Chapter 24 - Strike 1 2 3 4?
As classes began for the year, I didn't waste any time to vault my self to the top. By the time lunch came around, both Hermione and Neville, realized I stopped holding myself back. The previous year, I would only answer questions from time to time, leaving them to Hermione for the most part. But now, I would raise my hand for every question, sometimes faster than Hermione. From all our study sessions together, they both knew how much further my knowledge base was and that the classes were just used to fill any holes in them. By the end of the day, Hermione and I started a competition between us, on who could gain the most house points by the end of the year. Neville had, unfortunately, for him became the score keeper for our competition. And at the end of all the classes for the day, I took a conservative 30 points lead on her, I didn't want to push it too much on the first day.
I told Hermione and Neville that I would skip out on the study session for more adventuring around Hogwarts, as it was still the first day. Being used to my wandering habits, they didn't ask any questions as I left the two of them alone. I went straight to the Room of Requirements, after making sure nobody was around with the Map. I asked for the Room of Hidden Things as I walked back and forth, in front of the spot I knew the door would appear. I spent about an hour looking for the diadem, and when I did find it, I called Sebas right away. I pointed out the diadem and told him that he will need to bring it to me later in the year when I ask for it. I now had 2 out of the 3 Horcruxes, I was going to destroy this year.
The following day I had my first class with Gilderoy Lockhart, and he was just as arrogant, conceited and self-absorbed as shown in canon. I didn't take his pop quiz seriously at all, didn't care one bit about his personal details but didn't want detention with him so just guessed everything. Hermione was fawning over him the entire class, until he let out the Cornish Pixies. They quickly became chaotic, as expected. A few of them stared smashing vials that were stored around the room, a few tried to attack the students, and some of them even tried getting out of the room. His lack of skills became very apparent after his first spell failed to get them under control because he immediately started panicking. He didn't have anything else he could do, even though he had managed to keep his wand this time around. Before they could cause anymore chaos, I pulled my wand out and cast the freezing charm on all of them and then banished them to their cages. The class had still been disrupted too much to continue anymore, so Lockhart let us all out with an embarrassed expression on his face, he had spectacularly failed his first class.
Hermione had been shocked at the mismatch of the actual person we had met in class and the figure she imagined when reading Lockhart's books. I made her create a timeline of all his achievements to get her answer. Though confused about at my direction, she still went through with it. I had to freeze her on the spot when she finished her review of Lockhart's life. She was adamant about calling him out on his lies right away. I calmed her down by explaining that hiring Lockhart was probably Dumbledore's plan to expose him. When he failed to teach anyone anything all year, it would show that he was a fraud. I think it was because she was still just a child that she believed me, I didn't have the heart to tell her that he was the only one that wanted to apply for the position, according to canon at least. If Hermione didn't know about that particular curse yet then I wasn't going to be the one to tell her. Besides I was hoping with the death of Voldemort, it would go away very soon.
After the Pixies incident, things had calmed down for the next few weeks. Classes continued on as per usual, while I kept training for the fight with the basilisk. Quidditch practises had started up after the first week of classes, and this year Oliver had designed even more tactics that put me into the attack formation. He wanted Gryffindor to win the tournament with even more dominance than we did the previous year. He had taken to organizing some morning practises as well, wanting to give the team every opportunity to get better. It seemed the increased intensity that Oliver was showing bothered the Slytherins. And just like in canon, they got a note from Snape that gave them permission to take the field from us. Draco had bought the entire team the new Nimbus 2001s and was arrogantly showing them off. Hermione wasn't around this time, so nobody got cursed with a mouthful of slugs. Though this time it definitely would have been Draco.
As we left the field, the Slytherin players made sure to laugh us away. Unfortunately, what they didn't know was that we would have the last laugh. Knowing what Draco was going to do this year with the 2001s, I also had the elves buy the new brooms for the entire Gryffindor team. I did give them the brooms, but we decided to keep them hidden until the first game; everyone still practised with them but in secret. After we left the field, all the Gryffindor players lauded me for making sure we didn't lose out to the Slytherins and lamented the poor Slytherins for their ignorance. They thought it was quite the coincidence, well all of them except the twins. I could tell by their expressions that they knew I had somehow found out what Draco was going to do beforehand. I made sure to give them a mock bow to acknowledge their speculation.
Over the summer, I did get the opportunity to introduce the twins to Sirius, unfortunately it was with entire Weasley family as well. When I had sent an invitation for the twins, Molly Weasley had taken it to assume the whole family was invited as well. Fortunately, we had made the invitation for Grimmauld Place, not Potter Manor. And because the entire family was present, the first meeting of the twins and Sirius was very subdued. If they had been alone, we probably would have started discussing the various pranks the other has pulled at Hogwarts, maybe some of the graphic ones as well, at least in Sirius' case. He had told me some very funny stories albeit extremely inappropriate for someone my age. Maybe they would even talk to Sirius about the joke/prank shop I assumed was still their goal for the future. But with the matriarch of the family present, the conversations were all wholesome and family friendly. And unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to meet with the twins alone again, but Sirius had still enjoyed meeting them, nonetheless. Though he too would have liked to meet them away from Molly, and Percy. Sirius didn't get a good impression of him either, but that was not a surprise. Percy was too much of a stickler to be someone Sirius enjoyed spending time with.
After the incident with the Slytherins, Oliver made our practises more sporadic so they wouldn't be able to pull anything else. Without having to worry about them, the rest of our practises went very smoothly. And so, between classes, training, and Quidditch practises, time flew by fast. And before I knew it, I was waking up on Halloween morning, feeling very antsy. The elves had kept watch of the bathroom the entire time and neither Ginny or any other student had visited it and opened the Chamber. And so, I had to wait for the day I knew it would be opened.
The morning of, I had a hard time keeping still, my legs were constantly restless. As such, I spent the entire morning and afternoon in the Room of Requirements, working off the jittery feeling. I needed to have a clear head going into the battle so I needed to get all the nerves out before. Thankfully, it was Sunday so I didn't have to worry about classes getting in the way. During the Halloween feast I made sure to eat my fill, not overstuffing my self, but enough to give me all the energy I would need. I confirmed the battle would happen today as I had noticed Ginny missing from the first-year students.
After the feast, as all the students made their way back to the dorms, we discovered the petrified cat, with same message inscribed on the wall that I knew from canon. And knowing how canon Harry got blamed by Filch for being the closest to the cat, I made sure to stay in the back of the crowd. As a result, it ended up being Draco that got accusations hurled at him, being the closest one. Too busy trying to fend off accusations against himself, he had no time to make racist remarks this occasion. Dumbledore tried to calm Filch down but he wasn't having it, he wanted Draco punished. And so, it ended up being Draco, who was taken to Lockhart's office. I wanted to laugh so badly, but I restrained myself as that would have instead drawn suspicion to myself. But still, I hadn't even planned for that at all, I thought this time nobody would get the blame but I guess Dumbledore really valued Filch, to go along with his eccentricities. Though, to be fair, Dumbledore was fairly eccentric himself.
I joined the rest of the students, heading back to the dorms. When I got to my bed, I quickly closed my curtains and waited for one of the elves. I didn't know whose turn it was to watch over the chamber but it seemed they couldn't stop Ginny from going into the Chamber the first time. After 10 seconds of waiting, it was Sebas, who appeared with the diary in hand. He apologized for not being able to stop Ginny but Moaning Myrtle was present at the time, so he could only wait for Ginny to come back. He got his chance when she returned, probably right after inscribing the message on the wall, with Myrtle being away from the bathroom this time. Since Ginny was completely innocent in all this, I made sure to tell the elves to be as gentle as possible when dealing with her. And as instructed, all Sebas did was use a simple sleeping spell to incapacitate her and then took her back to her room. It wasn't hard for him to find Ginny's room, as he lived in Hogwarts for a few years. I had Sebas keep the diary in safe place, I told him I would ask for it very soon and then had him take me to the 2nd floor bathroom, I made sure Myrtle was away using the map. I then had him fetch my broom, while I quickly stretched a bit so I didn't pull anything. After Sebas came back with my broom, I took it from him and then dismissed him, telling him to be ready for my call to bring the diary to me and then to immediately go back for the diadem.
