Chapter 14: Bye, Bye Lockhart
February 14th. 1993
Two weeks had passed since Harry's discovery of the Salazar's quarters and his first-ever ritual. The day after was quite hilarious:
Flashback
Harry woke up the morning of February 1st still feeling the aftermath of his ritual. His entire body felt sore and weak. He skipped his workout today in favor of an even larger breakfast to get his strength back.
As Harry entered the Great Hall, the usual whispers could be heard whenever his fellow students saw him. This time however there were some additions.
"Where are his glasses?"
"How did he fix his eyesight? Is he wearing muggle contact lenses?"
"His eyes are even prettier than before"
He chuckled at the last comment from a fourth-year Hufflepuff and helped himself to some bacon and eggs. After charms class Flitwick had kept him a bit longer under the pretense to discuss Harry's latest homework:
"Mr. Potter, it has been over a month since we had our first duel and I promised you I would share my decision regarding my role as a mentor for the dueling championship.
I am proud to share that I am pleased with your progress. I can see a lot of potential in you and I would be honored to be your future consultant and advisor when it comes to anything dueling-related."
"Thank you, Professor Flitwick, it would be an honor to continue my studies under you!" Harry replied honestly.
"I am also glad you chose to fix the obvious disadvantage of your glasses. Make no mistake, Mr. Potter, I can feel the powerful residual magic of whatever spell you performed. It is none of my business what you get up to and how you chose to improve your body. Rituals are an inherent part of goblin culture. Just remember that our esteemed Headmaster might interpret your ambitions differently!"
Harry thanked the Charms Master for his warning and left the classroom. He would try to avoid Dumbledore for as long as the residual magic around him was that easily traceable.
End of the Flashback
Luckily for him, he had managed to avoid Dumbledore so far, in large part thanks to his map. Just as planned, his daily routine now involved an eight-hour time travel each day. Harry was glad for the extra time this provided but felt his body's need to adjust to his long days. Even with all his mind exercises he still needed a couple of hours more sleep now.
The eight additional productive hours were therefore offset by two hours of additional sleep each day. The tradeoff was still very rewarding and Harry slowly became used to his routine.
Today was Valentine's Day and Lockhart humiliated himself by his choice of clothing and hiring some midgets to share Valentine's massages all around the Castle. Harry received several anonymous messaging between his first two classes and chose to wear his cloak afterward to avoid Amor's little helpers for the rest of the day. His last class of the day was DADA and Harry would try to convince Lockhart to restart the dueling club.
Lockhart's class on Valentine's Day was as unpleasant as ever. For today, he had decided to include some additional romance in his role-playing acts. Harry just tried to survive by any means possible and thanked Merlin when the bell finally rang. He made his way to the front of the class. It was Showtime!
"Professor Lockhart, I was hoping you could give me some advice."
"Harry, my boy, out with it! What can I help my favorite student with?"
"I am not used to being a public person and all the press and celebrity issues. I was hoping you could mentor me and give me some tips."
Lockhart flashed him a bright white smile: "You came to the right person for that, let me tell you! I am perhaps the most sought-after celebrity in all of Britain. My name is in the mouth of every witch and wizard. Of course, you and Professor Dumbledore are a close second and third place, but I think I can teach you some of the secrets to how I handle my fame so well!"
Harry almost had to vomit at the thought of private tutoring from Lockhart, but he sends his most charming smile right back:
"That would be great Professor! You see I would love to continue dueling and the famous sport has a lot of press involved. Maybe while we are at it, you could also continue the dueling club from last semester. I certainly enjoyed your experience in the subject, and I am sure I could learn even more from you!"
Lockhart seemed slightly nervous at the thought, but the prospect of the public seeing him spending time with The-Boy-Who-Lived pushed his insecurities aside.
"Of course, Harry! I will make the announcement tonight at dinner! I always enjoy sharing my knowledge with those less fortunate!"
Harry thanked the fraud and made his way out of the classroom as quickly as possible. It was time to go down into the Chamber and use the Time-Turner.
"How are you doing my heir?" Salazar greeted him as he opened the door to his quarters.
"I am doing fine, thanks, Sal. Everything is going according to plan. Lockhart will announce the dueling club tonight and I will embarrass him at the next meeting by challenging him to a duel."
"Perfect, what about your classes?"
Harry took the time turner and span the little wheel eight times. He watched as the clock on the wall rotated backward and paused at 7 am in the morning. His other self would arrive here right after Lockhart's classes this afternoon shortly after 3 pm. He would have eight hours down in the Chamber to study and practice magic.
"Sorry, I just used the Time-Turner… but you had asked about my classes. Classes are going well. Transfiguration is getting more interesting with the extra topics McGonagall assigned to me. I improved my animation skills quite a bit. My animated sword was quickly beaten by McGonagall in our mock duel, but she was very impressed by my progress."
"Perfect! Make sure you remain diligent in all your classes! Today we will begin the preparations for your next ritual. If you continue using the Time-Turner as before. Your magical 13th birthday will occur almost 2 months earlier, by the end of May.
You will need all the ingredients by that point! I would like you to get a better understanding of ritualistic magic, so today we will dive into the theory and history of it."
Harry nodded his understanding. Salazar's history lessons were much more interesting than Binn's. According to his mentor, ritualistic magic was one of the oldest kinds of magic, before witches and wizards started using wands or brooms or other fancy stuff.
It originated in Egypt where the old tombs there held priceless magical knowledge, forgotten by most. Runes were the basis for ritualistic magic. Today the three runic languages available to the magical world, were Hebraic, Scandinavian, and Egyptian runes. Unfortunately, the current Hogwarts curriculum only taught the latest.
Salazar continued telling Harry about the history of rituals and the different areas of use. How it was labeled a dark practice during the Middle Ages and why almost all rituals are forbidden in most European countries, due to the drastic consequences if they go wrong.
Harry took notes and asked questions in between. Together they set up a plan for Harry's future rituals. On his 13th birthday, he would do the cleansing ritual that would erase any and all traces of the abuse and malnutrition he suffered from in his past.
