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Mystique Soldier Ch.15
🕑 Added 2022-02-27 16:38:46 +0000 UTCDisclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter 15- Occlumency, Dueling, and Potions
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In magical combat, Mind arts had the potential to be one of the most practical abilities in any wizard's repertoire. Fearsome in its capabilities, and subtle in its applications.
Its style suited perfectly for one, Harry Potter.
The ability to win a battle before it could even begin, all with a simple flex of your mind... yes, this was exactly the type of things Harry had been looking forward to learn in this school.
A good thing he got his wish in the first week of his stay in Hogwarts.
He'd started upon his path with occlumency. On paper, it was an incredibly simple ability to learn. Wizards must simply know how to detach themselves from their emotions, and a magical shield will automatically materialize over their minds, protecting it from any outside interference.
But this was all in theory. In reality, it takes an average wizard over two to three years' worth of meditation and control exercises before they can consistently form a basic level shield upon their mind.
Harry was confident that even without his newly gained skill-consumption ability, he would've managed to learn it in a day or two. He'd been trained in that exact method of mind after all.
As it was, his ability enabled him to devour the mind castle book, producing the skill: Occlumency (Lvl 1)
Since then, occlumency has been rivaling his Broom-Riding and Transfigurations skills to fight for the position of the fastest grower.
And the perpetration for all this came from the most unlikeliest of beings. Someone who Harry had a low opinion of before coming to Hogwarts.
"Are you quite ready yet?" The above mentioned person asked, his wand held against Harry's forehead.
Harry closed his eyes, occluding away his feelings and letting the familiar shield snap in place.
Normally speaking, should someone ask him to let them enter his mind, his reaction would be much more brutal and non-complying.
The only reason he was letting Snape get away with it was due to trust. Not on the man of course, that notion was simply comical. But on his system.
Even if his occlumency shield was shattered apart, the Gamer's Mind will not let anyone enter inside, this Harry was completely sure of.
Thus with a deep breath he nodded at the man, not reacting at all as he intoned, "Legilimens!"
At least, physically. Mentally, he was fighting a war.
When actively practicing occlumency, Harry tended to enter what both Snape and him liked to call; The Mind World. In this world, Harry's perception changed completely, as the ceiling of his mind became his new sky.
The shield over his mind was quite similar to a Protego. Just, on a much more enormous scale as it formed a cover over his entire mind, thus covering the entire sky in a pale blue protective energy barrier.
When Snape started his attacks, it was in the form of a massive force bludgeoning against his shield, sending cracks into its once flawless blue surface. It was almost as if a superhuman entity had hit a slab of tempered glass with a spiked club.
Harry worked overtime in trying to stop the force from penetrating, focusing all his attention in fixing the newly formed cracks and keeping his shield alive.
He succeeded for a brief amount of time, holding strong against the tide, but then the attack changed. The bludgeoning force was now more concentrated, hitting a smaller area of the shield but with twice as much power.
The area it attacked cracked like laminated glass. Shattered, but holding together with sheer Will. Harry once again renewed his construction, willing the shield to repair back to pristine condition.
After a few repeated instances, the attack changed again, getting even more compressed and pointed.
A sword, big but sharp, similar to a Great sword, now tried piercing through his shield, stabbing straight in a single quick motion.
It succeeded in breaking inside on the first try, and stayed lodged inside his mind to create a direct link for a foreign consciousness to worm in.
[Gamer's Mind: Activated]
Harry couldn't see exactly what happened next, but he was suddenly back in the physical world, watching a scowling Snape rub his head irritably.
"It has been over three days since we started," The black robed man drolled out, standing up to approach his cupboard. "And I am yet to be accustomed to this most unpleasant feeling."
The Gamer's Mind turned off automatically, and he felt a flicker of amusement at the man's disheveled shape.
[Skill Leveled Up: Occlumency] Lvl 9
The glowing message brought a smile on Harry's face as he pushed himself to his feet.
"You have improved much in the past few days, Mr. Potter." Snape said, with his back still turned. "Keep doing whatever it is you are doing, and I doubt you will need my instructions. Atleast in this."