Once I was alone, I walked up to the sink with the snake engraved sink-tap.
"SSOpenSS," I hissed in Parseltongue, for the first time in my life.
I had previously chosen to avoid using the ability, to reduce the risk of strengthening the effects of the horcrux inside me. Considering I had the ability at all showed that it already had some effect on me.
As the sink opened up, I slid down the large pipe that was revealed, with my broom in hand and when I landed on the ground, I found myself in the corridors of the Chamber. I got on my broom and levitated into the air and made my way inside. I found the old skin shed from the basilisk, and it was the 60ft basilisk from the movies. Damn it! The books had a 12 ft one, why couldn't I get that one. The corridors were very maze-like, as I twisted and turned, left and right until finally coming to the giant door that led to where I knew the basilisk would be. The door itself had seven snake shaped locks that slithered outward, while an eighth snake slithered around the edge. Before I opened this door, I conjured my blinders and then activated my magic perception spell. I chose not put on my alter-ego as there was nobody to hide from, and the basilisk didn't care if I was an adult or not. Then I, finally gave the command to open the door.
It was only when the door was fully opened, that I was able to sense the inside of the Chamber. Either, the door was made of a special material that wards off all magic, or it's been created to be as such. I mentally added a note to come back and research this door and then proceeded inside. It looked exactly like in the movies, statues made of stone in the form of the basilisk heads lined the entire chamber. I stayed right on the outskirts of the chamber for a few seconds; my spell had detected the Chamber's occupant in the internal part. I closed my eyes took a deep breath in and let it out after holding it for a few seconds, and repeated once again and one more time after that. Each time I took a breath in, I was rousing the magic inside me, to it's peak. After the deep breaths, I flew further inside the chamber, with my focus on the basilisk the entire time. It wasn't stirred at all as I got deeper and deeper into it's home. Being on the broom, allowed me to be completely silent in my approach, as I knew basilisks had ears unlike normal snakes. As I got to the where I knew it would come out from, I reached my hand out and gathered my magic, and then called out to the overgrown lizard.
"SSHoney, I'm home!SS " I tried to hiss in a friendly manner.
I sensed him stir and make his way out while he hissed at me.
"SSYou dare invade my master's home. Kill! SS" he hissed in anger
Taking that as a sure sign he's coming out for blood, I let loose a wind blade aimed right where one of it's eyes should be. The shot hit the basilisk right as it came out but it was quick to turn it's head and the blades cut passed it's tougher skin. It only resulted in a shallow cut.
If it was mad at me before, now it was enraged as it made a beeline for me. As I took a deep breath in, I waited for it to come closer. Just as it made it to bite me, I took off past it's head to the other side. It turned around and made to chase after me. Using the manoeuvrability the broom provided me, I weaved in and out of the stone statues. I would use the basilisk's momentum against it, as every time it made to bite, I would draw gusts of wind to push it just past me to hit statues head on. I always made sure to direct the wind to go along with the basilisk's momentum as much possible, affecting it's trajectory just enough so it would hit the statues instead of getting me. This way I conserved a lot of magic each time, as my focus was on precision and not power.
After one too many knocks on the head, it gave up trying to bite me and started using it's tail to try and whip me into paste. Whatever advantage I had gained, I lost as the tail started destroying the statues every time it missed me. I was able to stay ahead of it's tail but now and then I would slam against the walls of the Chamber or get hit by rubble from the destroyed statues. I don't remember the basilisk in canon being this fast, or clever. But even though it was turning out to be a difficult battle, I was also very excited. This was the first time I was being pushed this much in the wizarding world.
When most of the statues had been destroyed, the basilisk started using both it's head and tail to attack me. Seeing that it was getting serious, I decided to get serious as well and called my wand out to my hand in its full form. Instantly, the wind blades that I had been continuously casting became sharper and denser, increasing their cutting power. I flew up, down, twisting left, twisting right and around the basilisk's entire body, littering it with deep lacerations. Eventually, I was able to get both it's eyes, though it did take me awhile, it was a lot smarter and fiercer than what the movies had shown. Even without it's eyes, it was still very dangerous as it thrashed around violently hoping to kill me by chance. Utilizing it's blindness, I manoeuvred myself to the back of its neck and sent multiple wind blades down on it. But it continued to flail about to get at me so it still took some time but I was able to behead it, eventually.
As soon as it's head hit the ground, I flew over to it and then got of my broom. I walked up to the head and used my hands to find it's eyes. When I did, I called my wind magic again to obliterate them, didn't want to take any chances. Only when I was sure it was safe did I vanish the blinders. When I took stock of myself, I realized I was covered in scrapes and bruises. The pain from my injuries only now being felt as the adrenaline of the fight left my body. Taking a look at the dead basilisk next to me, I was stunned. Caught up in the battle, I never took in it's size as we began fighting the moment it came out. But now looking at it, lying dead in front me, was mind-boggling. I couldn't believe I had just fought that thing. When I was finally able to collect myself, I got the rest of the night underway.
"Kreacher" I called the bitter elf. He was bound to respond to me as Sirius was my guardian making me part of the Black family.
As soon as he appeared, the expression on his face turned pale, the first thing he saw was the basilisk. But soon enough, his expression turned to glee. He now understood why I needed the extra months to destroy the locket. Without saying anything to me or even looking my way he disappeared and then returned moments later with Salazar Slytherin's locket. I knew it was a horcrux right away, my detection spell picking up the dark magic in it.
"Master Harry! Here it is, please destroy it." He pleaded with utmost sincerity, presenting the locket to me.
"No Kreacher, you were given this task to complete and have been trying for so many years. It's only right that you get to be the one to do it." I replied, pushing the locket back to him. He accepted it back with tears forming in his eyes. I didn't comment on it, understanding the gravity of the moment for him.
I pulled out one of the basilisk's teeth out from its mouth using wandless levitation, wasn't going to risk touching the venom. I placed it right in front of Kreacher and told him to use it to stab the locket but make sure to get something to hold the tooth first. Or at least tried to, before I could complete the sentence, he had already bent down picked up the tooth and stabbed the locket. A ghast wail came out of the locket as, Kreacher and I, both saw a mist of black flow out. I knew it worked when I couldn't detect any darker magic from it. Huh, I thought I would have to open the locket with Parseltongue first, but I guess not.
I then called Sebas who brought the diary with him. He looked absolutely aghast at my injuries and then nearly fainted when caught sight of the dead basilisk. He muttered something about stupid, arrogant, genius, powerful wizards and then proceeded to forcefully care for my injuries. As Kreacher all ready had the tooth in hand, I tossed the diary to him and told him to destroy it as well. He obliged without any insults my way, instead with a pleased expression on his face. Now that I had come through on my promise, his entire demeanor towards me changed. Just the same as the locket, the diary gave out a deathly wail and puff of black smoke as another part of Voldemort's soul was snuffed out. When Sebas was finally done bandaging me up, he went and retrieved the locket. He was adamant about taking care of injuries first, and thankfully, they could all be covered up. Once again, I had Kreacher kill the shade of Voldemort in the diadem, as well. And just like that I had destroyed 3 of the 6 horcruxes. Hopefully, the 7th one never come to be. As it would mean the death of the innocent Bertha Jorkins.
I had Sebas take the remnants of the Horcruxes to Potter Manor and hide them somewhere nobody would find them. I wanted everything to be taken care of without anybody realizing what had happened. I hoped that by the time fourth year came and the Triwizard tournament came to be, I had all of Voldemort's horcruxes destroyed. Though getting the last two will be difficult, the ring had a curse that even Dumbledore couldn't stop and the Cup was secured in Gringotts. Not to mention the one inside me!