This would be followed by a ritual to improve his physical appearances, like any imbalances in his body or his facial symmetry. Harry did not care much about it, but according to Salazar it would be very valuable in the future, be it for charming people or just reducing some of the less pleasant aspects of puberty. Riddle had performed the ritual as well and his handsome features opened him many doors while still being at Hogwarts.
Next up there would be three rituals, each within a duration of a month.
The first one, the Physical-Ritual, would improve his physical body. It might lead to another growth spurt and improve his overall body composition. Thanks to the ritual it would be easier to stay in shape and his physical stamina, as well as reflexes, will improve immensely according to Salazar. This ritual would certainly be helpful in any duel.
Next up there would be the Mind-Ritual. It would improve Harry's memory and Occlumency shields as well as enhancing his creativity and problem-solving skills.
Finally, there would be the Magic-Ritual. It would help him connect to his magic, increasing his magical core and endurance. His degree of power and control over his spell work would be more fine-tuned and able to handle more powerful spells.
The second to last ritual was to be a Healing-Ritual. It would decrease the time it took his body to heal smaller injuries whilst also decreasing the recovery time for both his physical stamina and magical core.
Last but not least he would perform a final ritual to combine the effects and features of all the previous rituals. This would enable him to truly perform at his best and optimize the link between his body, mind, and magic.
According to Salazar, it was a very ambitious and expensive plan. They will be able to use some of the Basilisk ingredients, but most would have to be sold to gather the finances for some other materials. Salazar chuckled when Harry mentioned that he now had an extra 10.000 galleons thanks to the Malfoys, which Harry could also invest in some magically powerful ingredients.
After finishing their planning Harry made his way back to dinner. As promised, Lockhart announced the reinstatement of the Dueling Club, which was positively received by the majority of the students, if only for the additional drama and action it provided. The next session would be held the following night.
February 15th 1993
Harry made his way down to the Great Hall for tonight's dueling session. His plan was simple: confront Lockhart in front of the entire student body and embarrass him. A simple plan especially when it became clear that he couldn't perform a single spell.
The Great Hall looked just like last time, with a large platform in the middle. Apparently, Lockhart couldn't convince Snape to assist a second time, so instead Flitwick stood at the edge of the platform and greeted a couple of the entering students.
Lockhart greeted the crowd when it was time to begin:
"Hello and welcome back all! Since the dueling club has proven to be such a success after the last meeting…" He flashed Harry a bright smile, which the entire hall noticed, "…I was convinced by one of your fellow students to continue the club and therefore welcome you all to the second meeting!"
"I have gone over a brief program with my assistant Professor Flitwick, and we decided to continue teaching you the disarming and shield charm tonight! Isn't that existing?
Now let's start the night with a brief demonstration! Could I have a volunteer?"
Harry instantly raised his wand and stepped forward in the crowd. This might be even easier than he had expected.
"Very good, Harry! You don't need to be of house Gryffindor to show some courage, am I right? Now Harry, I would like you to practice the disarming and shield charm with my assistant for tonight, Professor Flitwick!"
Flitwick shot Harry a friendly smile and a wink. Disarming and shield charms were nothing compared to the spells they started using during their last couple of practice duels.
"Professor Lockhart, actually I was hoping for you to help me out with my shield charm. I am sure you have an even deeper understanding of the theory AND the practice since Professor Flitwick is only assisting you tonight." Harry asked with his most charming smile.
Flitwick grinned, having caught on with what the boy was trying to provoke as did many of the Slytherins. Once again Potter's nickname in the house of the Serpents proved well deserved.
"Sure Harry, that won't be an issue. As you all know after reading my books, I am a prodigy when it comes to Defense against the Dark Arts. After all, I was awarded the Order of Merlin, third class, and I am an Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League!"
"Thank you so much, Professor, I am sure an Order for the Second or even First Class is well on its way!"
At this, the crowd started chuckling as even more students caught on in what Harry was trying to archive. Lockhart seemed oblivious:
"You are most likely correct, Harry, let's take position and make sure I share some of my invaluable knowledge, I will of course not hurt you, my young friend!"
They each took positions at the opposite ends of the dueling platform.
"Now Harry, what can I help you with?"
This is exactly where Harry had wanted him…
"I would like you to test my shield with your strongest disarming charm, Professor!"
Lockhart seemed nervous:
"Are you sure Harry, that is quite an advanced and dangerous spell after all. I am not sure if I should cast it on my students…"
Sweat started building upon his forehead. This was not what he had imagined the night to go.
"Don't worry Professor, my shield will hold! I just want to test its endurance!"
Lockhart seemed even more nervous at that:
"Very well then Harry, prepare yourself, this might hurt!"
"Expellus!" Lockhart shouted.
Nothing happened… The idiot didn't even know the correct incantation!
"Sir, that isn't the correct incantation, Professor." A fifth-year Ravenclaw spoke up incredulously.
Lockhart was sweating even more now:
"Yes... of course, Mr. Stein… take five points if you can give me the correct incantation! I already know it, of course, I am simply trying to test my students, after all!"
"It's 'Expelliarmus', Sir! I am sure you are familiar with the wand movement…" the Ravenclaw mentions sarcastically.
"Yes of course!... Errr…
"Expelliarmus!" Lockhart shouted, waving his wand like a lasso above his head.
Nothing happened again. At this, some of the students couldn't hold their laughter any longer. Even Flitwick started giggling behind his hand. Harry took his chance:
"Professor, how come you can't even perform a simple disarming charm? Don't you mention in your book that you disarmed five opponents at the same time whilst also defeating a vampire?"
Lockhart gulped.
"How about a Stunner then, Professor? In 'Wanderings with Werewolves' it is mentioned that you stunned a giant of a Werewolf with one single stunner?"
Lockhart looked at the now curious crowd:
"Well, you see, Harry. Those books were written some time ago… I am not sure if…"
"What about your Stinging Hex, that was so powerful, that the Banshee never bothered you again afterward? Was it as powerful as this?"