He quickly drank from a small goblet, his shoulder relaxing, along with the creases on his forehead. "Much better. Do you wish to give it another go?"
"No." Harry replied, approaching the dueling ramp. "I was hoping to pick up where we left yesterday."
Snape gave a relieved nod. "My exact thought. While I may wish to...atone for my mistakes, having my consciousness crushed repeatedly by such foreign power is irritating."
He came to stand against Harry, taking position on the opposite end of the stage.
Harry let out a small sigh, beginning to bow.
"No need this time." Snape waved it off, his wand already pointing at Harry like a sword. "It is necessary to know the rules of professional Dueling, but Lord Voldemort will not adhere to such trivialities. Should you duel him, you will find him quite...lacking in honour."
"As he should be." Harry said, straightening up as his wand arose to match his opponent. "Begin?"
[Gamer's Mind: Activated]
"If you will." The wizard inclined his head, and without wasting any time Harry started their duel with a whispered stunner.
"Today's rules are such," Snape spoke as his wand slashed down, smacking the red stunner away to a side. "No shielding for me. No physical combat for you. And try limiting your dodging."
Harry stopped closing in upon the wizard with a tsk, leaping away to avoid a disarming charm. His own wand launched another stunner at the man's feet, aiming for his wide robes.
It was the only combat spell that he could use if he wished to be anywhere near his opponent's casting speed.
At Lvl 35, Harry could cast it with a simple whisper and a lone wand movement.
Even then he did not get a chance to attack his opponent again as the professor wasted no time in making him dance around the dueling stage, side-stepping Harry's spell quite easily for a man wearing feet length robes that touched the floor.
Harry had no more chance to observe his opponent as a multitude of spells tore through the air one by one, all hunting for him.
The spells were cast incredibly quickly, one or two each second, all spread out in the air to tie up his movements.
It was a little unexpected, considering normally Snape held back to let Harry practice against him.
Not this time, it seems.
Harry's mind whirled through a possible escape route, his wand swishing through the air as he utilized the only other spell, apart from the unforgivables, that he could cast without needing precise wand movements.
"Leviosa!" He hissed out with a stab towards the desks, and multiple furniture came flying in front of him.
He manipulated them accurately, letting them block the shower of spells, and easily dodging any that managed to slip through. What he didn't anticipate, but should have, was the effects the spells had on the wooden desks.
His defense turned into attacks against him all of a sudden, when one of the spells blasted a desk back towards Harry. He ducked under it, letting it sail overhead, but was quickly forced to form his own brand of shield when a desk shattered apart in the air, and it's splinters came flying towards him.
His wandless shield, when cast with his new wand, became his most powerful defense currently.
Thus he wasn't surprised when the splinters crashed against its surface, halting immediately and falling to ground. Even the steel rods could do nothing more than bounce off of it.
Harry rolled to a side quickly, anticipating further attacks from his opponent. He seemed to have guessed wrongly however, cause no attack landed on the place he just vacated.
He turned to the professor quizzically, only to find him standing stationary with his wand held down, staring at him with a frown.
"That shield," Snape started, a brow raising up. "Where did you learn it?"
Harry pushed himself back to his feet, dusting away his pants and letting Gamer's Mind die down. "It is of my own creation. Why?"
"Show me."
Harry received no chance to rebut the man as a red stunner came flying for him.
It was fast and unexpected, and Harry barely managed to jerk to a side, his wand coming out to point at Snape, who sighed irritably.
"Show me your shield, Potter. I may provide you valuable information."
Harry frowned. "You could've asked."
"I did."
"Then you should've waited for an answer."
"You were going to refuse, and my way was faster. A shame it failed."
"You're a dickhead."
"Excellent argument, Potter." Snape sighed again, rubbing his forehead. "The shield, if you will?"
With another suspicious look at the weird wizard, Harry twirled his Holly wand in place, producing the shield once more.
"Interesting." The dark-eyed man slowly sauntered towards him, his eyes glued to the shield. "Inefficient and weak, and unless I am wrong, quite useless in most duels….but interesting, nonetheless."
