CHAPTER 2 : Need for Privacy

Harry Potter, Hogwarts

After his talk with Luna, he came down the stairs to meet up with others to know of the current situation related to ministry and Hogwarts. After all, Hogwarts is his home.

After some news gathering, he concluded some facts. It seems that Kingsley Shacklebolt has been made as an interim minister to clean up the mess at present, how he was given that post, Harry didn't know and anyone he talked to also didn't seem to know.

Harry searched for him and found him at the Hogwarts entrance talking to some people who appeared to be Aurors.

"Hey Kingsley, got some time". Harry asked.

Kingsley turned towards Harry. " Hello Harry, how are you? I heard you were suffering from magical exhaustion and would need at least some days of rest".

"I am all good now, my magic is also good, are you busy" And that was true. He could feel his magical core brimming with magic. He didn't know-how.

(AN: Yes readers, I am going with the magical core troupe. I could already hear some folks disapprove of this description. I tried some other words like essence, energy, force, and quintessence but nothing rhymed better than the word 'magical core')

"A little..... actually we are lacking in manpower to transport these prisoners to Azkaban"

"Really, Azkaban, of all places ".

"Where would you have me put these people. In Hogwarts? In addition to that, I have to go over the prisoners that are already present in Azkaban. Most likely everyone who was incarcerated by the previous government is under illegal imprisonment.

What is left of the Auror force is not enough and the force that was present is infested with death eaters". Kingsley started to babble about his problems one by one.

Harry nodded at his predicament. Ministry has been run by the death eaters for a whole year. DMLE too. Other departments were mostly left alone.

"At present, I am getting all the help I can get. I even asked last year's graduate students and some people in the resistance to help me for now. And I have to file a report to ICW and ask for any additional force to help pass the tide. Any help is appreciated", Kingsley finished.

"What do you want me to do. I can be of some help here".

Kingsley looked at Harry up and down for a moment and spoke.

"At present nothing for you to do. Your help in defeating you-know-who is more than enough. Now get some rest. Let the others do their job"

That was really weird for Harry. People asking him to take a rest.

"Okay," He was about to turn Kingsley called for him.

"By the way what happened to your glasses. Is it missing?"

Harry blinked at him, trying to comprehend the question. He reached out to touch his glasses. At least, where it was supposed to be.

'Bloody hell, I have been walking around the castle without wearing my glasses. How is it am I even seeing things…uhh, I should have gone to the infirmary after my talk with Luna' Harry groaned.

"Are you alright, do you want me to have someone take you to the infirmary ", Kingsley asked seeing that harry didn't reply for a long time.

"It appears I don't need glasses anymore. I will go see Pomfrey myself, don't worry. Anyway thank you ".

"Good. I will contact you sometime in the future regarding the trials and ministry, Harry".

Harry nodded, turned around, and walked towards the infirmary.

'Maybe it's because of the Horcrux I was blind as a bat. Now that it is removed, my sight has returned to normal condition'

Harry reached the infirmary and saw many healers working. He didn't notice it before, because his mind was elsewhere. But there seemed to be a lot of healers here.

His eyes searched for Pomfrey and found her in the middle of the room working on someone who appeared to be an Auror. He stopped near her and watched not disturbing her work. The patient had his left hand severed. Pomfrey was in the process of attaching it. The battle had happened before seven to eight hours and the severed hand looked perfectly fresh.

'Well, one can regrow even a full arm or leg, if there was not a dark magic infection of any kind' His mind supplied an answer.

He glanced around and noticed that several students who are helping the healers were Slytherin female students. Every Slytherin student was locked up in their common room before the battle. If they were in any other dress or uniform Harry would not even give a second glance. But looking at them helping others did confuse him a little bit.

'When did I become this narrow-minded, every Slytherin is cunning and manipulative. They look for options that best served them. If they could not find any, they try to create the option by themselves. They are the same as me when I was a kid' The voice scoffed in his head.

For the next ten minutes, he stood there observing Pomfrey work.

While looking at her work, he was able to recite the whole process even before Pomfrey started doing the step.