Harry shot an overpowered Stinging Hex at Lockhart, who had no time to react. He was hit in his abdomen and released a high, almost girlish, cry of pain.
Harry continued:
"It must have been even more powerful than mine, otherwise you would be a fraud, wouldn't you?"
He sends another stinging hex at Lockhart, which hits the man on his wand arm.
"Could it be, that every single one of your adventures is fake? Could it be that you wrote those books yourself, as you seem unable to perform something as a simple Disarming Curse?"
The entire hall was silent now. Lockhart was sobbing on the platform, holding his tummy and wand arm.
"You are a fraud Professor Lockhart, and it would do you best to never return to this school under the pretense of being a teacher!"
With that, Harry used a Leg-Locker, on the Professor, followed up by a full body bind. Just for show, he finished Lockhart off with a perfect Stunner and summoned his wand with a beautifully executed disarming charm.
"That is how you disarm an opponent! Class dismissed!"
With that, Harry stepped off the platform and made his way across to the entrance. A couple of the upper-year students that were clearly tired of Lockhart cheered and even clapped for him. He didn't do it for them.
Harry made his way to the staircase but was stopped by an enraged Hermione Granger. She must have been healed from her state of petrification a couple of days ago. Too bad, it had been such a quiet and enjoyable time without her constant bickering.
The girl almost had tears in her eye:
"You just attacked and injured a professor! I will have you expelled for this!"
"Get out of my way Granger, before I make you!"
"You will not hurt or kill any more teachers or students at Hogwarts. I won't let you!" The girl screamed while pulling her wand, Longbottom doing the same.
Weasley, Harry noticed, reluctantly stayed away from the confrontation. Maybe saving his sister decreased the boy's eagerness to confront Harry.
"Ron, help us!" Granger hissed. "Together we will stop him this time!"
"I don't want to get involved in this, Hermione, leave me out of it!"
"First smart thing I have heard you say in while, Weasley. Now if you could please get your dorks back on their leash, I would appreciate it!"
That comment was too much for Granger. The girl fired a Body-Bind at him, which Harry easily sidestepped. Longbottom's Leg-Locker missed him completely. The boy had terrible aim.
"Enough! What is going on here?" Flitwick interrupted the little duel.
"Professor, I confronted Potter for hurting another teacher and he attacked us!"
"Is that true, Mr. Potter?" Flitwick asked amused.
"Granger, Longbottom, and Weasley stopped me after I finished my sanctioned duel with Professor Lockhart! Granger and Longbottom pulled their wands on me. I would like to mention that Weasley stayed out of it and even made an attempt to advise against attacking me.
Granger and Longbottom ignored him and attacked me. I have not fired a single spell since my duel with Lockhart. You may check my wand and see for yourself, Professor."
Flitwick took Harry's wand and a simple Priori Incantatem proved his story. His last spell was the Disarming Charm on Lockhart's wand. Granger and Longbottom were found to have both cast a spell.
"That will be 50 points from Gryffindor each for attacking a student and lying to a professor. You will also be assigned two weeks of detention with me. I am very disappointed in you, Ms. Granger, you were such a promising student. Mr. Weasley, take five points for staying out of it. You did the right thing. Good night students!"
April 28th 1993
Over two months had passed since the last time Gilderoy Lockhart was seen in the Castle. According to the rumors, he had been sent to the hospital wing after his duel with Potter and disappeared the next morning without anyone knowing. Madam Pomfrey couldn't find her patient in his bed the next day, his quarters were empty, and his trunk and personal belongings gone.
To occupy the missing post of the DADA teacher, Dumbledore took over the classes for the 5th to 7th-year students since they had to prepare for OWLs and NEWTs. He also assigned some 7th-years from every house to teach the respective years one to four from each house.
Dumbledore was happy with his solution and secretly thanked Harry for getting rid of Lockhart. He of course knew the man was a fraud when employing him, but there were simply no other applicants.
Once again Dumbledore was lost in thought about his raven-haired, green-eyed student. The latter physical feature had changed a bit at some point in the last couple of weeks as the Headmaster had noticed that the child stopped wearing his glasses.
According to the portraits, which all reported back to the Headmaster, Harry had told whoever asked, that he ordered some muggle contact glasses, to mitigate the disadvantage of glasses in a duel. He himself had not seen the boy close enough yet, to actually determine whether contact lenses were involved or not.
Something was going on with the boy. He was absolutely sure of it. And it must have started around the 31st of January. At the beginning of February, Harry stopped wearing his glasses and seemed more tired than usual in his classes according to some of his teachers. Dumbledore didn't understand why the boy would be more tired than usual.
However, things quickly changed when Harry went to bed earlier for a couple of additional hours of sleep every day. Albus figured this out by using some light Legilimency on Harry's roommate, Terry. Whenever Terry went to bed these days, Harry would usually be asleep already, with his curtains drawn close.
The rest of Harry's routine barely changed. He still gets up quite early in the morning for his workout, went to his classes, and spent the afternoons studying. However, it seems that every day for roughly an hour in the afternoon, no one knew where Harry was.
Harry of course had an excellent tool to avoid anyone seeing him. Even Dumbledore himself could not locate him underneath his invisibility cloak. The cloak completely hid a user from Death itself, which meant that the cloak hid the very soul of its user.
For example, one could never locate Harry by the means of a Homenum Revelio, because the soul and person under the cloak were completely hidden. The question was, where was Harry going? He did not leave the Castle or its grounds. The wards would have notified the Headmaster if that was the case.
Wherever he went, it had to exhaust him so much that he needs an extra two hours of sleep every day. What kind of activities could he be doing? Albus was certain that Harry's disappearances and the magical fixing of his eyesight were somehow connected.
Did the boy find a way to leave the Castle without him knowing? Albus would have to keep a closer eye on him. He almost regretted giving the boy his family's heirloom back. However, if Harry ever found out that Albus kept it to himself, he would have very likely lost the boy forever. However the question remained, how could he track the boy?
