Harry dodged a red light and ducked under a purple one before leaning away from a pink spell. He was currently dodging spells, being fired by two dummies at him. The dummies were provided by the room of requirement, a room made by Rowena Ravenclaw as her legacy. When Harry had told the founders that he wanted to get better at combat, this was the first thing they had made him do almost three weeks ago. He had been told to go to the seventh floor and pace across the wall opposite the tapestry of dancing trolls, thrice thinking 'Hel-Sal Secret chamber'. That was a special feature they had added to Rowena's room only accessible through this code word.
It was an awe-inspiring piece of magic. Rowena Ravenclaw at her best indeed. It provided anything and everything in the boundaries of the room, except food and rare, non-conjurable metals like gold and platinum. The extraordinary room had this feature with the addition of their portraits. Now he could train there. But he felt that the chamber was better even if it was not capable of this. It had a homey feeling to it which this room didn't.
Helga and Salazar had made him practice dodging for combat training. 'You can not be hit by a spell if you are not in its path.' Also, it saved magical energy. Now Harry could dodge spells from two dummies at the same time. They only fired stunners of different colors. A Hogwarts elf was there to enervate him if he got hit by a spell.
There were, of course, other settings to fire some higher-level spells and even faster, but nothing worse than a bone-breaking curse. These dummies were currently set at trainee- auror level and shot 5 spells in three seconds. For the first week, he could hardly last more than a minute against one dummy, and he was better than most, as he had practice with bludgers in quidditch. Now, he could dodge 3 spells a second and last a few minutes against them. It was an excellent rate of progress as his youth gave him an advantage. He was faster than adults, most children were. They were all hyperactive. Adults lacked this unless they were trained.
His other studies were going well. He would like to see Snape belittle him for perfect potions. He was sure going to be first in Runes and Arithmancy. Harry had no doubt about it. He was already on the fourth-year syllabus in those subjects. In charms, DADA, and transfiguration, he was owl level already. Since the chamber incident, magic was much more effortless for him. Also, the credit for it went to occlumency, his practice, and most importantly the founder's tutelage. They taught him most things he now knew. He loved spending time with them, not just studying but also hearing random tales about students and the founders.
He dodged a yellow stunner but fell straight into the bluish-green one. After getting enervated by the elf, he turned to them. "4 minutes 23 seconds. Excellent. From the next session, we will add another dummy. You are doing extremely well. Keep this progress up. Now, cast spells as fast as you can. Stunners, 10 in total. We will record the time. 3...2...1 start!" Salazar said, and Harry fired. He used silent casting. The two founders were always insistent that all spells he did should be silent, except for the ones that needed incantations, high-level spells usually like Expecto Patronum. The unforgivable curses also needed incantations, well, for almost everyone. Those who had mastered the last level of occlumency, connecting the core and mind, could cast without incantation as they bent magic to their will. This was another advantage of mastering the mind arts.
"5.23 secs for ten stunners. Not bad, trainee-auror level. But you are 13 years old."
"How fast should I be? To stand toe to toe with Voldemort?" Harry asked the question. " Voldemort and Dumbledore can do 6 to 7 stunners a second. Of course, Voldemort always uses higher-level spells and so shoots 3 to 4 a second, but they are higher-level spells like blasting curses and bone breaker level." Harry's eyes widened. His speed was not even 2 spells a second. To match Voldemort and Dumbledore, he needed to be thrice faster than he currently was. He would practice relentlessly. He decided that he would be the best. Next time Voldemort and he would meet, he wouldn't rely on luck. He would depend on his skills. He wouldn't be weak again.
Harry nodded. "Harry, do not think for a moment that you are not doing well. For a thirteen-year-old, you are fantastic. You need to practice, Yes. But you have time. Don't overdo it. Okay." Helga said. Of course, she could tell what he was thinking.
"I agree with Helga. Since Black escaped, you have been exhausting yourself almost every day. It is not good. You will damage yourself." Salazar said. They were worried for him. "So, we have decided that you will not work out or do magic for the next three days. We will restart that all on Monday."
"WHAT? But- but, you-" Harry stammered.
"No buts, young man! It is an order. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, no workouts. No spell casting. You need to rest your core and body, Harry. It will do you no good to do what you're currently doing, so from tomorrow, only theoretical study and political studies. No arguments." Helga chided. Sufficiently cowed, Harry nodded meekly. She smiled. "Now go and enjoy the rest of the day. Come back tomorrow after breakfast."
