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Chapter 21

Helltanz's notes: So before we begin there are two issues that need to be addressed. They are as follows:

The first is the obvious that at some point this story will be rewritten. (Some people will probably, as was the case with the rewritten version of Crown of Ebony, prefer the original version better.)

Secondly this was updated last on 14 September 2012, and a lot was going on at the time. As some people may be aware from other stories of mine I had a major hard drive failure later in the year.

At the time of writing this I do not have a lot of the original version's notes or other material. If I find them they will likely only be used for the rewrite... unless the rewrite ends up as a separate story in which case whatever was completed goes here. Personally I don't remember what was complete at the time the hard drive went off its track, so I can't say.

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There were days were he didn't have the energy to move when he woke up... where the whole world was just movement and noise on the periphery of his senses. There were holes in the world, and they weren't in rings of toadstools. Harry got by on days like this the same way he managed most things looking for something to focus on to the exception of everything else. Everything else being fathoming anything to do with wider wizarding society... Diagon Alley in London, the goblins running the banks, or even the so called Death Eaters.

Today was one of those days were distractions were headaches... much less the reminder he'd managed to somehow or another notice that there were non human magical life... but missed all of human wizarding society. It was something he'd yet to drop, though the aspirin helped the headache he got whenever he saw goblins in three piece suits. Speaking of clothes Madam Malkin had sent her latest catalog... Harry honestly couldn't remember requesting it, and he'd glanced at it yesterday, before tossing it on one of his school books.

Most of Harry's elemental magic... or rather he found it easiest... to feed via emotion. Fire did well it fed it if he stoked it up, and well if he hadn't found a warning in the library at Hogwarts cautioning against that kind of thing he'd have been much more at ease. Allegedly, or so said some wizard who'd actually managed to get killed by the muggles during some crusader or something, utilzing magic in such away effected the behaviors. It was allegedly what made necromancers stand out... again allegedly. Harry hadn't actually ever found an english necromancer, or any necromancer in the wizarding world so... there was that.

No Malkin's advertisment aside today's mail was what he was trying to ignore. The Death Eather's... no doubt under that 'Rosier' person were getting bolder... and though he'd never admit it... from the reports bold wasn't just cutting it. No the Aurors claimed their failings were due to budget cuts made after Voldemort had fallen. The boy wizard rubbed the scarring flesh from a lucky shot in the fight at Diagon Alley... it was like they were training more than the ones he'd first encountered. He wanted to focus on the sheets of drafting paper in front of him, to drown out the hum of everything... and it wasn't working.

He snarled smashing aside some old books and grabbing for a piece of obsidian he'd ordered via Owl... that was one thing he'd say for the wizarding world. Owl Post that was useful... come to think of it that was probably when he'd registered for Malkin's. It didn't matter within a few seconds he was pouring magic into the rock, it glowed and he stopped before burst. Most of his fatigue in the morning was physical... late nights over and over after all. He dropped it on the drafting paper and grabbed for the carpenter's pencil... and waited.

It didn't take long... he had the feeling earth for whatever reason was never going to be 'his thing' moving it was one thing, but they never seemed to hold the magic well. He'd tried other stuff... like quartz and such, but they all burst or cracked. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to do with them... make them grow... like plants did... and on some level he recognized that as unlikely. Fire was one thing... water could be conjured... plants were living. Pumping energy into stone with nothing but energy wasn't like when he poured power into a spark. It wasn't working the same, but with energy he could make earth move in similar motions. Feeding his irritation into a rock wans't going to help.

It was probably... he decided since focusing on the issue wasn't yielding any inspiration time to eat... he avoided setting up a clock at first... he didn't have a wizard one yet... and digital ones like he had used at Privet Drive would not function... and a mechanical one well he didn't haveanother handy as that had been left in the Potter home in London... along with a trunk full of other knick knacks, books and assorted.

He'd wasted enough time he'd decided Earth was simple in one way, but only in moving it. He found being unable to conjure small bits of rock at a time a nuisance... and embarressing at worse... so it was time for food. So he swung out the door and headed for the stairs... the dilapidated old Potter Castle was not quite the maze hogwarts was. Staircases did shift from time to time, but not with the frequency the School's did. According to one entry in Hogwart's a history the castle was the most active one in all of Europe... a feat attributed to the combined efforts of all four founds in concert in raising it. Harry considered a small mercy... actually getting lost in Hogwarts had been a nuisance... and there had been hundreds of other students there.