Back in the Ravenclaw common room, Harry was extremely satisfied with the situation over the last couple of weeks. Their DADA substitute, the Ravenclaw 7th year, a girl called Marion Hold, simply assigned them some essays each class and made them demonstrate one spell each at the end of the lesson. Harry had no problems with the essays and used most of the time in class to continue his reading.
He limited his in-class reading to older year material from the library. It would do him no good to get caught with some of Salazar's old tomes.
Dumbledore would definitely confiscate them and figure out the connection to the Chamber in the process. The old man already seemed suspicious of him. Harry noticed his Headmaster eyeing him over his classes more often than not during mealtimes in the Great Hall.
However, Harry did not have time for the meddling old fool. He had two new projects to add to his list. Both included his archenemy. 'Know thy Enemy' was not a well-known phrase without good reason. Harry needed to find out anything he could about one Tom Marvolo Riddle.
So far, he knew the following from various sources, including the man himself and Dumbledore:
He attended Hogwarts from 1938 until 1945, was sorted into Slytherin, and became a Prefect and then Head Boy.
He was a Parselmouth and the ability must have been inherited from his mother, since he admitted that his dad was a muggle, making himself a half-blood. He messed with blood and soul magic and somehow preserved his memory in a Diary that no spell Harry knew was able to destroy.
The Diairy itself was the second addition to his list. Dumbledore knew more about it than he told Harry. Harry had noticed how the Headmaster's eyes had narrowed at the Diary and when Voldemort loosely explained what it was. Dumbledore even admitted that it was magic, which he himself had never dared to mess with.
It must be incredibly dark and foul magic for someone like Dumbledore to be so disgusted by it. He would confront the Headmaster and ask about the Diary and its purpose at some point in the future. If this was some sort of weapon for Voldemort, then Harry couldn't risk not knowing everything about it.
Maybe Salazar knew something about it as well. He could always ask the Flamels. So far, he kept his promises of staying in contact with them, but that was pretty much iy.
On the dueling front, with Professor Flitwick, things started picking up now. Just as he promised, Flitwick had entered Harry's name to the participants for the European Dueling Championship at the beginning of August.
Soon, Flitwick would teach Harry how to bat away incoming spells with only a flick of his wand. It was a complicated technique. The Reflecto, was a brilliant very small shield at the tip of the wielder's wand.
Unlike a regular Protego, if strong enough, the shield could redirect an incoming spell into whatever direct the caster preferred. It took enormous concentration to conjure the Reflecto at just the right time and correctly move your wand at the same time.
In addition, to manipulate your opponent's curse in such a fashion, your own intent when casting the Reflecto has to be stronger than your opponent's. Otherwise, the incoming spell would collide with your wand leading to some potentially very dangerous injuries.
To simply practice the correct wand movement of battling a spell away, Flitwick conjured small snowballs and shot them at Harry. It was Harry's job to just stop the projectiles mid-air with a Levitation Charm and redirect them at the caster.
Practicing with a physical projectile, like a snowball, instead of an incoming curse was a lot more forgiving on Harry since he was very new to the practice. However, Flitwick guaranteed him that it was unlikely that any of his opponents knew the spell already.
Harry would be fighting in the Unde-r14 category. Since he would barely have turned 13 at that point, he would definitely be one of the youngest competitors. Still, his skill level was far ahead of any 13 or 14-year-olds, at least for Hogwarts standards.
Other European magical schools put a lot more emphasis on dueling. Especially any Durmstrangstudents that decided to compete, would be very formidable opponents. However, he shouldn't underestimate the Beauxbatons either.
Harry would take each opponent seriously and rely on his strength, which included his reflexes, his peak physical condition, and his enormous spell power. The only major downside he really had was his inexperience in competitive dueling and his lack of having faced different styles of fighting.
The only two people that he was somewhat familiar with, were Flitwick and Nick. At least the former changed up his style from time to time to challenge Harry and keep him on his feet.
His thoughts still occupied with dueling, Harry made his way to the Great Hall. Students, especially the younger years were still scared of him. Somehow, they must have not gotten the memo, that he was not responsible for the attacks.
Many of the upper-years secretly wanted to thank him for ridding the school of Lockhart. Apart from a few girls, the students of 5th year and upwards agreed that he was a horrible teacher and a complete fraud, as Harry proved during their duel.
Harry sat down at the Ravenclaw table and helped himself to some chicken and potatoes. This had been one of the few occasions he actually ate in the Great Hall this week. With Harry's days being eight hours longer on average, his preferred meal times didn't overlap with the rest of the Castle's occupants.
Luckily, he knew where the kitchens were located, or could always callDobby to get him some food if he felt hungry. He was about to exit the Great Hall and get some additional reading done when he was approached by the Headmaster himself…"
Of course, with my luck, Dumbledore stops me the one time I decide to eat in the Great Hal"…
"Good evening, Harry, I was hoping you could join me for a little walk around the Castle tonight? I myself always feel refreshed after some light physical activity in the evenings, I am sure you agree?"
"Of course, Professor!" Harry rolled his eyes. It wasn't really a question Dumbledore had asked. It was a statement and Harry knew he had to follow the old man.
They arrived at the entrance hall and courtyard.
"Harry, I would like to know how you managed to fix your eyesight? …While I of course understand your motivation behind what you did, I am at a loss at how you actually achieved that feat? Would you mind helping an old man out?"
Harry's thoughts raced. He could not tell the truth to the old man. There was already the risk that Dumbledore had found a way to seal the Chamber permanently and deny Harry access. The ritual he used was forbidden in Britain and could even land him in Azkaban if someone managed to prove it.
"I will tell you, Headmaster, if you tell me exactly what kind of magic the Diary really was."
Fear flooded onto Dumbledore's face and his frown deepened significantly:
"I am afraid I can't do that, Harry. I already sent one of my most brilliant students on a dark path. I will not repeat my mistakes."