With a tsk, Harry let it dissipate. "Was that all?"
"No." The man whirled around, walking back where he came from. "I would like to test something. Don't dodge the spell this time."
"If you expect me to be your subject then you don't know me at all." Harry folded his hands with a snort.
"I think I have quite a solid grasp on you, Mr. Potter. " Snape replied, his wand already extended. "Do this for me, and I will teach you Protego. Something you truly need before you end up getting too used to that shield."
Harry hesitated, a strangely illogical voice telling him to refuse the man solely on principle.
He shook his head, dismissing such thoughts. "Throw in the Reductor curse and you have a deal."
Snape's lips curled up slightly. "You do realise I'm doing this for your own advancement? Asking for rewards in a task that will benefit you is…incredibly like you, now that I think about it."
Harry snorted. "Your curiosity is the main reason for your experiment. My benefits are simply a side effect."
"…True enough." Snape inclined his head unabashedly. "Very well, I shall teach you the Reductor curse….do keep in mind that it's not advisable for you to use it on your little friends. And it is banned from most dueling tournaments as well."
That only made Harry want to learn it even more. "Let's get this over with."
"The shield if you will." Snape urged, and with a nod Harry once again produced the shield.
"Don't dodge." The elder wizard warned once more, before aiming right at his shield and casting aloud, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The spell was invisible like always, but Harry had expected his shield to block it nonetheless. What he did not expect was for his body to suddenly start levitating with only the slightest magical warning, his shield still as spotless as before.
Harry struggled to break free, letting his shield dissipate to focus on fighting against the magical bond.
"As I'd thought." Snape nodded calmly, slowly lowering his still flailing body down. "Would you mind standing still? I am already lowering yo- What?"
[Resistance Leveled Up: Magic] Lvl 3
…..He still couldn't move an inch but Harry was satisfied with his progress nonetheless.
"Potter, how did you do that?" Snape snapped off.
"Do what?" Harry, ever the virtuous angel, smiled up at the professor innocently.
"That, Potter." The elder wizard stressed. "How were you able to produce resistance against magic at a troll's level all of a sudden? Better yet, why do you have any resistance to magic in the first place?"
Harry gave him an unimpressed look, acting blatantly offended. "If this is some new roundabout way of insulting me Professor, then I just want to say fuck you."
Snape sighed, mumbling to himself. something about dealing with Potters.
He continued on a second later. "If you are still curious, the shield you currently use must've been created by your intentions and will. At the time you created it, your focus must've been on the more physical type of damage to defend yourself against. Thus, while still usable, your shield is woefully weak against the more subtle kind of magic. One of which is the levitation charm. I suggest you get started in correcting that mistake right away."
Harry took his words in silently, his mind reviewing his memories, wondering if he had truly done such a thing.
Quite possible but he couldn't rightly guess.
"Now before you start, I had something else to discuss with you." Snape said, moving to approach his desk. "Your mother has been creating problems for me. Most likely assuming that I'm 'unfairly' punishing her dear little child."
Harry nodded. "I will talk to her."
"No, I would rather like to keep it the way it is." He lifted a finger, stopping any queries. "Let's just say it lends more credence to our mutual hostilities."
Harry frowned. "Why exactly do we wish to maintain such an exaggerated mask?"
The man seemed to hesitate, silently glancing out of the window. "I cannot say yet. All I can say is to be wary of professor Quirrell."
"The 'Care of Magical Creatures' professor?"
"The very same."
"Fine. Now, the spells if you will?"
The long suffering sigh of the dark-eyed man was music to Harry's ears.
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When Friday arrived Harry led his little gang to the Great Hall for breakfast, without needing anyone's help along the way.
Once he realized that there was a fixed timetable to the randomness of the castle, his sense of direction had quickly adjusted to Hogwarts standards as he'd succeeded in memorizing the general routes and secrets. While he was still working on learning the exact time everything moved, it didn't hinder his ability to traverse through the castle too much.