"We're going to have to quarry stone." He muttered there was a practical limit and just not being able to make that volume was evident. The notion of leaving the castle as it was... no he'd known when he saw it that that wasn't an option. Even if it sounded manic, it had to be done... but food first.

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He understood at some level that he was related to Draco... but it was rather odd. The idea of having to deal with... to interact with relatives other than the Dursleys baffled him at some level. It had taken years to figure out just how to deal with his muggle relatives in a semi equitable fashion... Vernon's slow warming, pun intended, idea of magic came because it helped Dudley. A million years of biological instinct one supposed. Petunia was necessary for shopping of course, much as Harry loathed the noise of muggle London pens were far more convinient to quils, and there were other advantages... but Malfoy? Maybe it would have been different in other situations...

He'd put the effort to learning about his magical relatives... but it meshed largely with what Dumbledore had said. The last two centuries had seen their infighting and whittled away once vast clans of purebloods taking many before their natural lifespan was up. In the last century the surviving purebloods amongst England had largely interbred. It wasn't a new thing, a thousand years of history... but.

Harry looked around. Lucretia Prewett, nee Black, had died after a lengthy period of off an on illness... allegedly from everything he'd heard from injuries sustained from some dark curse... or something. She'd been close to seventy, and from the picture of the casket had left behind a corpse that looked closer to aunt Petunia's age. Apparently the Blacks had been prolific in numbers in the first half of the century... enough that they had well managed all this. Longbottom, and his Grandmother, were here, but the Weasley's curiously hadn't been invited despite apparently at least according to what he'd heard from Fred... or George... been on good terms, or at least speaking terms, with Lucretia Prewett at the end. Add to that that Draco lost his grandfather this past year as well.

He knew nearly none of these people. Quite frankly he wasn't sure what to make of the Malfoys... Lucius Malfoy, and Nott's father too for that matter should have been enemies. They had been known Death Eater's after all. Harry supposed that perhaps they supported the cause but were opposed to the spectre claiming to be Rosier. Speaking though of the little dragon he was coming up to the deck.

This had been apparently his aunt, by some degree,'s idea. "Draco,"

"Potter... Harry." He responded correcting himself hastily.

The dark haired wizard ignored it and jerked his head towards the garden, "Who's the Hufflepuff?"

"Thats Andromeda's daughter, err my mother's sister." He seemed unprepared to discuss the older hogwarts student, but pressed on... "Her father is a muggle born, so they really shouldn't be here."

That would assuming Malfoy did mean the Hufflepuff's father was muggle born, make her a half blood, which was what Harry assumed he meant. There were days he couldn't fathom how Longbottom hadn't gotten shoved into the house... gods knew that Professor Sprout would have been delighted to have him. Right now it would have been better if Neville wans't trapped in his grandmother's shadow but that was where the Gryffindor was presently confined. He looked almost as uncomfortable as the Hufflepuff being here.

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It was not long after one when the letter arrived. Gringotts. Harry had rolled his eyes impatiently at the Owl and taken the letter after it had insistently offered him the missive. He'd taken it but hadn't immediately opened it. What another bank robbery boring? Had been his initial inclination.

It had taken him some time to bother getting to it. Apparently it had taken this long for Gringotts to deal with the fallout of the various members of House Black passing away. He had studied the letter put aside, only to come back to it. He had gotten a more formal letter from the remaining Black family before school had ended of course, and of course there had been the luncheon. This was more of a formal affair dealing with the actual proceedings of the arrangements.

The actual issue at hand was what annoyed him. Arcturus Black's death in theory insured the passing of the Family's titles and such to one Sirius Black. Harry's imprisoned God father, and by all reports a member of Voldemort's inner circle who had made Halloween possible. Harry had no idea what to make of the issue. In the time span of the first rise the Black Family had suffered dozens of casualties... and Grindelwald, where they had been opposed to the continental wizards, had certainly spared few of its combatants either.

Prevaling suspicion was that Sirius Black had bastards to contend with, but that meant little in the face of the paper work. Under Arcturus's directives as head of the family those children were entitled to a family trust, but nothing more. With the Black Lord dead, and his heir indisposed via imprisonment it fell to a family regent.