"Then I am afraid, I can't tell you about my newfound love for muggle contact lenses…" Harry replied sarcastically.
"You misunderstand my intention, Harry. I was not just asking you. I could easily report your actions, expel you from Hogwarts and see your wand snapped." The grandfatherly demeanor was gone again. Dumbledore's magic flared and Harry knew why he might have been the only one Voldemort ever feared.
But Harry would not give in this easily.
"Are you threatening me, Headmaster? Report me, even expel me if you lie. Just remember that we both know Voldemort will return one day.
Apparently, I am the only one that can kill him. You might have to find yourself another prophecy boy soon, since I might just transfer to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons if you keep this up!"
With that, Harry turned around and stomped back to the Castle.
Dumbledore called after him.
"Every ritual demands a sacrifice, Harry… I beg you to recognize yourself, which ones are worth it and which ones will never be!"
Rituals:
Chapter 15
May 31st, 1993
Today was May 31st and according to both his and Salazar's calculations and notes, his body and magic would be 13 years of age as of today. That means that tonight he would do the Cleansing-Ritual, which in turn, would erase any of the effects of malnutrition and physical abuse he suffered under the Dursleys.
The ritual would therefore strengthen his muscles, bones, and even skin. The Dursleys never fed him much, so often times his magic took the necessary proteins and nutrients to keep Harry alive from his muscle tissue and bones.
The potions he took before his first year were not strong enough to fully counteract the years of being underfed. This ritual would change that for Harry. However, it did come at a price. The ritual required even more of Harry's blood than the last one.
In addition, ingredients with powerful healing abilities were the main source of the ritual. Harry had made a list of such ingredients:
The most powerful one was phoenix tears, which he already carried in his blood, courtesy of Fawkes. A close second was uncursed unicorn blood.
The only way one could obtain such a treasure is if the blood was willingly given by the animal. Taking the blood forcefully or even killing the animal in the process would curse the drinker forever.
This step would have been incredibly expensive, was it not for the amount of Basilisk venom he owned. Harry intended to trade a vial of Basilisk venom for a vial of equal size, filled with uncursed unicorn blood.
He had no idea where to find a buyer and needed absolute discretion. Therefore, he had drafted a letter for Borgin & Burks and sent it to the shop over a month ago.
Dear Mr. Borgin,
I find myself in need of a very rare ingredient and I was hoping you to arrange a trade with an even rarer potion ingredient I currently possess.
Since absolute discretion is necessary, I shall provide my name and a more detailed nature of the ingredient during further correspondence.
Should you be interested to organize such trade between me and the third party of your knowledge, you will of course be compensated for your efforts generously.
My owl will wait for your reply.
In high hopes for a successful business transaction,
Mr. Evans
Two Days later, Hedwig came back with a letter for him.
Dear Mr. Evans
I find myself curious about what rare ingredients you currently possess and would like to receive in exchange. Fortunately for you, I am well connected in the magical world and will be able to provide a business partner with absolute discretion. I myself merely ask for a fee amounting to 2.5% of the current market value of whatever ingredient you may exchange.
I am sure, you will agree that my support, expenditure, and discretion in this transaction are well worth that.
I await detailed information on both ingredients, including an amount and a deadline in your very next letter.
It is a pleasure doing business with you.
Sincerely,
Borgin
Not wasting any time, Harry had sent his reply right away.
Dear Mr. Borgin,
I am glad you chose to support me in my endeavor.
I support your proposed compensation and agree that it will be well deserved.
I am in need of uncursed unicorn blood. I offer a small standard vial of pure Basilisk venom in exchange for an equal amount of the substance. To calm your suspicion, I will send you the vial for verification.
Make no mistake, I have plenty more where it comes from and I will devote those considerable resources to see a painful end to your business, your family, and yourself if you choose to betray our arrangement.
Feel free to value the amount of venom and propose a fee for your services. If possible, I would like to perform the exchange as soon as possible.
I am looking forward to hearing from you
Mr. Evans
That should do. Harry attached one of the vials, disguised as a simple cure for boils, in case the letter got intercepted. The other materials for the ritual would be a couple of Bezoars, some Murtlap Essence, and finally lots of Dittany. That was all that is needed.
Harry had ordered all of those a month ago from the apothecary in Diagon Alley already. The Bezoars were somewhat expensive, at 20 galleons a piece, but thanks to the generous Malfoy donation, money wasn't really a problem anymore.
Harry hardly paid attention in classes today. He just wanted the day to end. It felt weird celebrating his 13th birthday on any day other than July 31st, but since he would continue using the time turner, his next birthdays would fall on different days as well.
Since the day was only important for the rituals anyways, he would continue treating himself as a 12-year-old. Something he just recently thought about was the fact that he would be emancipated much earlier by using the time turner for the next couple of years. He was likely to get rid of the trace almost a year earlier and will be considered an adult earlier as well.
Snape's lecture brought Harry back into the potion's classroom. Today's calming draught was pretty easy and thanks to Salazar's teachings, Harry had developed a much better understanding of potion ingredients and their use.
The unicorn blood had arrived a little over a week ago, attached to a letter from Borgin.
Dear Mr. Evans,
I thank you for trusting me with such a priceless ingredient. The venom of a Basilisk had not been sold for over 50 years in Britain. It was astonishingly simple to find a business partner for your trade.
Rest assured, I have engaged in transactions with the man before and trust his discretion. He was more than happy to provide a vial of uncursed unicorn blood, just as requested.
I, of course, took the freedom to check the blood for its contents. It was indeed pure uncursed blood of the highest quality from an incredibly old unicorn, as I have been told.
As for my fee: Basilisk Venom is very difficult to value due to its scarceness here in Britain. A colleague from the continent valued your vial's contents at 5000 galleons. As per our agreement, I will therefore be deducting my fee of 125 Galleons from the vault you had mentioned in earlier correspondences.
It was certainly a pleasure doing business with you.
