~~Lily's Farmhouse, Rutland~~
"Hah!! What do you think about the Wards, Norton?" Harry asked as he slumped down on a chair looking tired. While Norton could have cleaned the house on his own, Harry decided to help the house elf by cleaning the basement. It is a good thing that, unlike other children, Harry wasn't afraid of rats, cockroaches, or spiders.
Norton shuffled nervously on his feet as the creature lowered his head with a sullen look. "They aren't as strong as they were at the Potter manor" Norton mumbled after a few moments of silence.
"That is expected… What do you think about your bond? You aren't feeling uncomfortable, right?" Harry asked and Norton immediately shook his head. If there was anything wrong with Norton's bond, then Harry was planning to ask the creature to bond with him.
"Good" Harry nodded his head in satisfaction. "So, what do you think about the house?" Harry asked and once again, Norton started to shuffle on his feet, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"The house be needing a lot of repairs. Norton also needs to be using Magic to keep the house safe from rodents… Some new furniture are needed too" Norton answered as he scrunched his face with a thoughtful look.
"We can get them from the Potter manor if you are fine with it" Harry suggested and Norton simply nodded his head with a cheerful smile.
"Master Hadrian, what should Norton be doing with the rest of the furniture?" Norton asked in a hopeful tone. Harry already knew what the house elf was hoping for, but it was simply impossible to fit all those furniture in this house… Maybe with those Expansion Charms, his mom was talking about he would be able to fit all of them inside the house, but as of right now, it was simply impossible…
'Maybe, I can leave them at Potter manor…' Harry wondered as he glanced at Norton from the corner of his eyes and he immediately realized that Norton will be quite displeased with him if he decided to leave all the furniture at the Potter manor. Harry never had anything to call his own and now that he had all these things, he didn't want to lose anything if he was being honest…
"Is there anything we can do about them? I mean we can't fit everything in this house…" Harry asked Norton who eagerly nodded his head.
"Of course, Master Hadrian, we can place the rest of the furniture in the Potter vaults" Norton revealed and Harry couldn't help but raise his brows at Norton's words.
'You won't be able to access our Potter vaults, but you will be able to access your trust vault. Though it would be better if you can avoid making a visit to Gringotts… I am sure that Albus will have someone watching the bank in case you show up at Gringotts' that is what his mom said.
"But Norton, I thought I can't access the Potter vaults" Harry blurted out, and Norton simply nodded his head.
"Master Hadrian won't be able to access the Potter vaults until he claims his Lordship, finishes his OWLs, or somehow he gets emancipated in the Magical world, but Norton is bound to Potter Family, so Norton can enter the Potter vaults, but Norton can't take anything from the vaults" Norton answered, looking a bit sullen.
"I see…" Harry muttered thoughtfully. "Then bring all the furniture you need and put the rest in the Potter vaults" Harry ordered and Norton nodded his head gleefully before disappearing with a soft pop. Harry shook his head in amusement as he stared at the spot where Norton was standing and moments later, Harry grimaced when his stomach growled in hunger.
'I should have asked Norton to make me something before I told him to leave' Harry mused with a grimace before rolling his shoulders with a shrug. Harry did not mind cooking, in fact, he liked cooking and now there were no Dursleys to wouldn't give him anything to eat… 'It is already dark outside… I wonder when Norton is going to return' Harry wondered as he made his way toward the kitchen.
Thankfully, they have brought all the kitchen equipment along with all the ingredients from the Potter manor, packed inside one of the Magically expanded trunks… For whatever reason, they had a lot of Magically expanded trunks stored inside the storeroom… He would probably need to ask his mom, but he wasn't going to complain as the trunks turned out to be extremely useful.
Harry and Norton were able to pack the whole Potter Library inside the trunk and along with all the gold they had at Potter manor… Harry was also able to find some Wands inside the storeroom, and only two of them felt somewhat right to him… Yes, that was the best Harry could come up with… Anyway, Harry kept them aside for the time being as he decided to speak with his mom before trying to cast a Spell…
Harry couldn't be happier right now… Everything was good… He was finally away from the Dursleys, he was able to reunite with his mother, he was even able to make a friend even though his friend insisted on calling him Master, and finally, he had a home… Harry did feel bad for not being able to meet his father, but he did get his mom back, so he decided not to complain, much…
"Hadrian, you made the right choice. I am proud of you, my son" Lily beamed at Harry as he told her how he decided not to try casting any Spell before talking with her. Lily wanted to pull her baby boy into her arms and keep hugging him for the rest of eternity, but that would be simply impossible… She would never stop her son from achieving greatness or whatever he wanted to do.
"So, did you feel anything when you touched the Wands?" Lily asked as she sat down on the floor. Harry nodded his head as he sat down beside her.
"Good… Tell me what did you feel?" Lily urged with an expectant look on her face.
"I don't know how to explain it, but two of them felt right… The rest of them, not so much" Harry shrugged, looking away. He did not know if his mom would be happy after hearing his explanation or not and then there was another fact, only two Wands felt right to him and the rest didn't… He didn't know what his mom would think about that.
"That's brilliant Harry, it seems that two of the Wands were reacting to you… You see, not every Wand will work for a Wizard or a Witch. I was worried that none of the Wands were going to react with you…" Lily said while smiling and Harry also smiled after hearing her explanation. It seems that his mom wasn't disappointed in him.
"So, can I start learning Magic?" Harry asked in an excited tone and the smile on Lily's face dimmed.
"Yes, you can… It would have been much better if I was out there with you to teach you Magic. That way it would have been safer too, but we have to play with the hand we have been dealt with" Lily sighed in disappointment.
"Anyway, I think you should start with Charms… I am best at Charms, so I will be able to guide you quite easily even though I am not out there with you" Lily declared proudly and Harry simply beamed at the woman in excitement.
"Will you be able to teach me Occlumency?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence and once again, Lily nodded her head.
"I will be able to guide you, but I don't think I will able to do anything more than that… I never got to learn Legilimency, so I do not know if I will be able to train you in Occlumency or not" Lily said as she ruffled Harry's hair.
"I see… By the way, what do you think about Sirius Black?" Harry asked and Lily couldn't help but frown at Harry's question.
"I do not know what to think… He was like a brother to James, I will never know how could anyone possibly think that Sirius would ever betray James. Though I do think something fishy is going on… Yes, Sirius is a hot-headed and reckless fool, so there is a chance that he killed Peter Pettigrew along with twelve Muggles, but Sirius is a Black… Even though he said he was disowned from the House, they should have given him a fair trial" Lily pondered aloud with a thoughtful look on her face as she rubbed her chin.
"But everyone still believes that Sirius betrayed us, which means that the truth was never revealed… Yes, there is definitely something wrong in the whole story" Lily said while nodding her head. "I feel bad for him, but if he is in Azkaban, then there is nothing we can do for him. Even if you try to reach out to the authorities, they won't believe you and you will also end up revealing your location to our enemies" Lily added when she noticed the sullen look on Harry's face.
"I understand, mom" Harry nodded his head in understanding. "So, what now? I mean, what are we going to do?" Harry asked curiously as he stared into his mom's eyes and a serious look appeared on Lily's face.
"We prepare while Norton will continue to collect information for us… That is all we can do" Lily revealed with a determined look on her face and Harry simply nodded his head with his eyes burning in determination…