After Voldemort's fall Arcturus had retired to the family manor in Dover leaving a handful of properties dispersed to the remaining members of the House; his children and nieces and nephews who were titularly of the Black Family. Sirius had of course had been convicted of blasting apart an entire street full of muggles, by what Harry assumed was happenstance, during a duel with another of his school maters after Voldemort's fall. The trial had been swift, and Arcturus had done nothing to intercede.

This left Harry in the curious position of having access to his godfather's accounts in the interim according to the goblins... and contemplating where that left everything else. Lucius had commented that in theory wizarding law would allow more distant Black relatives, as surely some cadet branch had survived, to make the attempt to be involved. Tonks could theoretically challenge the limbo the estate sat in immediately, though Neville, Harry, and Draco wouldn't be able to for another few years. The Goblins were obliged to continue to follow Arcturus's instructions on maintaining things under contract so the accounts would still accrue interest, and whatever businesses there happend to be would keep running. It would be... grossly ineffecient.

Still the Goblins had tallied the account, and the vault contents dutifully and notified him pursuant to policy. The items were nothing interesting and technically he was supposed to 'watch over' the items in trust... so he was going to leave them alone. The goblins following Arcturus's instructions would dispatch monthly reports to the family (though Lucius Malfoy would likely review both Draco and Narcissa's affairs) members until someone could levy the family for recognition... or demonstrate magically they're supremacy.

Unfortunately whatever Arcturus had set up for the latter criteria wouldn't likely be brute force so Harry saw no move that way. Quite frankly the whole affair left him uncertain.

"Well since you mentioned it Harry." Hagrid declared pouring another cup of tea. "I happen to have Sirius's motorbike."

The green eyed wizard blinked owlishly, Hagrid had... Sirius what. "Uh err no. No thats fine Hagrid its not an issue." Gringotts hadn't mentioned anything about a motor bike, and if Hagrid had had it this long he would leave it where it was. He grabbed a slice of bacon... Hagrid's cooking was hit or miss... the man was afterall a lifetime bachelor it seemed.

"Its flies well, been keeping it maintained."

It flew? Harry had vague memories of a flying motorcycle, but no... there were quite enough flying things around the castle as it was. Norbert's hatching had been a debacle. Harry honestly couldn't fathom how it hadn't ended up as some kind of open secret, but the overgrown fire breathing lizard couldn't stay there... certainly not in Hagrid's paddock or in Hogwart's stables. So here... for now. Technically Charlie Weasley was going to come by intermittently to check since he could apparate to the edge of the wards, and was used to hiking. "If helps you keep it." certainly he didn't need it... really a flying motorcyle... "Besides what about Dumbledore's trip to Paris?"

"Albus is going with a lot from the ministry so they all show together like." Hagrid's expression made it clear what he thought about the ministry hangers on, "I reckon Lucius Malfoy is going as well. Its a big conference they're having. The School will be in good hands with McGonnagal of course, and its only for like a month."

Harry grimaced... Dumbledore had offered to look over anything, but his head of house had proven much more intrusive since the end of term. "When does Dumbledore leave?" He asked hastily... it was going to be unfortunate if the transfiguration professor came calling.

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Luck hadn't held... not that he'd expected it to. There had been a Death Eater thing in Cornwall, and McGonnagal had decided to check in on his welfare. Hagrid had been visiting again so she'd berated him over the wand thing as well. He supposed for all the emphasis that was put on the things... and what Katie had been able to turn fire focused through one this past year through he should have made time before hand... he just hadn't. Unlike the sorting hat Ollivander hadn't cared... wizards and wands were a complicated thing, and people came to his shop when they were ready and age meant little.
The head of Gryffindor had harumphed at that notion. Still McGonnagal hadn't just been about dealing with the wand issue, "Take a seat Potter." It was an ice Cream... Harry had come a few times previous the owner seemed a 'decent sort' to borrow a phrase from Vernon. "Well with Quirrel gone we will have another Defense teacher this year." Obviously. "Now the issue is well Lockhart is a rather bit of a fop."

"Who?"

"Gilderoy Lockhart," She seemed surprised he hadn't heard of him. Apparently he was some moderately famous evil creature fighting wizarding celebrity. He travelled around, mostly just, Europe and such dealing with things and then writing, probably, embellished books about the whole affair. "He put in for the job, and we couldn't say he didn't have experience. Which brings us to the issue, the last time your methods would have been popular were the sixteen hundreds. I will not in the slightest tolerate repeat of the rampant anarchy of last year." She couldn't fathom Albus's allowance of having that obstacle course at Hogwarts in the first place, but it wouldn't be happening this year. "There will be no more exchanges of spell fire in the hallway Mister Potter."

