Harry woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. Looking at his state of undress reminded him of his ritual. Wanting to see what he looked like, he thought of a mirror. As one appeared, he stepped up to it and studied his body closely.
He hadn't paid special attention to his reflection the day before when he had gone shopping since he was in a hurry to get clothes, which is why he was surprised to find quite a few changes on his body; beyond the glaringly obvious improvement in his height and eyesight, the slight musculature he had acquired through years of physical activity had improved slightly gaining some definition (he was pretty happy with the six pack he was now sporting). All the scars on his body (and they were numerous) had also disappeared, the only exceptions being the scar left from the Basilisk fang, which had faded somewhat, though he wasn't too unhappy with that (it was a souvenir of an epic battle with a basilisk after all-which he had won by the way) and he was more than pleased that the marks on the back of his hand (a by-product of the numerous detentions with that sadistic toad Umbridge) had completely disappeared leaving unmarked skin.
Bolstered by this, Harry eagerly lifted his fringe to see if his lightning bolt scar had gone as well. He was disappointed to know that the scar still remained, though it no longer looked inflamed. In fact, it had thinned out and faded somewhat, looking very much like a regular scar.
Other than that, Harry was puzzled that there wasn't much in the way of physical changes. He expected that the adoption ritual would have done something like that, but his eyes were still the same shade of green, his hair still jet black and unruly, and his nose the same shape.
Turning around, Harry went to get dressed. As he pulled on his clothes, he saw a piece of parchment fall out. Picking it up, he opened it to read.
Dear Mr. Potter,
By the time you are reading this, the ritual would have reached its completion. If the ritual has succeeded (and I am sure it would have) then you should have woken up to find no trace of the blood used on your person or in the surroundings. The runes drawn on you should fade within a few days, after which the physical changes will take place. Within a month or so, you will start to notice some of the physical characteristics of your adoptive parent. They will be slight, but noticeable if you know where to look. After this, you may start to exhibit some of the other traits found in the Black Family. Those will be further discussed when you later come to Gringotts.
Thus, Grimjaw and I have come to the conclusion that you should visit us on the eve of your sixteenth birthday for your heritage test and to legally record your name as Harry James Potter-Black (or any other name of your choosing). As Gringotts will be open twenty four hours a day and seven days a week, you can be assured that you will find entry into our establishment should you choose to come in at an odd time. Though a word of caution; some of our nightly customers are usually those who are active at such times to avoid detection if you know what I mean. It would be in your best interest to come in disguised. You would not look out of place with a hooded black cloak.
Yours faithfully,
Gornuk
Well this explains everything, thought Harry. He was slightly confused that the rune markings had already faded completely. Resolving to ask Gornuk about this later, he headed to the Dorms for a much needed bath.
After bathing, Harry put on a fresh set of his new clothes. As he was getting dressed, he suddenly noticed his glasses lying in the trunk. He figured that people would notice if he no longer needed his glasses. After all, that would be noticeable and it wasn't something that Harry could hide or explain away at the moment. His height had increased only by an inch or so and was hidden under the loose clothes that he had specifically chosen so wouldn't be as noticeable as his glasses.
Harry mentally cursed himself for not thinking about it. He was lucky that McGonagall hadn't twigged him, he supposed that having just returned from St. Mungo's had helped somewhat. He also had not given Dean and Seamus much of a chance to look at him properly since he was already on his way out when they had come in.
Stopping for the moment, Harry took his wand out and Vanished the lenses in his glasses. He concentrated and conjured a fresh pair of plain clear lenses with no prescription into the frame. He was gratified to notice that the lenses had materialised properly and easily (transfiguration hadn't always been a strong suit for him).
Harry placed his sort of new glasses on his face feeling the familiar weight back on his nose and walked out of the dorms.
He noticed that it was late in the morning, meaning that the others would be out in the Great Hall having lunch. Harry also realised with a start that by now everybody would have read the Daily Prophet and by now know the full truth. And more importantly, the fact that he was in the middle of it. He also realised with apprehension that there might be a lot of people wandering about in the castle since it was a Sunday.
Harry reckoned that they would not be specifically searching for him and so activated his necklace again and walked out into the common room with trepidation. He was glad to find that nobody paid him any attention. He quickly got moving as he was sure that he would be noticed if he stayed still for too long. Moving out of the portrait hole he walked leisurely towards the kitchens revelling in the anonymity that the chain was affording him.