Before having Sebas drop me off at my room, I had him take me to where the possessed Ginny inscribed the message on the wall. I remembered Filch being unable to remove it in canon, even with using some type of all magic removing spray or something. I hoped that with the destruction of the diary, the message would be gone as well, or at least removable. When we got to the wall, it was indeed blank. The message had disappeared, though I would have to keep an ear out to see if any professors had done it instead, just out of curiosity.
The next few weeks at Hogwarts were very enjoyable. All the talk was around the Chamber of Secrets and what it could mean if the stories were true. Hermione was the one helped the rumors spread the most by asking Binns about it during class. The brief history lesson on whatever the old ghost knew of the Chamber had spread to every student, possible even making it home in letters. Draco, had come out looking much worse as a result. The fact that the heir was suspected to be in Slytherin due to the Chamber's origin, he had to bear the burden of suspicion again. Everyone, quickly forgot how he was just the unlucky one to be closest to the cat. He tried to take advantage of the infamy the first few days, picking on first years and some smaller second year who were afraid of him. But just as quickly the tables turned for him, as the older years started picking on him. Asking him to call his so-called beast if he really was the heir. He soon became the target of the twins as well, and I think that was the worst punishment he could get; one day they had his entire robe charmed pink, the next day turned his hair the same colour as the Weasley's well known red, and the next charmed his voice a few octaves higher, and on it went for the rest of the year for the poor guy.
The bad luck followed home to the Malfoy family as well. After dealing with the basilisk one of the first things I started doing was sending Lucius Malfoy encyclopedias, one volume at a time. With each one, containing a sock, hidden towards the latter end of the book. I had gotten Lucius' schedule from Dobby when he got caught during the summer. And so made sure the books were sent to him when he would be in the presence of the energetic elf. It took until volume E for him to toss one of them to Dobby to get rid of. From what I learned from the extremely grateful elf later, Lucius would just burn and destroy the first few, disgusted at "muggle filth" being in his house. But by the time volume E got to him, he was fed up and tossed it to Dobby. Lucius would never come learn who it was that facilitated the release of his house elf.
At Hogwarts, in the same week that I had released Dobby, I also gave more misfortune for Draco. The look on his and all the other Slytherin player's faces was priceless, as the entire Gryffindor team came out with the Nimbus 2001s as well.
"Did you think you were the only rich student in Hogwarts?" I asked Draco rhetorically, with a smug expression on my face, while his had taken on a sullen expression, that was mirrored by all the Slytherin.
Whatever advantage they thought they would have with the brooms was gone. And it seemed like that was what most of their strategies relied on. Every single tactic they executed would have worked, if they had the advantage of better brooms. But since that was gone, we picked apart their offense and defense. And without the cursed Bludger, we handed Slytherin one the worst losses ever. As all the Gryffindor players were heading to the change room after our win, I caught sight of Slytherin's captain Flint, berating Draco. This year was not a fun year for the guy, but better him than me.
Unlike Halloween that caught me off guard, I welcomed the winter break as it arrived. With the main goal I had for the year completed without any issues, I could go explore that magical building. The work on the board games was pretty much done, Sirius had put it all together over the months I had been at Hogwarts. Though he would constantly update or ask advice from me, via the elves. We still had not decided on a name yet, Marauders' Inc. remaining as our place holder. As always, I had Tipsy pick me up from the compartment. When we got home, Sirius was not present so I ended up just lounging around, practising my fire magic. I still only trained with candles, any bigger flames and I lost control quickly. It was going to be a slow progress for fire.
When Sirius got home, he told me that he just came from a meeting with Dumbledore. He wanted to know if my so-called guardian had paid a visit to Hogwarts unannounced, once again. He looked at me expectantly after that, to explain if "he" was there. But I denied it and it was the truth, technically. Sirius had told the same to Dumbledore but it didn't seem like the headmaster had believed him. Though Dumbledore asking Sirius about my guardian meant he suspected someone to have stopped further attacks from happening at Hogwarts, the primary suspect being my alter-ego. I asked Sirius if Dumbledore had explained why he wanted to know but apparently the headmaster had avoided answering Sirius' questions on the matter. As per canon, it seemed Dumbledore wanted to keep everything quiet which worked in my favour. Nobody except the elves needed to know about my adventures with Voldemort. And I had 2 more elves for help, in Kreacher and Dobby. Both swearing allegiances to me as soon as they could. Though Kreacher still technically belonged to Sirius, neither interacted with each other at all, as Sirius had the other elves to call on.
The first day of the break was spent playing our finished games with the elves. Sebas was the best at Quibble, with surprisingly Nabel giving him a tough competition. Dobby and Sirius had begun to play their own game of making up words, but none of them counted on the parchment. When we played Empire, it was my time to shine. By the time any of the others could even begin building their manors, I was already building my castles. I had landed on Hogwarts and the Ministry, early on, and it set me up for the whole game. We ended playing for the entire day, only stopping for some light meals.
The following day Sirius went off to meet with some wizards he had met recently. The elves had decided to restructure their work schedule to accommodate Kreacher and Dobby, since they knew how difficult it was to be the new elves, so to speak. Before they got busy with that, I had one of them drop me off close to where I knew the magical building to be. It was fairly chilly outside so I had to cast a wandless warming charm. There were a few people out and about, as I walked past them to my destination. When I got the spot, I cast a glance at the disguised building. Without activating my detection spell, even I wouldn't think twice about the normal looking town house. Once I did activate my spell, I immediately detected the large amounts of magic radiating outward. As I walked up to the unassuming building, I focused on my wand to have it at the ready, just in case.
"Yes, how can I help you" asked an older looking gentleman, who answered when I knocked on the front doors. He was wearing a set of robes that I would have pictured Jedi, from Star Wars, wearing. Definitely was a magic user.
"Um, yeah hi! I wanted to meet the master; I mean owner of the building." I explained as politely as possible.
"I am the person in charge of this building, how can I help you?" He asked amused. I think being a kid, he was willing to entertain me.
"No offense, but the magic radiating from this building is too powerful to have come from you." I tried not to offend him with my comment but my detection spell was good enough to tell the magic of the building was on a whole different scale. If he was surprised at my ability to detect magic, he didn't show it at all.
"Well, you are right young man, I didn't create or enchant this building but I have been given the responsibility of keeping watch over it." He clarified, not taking my comment to heart.
"Oh, I'm sorry Mr.-" I tried apologizing when I realized I didn't even ask the guy his name.
"Sol, Sol Rama. And that's okay, now tell me where are your parents?" He inquired.
"Their indisposed at the moment, but I have permission to be out if that's what you're worried about." I didn't want to lie but it wasn't necessary getting into my backstory with him.
"Hmm, okay follow me. There is someone who would love to meet you." He said after thinking over it for a second.
When he led me inside, I almost stumbled in my steps but thankfully Sol had not noticed. I had to cancel my detection spell; it was picking up too many things in the building. It was like trying to focus on a computer screen but too many pop-ups were getting in the way. I could spend days in this building learning about each and every magical artifact in here. Sol was oblivious to my thoughts as he led me to three floating portals, that led to different looking places. Spatial magic…I was seeing Spatial magic at work in front of me! Before I could get lost in trying to figure out how it worked, Sol led me through one of the portals.
In an instant, we had travelled across the world, to India but I didn't know that right away. Out the window of the building we ended up in, was a bright and sunny day, where as in London it was a gloomy, clouded and chilly day. That was how I knew we had traveled a great distance away, with Sol clarifying where exactly when he noticed my bewildered expression. He told me this place was called Kamar-Taj and I had to hide the shock on my face. I had somehow stumbled onto the location of the Ancient One. And so, I knew exactly who Sol Rama was taking me to see. The Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme before Dr. Strange took up the mantle.