She sounded like she meant it. "Is Lockhart a Death Eater then?"

"What oh no. Goodness no. Tha' blonde peacock has no political positions at all. Regardless of the positions of some of your classmates parents or what the Death Eaters do outside of Hogwarts that fighting needs to stay out there." There were Red Robed Aurors in Diagon Alley again... had been since September for the first time in nearly a decade. It had taken years for the Death Eaters to start mounting attacks after the Dark Lord's fall, but they had been paltry in the wizarding world or confined to being on muggles up until just a few years ago. "They don't really do anything." She muttered disparagingly. The Auror corps have been understrength for years, the entire DMLE was poorly funded cut to the bone in the interest of other things. The ministry wanted good candidates, but offered them terrible pay, and most purebloods scoffed at the idea of such offers. The hours were long, the pay was lousy and the requirements ended up hiring half bloods because muggleborns rarely were called for an interview to the academy. "Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should Mr. Potter. Hogwarts is a school, not a back alley brawl. As for Mr. Lockhart, well he was a good student at school, but I can't fathom he'll be much better than Quirrel was at the subject."

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"So how were things with the Malfoys." Daphne was prying again.

It wasn't like there was really even anything to say. "The same." It was always the same. Lucius and Neville's grandmother would go at it for most of the hour, quibling over small details while everyone else was forced to basically watch it repeat itself. There was no getting around it. Harry had no idea what the fuck they were even bothering to argue about. He supposed ti was probably financial markets. Arcturus had made a lot of money bankrolling projects for people who didn't have them and taking a cut. Harry would have thought the goblins might have had a problem with that, but apparently not. "Its always the same," He finally said, "I go once a month, the goblins make sure the accounts have been creditted by the parties who owe money, and then arguing starts about what to do."

There were no marble pillars. Everything everything he owned , every structure seemed dilipadiated aged from being left untended. Even Hogwarts with its legion of empty classrooms. Diagon alley, and even its darker counterpart were somewhat exempt of course... but it bothered him. It was the Malfoy estate, and Narcissa's gardens that were in perfect order that drove him up the wall.

Fire curled from his finger tips in irritation. "At least the plants were growing well, Neville for all of his more evident failings outstripped Harry entirely in Herbology, an area were Harry was himself no slouch. If not for the grenhouses though the weather would have undone them. He glanced at his hand and the flames quieted... he was not going to have a fit in front of someone else. Neville's grandmother had loomed over all of them expecting all those younger than her, i.e. Everyone, to act like 'dignified members of society'.

Harry had met the Greengrass for lunch. It hadn't meant much. In was lunch in some minor alley off of Diagon. Neither of her parents were the philosophizing type. Bot had specialized in charms, and both had run as stewards for their own parents businesses... and quite frankly it was quite boring. It still hadn't been as bad as Parkinson trying to explain how an apothecary was managed and the strict vetting of materials her family put their suppliers through.

A part of him couldn't wait for school to resume. Every time he had someone over, every time he went to Diagon, or London in general people asked questions that he couldn't predict. Purebloods, and households in magical communites could permit their children to practice magic. For all the McGonnagal had said they weren't it was a farce. Daphne had shown that much. The house elves just added another layer to that. They were happy, to a degree that amounted to outright fanatascism, to do whatever was asked of them. Those things made no sense, but then neither had educated goblins either at first... house elves could do magic and that certainly bypassed any restriction on children doing magic.

Here in the country side? The castle was unplottable its tracts of land overgrown and left to seed for a minimum of some three centuries ? The ministry knew nothing that happened. Actually now that he thought about it those old protections were probably why the old manor houses were able to allow the children their freedom. A freedom to study magic all summer... not that most would... all Draco had done was complain that 'uncle sev', uhg, 'was tutoring him in Defense against the dark arts.' Quirell had in spite of being possessed by a terrible stutter and the dark lord had actually been half way competent in preparing them for the exams or so Snape had declared... if with some reluctance.

Daphne's own 'tutoring' couldn't match Snape's knowledge of extant magic... and apparently the greasy potionsmaster was no slouch at crafting his own spells either. Harry would never have gueessed that, but had been somewaht impressed. As for Daphne she didn't really need the help from her parents she was nearly two years ahead in Charms as it was, and if Astoria couldn't ace the first year course work right now Harry would have been surprised. On the other hand Charms seemed to the widest field of magic as far as classifications went.