He gave a glance around the Slytherin table, noticing the absence of his sister once again. The last few days hadn't been kind to them. The only time they were able to meet was in the morning for breakfast, or at night for dinner.
With all his new magical studies, his quest to find dungeons, Snape's occlumency and dueling classes shrouded as detentions, and his attempts to get used to all the new functions of his system, Harry constantly found himself in a time crunch. It was a good type of time crunch however, one where your busyness makes you feel giddy about your progress.
He hadn't been able to find a single dungeon yet, but this feeling of achievement kept him from growing impatient.
Plus, there were also the new system updates that he enjoyed playing around with.
'Inventory'
Instantly a long rectangle with 10 separate boxes materialized at the top corner of his vision. One box was occupied by his wand, and just a single flex of his Will made it reappear directly in his palm, ready to serve.
The chances of him being caught without his wand were now nil. He'd been deciding what else to put in there but nothing came to mind. His occlumency book used to take a spot before it was consumed. The other books he cannot hide without arousing suspicions. So for now, they stayed empty and awaiting.
"What have we got today?" Andrea asked from the side as she poured sugar on her porridge.
"Double Potions with Slytherins." Ron answered with a groan. "Then charms, then double dueling with Hufflepuff."
"Don't be a wet blanket, you." Andrea elbowed the boy. "I'm sure Harry's looking forward to potions."
"Why?" The boy asked before his eyes took in the name of their potions teacher, 'Professor Potter'. "Oh Blimey mate, I completely bungled that up."
Harry gave an absent grunt, his attention on shoving food in his stomach and watching his stamina go up automatically.
"And Rose is in Slytherin too." Andrea cut in. "It's almost like a family reunion for you."
The mails arrived right at that moment; with hundreds of owls circling the great hall to pinpoint their owners, before diving down to deliver the respective letters or packages in their laps.
Hedwig was empty-clawed as she came to perch on his shoulder, nibbling his ears softly.
"Hello, Hedwig." He scratched her on the head.
"She's so pretty." Andrea cooed from the side, her own large black owl glaring balefully at her. Harry could've sworn he saw malice brewing in it's beady eyes.
He hummed lightly, breaking a piece of toast for his awesome owl. "She is indeed."
"Guys, look at this." Ron cleared his throat, holding a newspaper in his hands. "It says, 'Wizengamot calling for re-elections. Dumbledore's attempts to hunt for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named critically questioned'."
He closed the newspaper to stare at them. "The minister's gone barmy, you reckon? He's trying to find a dead man again. This is like the fifth time this year. It used to be once a year in the past."
"I'm sure he has his reasons." Harry answered. "Whatever it may be, they do not concern us."
He only knew the things his parents had told him about. Apparently Dumbledore took on the minister's position just after finding out that Harry has been kidnapped. Since then, he's been trying to increase magical Britain's security while actively searching for Voldemort.
Logical actions, as far as Harry was concerned. The reason for Potters hostility came not from the wizard's incompetency as a minister, but his incompetency with handling Harry's situation. Still, it did not matter to Harry. For him, Dumbledore was the same as Voldemort. A behemoth who, if proved to be some hidden evil, will simply be a bag of XP for Harry.
What he didn't get was the reason why so many believed Voldemort to be dead. Or why the Wizengamot and newspapers were indirectly protecting this dark lord.
"I kind of agree that the Minister's being paranoid." Andrea said. "I mean, you-know-who's been gone for over a decade now. Everyone said he was dead. And even if he was alive, wouldn't he be trying to take over the country?"
Harry frowned. "...And who makes up your 'Everyone' exactly?"
"You know," She waved her hands around. "The Daily Profit took interviews from all sorts of famous people. Everyone had only one thing to say about You-Know-Who; dead."
Harry let out a low snort, dismissing the subject.
This was the problem with the wizarding world. They seemed to believe anything this 'Daily Profit' wrote about. And without a rival, they could write anything they wished and no one would be able to call them out on it.
Harry was of a mind to start his own news company in this country. With his fame and money, the news industry was just a juicy slab of meat just waiting for him to capitalize upon.
