've been keeping it secure since that night, waiting for you to show that you can use it responsibly." He threw the package none too gently onto the bed next to Harry. "Your recent reckless actions show that you aren't yet, but your emancipation requires me to return it to you anyway. I sincerely hope you will prove me wrong and use it responsibly."

"Thank you for returning this." Harry said. "I promise to use it well, Sir."

"I sure hope so." The Hogwarts Headmaster replied. "It would be terrible if you let this priceless artifact be damaged or lost." This was followed by an awkward moment of silence. Which Dumbledore broke once it became clear that the younger wizard wasn't going to add anything. "Very well then, have a nice day, Mr. Potter." He said before removing the privacy Charms with a flick of his wand. Then he turned around on his heels and left the room.

After maybe a minute of just sitting there, Harry finally decided to see what exactly this mysterious relic of the Potter family was. So he unwrapped the package, revealing a shiny and silvery cloth. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

Curious about what exactly it was, the green-eyed teen threw the cloak around his shoulders and looked into the mirror. He wasn't prepared to see his head floating in the air with the rest of his body 'gone' and let out a surprised yelp. Quickly pulling the cloak off himself, he saw his body reappear.

The Potter heirloom Dumbledore gave him, the one that would've been withheld from him until he was deemed 'ready', was an invisibility cloak! This was incredible!

Still, Harry had plans for today and couldn't spend the entire morning playing around with the cloak. So, carefully folding it, he put it away into his trunk and, after making sure that it was well-hidden there by his other things, left the room.

Some ten minutes later, Harry walked into Gringotts. For some reason, there were a lot more people here than usual, so he had to stand in line for a bit before a teller was ready to serve him.

"Is Account Manager Silverclaw available right now?" He asked the goblin while showing him the Potter Heir ring - hopefully that would be enough to get him the meeting on such a short notice. The teller eyed the ring for a few moments and not finding any signs that it was a fake tapped some rune etched onto his counter with his long, bony finger.

"One moment." After a few seconds he continued, even if Harry hadn't noticed anything happening. "Master Silverclaw is busy at the moment but agrees to see you in three hours. Do you want to schedule that meeting?" The green-eyed teen nodded. The goblin a few more runes on his counter and an official letter inviting Mr. Harry Potter to a meeting with Account Manager Silverclaw appeared there about a minute later. The teller then handed it over to Harry. "Any other business you have with Gringotts at this time?" He asked next.

"Yes." The young wizard replied. "I'd like to exchange one hundred twenty six Galleons into Muggle currency. Please take the gold from vault fourteen seventy two." After making sure that the vault in question indeed had enough Galleons in it, the teller reached into a drawer of his workstation and pulled a stack of notes out of it.

"Here you go, six hundred and thirty Pounds." He said while handing the notes over. "Anything else?" Harry shook his head.

"No, not at this time."

"Then stop holding the line, wizard." The teller barked at him before calling 'Next!' the moment Harry stepped away from his counter. Shaking his head at the typical Goblin service, the green-eyed Potter put the Muggle money in his bag and headed back to The Leaky Cauldron: he had three hours to kill before his meeting with Account Manager Silverclaw.

Harry's meeting with the Potter Account Manager later that day was a pretty short one. Master Silverclaw congratulated him on getting his emancipation, while he thanked the Goblins for their help with the pachmentwork for his emancipation request in return.

Then he asked for directions to the Potter estate.

It was located in South-eastern Wales, not far from Newbridge-on-Usk. There was no precise address, though, since it wasn't actually a part of any village. The young wizard also bought a portkey there and back for a 'nominal' fee of two Galleons. A bit more expensive than Knight Bus tickets, but he'd rather his first visit to the estate didn't involve a ride on that purple abomination.

And that was it for the meeting.

Seeing how it was nearly two in the afternoon already, Harry decided to postpone visiting the Potter estate until tomorrow morning and fulfill his promise to Uncle Vernon in the meantime instead. Thus, after a quick lunch he changed into his Muggle clothes, grabbed Pounds he had exchanged earlier and went outside to summon the dreadful Knight Bus…

An uncomfortable and rather long ride later - the Muggle town of Little Whinging wasn't exactly a priority stop for the Magical 'Emergency Transportation Service' after all - Harry found himself in the familiar neighborhood of Privet Drive.

Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was too early for Mr. Dursley to be back home from work. And while he trusted Aunt Petunia not to hide the fact that he had dropped by with money, he still wanted to give them to Uncle Vernon personally. He also wasn't in the mood for just spending that hour inside Number Four, so with a shrug Harry headed the opposite way - towards the local park.

As it was rather hot Tuesday afternoon, the streets of Little Whinging were mostly empty save for occasional passersby. It was perfectly fine with Harry as he was simply wandering around to kill some time. After spending some time in the park, he let his legs carry him wherever it pleased them and eventually found himself in front of the local primary school. It, of course, was closed due to the summer holidays, so he continued wandering around the town.