There was a reason he preferred using a less broad classification system... even if he had to steal it from muggle fantasy books.

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Albus Dumbledore knew that there was only so much that could be done. A thousand years ago Hogwarts, and its wards, had been raised by the founders. Each had imparted their own protections in what had been for the time an utterly unheard of collaboration of magic. It was understandable that those secrets had even been kept from one another. As a result, and as each generation of staff and headmaster added to them it became more and more complex a web. If Hogwarts felt it were threatened it would become the most well defended structure in possibly the whole of Europe far outstripping any other castle fortress. The problem was how it would respond, and too what. Even Voldemort hadn't risked a direct assault, so the Death Eaters in their scattered state were unlikely to either... unfortunately they were still capable of mustering against less protected places... and often times that meant muggles. It was understandable to be honest... that was to say it was nothing new Dark Wizards, even those who weren't purebloods or aligned with that movement, had done it for centuries. It was thus the kind of issue that forced the ICW, an gathering of the various represenatives of the different wizarding communities, together rather frequently. The forerunner of the International confederation as it existed today had existed overlapping with the early generations of Hogwarts. It could not be said it hadn't been used to these things.

"Fillius you had something you wished to say," He declared to the floating head in his fireplace... it was a floo call so whatever it was the dimunitive charms professor didn't deem is serious enough for an actual trip to Paris. "I trust that you and Minerva have things well in hand?"

The head in the flames nodded, "We do indeed Albus, as for the issue at hand I have been looking into some of Hogwarts more obscure records." Once upon a time Hogwarts had been larger... regardless of how much some would attempt to argue otherwise the last thousand years had taken its toll on the wizarding world, and the advent of gun and cannon had taken time acclimate defenses too. The bubblehead charm for explorations deep in the earth or at sea had been useful against muggle gas weapons, but even that had taken time to figure out. "There are rather curious legends about goblins in our history Albus, such a pity mr. Potter wasn't sorted into Ravenclaw."

Albus surpressed a winch... he'd been expecting the other shoe to drop on that soon, "Yes Fillius I know that I broke with tradition there," Not that he was the first to do so in even recent memory, though it was the first exception since Voldemort's rise. "I deemed it to be in everyones best interest, but that is neither here nor there." He declared, "Please get to the issue Filius."

"Do you know what the Centaur said to Mr. Potter, when they warned Mars was bright?" The smile was terse one, and even in the fire Albus could make out the bags under his eyes, "They said the Children of dusk... or if one prefers Svartalfr of our Scandinavian cousins legends."

Most wizards would have claimed they were a myth. House Elves were a kind of house hold fey... like the Domovi common in Eastern Europe, they didn't precisely conform to elves of myth, or popular stories. In fact most wizards would have dismissed it out of hand, Albus swallowed, "Fillius if you would go to my office there is a hidden chamber underneath the leftmost book case in the back it leads to private collection. I think amongst some of the material I seized from Grindelwald after the war, may be of further use to you." He deeply wished now that more of the archives of the Founders had survived their era... but greed had effected many a headmaster and teacher at Hogwarts over the year... and other emotions as well ahd taken their toll on the resources.

"I'll go immediately Albus, but I think you should consider what the Centaur elders of the Forest warned about. Its quite important,"

"Saturn can mean a lot of thing Fillius we shouldn't jump to conclusions..." Several generations ago one of Harry Potter's ancestors had been headmaster... but further up the line was another set of names even more highly held. He hadn't thought of them when Harry had asked, because honestly it had been so long since he'd seen the Potter Tapestry, or the Black one for that matter. Harry Potter, and Tom Riddle were distant, very distant, cousins after all... though at that distance there were quite a number of other cousins closer beetween them both. "If you find anything further come join me in Paris." He hoped it wouldn't come to that...

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As the month wore on Harry occassionally journeyed to London. He didn't actually like reading the paper, despite enjoying reading itself. Muggle, and magical papers alike seemed to always emphasize ultimately the same rote kind of news. On the other hand it hadn't really surprised him to learn there were other magical schools. There had to be of course. Even in England, propper, there were other lesser schools for wizards... lesser in that they were deemed less reputable than Hogwarts. Also that most refused to consider admitting muggleborns, some even refused to admit the students of muggleborns, but they were few. The bigger issue were the schools abroad.