Unfortunately, any such plans will only be possible once his schedule stopped being this hectic. Perhaps he could also recruit his parents in this. And Snape as well. A small cut of profits would be worth his support.
Though only a very small one.
"Then again," Andrea continued. "The minister's said to be the most powerful wizard in the world. Maybe we just don't understand his very complicated way of thinking."
After the breakfast was over, they went about their day as usual. His thoughts though, were soon taken over by anticipation.
He was looking forward to meet his mother and sister. Especially considering he had to reject her last offer of tea at the very last moment, no doubt disappointing the woman something fierce. Though a main part of his excitement came from the fact that potions was in a dungeon. Surely it must be the Slytherin Dungeon?
He could only hope...
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Disappointingly, it was not to be. He assumed that his system will inform him when he found a dungeon, and the Slytherin one elicited no such response. Still, his disappointment was soothed slightly by a tiny little gremlin's presence.
"Harry!" His midget twin exclaimed, leaving her group of Slytherins to run over to him.
He barely managed to shove his book in Ron's hand before she threw herself at him, forcing him to catch her mid-air.
"You are light." Harry barely even felt her weight. "Why are you so light, little sister?"
"We're twins." She mumbled in his neck. "And I'm fine, thanks for asking."
Harry snorted, putting her down. "What could've possibly happened to you?"
She refused to let her feet touch the ground however, hanging onto him as if for dear life. Harry had to peel her away and force her on her legs, quite literally, before she finally stood straight, barely reaching his chin.
Emerald green eyes blinked up at him, glistening slightly as they asked for pity. On her slightly oval face, with a bit of baby fat still clinging, it looked exactly like a stray pup asking for sustenance.
Harry sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, come on. You're sitting with me today."
"Yay!" She cheered, before glancing back at the group of Slytherins, who were all staring at her in varying degrees of shock. "Can my friends come too?"
Shock disappeared behind uncertainty for Davis, while a cold calculating look came over Greengrass's face.
Neither could ever hope to be threats. "Sure, why not?"
Just then, Malfoy and his gang rounded the corner. One look at them and the blonde's feet halted in place, his face barely holding back a scowl as he stared at them with a composed vengeance.
Harry glanced at his twin.
"He tried to make trouble for me in the common room." She whispered in response. "So I hit him with a slug eating curse and he spent the whole day yesterday vomiting slugs in the hospital wing. He's a bit of a joke in Slytherin now."
Face still fixed in a look that promised retribution, he tried shoving past Harry to reach the room's entrance. But all he ended up doing was go sprawling to the ground by his own force, his two stooges looking confused.
The entire group of Gryffindors leapt up in thunderous laughter, and he could've sworn some of the Slytherins did so as well.
Harry frowned, shaking his head as the boy pushed himself to his feet, staring at him in rage. 'Children just never admit their own fault, do they?'
The boy composed himself quickly however, straightening his spine and walking again with his head held high as if unconcerned by the laughter. His wobbling lips gave away his mask however.
"Alright, Children, get in the class. Now." Lily's voice suddenly crept up behind them, snapping with a strictness he'd only ever heard in McGonagall.
Harry turned to see his mother dressed in dark robes, approaching them with a purposeful gait.
The severe expression on her face reminded him of a thunderstorm, threatening to break free anytime now. It must've done to the others as well because they scrambled through the door quickly.
That look dropped however, when Lily's eyes fell on Harry, and the severity melted away in a quickly growing smile that she did her best to control.
He gave Lily a nod, which while not a smile, still managed to sooth her sufficiently, before leading his group inside to one of the work benches.
"Divide yourselves in pairs." Lily commanded once they'd all settled down, her tone perfectly professional.
Harry quickly ditched Ron for his sister.
The boy shot him a betrayed look, and in a rare moment of silliness, Harry smirked at him with a shrug.
They all quickly paired up soon after: Ron with Andrea, Daphne with Tracy, and Neville with Hermione.
"You seem to be in a good mood." Rose commented.
"I am indeed."
Both of them quietened as Lily took the central space, a look of severe grimness on her face as she stared at the crowd of students. An expression he'd never observed on his mother before, and had doubted her capable of producing.