In the hope to consult you in further transactions,
Borgin
5000 Galleons for just that little vial… Harry could most likely fill 20-30 more. He had to be careful not to oversaturate the market though. He would simply keep them in storage and maybe sell one vial per year, to keep demand at a high level.
Harry snorted… Burgin had received 125 galleons for writing a couple of letters. This must have been one of the man's better business deals. Certainly, a better deal than selling him a Parselmouth book of which there was only one copy.
Nevertheless, Harry was more than fine with Borgin taking his cut. A healthy business relationship with the man was worth more than a couple of galleons. He had the necessary ingredients... That was all that mattered.
The smell of Harry's potion brought him back to the classroom. Harry's relationship with Snape had not really changed so far. Sure, the man would not outright attack his mind anymore, but he still used any imaginable opportunity to trash talk Harry's father.
What was the reason for his hate? By interpreting all of his comments, one would think that he simply got bullied by his father all throughout his school years. But was that really it? Could a person become bitter enough to hate a man's son just because he got bullied by his long-dead father over a decade ago?
Harry would love to know the true reason for the professor's actions, but today wouldn't be that day. He finished his potion and corked a sample in a vial, putting an unbreakable charm on it before he took it to Snape's desk.
Harry then continued his readings until Snape interrupted him:
"You can leave Potter! I don't want to risk having my other students injured, in case you get bored! Get out, already!"
Harry shrugged and left the classroom. Since potions had been his last class, he made his way to the second-floor bathroom and down to the Chamber.
"What's up Sal?"
"I told you, not to call me that! It is not a proper greeting for a person of your standing! Back in my days, the faculty members would have never allowed Students to disrespect their elders like that!" Salazar retorted angrily.
"Yeah, yeah, fine… You know what day it is. Let's get started and finally rid ourselves off of anything the Dudleys left in me."
"Indeed, today is the day, my heir! Happy Birthday by the way! Maybe you can ask Dobby for some cake after you have finished. I would also advise you to have the elf watch you taking the ritual.
He is bound to you so he cannot reveal your secrets to anyone. I am positive he would even let you obliviate the memories afterwards, so the meddling old fool won't find them."
"That's actually a good idea. The blood replenishment potions are ready, but what if I can't take them in time? Dobby would be very helpful in assisting…"
"Dobby!"
"Mast…"
"Harry Potter, Sir has called Dobby?" the elf corrected himself just in time.
"Indeed!", Harry chuckled: "I will be undertaking a ritual tonight that will cleanse me of any of the after effects of my horrible treatment at Private Drive. It will make me stronger and an even greater wizard."
"Dobby understands, how can Dobby help, Sir?"
"I would like you to keep an eye on me. I forbid you to interrupt the ritual, but as soon as I signal you, you may help me with some of those potions I have prepared!"
The elf nodded happily.
"Dobby… I hope you understand… The ritual will be very painful for me. I will most likely scream in agony, but you cannot interrupt me. You will only make it worse by ending the ritual prematurely, do you understand?"
The elf looked concerned for a second but nodded his understanding nevertheless:
"I understand, Harry Potter, Sir! Dobby shall not interrupt!"
"Great, alright let me get started by drawing the formation," Harry says, as he takes off all his clothes, just as necessary.
Again, Harry cut his wrist and drew the familiar seven cornered star on the stone tiles in Salazar's Chambers. After finishing the outline of the star, he healed his wrist.
Next up he placed each ingredient at the corner of the stars. He started with the unicorn blood, followed by two bezoars on opposite sides.
Next up he had two bowls with Murtlap essence and finally a large bucket with fresh Dittany plants.
In the final seventh corner, he placed an empty half a liter cup. The final ingredient would be the phoenix tears that were dissolved in his body.
Harry had tried to replay the memory of Fawkes crying in his wound over and over again and count the drops.
If he was not mistaken Fawkes must have cried between 7-9 single tears on his wound. Harry estimated that he currently carried between 3-4 liters of blood in his body. Sacrificing half a liter of blood would guarantee slightly over one full phoenix tear, assuming that the blood was evenly spread out through his body. That should be more than enough for his ritual.
However, simply 'donating' half a liter was still a lot for a child his age. He simply hoped that he would be able to finish the ritual. Harry cut his wrist again and started letting the blood flow into the cup. It was half full when Harry felt himself getting weaker. At about three-quarters, Harry dropped to his knees.
"Harry! You must stay conscious! You are a Potter! A Peverell and a Slytherin! You will finish the ritual and become stronger than before!" Salazar tried to motivate Harry.
With new determination from his mentor, Harry stood back up and filled the cup all the way to the top. He quickly healed his wrist and started carving the runes. This was the difficult part. He needed to draw all the necessary runes within the next 10 minutes since the blood and other ingredients had to be as fresh as possible.
He was halfway through and well in time when another wave of weakness and nausea overcame him. Ha calmed himself briefly and pulled together all his strength to carve the final rune.
The final step was powering each corner with a drop of his blood once again. He had no strength to stand and instead crawled to each corner like a baby on all fours. The final corner was powered and Harry fell onto the middle of the star as the runes around him started glowing.
He was about to pass out when a rush of pain surged through him. This was not like anything he had ever felt before… Unlike anything he had experienced during the first ritual.
Every inch of skin on his body was burning and penetrated by hot knives. It felt as if each muscle fiber was being cut individually while his bones started breaking and reforming at the same time.
Harry held nothing back. He started screaming in pain. He did not know for how long he screamed when his throat finally became raw. The pain continued and his body was at its limits. It became dark in front of his eyes.
"Please be over, please just be over," Harry thought.
His body went through a final spasm and the last thing he remembered was Salazar yelling something at Dobby before everything went black around him and he passed out.
June 2nd, 1993
Harry slowly came to his senses. His entire body was aching and felt sore. "Even my toes hurt," Harry noticed. He tried to open his eyes and recognized the familiar stone ceiling of Salazar's quarters.
He tried to stir and sit himself up straight but felt too weak for it.