Sol took me to a large courtyard where many others were practising various katas. When they caught sight of me, they would all stop and stare. Not sure if it was because they were wary of strangers or because I was a child. As I was looking around the courtyard, Sol had gone to get the person he was referring to. I was shocked when I saw Sol coming back with a woman behind him. Even though I didn't have my detection spell active, all it took was a glance to confirm, she was the Ancient One. She exuded a lot of power, to be anyone else. It meant I would have no idea how the marvel stories will play out. I didn't remember any stories where the Ancient One was a woman.
"Hello young man, I'm the Ancient One, the leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, Sorcerers if you will." She introduced herself as she came up to me.
"Hello, I'm Harry Potter." I saw her eyebrows raise in surprise. "So, you've heard of me?" I speculated.
"Yes, Mr. Potter. Even us sorcerers have heard of your feat against the infamous Dark Lord." She confirmed with a light smile
"That's strange, if Sorcerers are aware of what happened in our world, why didn't I find any information on sorcerers in any of the history books?" I asked with clear confusion in my voice.
She answered my question as she led me away from the outer courtyard to one inside the main building. The inside courtyard was much smaller and more intimate. It was only her and I now, as she continued answering my question.
Coming back that, she told me that long ago, in the ancient times, all manner of magic users existed. But overtime for one reason or another, wizards began getting more and more insulated until it got to a point that they started looking down on other magic users. Eventually, they completely segregated themselves, the most powerful wizards believing themselves to be better than all other magic users. And when magic users as a whole started getting burned at the stake in many places around the world, the wizarding society blamed the other magic users for being so open with magic. And cut contact with all magic users. They even went as far as removing all mention of other magic users from history books. To reduce the risk of some wizards getting enamoured with different forms of magic and becoming the cause for the entire wizarding world getting exposed.
Eventually, she asked me about the spell that led me to detect the London Sanctum, as I had come to learn it was called. As I described the spell for her and how I went about creating it, she couldn't hide the admiration for it. She explained that normally it would be very difficult for a child to have that much control of their magic. And she was right, if it wasn't for the Dursleys being abusive guardians I wouldn't have become as powerful. It was the pain from going hungry for so long that finally broke the limitation on my magic, but she didn't need to know that.
Eventually, I asked her if I could be taken in as a student and she readily agreed, saying that with my aptitude in magic, she felt obligated to help me become better a magic user. She added in that she wanted to see how the future would change, as she had not expected to meet me at all. That confused me a bit, I didn't remember the Ancient One having the ability to see the future, at least not in the comics.
I took advantage of becoming a new student of hers and asked her about Soul magic, whether it existed and what were the possibilities with it. Instead of answering me with her words, she instead reached out to me with her palm. Just before she made contact with my chest, I leapt backwards. She tried to calm me down, saying she wasn't trying to hurt me but rather help me learn more about Soul Magic. That it was easier to show it first.
"I understand, and that's what I assumed as well. But that's why I jumped back. The reason I asked you about Soul magic was because I have part of someone else's soul inside me, that I want removed." I said solemnly.
"The Dark Lord?" she asked gravely.
I nodded with my head in confirmation, and she instantly became alarmed. She asked me to wait for a bit as she quickly left the inner courtyard. In 5 minutes, she came with 3 other people, one being Sol Rama. She introduced the other two as the protectors of the New York and Hong Kong Sanctums. The three protectors would be present in case anything went wrong, and only then did I realize that she was planning to remove the horcrux from me right away. The hesitancy must have shown on my face, because she explained that with help from the three protectors, everything would be fine.
Though I didn't know her well, I still felt willing to trust her. Part of it was from the familiarity of knowing her counterpart from the comics, and part it was because she came across as a sincere and trustworthy person. When I indicated that I was ready, the three protectors circled around me while the Ancient One stepped up to me again. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds. I wanted to use my detection spell to see if I could sense the magic, she was calling but I didn't want to mess anything up so I did nothing. Eventually, she hit me with both her palms and just when she made contact, a bright white light flashed and blinded me. When my vision cleared up, I saw my own body on the ground looking lifeless. And just then, I heard a low but ghastly wail to the left of me.
When I turned to where I heard the wail, I saw the same shrivelled body that represented part of Voldemort's soul that was in the movies. It was fairly weak but still alive right now. As it looked around, it began panicking, realizing it had somehow ended up outside of it's host. But before it could do anything about it, it got hit with 4 distinct beams of light, coming from the Ancient One and the three protectors. The soul piece was too weak to be able to contend with four Masters of the Mystic Arts. And in less than a minute it was completely destroyed, with nothing but a soft whimper. Maybe it was because it was getting attacked on 4 different fronts, but the scream it let out was much weaker than the other horcruxes.
I thanked them profusely for helping get rid of the horcrux, especially the one that would have been the hardest for me to destroy. Since, I didn't want to take the killing curse head on, in an attempt to destroy it. That was too much of a risk to take, even for me. And I willingly faced a 60ft basilisk that can kill you with a glance. The Ancient One then spent quite a long time with me, teaching me the basics of the magic they used. It was a little difficult in the beginning to grasp, as the focus was on drawing magic from the different dimensions of the universe, rather than from within myself. It required a complete shift in my thinking to start making some progress. With wizard magic, I wanted to feel the magic within myself, it was an extension of me that could be used to change the world to my liking. In the case of the magic the Ancient one was teaching me, I had to surrender the fact that the magic was not my own and was something I borrowed by essentially asking the various dimensions. I could see why the wizards of past, and honestly a lot of present wizards as well, would have issue with using this type of magic. Considering a lot of wizards are obsessed with blood purity, they would obviously reject any magic that doesn't come from oneself.
After a few hours with the Ancient One, I asked if it would be possible for me to bring others here to learn as well. She didn't have an issue, as long as they were respectful, as it was wizards who had the grievances not the other way around. I assured her they would be, as they were some of the best people I knew. And then I left with Sol, who had waited to guide me back to the London Sanctum. I apologized for interrupting his duties, but he assured me it was fine since he had someone fill in for him.
"Ah, Harry meet Karl Modo, Karl, this is Harry Potter, our newest part-time student, as of today." Sol introduced the man who greeted us at the London Sanctum, when we got back.
We didn't get to talk much since he and I, both, were in a hurry but I was still able to tell he was a humble and honest person. Completely different from his comic book counter part, if he was supposed to be a version of Baron Karl Modo. In the comics he and Dr. Strange battled against each other quite a bit, would he eventually become a bad guy? That's already another thing about the Marvel side of this universe that is completely different from what I know. While the uncertainty of what was to come in this chaotic universe gave me a bit of anxiety, it was the good kind. It was going to help keep me on my toes, and not get complacent.
As I made my way out of the Sanctum, I quickly found a secluded spot and got Tipsy to take me back home. Sirius wasn't back yet, so instead, I got to writing some letters, not mentioning anything of the sorcerers I found but rather asking to meet me at the earliest, tomorrow if possible. I wrote a letter for Hermione, Neville, the Tonks family, and the twins; made sure to specify that the invite was for the twins only. I knew if Molly or Arthur found out, they would tell Dumbledore right away. And right now, I didn't know if Dumbledore knew of sorcerers and kept them a secret because of the prejudices that many wizards have.
Sirius arrived back home, just as I gave the letters to the elves to be delivered. I instructed them to wait for a reply before coming back. If possible, I wanted everyone to be there tomorrow, when I went back to Kamar-Taj. I told Sirius to cancel all his plans for tomorrow as I had a big surprise for him. He tried to get it out of me all night but I didn't relent. I wanted to see everyone's expression at the same time. I expected the adults, Dora included, to have larger reactions. They grew up not knowing that another secret magic society existed.
This is winter break already started on a beautiful note. Not only had I luckily found the Ancient One but I was 4 horcruxes down, and only had 2 more to go.