"Potions may not seem like it, but you will soon realize that it is one of the most dangerous types of Magic to study." She started, her tone matching her face in it's grimness. "Which is why I need you to understand what exactly you are getting yourself into."
She waved her hand and suddenly a sea of colours materialised in the air, mixing and combining to form a live image. The image was that of a man with massive boils on his face, all filled with purple and yellow pus. He was screaming out in agony as some unknown hands held him down.
The image was quite gruesome, and it's sudden appearance lend for high shock value, resulting in the kids going pale, some even looking close to retching.
"This was caused by a critical failure in creating an incredibly simple Boils-Cure potion. Something that you will be learning today. If you don't wish to be another victim of some unfortunate potions incident, then you must pay the utmost attention to each and every instruction that I give."
Her speech left the kids much more solemn than before. If caution was what she wanted, then Harry had no doubt that she'd just achieved her goal even better than McGonagall.
"Now, as I said earlier, for our first lesson we will be learning to create a potion that will cure any type of boil. Pay attention and you will have no reason for concern."
Lily was a very good teacher, and this was a completely unbiased opinion from Harry.
She described how to mix ingredients in details, even explaining some specific cases of failure and what might happen to them if they repeated it.
When it came to making the potion, Harry quickly divided the work between him and his sister. Though he was pleasantly surprised to note something amazing.
He had thought his level 36 cooking will be a useless skill now that he had a loving family to take care of his needs. Fortunately potion-making was so similar to cooking that he already had a massive advantage over other children. Add to that his almost superhuman dexterity and he had no doubt that the subject may be just as much a breeze for him as Occlumency or Transfiguration was.
The only vital difference between potions making and cooking was the addition of magic. Each time he made a clockwise or counter clockwise stir, the potion siphoned a bit of his magic, absorbing it as a sort of regent that helped to combine all these different magical ingredients together. And Harry took a particular note of that, memorizing the difference in magical absorbing in counter or clockwise stir. He had a feeling it was something important where this subject was concerned.
The only exciting thing to happen in those two periods was Neville somehow managing to melt down his and Hermione's Cauldron, even with Lily's numerous advice and warnings.
The boy was just too clumsy to operate with anything harmful.
Thankfully Lily seemed to be waiting for something like this to happen and quickly ran damage control, vanishing all the liquid with a swish of her wand.
The look she gave Neville was neither angry nor severe, and Neville was just beginning to relax slightly when Lily spoke. "Your mother tells me you are a dab hand in herbology, Mr. Longbottom."
The boy straightened up.
"She also said you were quiet talented with handling and extracting ingredients." Lily continued. "Watching your work however, I am beginning to doubt that."
The boy flinched back slightly, his shoulders sagging as he stared down at his feet.
"You will present me with a ten inch paragraph on the similarities between Potions and Herbology, and what common skills are used in both of them. Then, you will note what you did wrong here, and which common skill could've prevented it. Understood?"
The boy nodded meekly.
At the end of the class, Lily collected all of their vials, though she had a message for him and Rose.
"Can you stay after class?" She whispered quietly.
"Sure!...ahh, Miss mum?" His sister asked, growing confused.
Lily smiled. "Just miss is fine, Rose."
She then turned to him, her smile growing a touch nervous.
Harry had no problem with staying back either. "I will be glad to."
The nervous smile turned to one of pure bliss.
With a nod he walked back to his desk, where his friends were cleaning their cauldrons and packing their stuff.
"You all may go ahead." He informed them. "I will be staying for a bit."
"Alright, mate." Ron nodded, shooting a nervous glance at Lily before he leaned closer. "But don't be late for dueling."
"That's after lunch, Ron." Andrea cut in. "We have a charm before that remember?"
Ron hushed her urgently as he whispered out, "Keep your voice down! Don't want to get dressed down like Longbottom, do you?"
He did not hear more of their argument as they walked out of the potions room. The class soon emptied after that, leaving only the Potters behind.
His midget twin ran towards Lily at once, jumping her the same way she did him. "Mum! I missed you so much!"