"You're finally awake" A familiar voice came from his right.
"I am not dead?" Harry choked, barely recognizing his own voice for the croak that left his lips.
Salazar laughed: "No, you are far from dead. You did it, Harry! That was the first ritual out of the seven we have planned for you, not counting fixing your eyes of course!"
"Will they all be that painful?"
"Most likely. The healing one will be since it requires many similar ingredients to what you have just used… But don't worry about that… you will get used to it."
"I am not sure I want to!" Harry joked. He would of course continue undergoing the rituals. The sacrifices were not pleasant, but one could hardly expect to gain a permanent advantage for free!
"You were unconscious for almost two whole days. Luckily, it's a weekend, so you are not missing any classes. Still, the elf mentioned that some of the professors have been asking for you."
"Shit", Harry grumbled. He spotted a blood replenishment potion on the bedside table and eagerly downed the entire vial.
"The elf has been feeding you some more potions in your sleep. I had to force him to close your nose so that you would swallow the necessary potions.
It wasn't fun for him to see you like that. You should rest for a couple of hours and see if you feel ready to stand and walk afterwards."
Harry agreed and took a more relaxed position: "That was the worst pain I have ever felt."
"From what I have heard, the people that experienced it compare it to the Cruciatus Curse. One of what your Ministry calls The Unforgivables nowadays. It is the worst physical pain possible, Harry."
Harry nodded. That felt realistic. He was not sure how much longer he could have endured it.
"I am very proud of you, my heir! From what it looked like and judging by the ingredients you used it was certainly the strongest Cleansing-Ritual I have ever heard of. It makes sense thinking about the amount of damage that had to be undone…"
Again, Harry could all but nod. It really did make sense. He was just hoping that he could finally perform at his peak.
After two more hours of conversation with the portrait, Harry felt strong enough to set himself up in bed. He was hungry.
"Dobby!"
"Master, Harry Potter, Sir is finally awake and has called Dobby! How could Dobby help the great Harry Potter?"
Ever as enthusiastic, Harry thought: "Could you prepare me a meal from the kitchen. I am famished and need to regain my strength."
The elf nodded and vanished with a POP.
Harry slowly got out of bed and put on his robes. The first thing he noticed was that his robes were quite tight at various locations, irrespective of the fact that they now barely came to a halt at his knees.
"Merlin, how much did I bloody grow?" Harry wondered.
"I'd say about two inches in height. And you put on some additional mass all over your body." Salazar noticed.
Harry nodded. Indeed, looking at his reflection in the mirror, he must now stand at about five feet and three inches. But that was not all. He had filled out considerably. His entire torso was thicker, especially his shoulders and chest.
He took off his robes again to get a better look… And he was looking good!
More like a 14 than a 13-year-old athlete. His daily workouts were finally noticeable. He was sporting a faint six-pack and had well-toned arms and legs. He noticed a slight V-Shape, due to his now wider chest and back, already developing. Harry couldn't wait for how he might look in a couple of years.
"You look good, my heir!" Salazar agreed with his observations.
"I am just glad I no longer look like a scrawny eleven-year-old!", Harry replied just as Dobby popped in and brought him a large plate with roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and some pumpkin juice.
Harry put his robes back on and started his meal. He would have to go back soon and face the school, especially the teachers. He could use the time turner to buy himself an additional 8 hours, but for the school, he will have still vanished from sight for one and a half days.
Terry usually kept out of Harry's business, but he would have probably told the professors that Harry had not spent the night in the common room. He needed a plan for what to tell the teachers.
Well, it's better to face the inevitable, Harry chuckled as he finished his dinner. He left the Chamber and made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Maybe he should just go straight to the Headmaster.
Harry made his way to Dumbledore's office. He had decided on what to tell the professors. He would simply say that he got lost wandering the grounds after classes, accidentally fell asleep, and spent the night out there. It was his best plan of action, and he would gladly take the detention or house points. It's not like he cared anyways.
The gargoyle seems to recognize Harry, as it didn't even ask for a password or reason for entering. Harry knocked on the door and was granted entrance.
"Harry, how nice of you to join us. In fact, we were just talking about you, young man." Dumbledore says, not quite being able to hide his worries and disappointment.
Harry looked around the rooms. All the teachers including Filch and Madam Pomfrey were gathered around the Headmaster's desk. By the looks of it, they had just planned a grand Harry Potter rescue mission for him.
McGonagall looked at him perplexed:
"What have you done, Mr. Potter?"
"You will have to be a bit more specific, Professor?"
"You look about two inches taller and two years older than 48 hours ago, when I last had you in my class. I'll ask you again. What have you done?"
"I enjoyed a couple of really nice meals and had a good night's sleep. You know how they say that sleep fixes everything…" Harry tried.
"50 points for lying to me and detention for your cheek. You will be serving detention with me until Poppy figures out what you did to yourself."
Harry's rage started building up inside of him. His magic flared and his eyes became a tick brighter.
"The question is not what I have done, but what you have done, Professor! You left me, a one-year-old baby, on the doorstep to a magic-hating family and did not once come back to look at me.
How dare you judge my physical presence right now, but show no concern for an underfed, scrawny, and deeply scarred boy that arrived at Hogwarts almost two years ago. You should feel ashamed!" Harry almost shouted the last sentence.
Dumbledore stood up: "That is enough, Harry, please everybody, calm down. I think it's best if you and the other staff members leave, Minerva."
McGonagall slowly left the office, her gaze still fixed on Harry, with a mix of rage, sadness, and guilt. Everybody but the Headmaster and Harry had left at this point. Dumbledore set back down and motioned for Harry to take a seat.
He watched the young man for over a minute before asking:
"Was it worth it?"
Harry acted dumb:
"What do you mean, Headmaster?"
"Whatever you did and whatever you sacrificed… Was it worth it?"
At this, Harry grinned. "Down to the last drop."
"I was hoping my warning from last time would be enough to stop you from pursuing this path, Harry. I am so disappointed in you."