He scrunched his eyebrows and felt the deja vu feeling. That was a memory he did not have. And he could perfectly say, he never learned healing spells before. Soon the surgery was over and Pomfrey asked another student to patch up the wound and some finishing touches. Which was also a Slytherin student.

Pomfrey turned towards Harry and spoke in a nonchalant tone, "What do you want Potter? Your yearly infirmary visitation is already over, and your near-death quota is also over" Then she started moving her things to the next bed.

'I think she got used to me performing miracles at the end of every year. This year I even killed Voldemort but she didn't look that fazed to see me'

"Madam Pomfrey, there is something wrong with my eyes. I didn't need my glasses for nearly two hours now and I can see things just fine. It is even better than the glasses I used to wear. And also my mind is like a jumbled mess. My thoughts jump from one to another without stopping. I even had a severe headache when I woke up".

"Come here, sit on this cot"

He moved to sit on the bed without disturbing the patient who was there.

Pomfrey waved her wand a few times and waited for the results. She frowned from time to time and proceeded to continue her examination.

During the whole process, Harry's mind was not comforted with an unknown, waving her wand in front of him. He couldn't describe the feeling, it was just…..his mind seemed to distrust Pomfrey with a wand pointed at him. It is not that he distrusted Madam Pomfrey, she has been the resident healer in Hogwarts and had taken care of him several times over his time in Hogwarts.

Whatever it was, it was just his mind doing some tricks it seems.

"There is nothing wrong with you Potter, your myopia has been caused by some kind of magical ailment, it seems to have cured by itself. I could find magic still working around your eyes. As for your mind...How shall I say this, your magic is actively defending against mine, so I couldn't get a good read. It is better for you to come by and do a checkup again.

My assumption is, you have just finished a battle, so most likely your magic is still trying to defend against anything that it considers foreign. It will be likely the same for some time. Try doing meditation to calm your magic. Come by later"

"Thank you madam Pomfrey, I will leave you to your work then"

The blonde Slytherin that was treating the patient looked at Harry strangely for a second before continuing her work. Harry tried to recall her name. She appeared to be in the same year as him. But he couldn't remember her name.

She did look beautiful though. 'And dangerous too' His mind supplied an answer. He got the same feeling as the time when Pomfrey waved her wand at him.

Maybe he is being paranoid. He moved towards the exit while thinking about the whole event.

Now that his health problem is cleared, he could search for Prof. McGonagall, to ask whether she needed any help.

He found her in the great hall, giving orders to students, house-elves, and to other professors. He wanted to wait for her to finish the conversation, but she noticed him as soon as he came near the group.

"Thank you for all the work you have done . If it wasn't for your sacrifice, I don't know what would have happened to the future of Hogwarts". Everyone in the great hall turned to look at him with some appreciation and respect.

For a second Harry wanted to shy away from the group. He was not used to keeping his cool in this kind of situation. But soon his subconscious mind overrode him, his mouth started moving on its own and he realized that he was speaking to the Professor with a steady pace.

"Think nothing of it professor, it was supposed to be my battle, after all the prophecy was between me and Voldemort. This battle was supposed to happen sooner or later. It is just I didn't expect the damage to be so much and the loss of lives is beyond what I expected"

'WTF….these fuckers can die in droves for all I care…why the heck am I speaking like a douchebag' one voice in his head asked.

'We need their support in the future, it would be good to make use of this situation and make them grateful towards us' same voice replied.

Now Harry was in full panic mode. He was internally panicking, his mind is arguing by itself.

And as Harry's….mind had expected, the people in the room were saddened by the atmosphere when they heard Voldemort's name and the loss of lives. And they were grateful for Harry for defeating the Dark Lord.

"Do you need any help professor, I am alright now, I can be of some help. It's the least I can do now" Harry's voice that came out was sad.

"You should take it easy for now Mr Potter, you just finished a battle this morning. We can speak about the rest of the matters when you are relaxed next time. You already did more for us that we could ask of you"

Harry stood there thinking about her answer for some time and replied.

"Okay professor, I am leaving Hogwarts for today. If Hermione or Ron asks for me just inform them I am taking the day off. Thank you, professor "

Harry nodded to the rest of the people standing nearby, then turned and left the hall.

....

12 - Grimmauld Place, London

Built-in the late 18th century, in a muggle environment.

