CHAPTER 4 : Venturing out

AN: The chapters have been going very slow. I originally wanted to write like - Harry got Voldemort's memories, got shrewd, became powerful overnight.

Putting it into words stretched and stretched, and at last, it came to 4 chapters.

Here's the new chapter. ENJOY

…....

May 4th, 1998.

Next day.

Harry woke up with a fresh feeling. Like something that was weighing down on his shoulders and mind, have vanished into thin air.

For the past three days every time he woke up from sleep, there were some changes in him.

First was waking up from death, the second was waking up to find he didn't need glasses, the third time waking up to find he had grown taller and now this.

He never felt this good in a long time….like never at all.

'It's good to be free for once' He smiled at himself.

With no madman trying to kill him. No old bastard trying to control his life. And there was no Ron or Hermione to pester him. For once in his life, he was enjoying the newfound freedom.

'Sigh…I know I should give up my newfound freedom for the benefits of the long term. I need to go to Hogwarts today or at least meet up with some of my minders, to make sure they don't go overboard with the task of searching for me. After that, I can enjoy as much as I want'

If it wasn't for them Harry would have lazed around the house, reading books and practising magic considering magic was the only thing that brought joy to him for now. He wouldn't have given a damn about anyone, that was how he spent his childhood in Dursleys.

The black mass was affecting Harry on a minuscule level, and even Harry couldn't feel the changes.

Like just now, he was planning to cultivate his character, how others look at him, his image in the general populace's mind etc... He was doing everything subconsciously, thinking the activity was part of himself.

When Harry took bath and got ready, he was faced with another problem.

He had no dress to wear. All of his old dresses….. second-hand Dudley wears didn't fit him. So he simply transfigured his old dress into a suit jacket with black pants that was in his mind.

Magic flowed out of his wand. The feeling was blissful.

That was the first time Harry used his magic consciously after the integration of Voldemort's memories.

Originally he should have felt this feeling soon after his supposed death in the Forbidden forest. But due to stress and various circumstances, he never properly observed the changes in his magic ever since his adventure with killing curse three days prior.

Right now he couldn't describe the feeling that he was going through.

Just smooth, like the newly bought car by Vernon, moving on the road without any chugging or rattling noises. Magic flowed in him like it was part of his body, without any hiccups or barriers. A barrier that he always had until his fight with Voldemort in Battle of Hogwarts. During the battle, he felt the absence of the barrier. But he calked it up to his close to death experience.

During his Hogwarts years, Harry thought it was how wizards were supposed to use magic. Cross the barrier with your willpower and bam 'MAGIC'.

But now it, was like what happened during his wand choosing in Ollivanders. The same feeling he was able to experience now and whenever he used magic, all the time.

When the transfiguration process was going on, he was able to detect how his magic was undergoing a slight change and transfiguring the clothes.

Merlin, he was able to see the change in his magic with his eyes. And he knew what it was. Information flowed into his mind.

'Mage Sight'. A magical condition just like 'animagus'.

In most cases 'mage sight' can be attained only by harsh training methods. But acquiring mage sight naturally is a great boon, as it does not have the disadvantages of artificial mage sight users.

With the transfiguration complete he wore the dress.

Harry looked himself in the mirror and smirked, "Wonderful"

…....

Diagon alley was not at its full vitality now. The war has just ended and news has just started spreading. It would take some time for people to come out of hiding, and for it to return to its former glory. Harry picked up a daily prophet newspaper and started reading the headlines.

To make sure he was not identified easily he wore glamour charms on his face. It wouldn't fool an expert, but it was enough for the present environment.

He wanted information, even if The Daily Prophet has too much nonsense, that was only for the articles Skeeter wrote. The rest of the articles would speak half-truths at least.

First, he searched for the newspaper that was dated May 3rd and looked through the headlines.

THE DARK LORD DEFEATED

On the front page with large fonts completely covered and nothing of his interest to read. He turned pages and read other articles.

MINISTRY OF MAGIC DEPLOYS AURORS ACROSS EUROPE-WIDE

MINERVA MCGONAGALL NAMED NEW HOGWARTS HEADMISTRESS, Full story on page 6.

There was no mention of Harry's name from the very start.

He then took that day's newspaper and leafed through it.

MINISTER KINGSLEY SHACKLEBOLT SAYS TRAILS WILL BE HELD FROM MAY 7th

HEADMISTRESS MINERVA MCGONAGALL - SCHOOLS WILL BE SCHEDULED TO OPEN BY SEPTEMBER 1.

BOY-WHO-LIVED HAS BECOME MAN-WHO-WON.

He went through every article slowly to get the gist of the situation.