Finally, it was five in the afternoon and about time for his Uncle to return home. Turning around, the green-eyed teen headed towards the Number Four, Privet Drive. And as he arrived there some fifteen minutes later, he saw Mr. Dursley drive his car into the garage. Quickening his step a little, Harry walked up to the house's front door, arriving there just in time to meet his Uncle almost face-to-face.

"What are you doing here, bo- Harry?" The walrus-like man asked in place of greeting.

"I promised that I would bring you a small compensation for raising me up when I got my emancipation, didn't I?" The Potter scion replied, before adding: "And good afternoon to you too, Uncle Vernon." The mention of money had an almost-Magical effect on the man:

"So you did get it? My congratulations!" Mr. Dursley said, actually managing to sound quite sincere. Of course, one could still hear the unspoken 'now give me my money' in his voice.

"I did, thank you." Harry replied with a nod. He then reached into his bad and pulled the stack of notes. "Here." He said while handing the money over. "I know it's not much, but that's about all I can spare at this time." Uncle Vernon quickly counted the money before pocketing them.

"No, that's alright." He said. "It's way more important that you kept your word and did as you've promised - unlike the other… people from your world that I've had a misfortune to interact with." Harry's only response to this was a quiet nod. Meanwhile, Mr. Dursley continued: "It looks like you're managing pretty well so far, just make sure you don't let all that mambo-jumbo turn you into a good-for-nothing freak that gives us, normal folks, nothing but trouble. Be a better man than they are. I know you can be one."

"Thank you, and I will." The young wizard replied.

"Now, I shouldn't keep Petunia and Dudley waiting and, I'm sure, you have places to be as well, ...Harry." The older man said. "So… It's a goodbye, I guess." He then offered Harry his big, meaty hand.

"Goodbye, Uncle Vernon." The green-eyed teen replied, shaking his hand.

And with that they went their ways.

Vernon Dursley entered Number Four while Harry walked away, heading towards that small driveway in a less-populated part of Little Whinging. And once he was there, he summoned the Knight Bus and asked to drop him off at Charrington Cross.

~/ *** \~

The morning next day was decidedly colder and more cloudy, but that did nothing to change Harry's mind about finally visiting the Potter estate. Thus, after a full breakfast courtesy of Tom the bartender, he changed into clothes more suitable for exploring not-so-ancient ruins of the Potter manor and activated the Gringotts-provided portkey.

An uncomfortable but thankfully very brief trip later, Harry found himself in a heap on the ground. Getting up, he dusted his clothes and looked around. He now was somewhere in the countryside, not far away from a narrow but asphalted and well-maintained road. To his left he could see several crop fields with a small village in the distance while to his right there was a large group of trees - he just couldn't really call that a forest. Across the road and beyond another crop field he could see a thin blue line of a river. Usk river, he believed it was.

Shaking his head, the young Potter followed the instructions given to him and headed for the 'forest'. And as he passed through it, he felt some Magic wash over him, resonating with whatever enchantments that his Heir's ring had. These had to be the wards of the Potter estate…

This immediately raised a question in his mind: if the boundary ward were still active despite everything, they had to have been active a decade ago as well - along with whatever other wards that existed around the manor. And Harry was really doubtful that his ancestors didn't include some ward to protect their house from fires. So, why had the Potter manor burned down in nineteen eighty three?

Resolving to find the answer to that question later, he pushed forward and as soon as exited the 'forest', he found himself on a large field, overgrown with wild herbs and small bushes and completely surrounded with trees. Here and there, he could see old and unkempt apple and plum trees. And near the center of the field several charred walls towered over grass - all that was left from the Potter manor.

Deciding that he should see the actual state the remains of the manor were before exploring the grounds, Harry carefully approached the conflagration. The area immediately around it, having been paved with stone, turned out to be mostly free of grass though some small herbs could be seen growing here and there among the ashes. From his current spot he could also see that the manor had been quite large in its heyday. Probably big enough to house at least a dozen or so Potters plus several guests.

A house that big, Harry thought, would feel quite empty when he finally moved in. And probably even after he got a family of his own. So, yes, the new Potter manor needed to be smaller. It wasn't like it couldn't be expanded if there is ever a need for that, after all.

Shaking his head, the green-eyed wizard continued with the exploration of the conflagration. The upper floors were - of course - gone completely and the ground floor was just ashes and pieces of debris that didn't burn up completely, but the manor likely had had a basement and Harry wanted to know if anything in there had survived the fire.

It took him some time to locate it, especially since it had been half-buried under rubble, but eventually the young Potter managed to locate a charred wooden trapdoor. With some effort, he managed to clear the trapdoor out. Opening it also proved to be a challenge as its hinges got rusty after being exposed to elements for the past decade. But there it was, open wide like a dark hole leading into the unexplored depths of the house's basement, and Harry was quite eager to find out what was down there.

The basement, it turns out, was just two moderately-sized storerooms containing old furniture, cauldrons of various sizes and materials, several chests with assorted items, a number of ancient-looking broomsticks and three racks of robes, cloaks and hats that must have gone out of style a couple of centuries ago. All in all, while most of the things down there were in a good enough condition to be useful, none of them were something that Harry would want to use if he had an alternative.