Chapter 25 - No More Horcruxes
It was by luck that everyone happened be to free the next day, though they were a little alarmed in the beginning as my messaged sounded urgent. I didn't explain much, other than saying everything was fine but they all had to follow me somewhere. They were wary but trusted that I would only gather them all like this if it was important, and so agreed to follow along. I had the elves drop us off, at the same spot as the day before. And then led everyone to the unassuming townhouse, that hid the London Sanctum.
"This is where you wanted to bring everyone?" asked a skeptic Mr. Granger.
"Hush, dear. He wouldn't bother all these people for nothing." Mrs. Granger, immediately, scolded her husband.
"It's probably charmed to look like an ordinary house, it's probably much different on the inside." Hermione explained to her father in a quieter voice.
"It certainly is different on the inside, but it's not a charm that hides the real building." I corrected Hermione's explanation. I'd made sure to mention in Hermione's letter to bring her parent as well, and for Neville, his grandmother to be present as well. But she was preoccupied, so couldn't be here.
"Now before we go in; Mr. & Mrs. Granger, can you please tell us all, how you felt finding out about the magical world?" I asked them suddenly.
"Oh…it was quite the shock at first, to learn that a whole society of magical people have been hiding from everyone, for all this time."Mrs. Granger said after a little pause because of my unexpected question.
"Yes, I remember having to pinch myself a couple of times, walking through Digon Alley-" followed Mr. Granger.
"Diagon Alley, dear." Interrupted Mrs. Granger, correcting her husband's gaffe, with a pat on his shoulder.
"Right Diagon Alley. I remember the first time we went, we spent hours in each store, there was much to learn in every little aspect of the magical world. Unfortunately, we couldn't get far, our lack of magic hindering our progress." He said in a daze. The ones who knew Hermione couldn't help but let out a giggle. It was obvious where Hermione got her inquisitive and studious nature from.
"Perfect, thank you. I just wanted the rest of them to know that whatever they'll be feeling very soon, is completely normal, and have you to talk to. If they need help coping with their world view shattering." I said after I was able to stop giggling. Or more like, was forced to by an elbow from Hermione, Neville had received one as well.
"What do you mean Harry?" Asked a very confused Sirius, voicing the same question on everyone's mind. I could tell from the expression on their faces.
"Well Sirius, I mean that you're going to have to give the title of World's Greatest Prankster up." I said with mocking humor in my voice.
"Blasphemous! There is not a-
-single person alive that is better-
-than a Marauder, especially
The One and Only Padfoot. You should-
-know that, Harry!" voiced out the Twins in support of their hero. They had managed to make it without any of the other Weasley members joining along. And had thus spent the entire time talking to Sirius in hushed tones, so as to not interrupt the group.
"No? How about the people who were able to get the entire wizarding world to believe they were the only magic users in existence?" I asked rhetorically, I knew they wouldn't have an answer to that. And they didn't, they just responded with a confused expression, as did everyone else. Without explaining any further, I spun around and knocked on the door…
From that day onward, the months passed by so quickly, that I before I knew it, I found myself sitting on the Hogwarts train, as it made its way back to London, after the end of the 2nd year. I was sitting alone in the compartment, Neville and Hermione had gone ahead of me to Kamar-Taj using their Sling Rings. I told them I wanted stop by the store we were opening in Diagon Alley. It would be on opening day that I would end up telling them, that they had reserved shares in the business for being the initial ones, along with me, to come up with the idea.
Sitting alone in the compartment as I thought back on the last few months, so much had changed in just a short time, that it astonished me. Even though, I was the catalyst of all the changes. Starting with Neville and Hermione who had gone ahead to Kamar-Taj, had come very far in their training of the Mystic Arts.
In Neville's case, I think he had taken to the Mystic Arts like a fish to water. Despite, all the encouraging Hermione and I gave him, and all the improvements he has made in his wizarding magic; there remained a part of him that was afraid and reluctant to use that magic. Most likely because of the way his parents ended up after Bellatrix's torture, he may have, unknowingly, developed an instinctual fear of wizarding magic. And so, when he learned of a form of magic completely different to the one that hurt his parents, he became completely enamoured with it. Dare I say, even surpassing the love he has for Herbology.
His love became even more exacerbated after it gave him, his parents back. A few days after I introduced everyone to Kamar-Taj, I took Neville to see the Ancient One. While everyone else was busy taking their first steps as a sorcerer, I was hoping to give Neville the chance to be with his parents again. He was surprised that I knew of his parents' current state when I mentioned it to the Ancient One, the shock was evident on his face. I asked if it was possible that his parents' Astral Forms could still be strong enough to be removed from their bodies. Neville, had become mute as the conversation between the Ancient One and I went on. He didn't want to interrupt what could be the first real chance in years he, or his grandmother, had at reviving his parents. We talked about how long they had been possibly held under the torture curse, how long its been since, the treatments they could have received and where they currently are.
That conversation led to Augusta Longbottom, Neville's grandmother, making her first visit to Kamar-Taj. Whatever shock she must have been feeling at discovering another magical society was subdued by the possibility of seeing her son and daughter-in-law revived. When your grandson appears in your living room, after coming through a golden teleporting archway, past all your strongest wards, you tend to believe the people with him might have a lot of power, enough to believe what they tell you. To further assure, her and Neville, I had the Ancient One project my Astral Form out, for them to see. It caught the attention of the others as well, and they too joined what became a brief lesson on Astral Forms and Soul magic. Since I hadn't brought up Voldemort's piece that was inside me as an example, she understood not to bring it up either.
She explained that getting Frank and Alice's Astral Form projections out their bodies will be possible, if they are still alive. But to bring their minds back to where they can function may not. It can only be confirmed once she has a chance to work her magic on them, so to speak. It was something she had attempted a few times before. Apparently, the use of the Unforgivable Curses may be taboo in the European Countries, but it wasn't such in other parts of the world. So, she had come across a few individuals that had their minds destroyed by the Cruciatus Curse . Though usually they were non-magic folk, victims of cruel and power-hungry wizards and witches, like Voldemort but ones that were caught early into their reign of terror. She didn't provide too many details on when and who, but enough to give Neville and Mrs. Longbottom hope, that they hadn't had in years. And so, within two days, Frank and Alice Longbottom, had been brought to Kamar Taj.
Before pushing their Astral Forms out, this time the Ancient One with the help of the Protectors of the Sanctums, drew out a large circle made of symbols I recognized as many of the Runic language symbols of the Mystic arts. It was conjured to form under the bodies of Frank and Alice, giving them an ethereal reddish, orange glow. Instead of forcefully pushing onto their bodies with her palms, the Ancient One gently laid them on their chest and then closed her eyes in concentration. 9 seconds later, she raised her palms and as she did, the Astral Forms of Frank and Alice came along. They were very faint in the beginning, but they were still recognizable. I saw Neville barely restrain himself, to give the sorcerers their time to work. Soon the spells they had cast in the circle came alive and the colour on Frank's and Alice's faces became more pronounced as they slowly opened their eyes.
"Where-Where am I?" muttered out Frank Longbottom.
"Honey, is that you?" the Astral form of Alice Longbottom, asked looking towards her husband once she opened her eyes.
"Mom! Dad!" Neville, who couldn't take anymore of staying silent, blurted out.
Both Frank and Alice look bewildered at the unknown boy calling them his parents, but after they properly looked him, they realized who it was. The moment the realization came to them was evident to everyone, as both their faces morphed to shocked horror. Reckoning that it was quickly becoming a private moment for just the Longbottom family, the rest of us left the infirmary of Kamar-Taj. Leaving just the Ancient One, the Protectors, and the Longbottom family in the room.
"That was a very thoughtful thing you did for Neville, Harry. I'm very proud of you." Sirius said with pride in his voice, once we were all in the courtyard.
"That was just the first step, Sirius. You heard the Ancient One, that was the easier step." I said solemnly.