The last topic did intrigue him a little. Harry always shunned away from his fame. But his mindset has changed a bit, so now if fame helps him in getting his work done then, he has no problems in using the fame in any way possible. Well, it was his inner self that wanted to utilize the situation appropriately.

Harry's mind is going through a metamorphosis stage now. When he speaks and acts, he thinks, he is the same naive and honest Harry that was during the Hogwarts time. But his psychological mind is mixing up both Voldemort's memory and his own childhood memories to define his personality.

BOY-WHO-LIVED HAS BECAME MAN-WHO-WON

On the dawn of May 2nd, the battle between Harry Potter and He-who-must-not-be-named took place. They traded spells for nearly half an hour. The power of the spells was extraordinary that moved earth and the skies. And finally, Harry Potter seized the chance to defeat He-who-must-not-be-named. Full story on the BATTLE OF HOGWARTS AND Harry Potter's duel on page 2.

Harry scoffed at the description of the battle. Oh, there was a lot of magic power involved in the battle. But he only used FUCKING 'EXPELLIMELLIUS'. A disarming Spell. That was all. He didn't know more than five spells that can be used in a battle at that time.

That and the fight was not in Voldemort's favour too. During the fight, Voldemort was confused, found it hard to believe that Harry was still alive, and has lost three of his Horcruxes in a short period of time.

Last but not least, the elder wand didn't work for him, as Harry was the real owner of the elder wand, so the wand betrayed him in the end. And also the death of the snake, his last Horcrux.

The timing of his last Horcrux getting destroyed, his wand betraying him, harry hitting him with one of his strongest spells (the only offensive spell) in his repertoire, it was really one big coincidence. The timing was just too perfect.

It all came down to what other people called Potter luck.

There were things that helped Harry too. The presence of the Horcrux and the bindings may have hindered Harry's magical control but they also facilitated the growth of his magical power. In terms of magical power i.e magical core, Voldemort has a larger magical core than any elite wizard. This was due to his age and several rituals that mutated his core to grow larger.

But for Harry, the magical core grew larger than Voldemort's when he duelled him in the graveyard. If Harry was given proper training and care, Voldemort would have had no chance of winning Harry.

Harry still believed himself to be an above-average wizard and it was only by luck he won against Voldemort. He only came to know about his might when other pointed it out to him.

With the last page turned he placed the newspaper down.

There was no other interesting news in the daily prophet. Well except, a small section containing who died and who killed who in the Battle of Hogwarts. Lo and Behold, Bellatrix Lestrange was killed by Molly Weasley. Molly of all people. Harry had never marked her as a fighter type. But here she was, fighting against and killing one of Voldemort's best.

'She is the one, we gouge her brains out and find the truth' the voice in his head said and Harry nodded to himself.

Most of his previous theories and assumptions were coming together one by one. Molly Weasley must be one of Dumbledore's hidden pieces. Maybe all the Weasleys too, to control and influence his life at every turn.

…....

The renovation work at Hogwarts was at full flow, the main entrance to the castle was destroyed and a major part of the Quidditch ground was razed with fire. Now the restoration work was almost done and the Quidditch pitch had a new look. This was much progress in just one day. 'Ahhh…., the marvels of magic' Harry thought to himself and walked towards Hogwarts Headmistress office.

He looked at the gargoyle and said "Inform Headmistress McGonagall that Harry Potter is here to see her"

A few seconds later the gargoyle opened to the side to let him in.

"Good morning Mr Potter. How are you? You informed in your letter you would be taking some time off"

"Good morning, Headmistress. Regarding the letter is the reason I am here. I am going on a short vacation out of Britain" calling her headmistress sounded very strange for Harry.

"You do not need to ask my permission. According to the ministry of magic, you are of legal age and an adult. Even before that you just have to get permission from your guardians, that is more than enough for your travels ". Harry nodded.

He did not really want to ask for her permission, he wanted to know more about his school year for NEWTS. Now that he was back to normal he wanted to know more about magic and Hogwarts is the best place to do that.

"I am planning on returning for my 7th-year studies to finish my NEWTS. Will it be possible Professor", he asked Prof. McGonagall.

"That is of no trouble Mr Potter. Some of your year mates who didn't attend last year are also returning to finish their studies and complete their NEWTS. Most students in your batch are taking their NEWTS exam this year and may retake their exam if their scores don't meet their expectations" Her answer cleared all of Harry's doubts.

"Nice suit by the way. That is some fine-tuned transfiguration work you did on that. I believe I didn't teach you this at school" McGonagall asked.

"This is something I learned during my run from the ministry, Professor" She nodded in appreciation.

'One would learn many things out of desperation' She guessed.