Lily laughed aloud, swinging the tiny girl around before she put her down. "I missed you too, Princess."
Harry approached her much more civilly.
"Hello...ah," He hesitated, before finally saying it. "...Mother."
It was the first time he'd said that to her, and it felt every bit as strange as he'd imagined it would.
Lily looked close to tears, the smile on her face wavering as if it couldn't decide what it's owner wanted.
She settled on leaning towards him slowly, and he hesitated only a moment, glancing at her affection bar for reassurance, before letting himself be taken in her arms. "Thank you."
Harry took a deep breath, relaxing down while hesitatingly patting her shoulder.
She let off soon after, her smile now more stable.
"I'm so glad you two were able to settle in this quickly." She said, before turning to Rose with an arched brow. "But what's this I'm hearing about you cursing the Malfoy boy, Rose?"
"Oh, nothing mum." His twin waved it away. "He was just being a right berk in the common room. Threatening me and Harry. So I cursed him."
Lily stared at her for a few seconds before giving a very serious nod. "That's my girl. Never let anyone touch you or your family. But don't do that in front of any teachers alright? I won't be able to cover up for you every time."
She then turned to him then, the slight smile dropping off into a worried frown. "The portraits have been complaining about you roaming the halls at midnight, Harry. I get that the castle might be a little constraining compared to the free life you've led, and the headmistress understands this fully, but she has told me to warn you that there are some parts of the castle that are still a mystery to us and might prove to be harmful. So just..."
"Not roam the castle?" He asked, frowning.
"Of course not! In fact, I urge you to continue as long as you get sufficient sleep. But limit yourself to the last few floors please." She then began searching for something in her books. "And your safety is the priority. So I wanted to give this to you...Merlin, where did I keep it? Oh! There you go."
She removed a small piece of parchment, unfolding it several times to reveal it to be completely empty.
But if there was something he'd learned about magic, it was that taking anything at face value was bad for one's health.
"This," She began primly. "Is the marauders map."
Her announcement elicited a gasp from Rose. "The one dad and Uncle Siri always bragged about!?"
"The very same. I was shocked to recognize it in hands of the Weasley twins. Apparently they found it in Filch's room. Replicating this has not gone well for me. Even your father doesn't know how exactly they plotted the entire castle, some of which are directly charmed to be unplottable. I am pretty sure it was an accident. The most I could do was add some additional wards, and some minor charms. Well...I hope you use it carefully."
Harry took ahold of it, and Rose quickly came around to peak at his shoulder.
"Touch it in the middle with your wand and say, 'I Solemnly Swear That I'm Up To No Good'." Lily instructed. "And say 'Mischief Managed', to close it back."
Harry repeated the phrase, and suddenly black ink started spreading throughout the parchment, combining into lines that curved into squares and rectangles, indicating the rooms of Hogwarts. Together, they all formed a map that seemed to list every place of the castle that he'd visited, and a lot more that he hadn't.
Then came all the small dotted names of people spread around the map, with one name more bigger than the others; Harry Potter, who the map informed was currently standing with two other people in the potions room.
He took in a deep breath, realizing how truly helpful this thing could be if it is truly what he believed it to be.
"Is this...completely accurate?" He couldn't help but ask.
"A hundred percent, as far as I know." Lily confirmed.
There were seven secret passageways that led from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade, 6 secret doors that connected the multiple towers, 11 staircases that skipped entire floors and travelled to a single destination each time they moved, corridors that led to the outskirts of forbidden forest directly...
Everything that was hidden from the naked eye was plotted on the map. If the dungeons were in the castle, then his job has just become multiple times easier.
"Thank you." He breathed out, grateful and joyous.
"Hmmmm." Lily propped her face on her knuckles, a teasingly thoughtful expression on her face. "I appreciate your gratitude, but you know an even better thanks would be...oh I don't know, maybe a hug? Now, I'm not saying you should consider it of course. But perhaps you could?"
Harry frowned. "That made no sense."
Lily sighed. "You are purposely torturing me, aren't you? I was saying-"
"No, not that. Your last words made no sense."