"Take the moment to enjoy the small victory, Harry. Regardless of whether she can get them fully recovered, you allowed Neville a chance to have some time with his parents. That's already an amazing feat to accomplish." Sirius reassured my worries, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
Eventually the Ancient One and the Protectors came out, explaining that while there was still more to be done, in regards to getting Frank and Alice's minds in working order, they were stable enough for now. She had been able to put their Astral Forms back in their body after undoing some of the damage to their minds. But they would need to let them rest before making another attempt to repair more damage. I was told that the Longbottoms wanted to see me, first and foremost.
When I got the room where Frank and Alice were staying in, I could hear the Longbottoms laughing and chatting together. I stayed on the horizon, giving the family a bit more alone time. Eventually, I made my way in, to the delight of the entire Longbottom family. As soon as I was completely inside, Neville ran up to me and give me a hug, a very big and tight hug. Had to tell him to take it easy, as it was getting hard to breath. He quickly let go, scratching the back of his head, to the amusement of everyone else in the room. I then looked to Frank and Alice Longbottom, and I could definitely see the similarities between Neville and his parents. As I was examining them, I could tell, they were examining me, searching for the similarities they saw in me and the friends they had lost, in James and Lily.
"Hello, Harry!" Frank and Alice said together once they studied me enough.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom." I said respectfully.
"Oh, please none of that. Call us Frank and Alice, after everything you did to get us back to our son. You deserve to call us that." Frank insisted right after.
"I didn't do much. Neville is my friend and-" this time Augusta Longbottom interrupted me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Nonsense! If it wasn't for you asking, then none of this would be possible. I don't know if you knew this but your parents had named Alice as your godmother." Augusta stated firmly. Even though I did know that, I still gave a surprised expression. Alice confirmed Augusta's statement with a nod when I looked towards her.
Our conversations, eventually, moved to how Neville and I grew up over the years. I didn't mention my time with the Dursleys as I didn't want to upset them right now, they had just woken up after years in a coma. Did not want to upset them, so quickly. They were quite impressed with Neville and I when we told them our grades for the first year. Augusta made sure to mention how much help Hermione and I had provided Neville. Apparently, he had been unrelenting towards the praise he gave us at home.
Very soon, Sirius had also been called in as well. It was a bittersweet moment for the three old friends. I could see it on all three faces; lamenting the fact that James and Lily were not here. Speaking of old friends reuniting, we still had not been able to hear anything of Remus. Whose absence was noted and asked about, though neither Sirius or I had answers to give them. And the lack of an acceptable answer, greatly angered Frank and Alice, as they felt Remus should have been here. They weren't as close to him, as they were with James and Lily but because of the war with Voldemort, they had become close enough. To learn that he hadn't even reached out when Sirius was released was what really upset them. As even though Sirius looked and acted a lot better than his initial release, the people that knew him well would be able to see the cracks in his demeanor, the effects of Azkaban still visible. Frank and Alice had noticed it right away, though they hadn't commented on it. I picked it up from my viewpoint as an adult who understood the many ways adults will try to hide their troubles from the children, and he did try to hide it from me.
For the entire second term of the year, every other weekend, Augusta would have Neville pulled out of Hogwarts so he could visit Frank and Alice. They had many years to make up for and Frank and Alice wanted to spend as much time with their son, as possible. Neville's regular absence over the weekends, allowed Hermione and I, to become closer as friends, as I kept her company on the weekends that Neville would be gone. Previously, I spent most of the weekends adventuring around by myself.
Hermione had also become besotted with learning the Mystic Arts, though she made sure it did not affect her Hogwarts education, in any way. It wasn't in her nature to leave anything halfway so she had taken it upon herself to became an expert of both forms of magic. She was particularly interested in the similarities of the two magic forms and the ways they differed from each other. Mostly because she wanted to know why one form of magic disrupted and destroyed electronics, while other did not. To be fair, I was very curious about that fact as well. So I made sure to keep myself updated on Hermione's progress and help her however I could, on that front.
As with Neville, Hermione's love of the Mystic Arts could also be partially attributed to her parents. They were initially hesitant thinking they too would have to be responsible for fighting against any threats to our dimension. But the Ancient One confirmed to them, that learning the Mystic Arts did not force them to become sorcerers of Kamar Taj. That there were others before them, who ultimately chose to leave Kamar Taj, even after completing their training. Hearing that had helped them become more at ease with it. Though from the start they had during the winter break, it didn't seem like they would have a lot of luck with the Mystic Arts and being able to actually perform most of the spells. They didn't care too much about that, much like Hermione, they were just happy at being able to learn about another hidden society. Though they did say, the one thing that they really wanted to learn, was how to use a Sling Ring. Mr. Granger joked that it would help him beat the regular traffic, too bad he didn't know how worse it was going to get. Hopefully, they were able to get them to work, if that was the one thing the Grangers wanted to hang their hats on.
Of course, Hermione and Neville weren't the only students in Hogwarts, besides me of course, who were practising in the Mystic Arts. Hermione, Neville and I, vividly, remember the vicious grins that were fixed on the twins faces, when they realized that they wouldn't be tracked by the ministry when using the Mystic Arts. The three of us shuddered, and prayed silently, for all the poor students and professors at Hogwarts. They had no idea what was coming for them.
Now whereas the younger wizards were more accepting of the Mystic Arts, it still took the adults sometime to properly come to terms with the fact that having magic didn't make them as unique as they previously thought. Especially Sirius, who kept trying to get the sorcerers to use his wand to perform some wizard magic with it. He kept thinking that they were just wizards who didn't know it yet. But every time he handed someone a wand, nothing happened, no matter how many times they flicked it around.
If someone was a wizard, even if they used a wand not suited them, they would still be able to get something to happen. It took Sirius' theory to fail about a dozen times before he came to fully accept things. I thought the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj would be offended by him, but instead found his disbelief hilarious. Though, that was probably because Sirius remained respectful about it. He didn't look down on the Mystic Arts, rather just thought the sorcerers would appreciate knowing they had a magical core as well.
One reason they struggled to accept the change was because if it was difficult for me to change my perspective in using magic, it was that much more difficult for the adults. After a lifetime of using magic in one particular method, it took more time for them to make the same steps in the Mystic Arts that the younger wizards were making during the winter break.
Dora had found herself, caught in the middle of the two groups. In some ways, she faced the same difficulties that Sirius, Andromeda and Ted faced but she was able to overcome them faster than the rest of the adults. Although she had confessed to me that she was slowly becoming disillusioned with the wizarding world as she spent more and more time at Kamar-Taj. Such that, she wasn't sure she wanted to be an Auror anymore, instead maybe becoming a full time Master of the Mystic Arts. To ease her growing tensions, I reminded her that she still had plenty of time to decide what she wanted to do as it would still take time for her to complete both her Auror and Mystic Arts training. Even if she chose not to become an Auror, the training she gets from Moody would prove to beneficial regardless of the occupation she ended up going with. And it wasn't like choosing one, forced her to completely close the door on the other option. Neither the wizarding world nor Kamar-Taj was going to force her to choose, well at least not in the case of Kamar-Taj. For the wizarding world, it would be their ignorance that ensured their consent.
Now even though the adults had a more challenging road ahead of them, I was sure that as the second year of Hogwarts came to a close, they had all surpassed the progress Hermione, Neville, the twins and I made during that same time span. This was because they had much more time available to dedicate to the Mystic Arts, as we still had to allocate significant time to complete Hogwart's work and attend the classes. Even though we could use the Sling Rings to get to Kamar-Taj, we couldn't do it often, lest we draw suspicion. To help in that regard, I had also decided to introduce the Room of Requirements to Hermione, Neville, the twins and one; Luna Lovegood.