"Good work, Mr Potter" Saying she went back to her work.

He thanked her and left Hogwarts in search of his minders.

Burrow.

Harry apparated to the edge of the Burrow where the ward lines were present.

'It seems Bill renewed all wards that were placed in the burrow, but why is it not strong' As he stood there he could feel the way the ward worked and how fresh and thin it looked, while compared to Grimmauld Place at least. He stood at the edge of the wards and notified his arrival with a Patronus.

The white mist came out of his wand, but there was no stag. Furrowing his brows, he amplified the input of his magic in the spell. Soon the stag took shape and ran to the house. He made a note to check on the spell later once again.

Bill came outside. It took Bill a moment to recognize Harry and welcome him in.

Both didn't speak to each other as they walked in silence towards the burrow.

Inside the house, every one was in a sombre mood. The loss of Fred had deeply affected the Weasleys. The twins were okay on Harry's page, but that was all. He was not that intimate with the twins. Now that he thought about it, giving them his Triwizard prize amount was not really appropriate when he himself didn't have a lot of money at that time.

Molly was already in the living room. Everyone soon assembled in the room, but none spoke to him. Everyone looked at Harry strangely. It took him a second to realize that they were all thinking about the changes in my body.

"What happened to you Harry, you look different", Bill asked the question that appeared in everyone's mind.

"Yeah, where were you, potter, enjoying your new fame of MAN-WHO-WON ", Ron snarked from the side.

Harry knew that Ron was daft and a moron. But this was a new level.

No that was not. Ron usually behaved this way. It was Harry that was different. His mind worked faster, and he was keen and was able to think clearly. So when Ron started with his usual dumb questions, it felt different to Harry.

"RON", chorused everyone in the room.

'What's his problem? Ahh…the daily prophet only mentioned my name. They left out both Hermione's and Ron's names in the story to my victory against Voldemort. His chance to be in the spotlight seems to have been met with resistance ' Harry laughed mildly inside his head.

Harry turned towards Bill, "Some kind of magical ailment it seems, Pomfrey said there will be some significant changes in my body. So no need to worry about it"

Silence returned to the room.

"I am sorry for your loss. Fred was a dear friend to me", Harry walked to the Weasley patriarch and spoke to him in a mild tone. Arthur Weasley nodded and asked to harry walk along with him.

"When is the…you know…uhh…" Harry didn't know how to ask when the funeral will be held.

As if understanding that Arthur answered him "The funeral is tomorrow at 10:00 am. I would like you to be there".

"I will be there "

"Where are you staying now Harry. Hermione has been staying with us for the past two days. If you would like, you can also stay here. Molly will be happy if you stayed here" Arthur asked him.

"It's no trouble. At present, I am staying at Grimmauld Place, which is still okay by the way. I will be moving out to Potter villa soon. I have some unpleasant business with the goblins. As soon as it is rectified, I am good to go ". Harry didn't want to be anywhere near Weasleys. Something is definitely wrong with them. So even if he didn't know anything about Potter villa, he just used the name as an excuse.

Then he thought about the wizarding families and their homes that he knew about. Luna's house, Malfoy's, and the Weasley's. That was all. And the first two doesn't count.

'I mean I have been in the wizarding world for seven years and the only wizarding family I know is Weasleys. I of course knew a little about Diggorys. But Diggory Sr. is a downright nasty individual and Diggory Jr. got himself killed in a stupid ass tournament for glory's sake. Plus he did not know where their house is located'.

Harry had some guilt when he thought Cedric was killed because of him. But he soon got over it.

'Who in Merlin's name asked that idiot to participate in a deadly tournament. If he died because of it, then that is on his head not my fault'

No staying at Weasleys, he concluded. And he doesn't want them to know about any changes in his mind and magic. Physical change can be explained easily. But for both mind and magic, he can't explain much without involving the presence of Horcrux.

And he won't be giving them that chance. He was already getting weird looks about the changes in his body. He didn't want to give them any more ammunition.

Arthur accepted Harry's answer and nodded his head.

"What about Hermione's parents, is she going to retrieve them," Harry asked Arthur.

"Yeah, both Ron and she are just waiting for you, so you can all go together to Australia".

Harry inclined my head, but internally Arthur's answer stumped him. 'Why the heck are these two waiting for me. If she wants to bring them back, she can do it herself. It's her parents anyway'

But when he thinks about it, she did help him in her own sort of way, in all possible times. She didn't betray Harry as Ron did. He will help her out but not now. He already has a lot on his plate at this moment.

"My vault key is with your wife. I will be needing it from now on. Can you please bring it to me" Arthur looked at Harry as if he heard something strange but nodded positively.