"Well ignore them then." She whined out with a frown, "They aren't important. I was saying-"
Harry hugged her and she shut up.
It was spur of a moment thing, almost impulsive. Quite unlike Harry, though had he given it more thoughts, he was sure his hesitation would've most likely won.
He quickly disengaged, taking two steps back from the woman who seemed to stare at him in lightheaded shock.
"Did that happen or was I dreaming?" She asked Rose, who had her arms folded and staring at Harry with an angry pout. "This may just be my luckiest day ever."
"You never did that for me!" Rose pointed a finger a him accusingly. "I'm your twin!"
"You have never done anything useful for me." Harry answered calmly.
"Wha-!?" She exclaimed. "I let you use me for target practice!"
"And I taught you the slug spell." Harry maintained. "It was an equal exchange."
Rose sniffed with her face down, kicking an imaginary pebble sulkily.
Harry petted her head a couple of times and she was back to her normal self, beaming up at him.
"Silly child." He sighed.
"Now now, children, as entertaining it is to watch you two together, I think it is time for your lunch." Lily said, standing up. "One last thing Harry, were you searching for something specific?"
Harry nodded. "Secret rooms related to the four founders."
"Hmm...well, this is the sort of things your father would know. Write to him about it, I'm sure he will have some ideas. The only one I know is the chambers of secrets, an ancient legend that no one was able to prove existed. But there are records of it being opened."
The break was close to being over so he and Rose hurried out soon after that, though not before a firm promise to join Lily in the evening for some tea. This time Harry intended to keep his promise, even if he had to skip his planned sessions with Snape.
Soon however, his attention was fixed upon another class he was looking forward to; Dueling. This was a class he did not wish to miss. Not just to compare it with what he was learning from Snape but to also gouge out his future with the subject.
With Remus as the teacher, he held onto the hopes that he may just learn something new.
Who knows, perhaps Snape wasn't as good a teacher that he made himself out to be.
Harry cannot judge without experience.
Whatever the case however, he knew he was on the right track of progression.
Now if only he could find those damned dungeons.....
----------------------------------------
AN: Done.
So Harry now has the marauder's map, how will it change things? You will soon see. Maybe. No promises.
Also, his magical knowledge is growing quickly, though I haven't demonstrated anything concrete yet. You will soon see that as well, and this one I can promise.
I was suffering from a terrible lack of sleep when writing this chapter so let me know if Harry hugging Lily seemed too jarring or out of character. He was eventually going to become more stable towards a chosen few that are meant to be close to him, but I don't know if I went a little too fast there.
Well that's about it. I also didn't have any beta this time, and like I said, was feeling incredibly awful when editing it (am still now but nothing a good night's sleep can't cure), so if there are any mistakes present, pls point them out and I'll correct em' quickly.
Till next time, stay safe and take care!
Comments
Rokatsa
We should also remember that Harry in general has a naturalized gift for certain things. Combat magic is one of those, along with a bit of charms, transfig, and potions due to parents/bloodline so those should always progress a bit faster than say Divination, Astronomy (debate, since mundane science should help here alot), runes, magic math (same as astronomy), and just general non-combat magic.
Robs511
Yeah I'm working on enhancing his sarcastic bite that the canon Harry had. It seems natural, and not at all ooc even for this current Harry.
Robs511
Wdym? Occlumency grew to lvl 9 cause it's perfectly suited for him, the speed will soon slow down when controlling emotions is no longer enough to progress. If you meant the stunner and levitation charm, he had learned that back with Hydra. So he had more than a year to level them up before his wand was destroyed.
Ilay Hyams
Again the only thing I can say is that his skills are progressing a bit fast for my tastes, I understand that is a part of a gamer system but most gamer systems either start in stronger worlds or leave their starting world for stronger worlds eventually because of power creep
thevolunteer
Obviously this Harry is very different from canon, but I think allowing some of canon Harry’s nature come out from time to time as the story progresses is only going to make him a better, more nuanced character. It also helps make this a story about Harry Potter instead of some character who has nothing in common with the character but happens to share the same name.