Much more useful to him was a big, plain-looking jar that had been half-hidden behind one of the trunks: it was filled with Magical gold and silver totaling at nearly two hundred Galleons. After some thinking, Harry decided to leave it where it was for now, though he'd definitely need to remove the money to a more secure place before the construction of the new Potter manor begins.

Done with inventorying the storerooms, the green-eyed teen was ready to leave the basement and go back outside when something on the wall across the stairs got his attention. Walking up to it, he placed his hand on the rough, bare stone as he tried to figure out what exactly had drawn his attention there. He got his answers a couple of seconds later when his Heir's ring pulsed with Magic and the wall began shifting into a passage in a manner not too different from the archway leading into the Diagon Alley.

At the end of the passage, there was a small room - maybe six by six feet - with a large polished rock, covered in runes, sitting on a pedestal at its center. It was probably the wardstone, Harry reasoned. Alas, he didn't know nearly enough about Ancient Runes to even begin to understand what exactly all those runes were for. He would definitely need to hire someone proficient in warding to set up the new wards for the Potter manor when he had it rebuilt.

Finished with his inspection of the basement, the young wizard made his way outside: it was time to see what else was there on the grounds and what state it all was in. Pausing for a moment at the top of the stair leading out of the basement, Harry fished a piece of parchment and a self-inking quill out of his bag: a map of the estate grounds would be quite helpful for planning how he wanted them redeveloped.

The orchard was his first stop. And while it looked as abandoned as the rest of the estate, the apple and plum trees themselves were in pretty good condition and with a bit of work could be made pretty and fructiferous again. Rose and lilac bushes managed to survive a decade without anyone caring for them pretty well too. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the parterres. They were all but gone, completely overtaken by sturdier wild herbs. It might not be that great of a loss, though, as rebuilding the manor would likely result in them being destroyed anyway.

There also was an overgrown pond a bit further away from the remains of the manor. The water was pretty clear and rather deep, though, and it gave Harry an idea: if it could be expanded and given a gently-sloping sandy waterside, then this pond could become his private beach for hot summer days.

Another point of interest on the grounds of the Potter estate was an old, spreading oak not far away from the orchard that had been turned into something of a natural owlry, complete with a number of hollows that could be accessed via a set of spiraling stairs. Quite unsurprisingly, one of those hollows was currently occupied by a family of completely non-Magical barn owls.

Finally, on the opposite side of the grounds from the point he had arrived from, there was an outcropping of woods. And when Harry explored that tiny forest, much to his surprise, he discovered a number of Magical mushrooms and herbs growing there.

Once he was finished with his exploration of the estate grounds and his hand-drawn map was completed, Harry packed his things and used the portkey to go back to Diagon Alley.

~/ *** \~

"Good morning, Albus." Croaker greeted as he stepped into the man's office. "I have news for you regarding the ring we've retrieved from the Gaunt shack."

"I hope they are good ones?" Dumbledore asked.

"Certainly." The Unspeakable replied. "The horcrux was inside the ring itself, so destroying it without damaging the gem wasn't an issue once we removed a very powerful withering curse from it." The Hogwarts Headmaster nodded.

"Good." He said. "That was the fifth one destroyed, wasn't it? Hopefully, it means there is only one left. And I believe I have some ideas about where it might be hidden." He made a brief pause before continuing. "But unless you are willing to go after it by yourself, retrieving it will have to wait for a couple of weeks. It was decided that another attempt to revive the Triwizard Tournament should be made, so I'll be busy negotiating about it with Mamam Maxime and Igor Karkarov and our respective Ministries for Magic." Croaker hummed in acknowledgment.

"I believe our next horcrux hunt could wait for a bit." He said. "Anyway." He continued then. "Remember how you said that you could feel some very powerful Magics from the ring?" Dumbledore nodded. "You were right. The ring's gem has some really unusual and powerful enchantments on it. And they are something that even my people have great trouble understanding. As best as we can tell thus far, this gem is somehow connected with the world beyond. Further study is required to understand what exactly it can do."

"Interesting." The old warlock said. "Do you think it might be the Resurrection Stone?" He asked then.

"As in the one from the fable of the three brothers?" Croaker asked back. "I will not say that it is completely impossible, but would an artifact so powerful really be used as nothing more than a decoration on a ring of a fallen House?" There was a brief pause, before he continued: "I will have that angle explored as well, of course, but I really doubt we've accidentally discovered one the Hallows."

"I see…" The Hogwarts Headmaster replied. "If you would, please notify me of any progress made on understanding the gem."

"Of course." The Unspeakable promised. After a couple of seconds he continued: "Now then, can you please share your ideas about where the next Dark Lord's horcrux might be? Even if we aren't going after it just yet, it wouldn't hurt to begin planning our preparations for the next hunt." Dumbledore nodded.

"Alright." He began. "Here is what I think is the most likely place Voldemort had hidden it might be..."

That's all, folks!
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