As he entered the kitchens, he remembered the promise he had made to six elves as five slightly hung over elves and one over hyper Dobby all swarmed him within minutes of noticing him. Smiling bemusedly at them, Harry noticed a seventh slightly hung over elf. 'Is there something I can help you with Winky?' he asked the elf.
Winky's eyes moistened at Harry asking her that question before saying hopefully, 'Winky heard tell that Harry Potter is looking for good house-elves, and was going to take Dobby and five others. Winky be wondering if Harry Potter wanted another elf as well.' She looked at Harry with large hopeful eyes.
Oh lovely, bond five get two free! Thought Harry sardonically before immediately squashing those thoughts; house-elves were dead useful after all, and he did have a lot of properties in his name, so the more the merrier as far as he was concerned. 'Do you want to be bonded to me?' he asked.
Winky immediately brightened up and looking disturbingly like a tomato shaped nose female version of Dobby said, 'Yes! Yes Harry Potter Sir! I is being the bestest house-elf ever I is!' She either ignored or didn't notice the disdainful and challenging looks from the other five elves and the slightly murderous look in Dobby's eyes.
Harry looked at the byplay with interest. It looks like Dobby and Winky won't be getting together anytime soon ... unless they are the elfish version of Ron and Hermione ... No! Bad Image, Bad Image! Shaking his head of disturbing thoughts of ginger and bushy headed elves, Harry said as instructed by the elves, 'I Harry James Potter-Black do hereby take the house-elves Willy, Nilly, Dilly, Dally, Twinky, Dobby and Winky into the Houses of Black and Potter. So mote it be.' He felt a good deal of pleasure upon adding his godfather's surname. As soon as he said this, the seven elves' motley collection of clothing was replaced by tea-towel togas adorned with a shield divided diagonally with what Harry recognised as the Potter and Black crests adorning the upper left and right sections.
Harry didn't trust himself to say anything currently as he was sure that he had sprained a rib or two trying not to laugh at the elves' names. He really wasn't sure how he had managed to say those names together with a straight face. He supposed this was mainly why Amos Diggory avoided enunciating their names as much as possible. There really isn't any way you can say 'Winky' and sound stern and commanding at the same time.
Harry also noticed that the elves actually looked happier than they had been before. They certainly didn't seem that depressed any more. Even Dobby looked happier than Harry had seen him before, if that was in any way possible.
Harry got down to business, 'Right, I don't really have anything for you to do right now, I will call you a little later on and give you your instructions.' The elves nodded and disappeared as Harry sat down to eat a large English breakfast.
After he had finished, Tally came up to him and asked what Harry planned to do about Hermione and her freeing elves against their own will. Harry said that he would think about it and will have a plan by the beginning of the next academic year. 'Besides, it's not like she will have the time to do anything for the next few days since she is in the hospital wing,' he said. Appeased, Tally and the other elves went back to work in better spirits.
Harry supposed that it would be a good time to go and visit his friends in the hospital wing now. He supposed that Ron and Hermione would be awake by now. Though he was concerned for Luna Neville and Ginny, he wasn't as worried because realistically speaking, they had suffered minor injuries. Though with the way Madame Pomfrey was, Harry supposed that they would only be released today.
So with that in mind, Harry set off towards the hospital wing.
Upon entering, he saw Neville coming out of the bathroom fully dressed.
'Alright mate?' Harry asked tentatively. He didn't know how Neville would be around him, he had led them into a trap after all which had led to a confrontation with the woman who had driven his parents insane. Harry did recognise that it wasn't his fault that Neville had ended up fighting for his life; he and the others had followed him voluntarily despite Harry's objections and warnings of the dangers.
He needn't have to worry as Neville greeted him with a smile on his face, 'Hey Harry, it's good to see you again. I hadn't seen you yesterday and I was getting worried-'
'I'm fine Neville,' said Harry with an airy wave of his hand, 'In fact I've never felt better. I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday but I had ... things ... to deal with and wasn't really in the mood to see Madame Pomfrey.' He said a bit haltingly, before adding with a half smile and a faux cheery tone, 'And I was afraid of stepping out and doing anything. It's going to be the first time in my Hogwarts career that I haven't ended up in the hospital wing and I don't really want to jinx it!'
'True that,' Neville chuckled
'How are you Neville?' said Harry in a serious tone. Neville had taken a Cruciatus curse and Harry knew that it wasn't a picnic, (and factoring in Harry's high tolerance for pain, that was saying something) so he was worried about Neville's reaction as it was his first dose of that particular curse or of any substantial pain after all.