"I do not care how you feel about me, Headmaster. I look like what I should, had I been growing up in a normal family that fed me and not abused me. You are the sole reason I had to go to such extremes!"
"You have no idea how sorry I am for all you had suffered at their hands, Harry. But please consider what you're doing. One does not simply stop after a ritual. They become addicting; one always craves more. Humankind does not appreciate what it currently possesses, only what it doesn't yet. I beg you to stop!"
"I will stop when I am done, Headmaster and that is not for you to decide."
"I was really hoping you would change your mind on your own. I see that I was mistaken. Your Head of House will be going through all your personal possessions. Any book or piece of knowledge that is found to be unsuitable for someone of your age, will be taken. I will also add wards to the restricted section of the library so that you will find yourself unable to go there again unless you have official permission."
Harry grit his teeth. The old man was overstepping… but he had to play it cool:
"Do whatever you feel you have to, Headmaster!"
"I will, Harry, and one day, you will thank me for it. I truly don't know where you found knowledge about such rituals but believe me, I will find out, one way or another."
"Then I will wish you the best of luck!" Harry replies, shooting the Headmaster his most charming smile and turning to leave the office.
Three…. two… one… go
"I will keep an eye on you, Harry!"
There it was, of course, there had to be another statement.
"I am sure you will certainly try, Sir. Have a good day!"
With that, Harry left the office. He needed to think. Harry did not care about someone going through his personal belongings. He had already placed the Parseltongue book and Dolohov's Dueling Guide down in the Chamber.
The Marauders Map and his invisibility cloak, he always carried with him. The rest of his personal items included nothing that might be confiscated.
He only had one worry: Dumbledore knew about the entrance to the Chamber. He was the greatest sorcerer on earth. Sure, he might not be able to enter himself, but he could easily seal the Chamber with some wards or just put a high-level charm on the bathroom that alerted the Headmaster anytime a boy entered.
He needed to find another way into the Chamber. And he needed Salazar's help for it. He could not go down there yet. Dumbledore or one of the teachers might have put a tracking spell on him, without Harry noticing.
Besides, his past self was still sleeping in the Chamber since Harry had used the Time-Turner to go back. He had to spend another seven hours up here.
He had nowhere to go right now, so he just walked up and down a corridor that left Dumbledore's office on the seventh floor. All of a sudden, a door materialised next to him in the wall.
Harry knew the Castle better than any other student aside from the Twins and he had never seen this door before. Casting a glance around, he gripped the handle, pulled the door open, and stepped inside.
He was shocked at what he saw. The inside looked like an exact replica of Salazar's Quarters. There was the table, the bed, even the shelf, though Harry noticed that the tomes were missing.
Something else was missing too. The large painting of his favorite Founder hung on the wall above the table, however, it was unmoving. As if it was an ordinary muggle portrait. What the hell is this room? I need some instructions!
With a POP a book materialized out of thin air next to him. Curiously Harry picked it up and open the first page.
Welcome to the Room of Requirements!
I am sure you are perplexed at what you have just found. Rest assured you are not dreaming, the room and everything in it are very real. However, you cannot take anything out of it. This room is my legacy to the school and perhaps one of the most advanced pieces of magic in all of Britain.
I value wisdom and intellect above everything else, but the fact that you had asked for this manual, shows that you also know when it is better to ask for help, instead of desperately trying to solve something on your own. Read this manual carefully and enjoy my beautiful creation.
Rowena Ravenclaw
Harry still couldn't get over his shock. He needed to understand the room and everything it was cable of. The room did not take him to Salazar's Chamber itself, but maybe it would still be helpful.
The Room of Requirements, called ROR in the following, is a room that provides a realistic illusion of what the user most desperately wishes. To enter it, simply walk past the blank piece of wall three times and imagine the type of room you require as detailed as possible.
The room of course has limitations. It cannot create material or items out of nowhere. It simply uses whatever it can find in the Castle and creates a physical illusion of it. The room also uses what previous users have left in it. It can also not create food.
The room adjusts itself to the user while currently in use. Simply think about an item or the exact change of scenery whenever you feel like it.
This was something Harry would test. He closed his eyes and imagined opening the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. As he opened his eyes, the room had indeed changed. It was now a perfect copy of the common room, including the fireplace, soft seats, and bookshelves.
This explained why the room could not replicate Salazar's Chamber. The room of course identified how it should look, but the materials for it, including Salazar's Portrait or his personal tomes, were limited to the Chamber and not replicable outside of it. To some degree, the Chamber was a part of Hogwarts, but to some degree, it was not.
The ROR, however, would be perfect for anything he needed that he couldn't do down in the Chamber. He imagined a dueling platform and target he could practice with. After a couple of seconds, both materialized in front of him, and he eagerly started trading spells with the dummy.
Suddenly he had a thought:
"Dobby!"
The elf appeared with a POP.
"Harry Potter, Sir, has discovered the Come and Go Room!" Squeaked the elf.
"Yes, I have Dobby, but I have a question for you. Since you can apparate here, can you disapparate with me and take me down to the Chamber?"
The elf's face fell.
"Dobby cannot, Harry Potter, Sir. Sir's rude portrait explained to Dobby that only someone of his blood could call an elf into the Chamber if he himself was already currently there. It does not make much sense to poor Dobby."
Well, that's unfortunate, but there had to be another way to get down there without using the bathroom.
"It's okay. We will find a solution! I will continue practicing a bit. Could you get me some dinner in an hour?"
The elf nodded and disappeared again. Harry continued his training. After over an hour he was exhausted. Maybe the room could provide some showers. It seemed as it could when a Door with the sign 'Boys Showers' appeared to his left.
Harry enjoyed the feeling of hot water and stepped out to a meal prepared by Dobby. He only had a couple more hours to spend before he could sneak down to Salazar.
He took out the manual about the ROR and continued reading. Salazar's Chamber and the knowledge there, combined with the opportunities to practice everything in this very room would be a deadly combination in the future.