Harry obeyed Helga and loitered around the Alley for the rest of the day. He did not put on glamour as there were many of his schoolmates shopping for the new Hogwarts year in the Alley. Harry would buy the replenishments he needed on 29th August with brand-new school robes and a few casual ones. He already had given his old robes and clothes to a charity shop in the Alley as they had grown too short for him. He also had to buy potion ingredients as Salazar was making him brew extensively. When Harry asked him why they were brewing so much, he had simply replied, " You are my Heir. No heir of mine would lack at the subject I was considered the master of!"
On Monday, Harry had received a letter from Hermione that she would be in the Alley from Thursday, the 26th of July. So were the Weasleys. They all were going to stay in the Leaky Cauldron till the morning of 1st September when Harry and party would board the train to Hogwarts. 'Probably to safely see me on the train and to ensure that I am not attacked on the way to King's Cross by Black.' Harry thought. But he could not wait to see his friends again. He wondered how insufferable Percy Weasley would be now he was the Head Boy. The twins were repeatedly pranking Percy by stealing his Head Boy badge, which Percy would take everywhere with him since he had received it. At least that is what Ron wrote to him, and he had no trouble believing it.
On Thursday, Harry went out into the Alley in the afternoon. The Weasley's were not there in the Leaky Cauldron. From tom, he had known that they had checked in almost an hour ago. They had taken up four rooms. And there was a reservation made for Hermione to room with Ginny. But they had gone in the Alley.
After a few minutes, he found them in the ice cream shop. They had a bunch of bags with them. 'So they completed shopping. And they are in new clothes. The money helped then.' Harry thought. "HARRY!" Ron yelled. "Ron!" He replied, but before he could reach him, he was pulled into a hug by Mrs. Weasley. "Oh, Harry, look at you! You have grown so much!"
"Really? Who could have thought? It is almost like I have returned to my teens." Harry said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Why must everyone comment about his growth spurt? Many students from Hogwarts whom he had met had commented on it and his glasses. "Oh, hush you! What happened to your glasses, Harry?" She asked as the twins snickered in the background. "I got contacts." He answered. He was not going, to tell the truth after all and so had come up with the excuse of contacts.
"Harry!" Hermione's voice sounded from behind. He turned and saw her waving at him. There were two people with her. Her parents. She hugged him and started speaking about her tour, in the typical Hermione manner. She finally asked the same questions as Mrs. Weasley. "I sacrificed seven virgins in an extremely dark ritual to make myself taller and correct my eyesight." He answered exasperatedly. What was with everyone asking him the same thing? Hermione gaped before smacking him on his head. "Don't joke, Harry!"
"Seriously, I just got contact lens and, well, I am a growing boy! Why is everyone asking me the same damned thing!" he huffed. "Language!"
"These must be your parents. I would like to be introduced." Hermione blushed at forgetting them in her excitement. "Yes, my daughter is like that. I am Jane Granger, and this is my husband, Benedict. We are Hermione's parents. You must be Harry Potter. We have heard a lot about you."
"All good things, I hope." Harry gave a charming smile and shook their hands.
"Yes, yes. Now you kids go and catch up. We will eat our ice cream here. And Hermione, control over the ice cream, right!" Hermione's mom was a dentist. Obviously, she was against sweet and sugary things. Hermione nodded. And the trio went over to the shop to buy ice creams. Harry paid for it despite their protests. And they got into a conversation. Ron spoke about his trip to Egypt and how the twins had tried to lock Percy in a tomb but, Mrs. Weasley had saved him. The conversation turned to school. "Honestly, I can't fathom why you are taking muggle studies! You are muggleborn for Merlin's sake, Hermione." Ron said. "But it will be interesting to know from wizard's point of view, won't it?" Hermione said, and Harry rolled his eyes. What would be good about muggles for a world which thought they were beneath them? But, wisely kept his mouth shut. "Have you bought your books?" Hermione asked.
"No, we were going there next," Ron replied. Harry shrugged and said, "I got all my things except the school robes weeks ago. I will buy them on the 29th. I want them to last a year." Harry shrugged.
"Harry, mate, did you donate 50,000 G to the DMLE?" Ron asked out of the blue, and Hermione leaned forward, clearly interested in the answer. Harry replied, "You know how I made Lucius donate 100,000G to all victims of the chamber, right? Well, I donated 50,000G from mine, so I could aid them to catch Black. He sold out my Family to Voldemort. So I gave them the money and a statement in the Prophet to help DMLE catch him and ensure the safety of Britain." Harry grinned. The hot Head of DMLE had hugged him and kissed him on the cheek in thanks for his support when she had met him in the Alley with Susan a week ago. The bill had been passed, with 100% votes due to his statement. Not a single person had abstained or opposed the motion. Not even the Death Eaters who had bribed their way out of Azkaban.