I had stupidly forgotten about the bullying she would face as I was too occupied with the Horcruxes. But when I saw her name on the Map, roaming around the halls after curfew, I remembered all about it. That exact moment, I had one of the elves take her back to her room and get all of her stuff back as well, using help from some of the Hogwarts' elves. The next day, I made sure to put the fear of God on the ones responsible to guarantee they never bullied her again. She became part of the group very quickly, being a fellow outcast helped her seamlessly integrate with everyone. When we introduced the Mystic Arts to her, it ended up solidifying her beliefs in the mysterious creatures she always talked about, saying that they couldn't be found easily as they were probably hiding using sorcery rather than wizardry.
My life had changed quite a bit as well, after spending most of the winter break at Kamar-Taj. The biggest transformation came towards the end of the first week. After everything the Ancient One had done for the Longbottoms, my trust in her had grown quite a bit. And so, when we were alone in her personal courtyard, I showed her the Wand of Watoomb in its true form. I had intended to inquire if she had heard anything about other identical wands beings discovered throughout history. I figured she would be the best person to help me track any of the other Wands' of Watoomb that may have made it to Earth. I knew I made the right decision when I saw her recognize the wand but I never expected her to then open a portal without any warnings. Before I could ask her anything, she went inside and then came back in less than 5 seconds. When she returned, I was stunned; she was holding one of the other Wands' of Watoomb. Instead of using her words, she guided me to take it with her eyes and an encouraging smile on her face. Without saying anything either, I took it from her with my left hand, my right hand holding onto my wand.
As soon as I had it completely grasped in my left hand, I felt a suction force coming from both wands. They started merging together, as soon as I let go of them. And once the two wands completely became one, I felt a burst of power originate from my magical core. Brought on by the new upgraded wand, my magical core was getting bigger and denser. I immediately sat down, closed my eyes and meditated on my increasing core. As I focused on it, I forced the rate at which it increased to slow down, significantly. I was going to increase it at a snail's pace so I was intimately aware of each ounce of my magic after going through such a drastic change. Instinctively, I knew each wand I found would push my power to a whole different level, which made controlling the pace a lot harder. It was difficult not to get excited at that thought, but I couldn't allow myself that outburst.
To help keep up with the increasing amounts of magic so that the pace was still in my control, I started working through the wind and fire magic I had been practising before. Previously, I had never been able to use both elements at the same time. But now, there was more than enough magic for me to burn off. In the end, it took me well past the night and into the following morning. It was only after the sun had risen at Kamar-Taj; did I open my eyes with a content smile on my face. In the middle of the night I had begun practising with the water element as well, increasing my repertoire yet again.
"I knew the wand would be suited for you, but not to that extent. The increase in your magic levels is unbelievable." Commented the Ancient One, when she saw that I was awake and aware of my surroundings again.
"And to think there are still 4 others for me to find" I commented offhand.
"Unfortunately, we only had the one. The only reason I gave it to you without hesitation was that we had that wand for many years now and countless sorcerers had tried using it but to no luck. Seeing you with another identical wand gave me hope that you would be the one. I had not expected to see the day when that wand found an owner and yet again, you surprised me Harry Potter," she said with joyful surprise in her voice. From there we went on to talk about how I got the first wand and how I knew everything about the wands. I had to lie and say that the knowledge came to me after I formed a connection with my original wand. In terms of looks, the wand had not changed at all, after it's change. The only thing I could say, was that it looked even more mesmerizing now.
One interesting aspect about my wand I learned was, that it could get jealous or some semblance of jealousy. As when I was learning how to use the Sling Ring along with everyone else, my wand flew out on its own and created my own version of a dimensional gateway. Whereas the gateway from a Sling Ring was golden coloured, the one created from my wand was a deep green, identical to the colour of my eyes. That was also the day, everyone learned of my unique wand. Seeing it in its true form had left all the wizards dazed for some time. They had never seen or heard of such a wand before. Even though my wand demonstrated that I didn't need a Sling Ring, I still made sure I was able to use one; in case of emergencies. But I don't think I'd ever end up actually using it, my wand felt much more powerful in its ability to create gateways for me.
After I got my new wand, I felt more comfortable sharing with the Ancient One, all I knew about the Horcruxes. I didn't want to, but I lied saying that I knew of them because I got part of Voldemort's memories from his accidental Horcrux. And that over the years, I had done quite a lot of research to figure out which items he had made into possible Horcruxes and where he may have kept them. I had Sebas retrieve the destroyed Horcruxes as proof of my claims. Though, I don't think she doubted me, at any point. I apologized for not telling her right away, but explained that I felt that getting rid of the rest of them was my own personal responsibility. But I realized that I needed to get over myself and take the help wherever I could get it. The Ancient One, however, understood the sense of responsibility I felt, since I had so much taken away from me, by Voldemort. As such, she decided to teach me how to retrieve the remaining Horcruxes, by myself. She taught me how to create gateways into the Mirror Dimension, a dimension where Sorcerers could practise more advanced and dangerous spells without causing any harm to the real world. It was essentially like creating a virtual copy of the real world that you could control. It was also possible to forcefully bring someone or something to the Mirror Dimension. It was with this in mind, that the Ancient One had me learn how to use the Mirror Dimension. Now usually, a sorcerer needed a Sling Ring to be able to go in and out of the Mirror Dimension but my wand also had the ability. Something the Ancient One and I discovered while we were training.
I made sure to spend enough time during the second term to master every aspect of the Mirror Dimension. Going in and out of it, seamlessly, along with being able to bring other objects and people with me. The last two Horcruxes were going to be retrieved solely because of my mastery over the Mirror Dimension. For the Hufflepuff Cup, I would take it out of the Lestrange Vault by bringing it into the Mirror Dimension. As for Gaunt's Ring, I would also take it while under the cover of the Mirror Dimension. I didn't want anyone to know I had been there. Just to make sure, Voldemort had no clue that someone had taken it.
When the train arrived at the Station in London, for the first time ever, I joined the rest of the students getting off the train. I didn't have any luggage however, sending it ahead of me via Tipsy. I made my way to Diagon Alley, right away, didn't stop for anyone. When I made it near the Leaky Cauldron, I pulled into a discreet alley and entered the Mirror Dimension. Just to be safe, I put on my "alter-ego" to ensure nobody would recognize me, if I somehow got removed from the Mirror Dimension.
I made it past all the patrons of the bar, into Diagon Alley. I was a little nervous about whether or not goblins had any measures in place for sorcerers, but it was for naught. I was able to walk right into the bank without anybody raising any alarms. I didn't know where the vault was so I followed some goblins for a few minutes. But then I mentally slapped myself on the head. I had forgotten about one of the new abilities of my wand; creating gateways to wherever I wanted. Immediately, calling my wand to my hand, I created a portal right into the Lestrange Vault. The goblins were completely unaware of the portal, even when some of them passed right through it, the benefits of the Mirror Dimension on full display.
The Lestrange Vault was completely crammed with objects and coins. If I didn't have my Magic Perception spell, I would have had to spend hours looking for the Cup. But with it activated, I found it almost instantly; the Horcrux's dark magic was too distinct. As soon as I got close to it, I pulled it into the Mirror Dimension with me and then opened a portal to take me to the Manor. I had Kreacher take the cup and destroy it with one of the Basilisk's fangs we kept on hand. He definitely took pleasure in destroying one of the last remaining Horcruxes. Without exchanging any more words with him, I entered the Mirror Dimension once more. This time I created a portal to Little Hangleton and walked through it, as soon as it appeared. I activated my detection spell right away and though I didn't pick up on the Horcrux's familiar signature, I did find a spot heavily concentrated in magic. When I approached the location, it became obvious that it was the ruined Gaunt family's shack. The reason I couldn't detect the Horcrux was because it was hidden behind the enchantments of the shack. However, being in the Mirror Dimension allowed me to pass through them easily and it was only then that my detection spell picked up the last Horcrux. It was hidden underneath one of the floorboards of the shack, inside a golden box. After pulling it into my Mirror Dimension, I opened up another portal back to the manor. This time I made sure Kreacher kept the ring completely separate from the others. I knew the Resurrection Stone was inside the Gaunt's Ring, but I didn't dare to open it. I didn't know if Lady Death was an actual entity in this universe but I wasn't going to risk angering her by hording all of her namesakes.
