The-Boy-Who-Went-Native (I)

"This is the library, what do you think?" Jacklyn exclaimed dramatically as she led Harry inside the library. Unfortunately, Harry was way too shocked by the sheer size of the library to register Jacklyn's words.

The 7th-year girl simply smirked as she realized what Harry was probably going through. She also experienced something similar when she entered the library for the first time. Jacklyn was never someone bookish, but she understood the importance of knowledge.

"Wow…" Harry muttered in complete awe as he started to check out the books on the nearest shelves. Then Harry stopped and turned back to look at Jacklyn. "I can read any of these books?" Harry asked in an excited tone.

Most of the time, Harry was capable enough to hold himself together, but right now, he was barely stopping himself from squealing like a little girl. No matter how much he tried to hide it, he was still a kid and he loved reading.

"Yes you can, but there is the restricted section which you can't use right now" Jacklyn explained. "Except for the books in the restricted section, you can read everything else" Jacklyn added with a smile and Harry nodded his head in understanding. After that, Harry continued to look around the library and Jacklyn simply followed him.

Right now, the school was closed, so even though all the staff members were present in the school, they were taking a break from their duties. Hence, the librarian was not present in the library and it was up to Jacklyn to keep an eye on Harry and help him around for the time being.

"You have books on Rituals?" Harry asked in a bewildered tone as he pointed toward a whole bookshelf dedicated to Rituals.

"Yes, Rituals are completely legal in our country up to a certain extent" Jacklyn smiled at Harry and he simply gave the girl a look before turning toward the bookshelf in front of him.

"Have you performed any Rituals?" Harry asked curiously as he started to trace the spine of the books with his fingers.

"Harry, that is an incredibly personal question to ask, but as for your answer, yes, I have gone through several Rituals to better myself" Jacklyn answered with a stern look on her face. Harry turned around and gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry…" Harry mumbled an apology.

"It's alright… No harm done, but you should be careful with that question. Not everyone is going to be understanding like me" Jacklyn warned softly as a gentle smile formed on her face.

"I don't mean to offend you, but can I ask why?" Harry asked curiously and Jacklyn simply rolled her shoulders.

"It has something to do with 'Keep your cards close to yourself' kind of thing. After all, nobody would want to give away their secrets. Take me for an example… I have gone through Rituals, which means that I have enhanced myself. My opponent won't be expecting me to be enhanced and I can take them by surprise… In a battle, even the slightest advantage can lead you to victory" Jacklyn explained, and after pondering her words for a few moments, Harry nodded his head in understanding.

|Hadrian, I don't know much about Rituals. You must learn as much as you can about them| Lily said in a serious tone.

|You want me to go through Rituals?| Harry asked incredulously. After all, it was his mom who warned him against Rituals as they are supposed to be extremely dangerous.

|If it gives you an edge then, yes. I know I warned you about Rituals, but I only warned you because I didn't have enough knowledge to guide you through them, but now the situation has changed… You have all the knowledge you need and with careful planning, you can safely go through a Ritual| Lily explained passionately.

|Okay… I also want to see what benefits I can gain from Rituals| Harry said inside his mind and a grin formed on his face on the outside.

"What do you think I should start with?" Harry asked as he turned around to look at Jacklyn. The girl simply hummed and grabbed the first book from one of the columns and handed it to Harry.

"Before you try anything, I suggest you give this a read. You must know what you are getting into before you make a mistake" Jacklyn explained. Harry looked down at the book and read the title… 'Mysteries of Rituals'.

"Thank you" Harry thanked Jacklyn genuinely.

"Is there something else you want to read?" Jacklyn asked and Harry nodded his head.

"I want to grab the 3rd year book of Magical Theory" Harry said and Jacklyn simply motioned him to follow her as she led him toward the shelf where books related to Magical Theory were kept.

Jacklyn grabbed the 3rd year book of Magical Theory and handed it over to Harry. "You can take some more books if you want, but I will need to put them in the register" Jacklyn said and after thinking for a bit, Harry shook his head.

"I don't think I will be needing anything else… I will be meeting the agent I hired tomorrow so I can get an apartment and finish my shopping. So, I will be probably buying all of my 1st year books tomorrow" Harry said with a thoughtful look on his face and Jacklyn nodded her head in understanding.

"Okay… I will get you the list of 1st year books" Jacklyn said while nodding her head.

"By the way, can you recommend me a good Wand shop?" Harry asked as he started to follow Jacklyn toward the counter.

"You won't be getting Wand from a shop, Harry. As per tradition, every first years gets their Wands after they are sorted" Jacklyn revealed with a chuckle, and Harry couldn't help but stare at Jacklyn in complete bewilderment.

"Really? Why? I mean why would you have a tradition like that?" Harry asked in a bewildered tone and Jacklyn couldn't stop herself from chuckling after hearing his question.

"In 1965 Rappaport's Law was repealed, but we still follow the tradition. That is the basic gist of it… You can read the details from your 1st year History book if you want" Jacklyn shrugged and Harry decided that he will look it up after getting the book. "Let me put your books in the register, and then I will show you around the rest of school" Jacklyn suggested and Harry simply hummed in agreement…

<Line Break>

~~Privet Drive, Little Whinging~~

"What the bloody hell happened here Albus?" Alastor growled with an annoyed look on his face as he peeked out from one of the windows. Alastor looked at the cops still milling around the Dursleys' residence.

Albus shook his head in disappointment. "Apparently, Vernon lost his mind and beat his son to death before beating his wife to death, and by the time the Muggle Aurors arrived, Vernon had already beaten a neighbor to death. They couldn't subdue him, so they had to put him down" Albus explained with a pained look on his face.

"Good riddance then" Alastor harrumphed and Albus simply gave him a disapproving look.

"Alastor, I understand your grievances with them, but a loss of life is nothing to be happy about, and what about Dudley? He was only a child, who didn't know anything better" Albus chastised Alastor who simply shrugged dismissively.

"Don't try to feed me your tripe… If you want to grieve for those monsters, then you are welcome, just don't try to get me involved" Alastor barked with a scowl.

Albus looked at his friend for a couple of seconds, before he started to shake his head in disappointment. "We should never seek the death of our enemies, my friend" Albus said only to get a snort of derision in return from his friend. "Alas… It is clear that we won't be seeing eye to eye on this matter, but I want to know if the whole incident was cut and dry like the Muggle Aurors are saying or if there is something else going on…" Albus trailed off and Alastor couldn't help but release a huff.

"Fine fine… I will start my investigation as soon as they are done" Alastor said as he jabbed his fingers toward the cops who were still milling around the house. While Alastor was no fan of the Dursleys, he was an Auror through and through… There was no way he would turn a blind eye to four murders such as this.

The case might have been different if someone ended up killing in self-defense, but if something was really wrong just like Albus was suspecting, then it was a completely different case altogether. Albus' poor choices aside, the man was extremely insightful in moments like these and Alastor would be a fool to ignore Albus' suspicion.

"Good…" Albus nodded his head in satisfaction. "By the way, what did you find at the Russel farmhouse?" Albus asked in a hopeful tone before answering the question, Alastor took a large swig from his hip flask.

"Someone was living there and whoever was living there, they moved out pretty recently. Most probably they left in the morning" Alastor griped with a scowl and Albus couldn't help but frown at the simple answer.

"Has there been any instance when the address on the Hogwarts letter has been a mistake?" Alastor asked curiously.

"None that I know of" Albus shook his head.

"Bollocks!! Albus, can you tell me if the Potters owned a house elf?" Alastor asked and only after a few moments, the color on Albus' face disappeared…