Blacks didn't like muggles or anything related to them. But magical leylines that were connecting in this area provided the perfect place for setting up security wards that can stand against the test of time. That was why Dumbledore made this place as headquarters for his Order of the Phoenix.

Even though they had access to this place, they were only able to use only the first two floors. Other places were restricted by some kind of ward.

This place was abandoned by the Order after the death of Albus Dumbledore. Order members thought this safe house will be compromised by Snape anytime in the future. And Moody being ALWAYS PARANOID couldn't risk being ambushed by the death eaters, so he changed the headquarters to somewhere else.

Harry compared this place to jail or some kind of dungeon. Not on the level of durzkaban, which was like a concentration camp, this was more like a prisoner camp.

Harry could feel bad for Sirius, being locked up here just after year-long freedom. He felt sorry for the man.

This place hasn't been used for nearly a year and a lot of dust had accumulated over the period of time.

Harry originally didn't want to stay here, but this was the only place where he could get his most valued privacy for now. And his mind suggested this place as his first choice.

He wanted to stay at Hogwarts Room of Requirement or in any one of the abandoned classrooms. But the degree of damage caused by Feindfyre inside the Room of Requirement is unknown. And that will be the first place Ron and Hermione will search as soon as they were informed by McGonagall of his absence. And staying in the classrooms didn't sit well with his paranoid mind.

Harry went straight to the kitchen, to the dining table, and placed the food he just PURCHASED on the table.

'Confundus charm sure does come in handy, a confundo here and a confundo there, I can get my stomach filled at any time'

Hatty went still for a moment. He couldn't comprehend what he had just done. He just confounded a domino's employee to get him some pizza and some cash from the registry and left the store like he was any other customer.

'No no no, all my thieving days were over once I started Hogwarts. Hmm…thieving…' A panic voice spoke in his mind as a bunch of jumbled memories came one by one in order.

'Yes, my thieving days. And why the heck did I even stop thieving activities at Hogwarts'

At present, there was no reason for his mind to suppress his emotion, so his mind worked in a full rush, pushing in some memories, pushing away some memories. He clenched his head tightly and sat down on the dining table.

During his childhood, before going to Hogwarts, he did steal a lot. Food, money, clothes, toys, books, pencils, pen anything that he needed he stole them. Apparently, he stopped everything as soon as he started Hogwarts.

'Why? Because I had lots of gold in my account? But still, my key was controlled by Dumbledore or Molly Weasley at any point in time. I had a very little number of possessions during my life at Dursleys so when I saw the amount of gold in my account I should have either spent it sparingly or lavishly. But I didn't see the vault after the first year'

'And there it is, me thinking about a problem deeply.

During my Hogwarts years, I never once had any plans for any of my problems. That was Hermione's department. Me, I only reacted to any trouble. I had no plans, I went along with the flow. If there was an issue, I faced it head-on without any plan or precaution.

First-year, the stinking stone problem, I would have stayed out of any troublesome issues normally. But I didn't.

Second-year, chamber of basilisk problem. Why I spoke parseltongue in front of the whole school even though I knew it was a risky endeavour, I didn't know. And I would have never entered the chamber of secrets even if I had to fight a rattlesnake at that time.

Third-year a bloody time turner in the hands of a fourteen-year-old teenager and an Azkaban escapee problem.

Fourth-year, a major fuck up, the whole year, and a bloody umbitch next year, I could name many things for every year. Each year I have faced the trouble head-on like a gryffindork, without any planning and scheming. At least that's how it had happened from the start of Hogwarts years. Why ?'

One could say he always had a cunning mind, that complimented him greatly. Even at the age of seven, he knew how to act in front of different people. He did not score more marks than Dudley in school (who was basically a dead last) except for once. That one time was enough for him to learn how to handle the situation.

Harry never took the same route daily from school to pivet drive.

He sneaked some food daily after cooking or during nighttime if his door was not locked (on most days the cupboard was not locked).

He stayed out of Dursley's eyes as much as possible so that they don't get irritated with his presence.

But he didn't have even an ounce of those cunning when he started at Hogwarts.

'Now that I think about it that started from the day I received my Hogwarts letter through the post'

He normally would have never taken that letter in front of the Dursleys.