When I knew all the Horcruxes that existed currently had been destroyed, I took a deep breathe in and then let it out. Figuratively, closing the chapters of my life that were dedicated to finding and destroying the Horcruxes. I was now one night away from completely putting Voldemort behind me. Unfortunately, I don't remember where, in Albania, Voldemort was hiding and taking refuge. I could only wait until fourth year came around, and for the confrontation between him and I would occur. Although, with Pettigrew in Azkaban, I didn't know if Voldemort would be able to manipulate the events of the tournament; I had to wait to find out if canon was going to play out the same during the fourth year.
After wrapping up everything with the Horcruxes, I had one of the elves drop me off at our store in Diagon Alley. The opening day was heavily anticipated, with many people already having pre-ordered the games. Sirius and I had given them to everyone for Christmas and they had been a huge hit. Though the reaction was more subdued, as everyone was still mesmerized, primarily, by the Mystic Arts. The lack of reaction was compensated by everyone at Hogwarts. I made sure to take the games with me for the second term, inviting many numbers of students and professors to try them out. There were well received and I had multiple pre-orders on the very first day, mostly from the muggle-born and half-blood students. I did make sure to inform those students, to not mention the likeness the games had to their counterparts in the normal world. All of them understood why it was necessary for me to point that out.
For the actual store in Diagon Alley, I made sure to convince Sirius to let me design it. The reason being that I wanted to have it designed like the board game cafés/bars, I remembered from my old life. As such, the store was constructed to be two levels, with the 1st level designated solely for purchasing the actual games. And the second floor would be where people could sit in and play them, while enjoying all the meals and drinks we offered. We made sure that all the employees we hired would be muggle-born or half-blood wizards that couldn't find work in the wizarding world. As our business expanded, we were hoping to slowly monopolize the entire labour force that consisted of all the scorned muggle-born and half-bloods. As for our store sign, it was a giant M with a tiny lowercase letter I, adjoining it. It was charmed such that it looked like "M.", from afar and "Mi", from close by.
After making sure the preparations were coming along as planned, I had one of the elves take me back to the Manor. It would only be a stop over so I could create a portal to the London Sanctum. I didn't want the employees, accidentally, seeing me create a portal. I also didn't want the elves taking me to the Sanctum directly. When I had them try it before, they complained of feeling a little queasy after. But it was still stunning to learn that even the enchantments that Agamotto himself had set couldn't stop the elves. It begged to ponder what the elves actually were? Were they descendants of some alien species? That question would have been ridiculous a few months ago but now it could explain quite a bit.
When I arrived at the Sanctum, Sirius was waiting for me as planned. We were going to buy plane tickets for New York City as I'd convinced Sirius of the market that was available to us if we just got the United States. I had asked around and there wasn't a single international country that capitalized on the idea we had stumbled on, back in first year. And so, with my knowledge of the economic power New York and in effect United States held, I knew we had to start our business there right away. With the reception we had received in the few short months of the second term, we were confident that our games would work in the Unites States as well; with a version that was specific to their landmarks, of course. Before we left, Sirius had confirmed that they were known to be the most progressive magical country. Though it didn't mean the blood supremacists didn't exist there either.
We were purposefully going to take the plane to the United States, though Sirius did complain quite a bit, about that. He had heard enough about plane rides to not want to suffer, for all those hours. I had to teach him all about the increasing surveillance power that the normal world already has and will have in the next few years. And I had been right too many times for him to question me, especially on muggle related matters, as it were.
As for why I insisted on taking the plane; I wanted it on paper that Harry James Potter-Black and Sirius Orion Black, have left Britain for good. We were only going to be buying one-way tickets, using our teleportation methods to make the trip back here. He still wasn't completely sold on the idea so I had to guarantee the most comfortable ride possibly. He looked skeptical that it was possible, but I told him to let me do all the talking when we got to the travel agency.
"Hi, how can I help you Mr.-" the manager of the agency said to Sirius and I, as we sat down in front of the only available desk in the store; also the only desk in the store.
"Black. It's Mr. Black. And we would like two first-class tickets from-" I responded, though I knew she was asking the question to Sirius, most likely. I had to stop when she looked amused, probably thought I was joking as her attention was still mostly on Sirius. And knowing him, he would have the stupidest grin on his face, making the manager believe he was in on the joke.
"I'm serious." I stated firmly for her.
"Okay young man, enough games. I don't have time to play around all day." She said sternly.
I responded by raising my eyebrows at her while taking a glance behind us, to illustrate the lack of other customers.
"Easy there Harry, be nice." Sirius played peacekeeper before the manager said something to someone who was a child in his and her view.
"I don't know Sirius; I think she's judging us." I said mock seriously. Though the manager, it seemed took it completely serious.
"I am doing no such thing." She tried to explain herself.
"Yes, you are. You think we're joking about the first-class tickets because we look poor to you." Sirius spoke up before I could say anything further.
"Poor! Do we look poor to you woman?" Sirius asked loudly, playing along perfectly, not missing a beat.
"No, sir! I—I only." She tried to stammer out but couldn't. She was prejudging us based on what we were wearing so I didn't feel bad about messing with her. Granted we weren't wearing the most sophisticated clothes, but still decent looking.
"Get us whatever my son asks for." Sirius stated firmly this time. And the manager could only nod in agreement.
"Can we please get two first-class tickets to New York; any airline will do? What accommodations will we receive and what is the price?" I inquired as even I didn't know what was possible. I never rode first-class in my old life.
"Well the price would depend on the accommodations you would like. The full first-class price, so to speak, would be 1500 pounds. You would get a private car service to the airport, access to the private lounge at the terminal, sitting in the first-class section of the plane and access to the bar, of course. And you will, also, be given designated security lanes so you won't have to wait in any lines."She explained all the numerous benefits available to us.
"Perfect!" It was Sirius who answered, loving the sound of the pampered service. I'm sure the manager probably thought I was the spoilt one, asking for first-class service as a child. But in reality, I would be okay with flying economy, I'd done it plenty of times. But the adult-child sitting next to me, would probably end up using his Sling Ring, 30 minutes into the flight.
After booking the flight, we immediately left for the Manor, Sirius offering to use his Sling Ring. I think out of all the adults, Dora and him were in love with the rings the most, as they were the ones that hated the feeling of Apparition more than the others. We packed a small carry on, each, we could take with us; to not draw any suspicions. And once that was finished, we left for Kamar-Taj and joining the Tonks and the Longbottoms in their training.
Frank and Alice had come along very well in the past few months, physically at least. Mentally, they were still adjusting as they couldn't get themselves to cast with their wands, yet. Like Neville, they too had developed a fear of wizard magic. And so, with even more fervor than Neville, consumed the Mystic Arts as a means of escape. The Ancient One said she would ensure they slowly faced the challenges they were trying to shield away from. But considering the number of years they had been suffering, she thought it best, that they had time to devote completely away from that part of their life, at least for a little while. It was similar with Sirius as well; the time he was spending at Kamar-Taj was finally helping him make further progress, in his mental health. The cracks in his demeanor that could previously be noticed by any adult, were slowly being healed
Hermione and her parents were back home packing, they were still going to be taking their trip to France for the summer. As just like Sirius and I, they could come back to Kamar-Taj whenever they wanted. Though Hermione's parents couldn't get their portals completely formed yet, they were both stuck on semi-formed oval-shaped portals, too small and unstable for anything to go through. But they were still content with their speed, whereas I would have ripped my hair out by now. But then again, they didn't need their rings to work anytime soon, with Hermione readily offering her transportation services until they could master it. The Tonks, the Longbottoms, Luna and the twins would be staying at Kamar-Taj for the whole summer, though with the Sling Rings, it didn't really matter where anyone stayed. I noted that in this universe the Weasley family never won the trip to Egypt.