NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: Time Flies
The next four years went by rapidly.
Harry, at first, was quite awed by the castle itself. It was enormous! But he was more impressed with magic and what he was learning. However, he didn't reveal this to the ghost of his ancestor. Harry might feel emotions, but none of it was shown on his face or in his voice. When he confessed to the ghost about his perfect memory, Alfred had exclaimed that Harry was probably a natural Occlumens. That was the only theory that seemed to fit because no other child his age could control their emotions or remember something as much as Harry did. The talent was rare, but not unheard of.
Thus began Harry's training under his ancestor's guidance and sometimes, under the guidance of the various portraits in the castle. He was not taught in the traditional 'Potter method' as it was known, as Harry's intelligence warranted for accelerated teaching. They began with Potion making - a very important art which not many people appreciated. Potions could accomplish many things that other fields could not. Alfred always stressed that all fields of magic were equally important. He supervised Harry in the Potions lab as the boy learnt how to create a potion. When Harry made even the simplest of mistakes, the ghost would tell a house-elf to vanish the contents of the cauldron. Harry, without complaint, would gather the ingredients again and start the potion from scratch. This ensured that he mastered the art of preparing the potion, even if the method was extremely frustrating for Harry. Not that he ever complained, of course. He was grateful for being taught at all and remembering where he had come from was enough for him to focus all his attention on studies without complaint.
Alfred Potter was quite surprised by how quickly Harry seemed to grasp the concepts. It was like he already had the muscle for it all and only had to learn it once or twice to grasp everything. The boy was a prodigy. Alfred still couldn't believe that Harry was a natural Occlumens! It explained how his memory was always so sharp, not to mention why his emotions were never expressed. That was the downside of a natural Occlumens; emotions were unconsciously suppressed by the witch or wizard and Harry had been actively doing it when he was raised by the Dursleys.
Harry was also taught other subjects such as Runes, Defence, Charms and Transfiguration. These were the basic subjects of magic, and he was determined to master them. The boy also had a rather sharp grasp on wandless magic, which brought about another question in the nine-year-old boy's mind.
"Why do wizards use wands? Why not rely on wandless magic?"
"It's not like we haven't tried, Harry," said the portrait of Fergus Potter, Harry's great-grandfather. "But the problem with wandless magic is that it is not as powerful as the spells cast with a wand. You can tire yourself out and the intensity of the spells which come out of a wand cannot be matched. A wand is a focus for a wizard's power. While you can use wandless magic, it won't help you much in case you are fighting a powerful wizard. With the intensity of the spells being thrown around in a duel, wandless magic can give you an edge, but not by much. However, it is a powerful tool. You should practice it regularly so that you can harness the skill."
Harry also, under an alias, enrolled in a school for a wizarding form of martial arts when he was nine. Alfred said it was imperative that Harry knows how to defend himself physically. He also argued that it would help greatly during a fight as agility would be an asset.
By the time Harry's eleventh birthday rolled out, he was quite ready to re-enter the magical society. He had been trained extensively by the portraits about pureblood etiquette. He knew how to behave for a person of his standing. He also knew about his parents and their life experiences from the journals the elves had recovered from the wreckage of the cottage in Godric's Hollow. Harry also knew to be wary of Albus Dumbledore. The man had been mentioned repeatedly in his parents' journals and the portrait of his grandmother, Dorea, insisted that he was not who he appeared to be.
Dangerous or not, Harry was nothing if not careful. He would trust no one blindly, another concept which had been drilled into him over the years by the ghost of his ancestor. He had also learnt from his mistakes of doing that during his time with the Dursleys.
...
Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were standing in the Headmaster's office as the quill enchanted by Rowena Ravenclaw began writing on the various envelopes.
They had searched for Harry Potter for the past four years. It had been a pain to keep the Ministry of Magic and the media from finding out about the boy's disappearance, but they were hoping they could finally find out where he lived before word got out. Dumbledore had tried every method of tracking the boy, without success.
He had used Harry's hair, but it hadn't worked. He didn't have any more of the boy's blood either, so that was not an option, having used all of it to erect the protective enchantments around Number Four, Privet Drive so many years ago.
Letters with tracking charms were returned unopened almost immediately as the owls were confused; no doubt there were anti-mail wards around the place for any letter sent with a tracking charm. Even Fawkes didn't seem to know where the boy was, so Dumbledore was sure the place was not ordinary. None of the Death Eaters seemed to have him, from what Severus had gathered, so they were quite curious about where he could be.
"Albus, look!" cried McGonagall excitedly.
Dumbledore watched with bated breath as the ancient quill began writing on the parchment.
Mr Harry J Potter,
The Master Bedroom,
Potter Castle,
Sherwood Forest,
Nottinghamshire
"Potter Castle," Dumbledore murmured in surprise and relief. He had heard of the place but he had never seen it before. "It is the ancestral home of the Potter family. Thank Merlin he's alive!"
"How did he end up there when he didn't even know of its existence?" asked McGonagall, bewildered.
Snape sneered. "No doubt he is going to be as arrogant as his father after living the life of a pampered prince for so long."
Dumbledore ignored him, deep in thought. After a minute, he made his decision.
"Send the letter, Minerva," said Dumbledore softly. "If he does not reply within three days, we shall go meet him personally."
McGonagall nodded as she collected the bunch of letters that were to be sent to all the wizard-raised students. Snape was scowling as he left the office too. Dumbledore began pacing; all his carefully constructed plans regarding the Boy-Who-Lived's childhood lay in ruins.
He had wanted the boy meek so that it would be possible for Harry to accept his destiny, but he had never wanted him to be as abused as he had been at the Dursleys! Frankly, Dumbledore had never thought that Petunia would be capable of such a thing!
As of now, it didn't matter, because young Harry had somehow found his way to one of his family homes. Was the boy too damaged like Tom Riddle had been? Or was he too traumatized by his experience with the Dursleys that he was afraid of his own shadow? Or was he the arrogant prince that Severus claimed he would be?
Dumbledore relaxed. He was jumping to conclusions and there was no point in that. He would wait. School was only a month away. He would wait and see what Harry Potter was like in September. He was positive that he could salvage his plans. This was only a minor hindrance.