20 The-Boy-Who-Went-Native (III)

(A/N: In the States, instead of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, the currency consists of Dragot and Sprink, but I decided that in this fanfic, every country will use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts with their own country's insignia to keep the currency exchange system plain and simple).

By the time Harry finally returned to Ilvermorny, he was barely standing on his feet… He had an extremely long day. After withdrawing money from Gringotts, he asked Lucas to lead him to the best and most reliable real estate broker. It took Harry nearly two hours to find a nice apartment. The apartment wasn't massive, but it was big enough for Harry.

Even though the apartment wasn't massive, it was quite cheap. The price of the apartment was 800 Galleons and since Harry was planning to pay in installments, he needed to pay 830 Galleons. Harry finalized the contract by paying 230 Galleons upfront and he decided to opt for semi-annual payments to make it easy on himself.

According to his mom, every year on the day of his birthday, his trust vault was being refilled and his trust vault was capped at 1000 Galleons. Even though this was the first time he was withdrawing money from his trust vault, his mom was quite worried about someone stealing his gold as Harry didn't have the vault key until today and Harry never received his monthly statements, which he was supposed to.

While Harry was still a minor and technically he shouldn't have been able to buy an apartment, it wasn't something gold couldn't solve. Harry had to pay 20 Galleons extra to make the real estate broker to look another way… With that, Harry finally sealed the deal and now Harry was a proud owner of a small and cozy apartment. After that, Harry asked Lucas to lead him to a trunk shop.

Even though Harry had a lot of trunks, he still decided to buy a new one for his school. According to his mom, it was a tradition for a new student to get a trunk, but Harry was somewhat reluctant to waste his gold. So, he decided to buy a second-hand trunk instead of a brand-new one. Lily was somewhat unhappy with his choice, but at the same time, she couldn't help but praise him for spending his gold carefully.

After getting the trunk, Harry asked Lucas to lead him to the bookshops. Instead of going spare, Harry only decided to buy his course books. He could always get extra books from the library and Harry wasn't planning to delve into illegal Dark Arts any time soon. Harry had the whole Potter library in his possession and so whenever he needed some extra reading material, he could grab a book from the Potter collection. So, once again, Lily couldn't help but praise her son.

With the remaining 215 Galleons, Harry decided to buy himself some Potions ingredients and an owl, which cost him 5 Galleons and 10 Galleons respectively, leaving him a respectable amount of 200 Galleons. The owl was a beautiful snowy owl and Harry decided to name her Hedwig. According to the shopkeeper, Hedwig is really temperamental, but Hedwig didn't make a fuss around Harry and he also found her quite adorable and cute.

(A/N: I know, Hedwig should be in Britain, but no owl would be fit for Harry except Hedwig).

With that, Harry's shopping was finished and he decided to treat Lucas to lunch for helping him around. After that, Lucas brought him back to the school and Harry paid Lucas the gold he owed him. Lucas left Harry at the gates of Ilvermorny 25 Galleons riched. Harry gave him 15 Galleons for his services, 5 more for the Oath, and 5 more for his silence.

Harry didn't know if either Lucas or the real estate broker would betray him or not, but it was better to cover his bases. If they ever betrayed him then Harry could always find them and make them pay with blood…

After paying Lucas, Harry was left with only 175 Galleons and he needed to pay 100 Galleons for tuition, leaving only 75 Galleons, which were more than enough for him. After all, Ilvermonry is a boarding school, so all of his food and living charges were included in the tuition. So, Harry probably wouldn't need to spend any gold when the school was in session, but it was better to have some gold on hand.

(A/N: According to J. K. Rowling, there is no tuition fee to be paid at Hogwarts. Apparently, the Ministry pays for all the education of everyone, but I decided to go use a tuition fee system to make the story more realistic).

|I just want to sleep…| Harry mumbled as he turned on the shower.

|I know, son… You must be really tired, but don't you want to check the books?| Lily asked, sounding kind of confused. Only last night, her son was gushing about how he was going to finish the new books so that he could be ahead of his peers.

|Yes…| Harry mumbled with a grimace. |Hm… I think I can at least check the Defense book| Harry mumbled thoughtfully. Three years ago, Harry has been really squeamish about his mom watching him all the time, but now it has become a part of his life, so he stopped caring about it. It became completely normal for the mother-son duo.

|Good… As soon as the session starts, Albus will know where you are and he will do everything in his power to get you back. I don't think he will succeed, but I want you to be prepared| Lily said in a grim tone.

|I am not going to be prepared to face him by reading the 1st year Defense book, but I understand what you are trying to say| Harry said tiredly.

|Fine… Fine… Take a break| Lily said with a sigh, but she didn't seem to be too angry at him. Harry was still quite young, so Lily understood that her son was lacking in the stamina department. Maybe she could get him to start working out…

|Thanks, but I will look up the Defense book| Harry said confidently. |By the way, have you decided whom should I choose as my guardian?| Harry asked curiously. Last night, the two of them have discussed the topic for quite some time, but they never came to a decision.

|Well, he obviously knows that we don't trust him… He knew that he would have lost you if had pushed you too hard. That is why he suggested that you could choose someone from the 7th year. He was obviously pointing toward Jacklyn as you obviously know her| Lily finished with a sigh.

|Though nothing against Jacklyn, she seems to be quite nice, but she may be already in Carlson's corner| Harry pointed out chirpily and Lily simply hummed.

|Yes, but choosing her or any other seventh-year would be much better than choosing Carlson or any other staff| Lily mused thoughtfully. |After all, it will be much easier to fool Jacklyn or any other seventh-year instead of fooling a staff member| Lily added thoughtfully and Harry had to admit, his mom was right.

|Then should I choose Jacklyn?| Harry asked incredulously. There is probably a reason why Jacklyn is still at school when the school is not in session. Carlson obviously trusted the girl or he wouldn't have sent her to meet him. So, Harry wasn't sure if he could trust the girl or not, but she was the only one he knew. While the seemed quite nice, she could be really wicked on the inside.

After all, the Dursleys acted like a perfectly normal family in front of the others, but behind closed doors, they would finally reveal their true nature. So, he simply couldn't trust Jacklyn, but at the same time, he couldn't trust anyone else…

|I think you should wait and see for the time being… That would be the better choice| Lily said after thinking for a bit. Ilvermorny was really similar to Hogwarts, so just like Hogwarts, Ilvermorny also starts on 1st September every year. Today is the 1st of August, so there was still a month for Harry to know the girl before school starts.

|Okay…| Harry agreed with his mom and after some time, Harry finally walked out of the shower, dressed in a set of completely fresh clothes. Harry popped open his newly acquired trunk and grabbed the Defense book. Harry climbed into the bed so that he could make himself comfortable.

Harry checked the index of the book and he immediately started to notice the differences between this book and the 1st year Defense book of Magical Britain. The course was simply more advance… |What do you think, mom?| Harry asked and heard a scoff from his mother.

|Why am I not surprised… Of course, their course is more advanced and detailed. From Sirius, I knew that a lot of subjects were scrapped from Hogwarts after Albus took over. Subjects like Dueling, Alchemy, and Enchanting were gone…| Lily trailed off in an unsure tone. |Albus' hate for some subjects are quite well known as you heard from Carlson| Lily pointed out with a sniff.

|I see…| Harry mumbled as he opened the first chapter, but only after a few minutes, he fell asleep even though he tried his best to stay awake… Watching her son fall asleep, Lily also decided to close her eyes even though she could no longer fall asleep…

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A/N: Can you give me some Reviews… I need four more Reviews to finally get a Rating…