27th August 1996
The last few days had been both enjoyable and exhausting for Harry. He'd stuck to his demanding yet rewarding routine, and the results were clear: gone was the scrawny boy everyone remembered. In his place was a healthier, more energetic Harry. His posture had improved, and his muscles were leaner and more defined, though still a work in progress. He was finally starting to feel strong and confident in his own skin.
On the magical front, Harry had been diving deep into both wandless and wanded practice. By now, he'd nearly mastered the entire third-year syllabus in his wand-based subjects, and he was halfway through the non-wanded ones. He found magic captivating—after all, it could alter reality with a flick of a wand.
Speaking of wands, his new wand was quite moody and competitive; it refused to perform unless he gave it his best. While frustrating at times, this challenge pushed Harry to reach heights he'd never thought possible, making his magical growth exponential.
During his stay at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry decided to delve into the mind arts. It hadn't been easy—Occlumency was a highly regulated subject, tightly controlled by the Ministry of Magic. Naturally, they didn't want Occlumens emerging left and right, given that such practitioners could hide any information they wanted from the Ministry. A master Occlumens could even lie under the effects of Veritaserum.
I was able to get a book on Occlumency from Knockturn Alley after spending days looking for it.
According to the book,
Occlumency is the act of magically closing one's mind against Legilimency. It can prevent a Legilimens from accessing or influencing one's thoughts and emotions. The basic form involves clearing the mind—making it "blank and empty"—to block outside intrusion. More advanced Occlumency involves suppressing specific thoughts, emotions, and memories, allowing the Occlumens to control what a Legilimens perceives. This art requires immense willpower and mental discipline, similar to resisting the Imperius Curse. It's also a known defense against Veritaserum.
After practicing for a few days Harry was able to clear his mind and sort through his memories. What the book hadn't mentioned was that occlumency not only helps you defend against a Legilimens but also helps in sharpening the mind. At his current level, Harry could sense a Legilimency probe but had no chance of fully defending against it. He could only hold on long enough to break eye contact—if he failed, he'd have no defense at all.
Today is the 27th of August which means Hermione and the Weasleys will come to Leaky Cauldron in 4 days.
After completing his workout for the day, Harry decided to rest, as he had been working nonstop for nearly a month with only six hours of sleep per day.
As he is resting on his bed he calls out in his mind 'Status'
-Status-
-Name: Harry Potter-
-Stats (Free Stat Points:0)-
--Body: 5--
--Magic: 9--
--Mind: 7--
----Occlumency(Novice): 7----
----Legilimency(Novice): 1---- [A/N: After Marge incident]
----Obliviate(Novice): 0----
-Skills (Free Skill Points:0; Free Experience Points:0)-
--Transfiguration(Novice): 10--
--Charms(Novice): 10--
--Defense Against the Dark Arts(Apprentice): 1--
--Healing(Novice): 3--
--Divination(Novice): 0--
--Astronomy(Novice): 9--
--Alchemy(Novice): 0--
--Potions(Novice): 9--
--Herbology(Novice): 9--
--Magizoology (Care of Magical Creatures)(Novice): 5--
--Runes(Novice): 5--
--Arithmancy(Novice): 4--
--Flying[Broom](Expert): 10--
--Wandlore(Novice): 4--
--Illusion Magic(Novice): 0--
--Appartion(Novice): 0--
--Wandless Magic(Novice): 4--
--Parseltongue(Journeyman): 10--
--Dark Arts(Novice): 5--
--Elemental Magic: --
----Fire: 3%----
----Water: 2%----
----Earth: 1%----
----Wind: 1%----
----Lightning: 1%----
After a few hours of rest, Harry decided to stroll through Diagon Alley. He spotted several classmates and professors, but none recognized him—a fact that suited him just fine. Even his dormmates Dean, Seamus, and Neville didn't recognize him without his now-faded scar.
Lost in thought, Harry suddenly collided with someone. On reflex, he reached out to steady them before they fell. Looking down, he saw a familiar red-haired girl.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," she apologized.
"It's alright, Susan," Harry replied, waving off her apology.
"Um… who are you? I don't recall ever meeting you before. Are you in the upper years?" Susan asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Harry put on his best pompous grin. "You wound me, Susan. It's me—Harry Potter, destroyer of Dark Lords, survivor of the Killing Curse, and the most handsome boy at Hogwarts." he declared, giving his best Lockhart smile as he remembered Susan was one of the girls who had a huge crush on Lockhart.
"Please don't remind me of Lockhart I just want to forget that phase of my life completely." she replied hotly before exclaiming in surprise, "Is that really you Harry? You look really different, and you are not wearing those rags..... I am sorry I didn't mean it like that."
"Hey, it's alright and they were rags. I was tired of wearing my cousin's hand-me-downs and decided to shop for my own clothes"
"Oh, that explains it!" Susan giggled. "For a while, I thought your style was… well, unique. Glad to know it was just your cousin's hand-me-downs."
"Yeah, no more of that nonsense," Harry agreed.
At that moment, a voice called from a distance. "Susan, hurry! We need to get home. You can catch up with your friend later."
Susan gave Harry a warm smile. "Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, Harry."
"Looking forward to it," Harry replied, smiling back.
Susan hurried off to join her aunt. Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, gave her niece a knowing smile. "So, who was that?" she teased.
Susan grinned, a little shy but mostly amused. "Just a friend from school, Auntie—Harry Potter."
Amelia's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Harry Potter, eh? He certainly seems different from the stories."
Susan laughed softly as they stepped into the Floo network together.