'I'm alright,' said Neville easily, 'Pomfrey fixed my nose in a jiffy. She did dose me with dreamless sleep as well as a pain relief potion though.' He added with a wince, 'In fact I only just got discharged.'
As he said that, the aforementioned nurse materialised, 'Mr Potter, I was wondering when you would be gracing the hospital wing this year.' She advanced towards Harry, her wand raised. 'What have you got yourself into this time?'
Before she could start casting, Harry interrupted her hastily, 'It's nothing, honest! I only came to visit my friends. Where are Ginny and Luna?' He looked around the room searching for them. He spied Ron and Hermione lying on beds not very far away.
The kindly matron looked faintly surprised. 'Well that's a first,' she muttered. Noticing where he was looking, she said, 'Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood are fine. Nothing a spell and some bed rest couldn't cure. These two however,' she waved in the direction where Ron and Hermione were sleeping, 'Were a bit tricky. They should be awake in a few moments in fact.'
At that, Ginny and Luna emerged from the privacy screens at the end of the room fully clothed. Harry greeted them nervously; while Neville seemed to be fine with things, he had no idea what Ginny and Luna were feeling about being in the ministry. Ginny was a redhead, and judging by his ginger best friend, Harry reckoned that his sister would be just about as volatile and temperamental as her older brother. And as for Luna; the less said the better. The girl was as predictable and easy to read as Trelawney's tea leaves.
Again, Harry found his apprehension to be unfounded as both girls greeted him cheerily (and in Luna's case, dreamily).
After assuring each other that they were well, the four sat down around the still sleeping members of their gang. Harry sat down on the bed opposite Ron's while the girls and Neville sat in chairs around. 'So what happened to Ron that made him so loopy?' asked Harry. From what he could make out of his friend that wasn't covered by the blankets, Ron's arms were covered in bandages.
'Oh, like I said before, we were in this room full of planets where Ron was hit in the back with what I think was a strong Confundus charm,' said Luna airily as if she was discussing the weather.
'I think it was Jugson who hit him,' interjected Ginny, 'as for the brains ... well, according to Madame Pomfrey, they have attacked him with a physical manifestation of thoughts. She reckons that beside the welts, there should be no damage.'
'Hermione was a bit tricky though,' said Neville again. 'According to Pomfrey, the curse Dolohov hit her with caused a lot of damage. She says that it was lucky that he was silenced otherwise the spell would have been lethal.'
Harry digested this in. Then looking curiously at Luna he said, 'What are you doing here? Were you hurt too?'
'I am fine, thank you Harry,' said Luna with a smile. 'Madame Pomfrey wanted to make sure of that, so she stuck me in a bed for the day.' Harry rolled his eyes at the over protectiveness of the matron only to quickly smooth his face as the matron came in.
At the same time, Ron and Hermione started to come back to awareness. The matron first attended to Hermione, after checking on her, she handed her a bevy of potions to drink. Instructing Neville to ensure that they were all drunk, she turned her attention to Ron.
After checking on him and finding nothing wrong with him beyond the welts that he had on his arms, Madame Pomfrey removed the bandages and started applying a large amount of a foul smelling ointment.
Her work done, Madame Pomfrey left for her office. Harry smiled on seeing his two oldest and best friends up and on the road to recovery.
An hour later as he was exiting from the hospital wing, he wasn't smiling anymore. He really should have expected it after all. After reading the Sunday Prophet, Hermione had spent little to no time at all in finding about what had happened after she had lost consciousness and even lesser time after that hounding Harry about how he felt about the whole thing. Harry did understand that she had just found out about it, but it really wasn't her business. He was thankful that Luna had managed to distract her so that he could make his escape ... he wondered if the air of dottiness that she put up was an act.
But what really troubled Harry was when he was talking to them, he could somehow read Hermione's thoughts the minute she met his eyes. He didn't really know how that happened, but the galling fact was that she actually seemed smug about being right even though she was trying to hide it!
Now confused and bothered, Harry decided to go into the grounds to think. As he walked out into the hot summer sun, he headed to a secluded spot near the lake that he had discovered a while back. He was greeted by many students on the way holding copies of the Sunday Prophet as if to say that they all believed him all along or that they had decided that like the Daily Prophet, that he wasn't a deranged attention seeking liar after all.
Had this happened a few days back, Harry would have been more than happy to finally have everybody believe him and not think of him as a raving lunatic. Now, he could care less. This year had taught him that the public could be very fickle.
