36 The-Boy-Who-Sto...Borrowed (I)

|And that's it… I don't think, he will deny my request| Harry mused in amusement as he finally finished penning a letter to Carlson. He wanted to keep using the training room he had been using for the last ten months and since Jacklyn had graduated, she could no longer use the room.

In the letter, Harry mentioned how he was planning to participate in the Under Thirteen Tournament and he needed a place for practice… He even decided to mention the room Jacklyn was allowing him to use off-handedly, not wanting to give an impression that he was gunning for something specific.

Lily snorted inside his mind. |He will give you the room, don't worry. He wants to use your fame, there is no way he is going to deny your request and you did give him a valid reason behind your request| Lily drawled in a bland tone.

|I know and I am specifically banking on that| Harry muttered as he rolled his shoulders and stood up from his seat. He grabbed the letters from the table and started to make his way toward Hedwig's perch.

As soon as Hedwig saw the letters in his hand, she stretched her wings and hooted in excitement. "I think someone is really excited about the letters" Harry said in a sing-song voice as Harry started to pet Hedwig.

When he bought her, he never thought that she would grow on him so quickly… At first, he simply wanted an owl for his letters, but now, Hedwig was much more than a post-owl. Harry had done a lot of research on Familiar Bonds when he noticed a Bond forming between the two of them.

It wasn't a literal bond, but more like a connection between the two of them… Like Harry could feel whenever Hedwig was around or how Hedwig will fly in on her own whenever he finished writing a letter. Hedwig has always been a smart girl, but there was no way she could know when he finished a letter.

Hedwig barked with a hint of indignation, but at the same time, she puffed out her feathers to enjoy the petting. "I know, I know…" Harry muttered as he continued to pet her. Harry couldn't speak owl, but he could still understand what she was trying to say.

"Okay… You know where to take these letters, right?" Harry asked and this time, Hedwig simply threw him a dirty look, before she screeched in indignation… Harry could clearly feel her irritation. She was irritated over the fact that her human dared to insult her intelligence… "Sorry, sorry. Of course you know where to take these" Harry corrected himself as he handed the letters to her.

Hedwig puffed out her feathers at the compliment as she clutched the letters with one of her talons. Harry knew that it was going to be a long flight since one of the letters was addressed to Jacklyn, the second one was addressed to Brittany and finally, the last one was addressed to his Headmaster, Carlson Kent.

"Be careful and have a good flight!" Harry waved at her and Hedwig flew off her perch as she made her way out of the window after giving her human a last look.

|That owl is way too temperamental… You are not even twelve and you already have so many girls around you| Lily sniffed and started to pout. |With all these girls around you, you will forget your poor mother| Lily added as she started to sniff.

Harry simply rolled his eyes at his mom's antics… |Mom, just like you said, I am only twelve and I don't want to think about girls right now. I have more important things to do| Harry explained dryly as he made his way toward his wardrobe.

Thanks to Lucas, Harry was familiar with the Alley of the Druids, so he wanted to look around the shops in the Alley for the ingredients he needed for the Rituals, before asking for Jacklyn's help… That is why Harry didn't mention anything about the Rituals in the letter.

He had taken her suggestion to his heart and he never told anyone what he was up to, but he suspected that Jacklyn already knew that he was performing Rituals. After all, she must have noticed that after the Christmas break, all of a sudden, he was a lot more stronger than before.

|Though I am still surprised that Dumbledore didn't try anything during the last year| Harry mused all of a sudden when he remembered why he was trying so hard to become strong.

|Yes, I am surprised too, but Hadrian, you should never underestimate him. He is old, extremely so… He knows how to be patient. While he may not getting any younger, he can still live for decades… He knows how to play the long game, he won't make the amateur mistake of revealing his hand so soon in the game…| Lily warned Harry in a grave tone.

After hearing his mom's words, Harry could only nod his head with a hard look on his face. His mom was right… He needed to be careful. Underestimating either Albus Dumbledore or Voldemort would be simply foolish. After getting dressed in a fresh pair of clothes, he left his apartment to look around the shops for the ingredients he needed…

<Line Break>

After nearly five hours, Harry finally returned to his apartment with a complicated look on his face… He did find almost all the ingredients in the alley and since none of them were illegal, he could buy them without any issues, but he was lacking some funds. If he wanted to buy all the ingredients for the Rituals, then he would need to empty his trust vault.

Due to the transfer charges, he will only be able to withdraw 980 Galleons as the goblins would keep 20 Galleons to themselves… |Greedy little cretins| Harry cursed internally and Lily frantically nodded her head in agreement.

He still needed to pay 400 Galleons for his apartment. He needed to pay 200 Galleons this term and needed to pay the rest in January, next year, leaving him only 580 Galleons. Then he also needed to pay 100 Galleons for his tuition, leaving him only 480 Galleons.

It was a lot, but at the same time, the money wasn't much as he needed to buy a lot of expensive ingredients for the Rituals…

|You can always buy second-hand books for your second year… You have already finished the curriculum on your own, so it won't matter if your books are the latest edition or not or you can go without buying anything. That will save you at least 20 Galleons| Lily suggested and Harry had to admit, it was a good idea.

|Maybe, I can sell my first year books to a second-hand shop. I think I will be able to get at least 5 Galleons for them| Harry mused thoughtfully. He no longer needed the first year books, so it would be a waste to keep them when he was tight on budget.

Even if he followed his mom's suggestion while selling his first year books to a second-hand book shop, he was falling short of the amount of gold he needed for his shopping… The Thunderbird Wings on themselves were going to cost him 400 Galleons, leaving him only 80 Galleons, which simply weren't enough for him to buy the rest of the ingredients.

|You could always take some money from the Muggles. I do think they have too much money and taking a few thousand dollars won't hurt them| Lily pointed out thoughtfully. Once again, Harry had to admit, his mom's suggestion was pretty sound.

Harry didn't have any qualms over ste… borrowing some money from the rich… The names of the few rich Muggles popped into Harry's mind, but all of sudden a terrible, but an amazing idea popped into his mind. The goblins loved jewels and shiny stones… The little blighters had a whole counter dedicated to the jewel trade.

|I think I need to make a trip to the Muggle World| Harry mumbled as he once again decided to leave the apartment, but then all of a sudden, his stomach rumbled, reminding him of the fact that he was yet to have his lunch.

"Norton" Harry called out loudly and the said house-elf appeared with a soft pop.

"What can Norton bes doing for Master Hadrian?" Norton asked eagerly.

"Norton, I will be leaving again. Can you make something for me in a short time?" Harry asked and after thinking for a bit, Norton excitedly nodded his head before popping away. He didn't even bother to tell Harry what he was planning to make, so Harry simply rolled his eyes and decided to wait.

|Hadrian, what are you planning to do?| Lily asked curiously, she could feel that Harry was planning something else.

|I think I will be going diamond hunting| Harry answered internally as a wide grin formed on his lips…