They got up from the table and went to Flourish and Blotts book shop to buy books. Harry pulled Ginny aside and asked her in a quiet voice, "Ginny, how are you? You know after last year?" Ginny was initially blushing, but Harry ignored the fangirl part of her. "It is- it is fine now. Mom and Dad took me to a mind healer at St. Mungo. She was a nice lady. She helped me get over the guilt and also got Ron and me a new wand! Now I am fine. Even visiting Bill helped a lot." She answered. Harry nodded and said, "If you need any help, don't hesitate to come to me. If you missed anything due to Tom, you know like studies just come to me, I will teach you. Even Hermione will help you if needed." The girl nodded, blushing furiously. He turned to his friends again.
Hermione had a whole bag full of books more than Ron. She was taking three more subjects than him and bought extra reference books for each. Harry always wondered why Hermione did not go to Ravenclaw. She was the perfect definition of a bookworm. The shopkeeper greeted him jovially. Why? He had told him that the immobulos charm worked on the Monster book of Monsters. He had nearly cried in relief and proclaimed that Harry would get a 20% discount on all his purchases that day.
On the morning of September first, Harry was waiting down in the lobby of Leaky Cauldron with his trunk in his pocket at 10 AM. The Weasley's were still packing things and running around the place. Only Percy was ready, with his badge proudly pinned on his Robes proclaiming ' Big Head Boy', courtesy of the twins, not that Percy knew it. Mrs. Weasley was shouting at them to hurry up. Hermione was bribing Crookshanks to go into his basket with cat treats. The 'monster cat' as Ron had nicknamed the cat, was the source of a lot of grief between Ron and Hermione for the last couple of days. Hermione's cat kept chasing Ron's sick Scabbers, and Ron blamed her cat for Scabbers sickness even though he said that the rat did not look well since Egypt. It had led to numerous fights between the two, with Ron telling Hermione to put the cat away and Hermione justifying her cat's actions. When they had turned to him, Harry being the wise boy he was, had shouted, "HEDWIG FOREVER" and ran away from them. Childish? Yes. Did he care? No. It had saved him from being dragged into their pointless quarrel so, it was perfect, and Hedwig was the best anyways.
The ministry had provided cars for them to reach King's Cross. They boarded the magical cars, which weaved through London traffic smoothly. Harry never understood why didn't they floo or apparate to King's Cross but did not voice his thoughts. Before Harry could board the train, he was pulled aside by Mr. Weasley.
"Harry," said Mr. Weasley quietly, "come over here for a moment."
He jerked his head towards a pillar, and Harry followed him behind it, leaving the others crowded around Mrs. Weasley who was handing everyone sandwiches.
"There's something I've got to tell you before you leave —" said Mr. Weasley in a tense voice.
"It's all right, Mr. Weasley," said Harry, "I already know."
"You know? How could you know?"
"I — er — I heard you and Mrs. Wesley talking last night. I couldn't help hearing, also Amelia Bones, the minister and Dumbledore told me as soon as Sirius escape" Harry added quickly. He had heard the couple talk about the danger Sirius Black posed to Harry.
"That's not the way I'd have chosen for you to find out," said Mr. Weasley looking anxious... "And I already know everything, sir. The danger Black poses to me and how he betrayed my parents. I promise not to go out looking for him. I have better things to do.
"Harry, you must be scared — "
"I'm not," said Harry sincerely. "Really," he added because Mr. Weasley was looking disbelieving. "I'm not trying to be a hero, but seriously, Sirius Black can't be worse than a Basilisk and Voldemort, can he?" he asked. The Weasley parents knew that it was a younger version of Voldemort who had possessed Ginny. But they did not know that he had faced the adult version too. For now, this would suffice.
Mr. Weasley flinched at the sound of the name but overlooked it. "Arthur!" called Mrs. Weasley, who was now shepherding the rest onto the train. "Arthur, what are you doing? It's about to go!"
"He's coming, Molly!" said Mr. Weasley, but he turned back to Harry and kept talking in a lower and more hurried voice, "Listen, I want you to give me your word —"
" — that I'll be a good boy and stay in the castle?" said Harry.
"Not entirely," said Mr. Weasley, who looked more serious than Harry had ever seen him. "Harry, swear to me you won't go looking for Black."
"I give the word to you that I won't go looking for him. But if he comes to me, I won't hold back and run away." Harry said, making his eyes glow. Mr. Weasley did not look Happy but nodded. "ARTHUR, QUICKLY!" The train had started moving. "Bye, Mr. Weasley!" Harry said before running towards the already moving train. He could easily do it because of his summer training. Ron had held the door open, and Harry gracefully climbed in.
He was off to Hogwarts for another year.