As Harry sat down behind some bushes looking toward the lake, hidden from view, he started reviewing what he had done so far in the last two days. He really couldn't believe that it was that long. That just yesterday early morning he had come back from a fight to the death. That Sirius had died ... Harry wiped the tears from his eyes. He couldn't really wrap his head around the fact that Sirius had actually died and so he had trouble feeling the grief he knew he should be feeling. He suspected that he would have a wonderful breakdown very soon, but it wouldn't be for a while yet.
He then thought about the happenings in Diagon Alley and in Muggle London as well. He wondered how he had managed to Apparate. He hadn't Apparated before at all; that too wandlessly. And speaking of wandless, had he actually managed to quiet the elves by shooting fireworks without a wand? Then again, that wasn't the first time. He didn't have a wand in his hand when he had cast that Lumos last summer when the Dementors had attacked. He distinctly remembered that he wasn't touching his wand at that time.
Then there was how calm he was feeling. He had trouble in the past controlling his emotions, so how had he managed to stay in control? Come to think of it, his mind felt rather organised and structured. Something he imagined he would feel if he was a master at Occlumency.
Harry sifted through his recent memories that to his surprise were catalogued and clear. He also noticed that they were all catalogued from after the possession incident at the ministry...
And then it hit him; the vision he had seen while being possessed and the black smoke coming out from his scar. Could it be that he had somehow unknowingly absorbed Voldemort's memories and knowledge?
Harry had to test this theory out; so he screwed his face up trying to remember something of Voldemort's memories. But he was disappointed as all he got was a few disjointed fragments. He then tried to see if he could bring up the shield that he had seen Voldemort make during the duel against Dumbledore to see if he had Voldemort's knowledge. Harry could get a vague feeling that he knew the name of the spell that would bring it up, but for the life of him could not remember the incantation. It was like it was on the tip of his tongue, just out of reach.
Frustrated, Harry gave up. He couldn't even remember the theory behind Apparition or Occlumency save knowing how to do each. He supposed he could also do Legilimency but would have to test that theory out. He had a feeling that he had invariably done it with Hermione, but that event was too random to be counted. After all, it could have been a figment of his imagination.
Harry sighed in defeat and not a little disappointment. He supposed that he would have to build his spell repertoire on his own after all. It really was a shame, but he supposed that getting all of Voldemort's knowledge would have been too easy.
He decided to look on the positive side of things. He actually felt light as if a great burden and strain on his magic had been removed, a strain he had no idea that he was bearing all these years. He also felt a closer connection to his magic. And on top of it he had never felt so good physically. There was a distinct lack of a sort of tiredness that he had felt all these years without knowing it.
Harry then turned his thoughts to the prophecy that Dumbledore had oh so graciously deigned to share with him. He was a marked man, and had been so ever since he was born. He supposed he should feel angry with Trelawney, but he knew that it wasn't her fault. She was only the messenger. It was Voldemort and Dumbledore who had decided that the prophecy had meaning.
And speaking of Dumbledore, Harry was angry that Dumbledore hadn't done anything to prepare him for this destiny. Why hadn't he been given some type of training? In his humble opinion, Harry was rather powerful. After all, he had cast a Corporeal Patronus at the age of thirteen. Though come to think of it, he was rather average in his classes. His marks weren't anything great; sure in another world, they would be something to talk about, but they really weren't enough. Harry never had seen the need to apply himself in class. He supposed that it was a habit that he had gained from the Dursleys. They never really liked it when he had performed better than Dudley, so he was forced to underperform to make their oaf of a son look smarter. That had become a habit, Harry realised with a jolt. And his friends hadn't really helped at all.
Ron was always slacking off, and Harry supposed (with a little jealousy) that it was all well and good for him since he didn't have an insane Dark Lord after him. No, Ron would get to live a life that was going to be as stress free and as normal as possible. And Hermione while smart and driven to be the best was too much of a fanatic. So much so that Harry actually dreaded studying with her to the point of not wanting to study much at all. Her methods of studying really did not suit Harry; she depended too much on her text books. Though he did listen to her now and then ... she did make some good points at times.
Well, that was going to change, Harry vowed to himself. He knew that he was smart, and he knew that he loved to learn new things. He just needed to tap that part of him that had been deeply buried within him for such a long time. His survival depended upon it after all. And it wasn't as if the Dursleys were ever going to see or care about his marks anyway.
With new resolve, Harry got up and headed inside. He had spells to learn, books to peruse and training to do. And not much time to do them all.