Durmstrang Harry had looked it up after Malfoy, Draco, had brought it up again in passing. It was also in a castle. It made sense schools required a large enough staff and for boarding schools enough room to make magical castles practical. However by all indications unlike English boarding schools in general Durmstrang didn't use a House system... though he wasn't quite certain what they used in its place. Either way it had been an interesting idea, but Durmstrang did not have a reputation for welcoming visitors for that reason Harry had largely taken note and left the matter lay after. So thus the month had worn on, and gave way to the following.

Fire was abundantly easy once you had grasped the basics it seemed. All of them seemed to have it... even Davis and Harry had not remembered her even paying much attention or even caring about it. In hindsight that was probably some pureblood issue, she was friend's with Daphne, and her own parents probably had something to say about , but whatever. No the issue, if it was admittedly petty, was that Neville could barely manage a spark without his wand but could cause plants to bloom and grow... and well none of the rest could do it. Affinity, but then herbology and Neville got on smashingly even Papers were well put together according to Sprout being a year or two ahead of First year work already. There in lay the issue for Neville... or rather the issue his Grandmotehr took with it. It wasn't conventional, as Harry had termed it, and its focus on plants were well... Neville's grandmother had some row about honoring the family name and living up Neville's father's legacy or something of that.

IT had been a terrible tirade.

So Harry was in London again. Nominally speaking they were supposed to be studying, but that was a farce. The old botanic garden in the London House had been left untended for probably at least fifteen years, much the same as the rest of the house. From the available pictures its last tender had been the woman Harry assumed was his paternal grandmother. Technically they were supposed to be studying, but Neville had taken to clearing out the detritus of his own accord. Harry fathomed that his Gran was probably restricting his access to the Longbottom Greenhouses and hence his near pathological need to cope by fixing other plants. Well whatever... Harry had tended Petunia's prize winning flowers far to long to enjoy it as anything more than a momentary experience these days anything else was a chore to be undertaken.

As for the rest Malfoy, Lucius, had actered strange one day almost mechanical, and far more abrasive than he normally was as if he was on edge or something. Harry had felt the hair on his neck stand up briefly, and had spent the morning wondering if Death Eater's were going to pop out... if perhaps Malfoy had fallen in with his old retinues, but no the pureblood lord had squabbled indignantly with Arthur Weasley in public and then nothing. Everyone had gone their separate ways... but it was part of the reason Draco wouldn't be visitng any time soon...

Two Slytherins he supposed were enough. As for George and Fred they had felt it was par for the course for a Malfoy so had thought little.

Harry shrugged and worked on his approximations of how the energy was moving under his influence. In theory you could use normal words, latin alphabet and such, to hold magic runes, hieroglyphics and such worked better for whatever reason. It was in that Su Li, being bilingual, had a startling advantage. Oh Harry had some experience with the most basic set of runes, but it was somewhat simplistic in its application... one might say brute force in inclination. It was why he was considering going back to Diagon Alley far sooner than he normally would and asking for the book list for third years starting runes, or just books on the subject in general. It was the prior issue, that third years and other courses opening, that annoyed him almost as much as jealously.

It had been mentioned of course, but it hadn't been something that had kept his attention... he didn't wish to be dependent on someone else's copy of a book, and of course, while there might be copies at hogwarts that meant the library and that didn't help him either. One of the portraits, one of the ones who had survived the ages had pointed out that different editions gave prescedence to different material as wizards, understandably, had interested they preferred over those of their predescors... though frankly Harry had never concerned himself with it. It meant nothing, if there were old school books here they were probably packed away, and he wouldn't have had the faintest idea where to dig through the cobwebs to look for them.

So loath as he was to admit it it was either go shopping or dig around in a house left to its own devices for at least a dozen years. He would be damned before he bothered with 'household charms' the whole idea disturbed him more than most... it was like that mouse on the television. That was what witches spent time inventing to make daily life easier. They were the most common accomplishments of the last two hundred years of spellcraft. It was at least something, and quite frankly if there was anything legitimately more impressive it had probably been carefully hoarded... given the whole Grindelwald, and after him Voldemort.

So thus here they sat.

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Helltanz's notes: 2/6/17 If, and thats a big if, I can find my old notes we will see what gets kept if and when chapter 22 gets written. However, as a heads up this is probably going to be rewritten, either as an entirely new opening with even larger plot deviations, or a more simplistic clean up of things in the earlier chapters.