Arthur guided Harry back to the burrow.

Everyone in there was doing their own things. George was sitting by the window looking outside. Hermione was reading a newspaper. Ron…Ron was scowling at him (dumb bastard). Ginny was looking through a Quidditch magazine.

Bill and Fleur were sitting in the kitchen speaking among themselves, serious matter it seems. They both saw Harry as he was looking at them. He nodded his head at them. They nodded back.

With the vault key in his hands, he thanked Arthur and went towards Hermione.

Hermione

She looked up to see Harry sitting beside her. He was tall. Like a head taller than her and looked quite good in that black suit.

"I heard that you are going to Australia, to retrieve your parents". Harry asked her. It was worded like Harry was not coming with her.

"Yeah, I thought of going this weekend. After the affairs in the Weasley household are over. Are you coming?", She really hoped Harry would be joining her and Ron in going to Australia. She had no problems with Ron but as of late, just in the last two days, she couldn't stand him. His behavior made her put no trust in him.

"No, Madam Pomfrey asked me to do regular checkups until my magic is stabilized"

"Does it have anything to do with the things we were hunting?" she asked in a hushed voice. To which Harry just nodded his head and didn't answer anything more.

She did expect some kind of major change when she saw Harry without his glasses after the battle. But never in her dreams, she expected this.

She had seen this even in her parent's dental clinic. Wearing bracers influences one's teeth arrangement making your lips and jaw more proportionate to their face, hindering any abnormal growth that would have occurred.

But in Harry's case, it was not simple as bracers. Was it?

A Soul, lodged itself into him, influencing him and hindering his growth. That was why she was so worried about him after the battle. But looking at Harry now, she can make a guess how the presence of Horcrux may have been influencing him.

He seems to have changed a lot too. Not like Ron. Like looking more confident when speaking and walking. Positive changes. Like when talking now, he did conduct himself well.

"You should go alone. To Australia", She looked at him with a raised eyebrow asking Harry to explain.

"You know how Ron is. He won't be of any help in searching for your parents. He doesn't even know how to operate in the muggle world. One person should look after him all the time. And I won't be there with you, so I won't be there to solve your petty quarrels all the time.

I will come to meet with you tomorrow. I have something to talk about" His answer did justify the previous statement. And she just nodded.

'Yes, It was better if I go alone' she thought.

She too wanted to speak to Harry, a lot. More like questions that need to be answered. But now is not the right place or time for those questions. Maybe tomorrow after the funeral she will confront him. About the changes too.

Harry placed his hand on her shoulder and gave a firm shake and went towards the kitchen. She thought he won't be speaking with Ron anytime soon. It's like the fourth year all over again.

Harry

Hermione speaking of Horcruxes made him catch his breath. He needs to resolve this issue soon. The secrecy of Horcruxes.

The chances of Hermione speaking about Horcruxes to others is minimal, but there is still a chance.

On the other hand, Ron blabbering about Horcruxes to others is a larger possibility. He should rectify this before it becomes his biggest blunder.

After speaking with Hermione, he moved towards bill and fleur. 'From the looks of it, fleur is still treated as unwanted in the Weasley family. It was better for them to live in a separate apartment, away from the Weasley matriarch. Molly is a bad influence on her. On everyone' Harry thought.

Since Molly was not in any way to respond, as she just sat there with a vacant look in her eyes, he spoke to Bill and Fleur for a few minutes and left the burrow. He had no intention of speaking with Ron or Ginny.

Ron is being a prat and Ginny, he was not ready to have a relationship now and especially with a Weasley woman. As he was about to apparate he heard Hermione's voice. His eyes widened at the wand that was present in her hand.

Elder Wand.

"Here"

He got the wand in his hand. He ignored the euphoric feeling that was passing through his body and placed it in the wand holster.

"I took the wand from you when you were taken to the infirmary after the battle and later forgot about it. As I will be leaving Britain soon, I am unable to give it to Prof. McGonagall. Give in to her when you meet her next time, she will return it to its resting place" Hermione said with a sad tone.

'Bitch, this is my wand. I won it fair and square. There is no way I will leave it in the fool's grave' Outwardly he smiled and nodded positively at her.

"Does anyone know you had this wand" he questioned her? She replied negatively.

Okay, obliviation it is, but first, he needs some practice.

"Let it be that way Hermione, nobody should know this is Headmaster Dumbledore's wand. If somebody finds out about it, they may defile Headmaster's again grave and try to steal this wand" She looked aghast for a second and nodded vigorously.

'Excellent'

…....

AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Have some ideas about my story? Comment it and let me know.

Thank You to everyone who left a review.