On the last weekend of the term, Harry disappeared down into the Chamber of Secrets and spent two days exploring the extensive dungeon and clearing out a group of Red Caps that had moved in. He found a small handful of handwritten tomes, a large assortment of weapons from multiple centuries and eras, and an extensive collection of preserved animal parts from hundreds of different magical creatures (some of which had been extinct for centuries). He also found a bunch of jewelry, a large number of high quality gemstones, hundreds of fist-sized ingots of precious and semi-precious metals, several dozen bolts of expensive fabrics that had been preserved with magic.
In other words, Harry had found what amounted to a king's ransom ten times over plus a little extra.
Harry felt absolutely no guilt in taking it all (he'd not only defeated the Basilisk, he'd removed the traps protecting the treasure); though he did make a silent promise to provide the 'victims' of the Basilisk between one and five percent of the treasure's worth (depending on the total worth of the entire lot) once he had it all appraised. The pint-sized wizard was never more thankful for his unlimited Bag of Holding than he had been at the end of that weekend. If not for that ingenious little bag he would not have been able to carry everything. Once he was finished searching the hidden Dungeon, he left the entrance un-trapped so that the school's staff could explore the dungeon to their heart's content since he had finished.
At the Leaving Feast on the fifteenth, the House Cup had once again been awarded to Gryffindor (for the second year in a row), though the Quidditch Cup had not been awarded due to the tournament being canceled halfway through the year. The next day, Harry watched the students walk out of the castle with envy. He'd tried to sneak out several times but had been caught by Professor McGonagall twice and Professor Snape three times; apparently, someone had managed to tag him with a tracking charm at some point and he had yet to locate the Item it had been cast upon so that he could remove it. He suspected it had been done by Dumbledore while he'd been unconscious after his battle with Voldemort Jr. and Tentatio the Basilisk.
Two hours after the students had left, Sirius Black returned to the castle and Harry slipped into the kitchen to stock up on supplies before he dragged his virtual godfather off into the forest so he could burn off some of his frustration.
Summer of 2023
Harry's summer started off great as he vanished into the Forbidden Forest once more. At first, he spent less time hunting monsters and more time mastering all of the new spells he'd learned over the course of the year and improving his Archery Skill. Sirius, who'd done a considerable amount of healing since Harry had last seen him, worked with him incessantly to that end; pushing Harry day in and day out (much as Agil and Kirito had once pushed him in their efforts to help him find his balance after he'd glitched out at level thirty). Harry never once complained.
After the first week in the forest, Sirius began teaching Harry how to discover his inner nature in preparation for teaching Harry how to unlock his inner animal. The process involved a lot of meditation, charting out the position of the stars on the day of his birth, and cataloging his personality traits. It also involved learning about animal symbolism and how a person connects to a specific animal based upon how well they can relate to that particular creature (this was important since each animal embodies multiple traits and a single trait can apply to more than one animal).
One must choose their animal carefully because trying to transform into a poorly matched animal could easily kill you (especially when choosing between predator and prey type animals that share the same traits – such as the wolf and the horse that both represent loyalty). Determining the animal that best matched your inner nature was a process that could take years; which was why Sirius had started teaching him now even though he was only twelve going on thirteen instead of waiting until he was older.
It was shaping up to be a rather peaceful and productive summer when Dumbledore and the Ministry had to rain on his parade. On July second, Hagrid was led to their camp by Ronan (a red haired centaur with a chestnut coat from the forest's herd) in order to bring both Harry and Sirius back to the castle. The reason? Augustus Rookwood had escaped from Azkaban after murdering Peter Pettigrew on the twenty-ninth of June and the Ministry had come up with the brilliant plan to post dementors around the school and in Hogsmeade in order to protect the school from the dangerous Death Eater.
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