He could already make some assumptions about what had happened.

He prayed to Merlin, Morgana, Christ, and whatever gods came to his mind, that his thoughts and assumptions were unreal.

'It is just a figment of my imagination. No need to be paranoid'

But his rational mind took over.

A lot of dark thoughts were coming pouring into his head.

'Did Dumbledore really mess with my head? There are several potions that can accomplish the result. Even Dumbledore by himself can do it. Dumbledore was an accomplished legilimens. Like what Voldemort has done to me during my fifth year'

After mulling over the subject for a few minutes he came to a conclusion, that his mind has been tampered with, on various occasions, heavily too. He would have to check what were damages his mind might have suffered and what were the implications? Who were all involved in this.

First, he need rest, next privacy. The Grimmauld place is the right place for privacy.

He just has to lock down the Black wards, he will be secure for an extended period of time without any disturbance. He still remembers what Moody told them about the black wards. "Black family wards are one of the strongest wards built and it has every security measure known to wizard-kind. Even without the Fidelius, it is a strong defensive base"

"KREACHER"

Pop. "Master Harry calls Kreacher, what can Kreacher bee doing for you".

Harry didn't know why the elf became so devoted to him, but he's been like this ever since the Slytherin locket issue.

'Must be' his mind answered.

Maybe there is a story behind it. He will ask about it later.

"Do black library books have been removed by the order members or are the books still there?" Harry vaguely remember Molly trying to destroy the library during their stay here.

"No family books can beeng removed from the house. Only master be able to remove books from library" Kreacher had a look of disgust while answering. The elf didn't really like any of the Order members staying here.

'All those witches and wizards tainted the holy land of Black Family' Those were the elf's thoughts regarding the order members.

"I want you to collect all the books regarding occlumency and legilimency from the Black family library. I will collect it from the library tomorrow. And also buy some headache relieving potion and sleep potion too…Do we have any money to pay for it"?

(AN: 'WTF training montage?' Yeah, this was the only line I continue with the story)

Harry didn't know what he will do for the money. His key is still with Molly Weasley.

'Even if I have the key I can't directly go to my vault. I have some friction with goblins too. What to do? And most of the valuables in Grimmauld Place were looted by Mundungus fucking Fletcher. He couldn't have gotten into Lord's study. But the rest of this place is big enough to fit at least fifty people and has a lot of things, if fletcher went around for a walk here would have found things. He would have scrapped whatever was available to him.

"Yes master potter sir. Black family vault has everything that sir be needing "

'Ooh I can have a black family vault too, Nice'

"How can I have access to Grimmauld place ward stone. I need to do some changes"

Kreacher brought Harry to the Lord's study room, where the ward stone was present. He was able to tweak the ward to complete the shutdown. He couldn't make the ward stone recognize him as its owner. But still, now no one can access Grimmauld place until Harry says so or specifically given them permission to.

....

Hogwarts Castle. Hermione.

It's been five hours since she had last seen harry.

Ron has been regaling his brave stunts during the Horcrux hunt to the junior students and press and to anyone that wanted to hear the story. He only cared for the popularity. For the last one hour, she has been searching for Harry, she has inquired many people but nobody has seen him after his infirmary visit. She saw madam Pomfrey coming out of the intensive ward after finishing her rounds.

"Madam Pomfrey, did Harry have any trouble after waking up. Some students saw him coming to the infirmary again after he went out"

"Yes, he had a minor headache. Not to worry, he was in good mood, from what I heard from Minerva"

"I haven't seen him since then, did he say anything about where he will be"

"You should check with Prof. McGonagall, Miss. Granger. She might know where Harry might have gone to".

'Harry had gone to take rest. Where could have he gone to? Even the professor didn't know where he had gone. Harry just told prof. McGonagall to inform me in case I asked about his whereabouts

After talking with, Hermione got the information she needed about Harry.

'I should find him soon and ask him what's going on with him. He was very depressed after waking up from the infirmary. I should not have left him alone on the words of Ron. And I still have headmaster Dumbledore's wand with me. I was told Voldemort took it from the headmaster's grave. Huff, defiling a grave of a great wizard. Vile monster'