Dumbledore was back, before the end-of-year feast. He looked sombre, but said nothing to Poppy, before he made a speech and sent the children off with hopes to see them again and wishes of bright futures to the departing students. Harry wished his friends a good trip. He'd already shared that Poppy had decided to take him in, rather than sending him back to his relatives. They had already known that Harry's home-life wasn't good, and were only happy for him, asking for a few letters, to tell them where he ended up going, since not even Harry knew, yet.
While Harry said goodbye to his friends, Poppy was busy talking to Dumbledore.
"It seems that Salazar's curse was meant to attack the most direct problems." Dumbledore said. "They intended for Harry to never return to that house, and the house was swallowed by the earth. From what you've told me, and from what I have personally observed and surmised, the likely worst culprit in Harry's mistreatment, was Vernon, the father, and he met a painful, and I'm sorry to say, drawn-out end. The mother and cousin are also injured but should survive."
Poppy didn't smile. She didn't show any emotion. Frankly, this was likely good, and bad news. She didn't know a lot about the family, but she had been speaking to Harry for a while, and he'd only mentioned that Vernon went to work. It seemed Petunia was a house-wife. With Vernon and the house gone, the woman and her son were likely to struggle to make ends-meat. No doubt that was all part of the curse. They'd now suffer the lack of many things, much as they'd forced Harry to endure.
"You don't look surprised." Dumbledore said.
"I didn't know." Poppy said. "I will not miss them, but still, if Harry found out, he'd likely still worry about them. He'd try and help, I suspect, if he could. If not out of love, out of a need to ensure they didn't suffer as he had."
Dumbledore smiled a sad smile. "He's a good lad, isn't he?" he asked, almost proudly. "We'll have to just keep quiet about it. Not to keep things from him, of course, but rather to keep him out of the way, should he step in front of Slytherin's curse, if it isn't done with them."
Poppy frowned at that. Frankly, that really was the simple answer. The problem with simple, was that it wasn't the only option, nor was it the correct one. Honesty was something Harry deserved, above all else, especially from her. "I'd love to keep him in the dark, if only for his own peace-of-mind, but I can't be like every other adult that's kept things from him and called it knowing better than him. If he ever found out that I kept something like this from him, I'd also be a person that's lied to him. I'll never be that person, headmaster. If there are things that he needs to know, I'll tell him. If there are things he's not ready for, I'll tell him that I don't think he's ready for them, honestly. I think he'll understand that, and accept it more easily, than my keeping things from him in secret."
Dumbledore saw the logic in that, and nodded, sighing. He'd just wanted to spare the boy from an ugly truth. He hadn't considered that it was also a lie of omission. "I will let you decide how to act on the information." he allowed. Deciding to change the subject, he asked, "So, you are taking him to your family home?"
"That was an option." Poppy said. "I have since had to rethink that. Despite my desire to do just that, I'm thinking a new start for the both of us is likely a good idea. Somewhere where we can both learn and explore the area. Meet people and maybe even see a bit of the mundane side of things. I will make arrangements to rent an apartment in a quiet suburb in Kent, which a friend of mine lets out. It is in a secure complex, with a park for children to entertain themselves in, and close to other normal muggle attractions."
"You'll live in a muggle neighbourhood?" Dumbledore asked.
"It will be an adjustment, but for Harry to have everything he needs, I'm going to try." she said. She couldn't tell the man that she wanted to be closer to the muggles, due to the possibility that it might actually help Harry develop his specific magic. The hat had suggested it, even. Something about computers and allowing Harry to see the possibilities.
"Would you not consider keeping Harry here?" Dumbledore asked. "I know it's not normally done, but the wards of Hogwarts would at least be a deterrent. You and I both know that there were many Death Eaters that bought their freedom, who would likely stop at nothing to find him."
"They'd have to go through me, first." Poppy said, sternly. "I am not some novice, with no skill, after all. I've stood up to fight and protect people in the past, and despite what you seem to think, I'm not a push-over."
Dumbledore raised his hands in defence. "I'm not saying that. I'm merely making the offer, because I worry for both your safety." he said. "The wards around the Dursley home were destroyed, because they had weakened without Harry there, and I suspect the curse broke through them in their weakened state. Right now, even if I wanted him to return there, and the house was still there, he'd be less protected there, than he'd likely be anywhere else. Still, I'd like to offer to come place wherever you end up, under a Fidelius. You can even be the secret keeper. I just want to do what I can to protect him, as his parents would have wanted."
Poppy nodded at that, knowing that it was a prudent precaution. She also should have expected that, considering his promise to protect him and care for him as if he was doing it for his actual parents. "I'll not decline such an offer." Poppy said, nodding. "Thank you."
Dumbledore smiled and nodded. "Then, I'll leave the rest to you. Please let me know once you've settled in?"
"Of course." Poppy said, nodding.
"I'm afraid I'll be quite busy with Sirius's situation." Dumbledore sighed then. "I already have a plan, though. I have a meeting scheduled with Amelia Bones later today, and I intend to ask her to help from her side. She could likely get one of her trusted Aurors into Azkaban, to have a word with him, so that we can start figuring things out. If we can find out the true events of those days, we will know who's blocking our attempts to fix things."
Poppy nodded at the thought. "Well, I believe I have to go pack a few things. Harry already knows to meet me at the hospital wing."
"I hope you have a good holiday." Dumbledore said, nodding. "And, of course, you can expect to see me, as often as I can take a moment to come visit, too. I would like to help in whatever way I can, even if it is just to answer any question the boy may have that I can give."
"You'll regret that." Poppy predicted. "When Harry starts, he can go for hours."
"Inquisitive children, that are willing to learn, are a joy for teachers." Dumbledore said.
"Ever been questioned about the difference between applied force and potential force, and loss of power in changing between the two?" Poppy asked. "Or the fundamentals of growth in magical reserves, and how magical regeneration works, when said power is in use?"
"An academic, then?" Dumbledore asked.
"No, not theory." Poppy said. "Application. He wants to know about how things are affected, before he does things, because he can use his claimed magic to apply things in strange and wonderful ways. His plan for this holiday, is to devise a way by which he can bypass the need for a wand. Can you imagine a twelve-year-old child with the ability to cast without a word, or a wand-motion, and then taking the need for a wand away?" She'd not mentioned the fact that he could also automate a spell, and never have to actually memorise them, besides knowing how to direct the magic, and what he needs to keep in mind, to have the spell work as intended.
Dumbledore's eyes widened at that. "That could be a massive advantage for him." he said. "Do you think he'll be successful?" he asked.
"More than likely, he'll have that figured out in the first week." Poppy admitted.
Dumbledore frowned at that. "Is he… a prodigy?" he asked.
"Well, it is technically a symptom of his emotional issues, but in practice, yes." Poppy said. "He'd be considered a prodigy by most definitions, due to his unique way of thinking, and with the successes he's already achieved."
"Could you give me a clue?" Dumbledore asked, hopefully.
Poppy wouldn't, but she could give him an example. The same one Harry gave her, in fact. "I'll give you an example." she said, taking out her wand and stepping back. "I'm going to cast one spell at you. All you have to do is counter it."
Dumbledore frowned, but stepped back, and took out his own wand. Poppy pointed her wand at him, and activated the program, one she'd created, copying from Harry's original, activating the stinging hex ten times in quick succession. That spell was useful to Healers, to remind the patients that they were watching, and to keep people in line.
Dumbledore saw the spell coming without a motion or sound, knew what it was, as it approached, and countered it easily. Unfortunately, he'd not noticed the second one, directly behind the first. Over the next second, he was the recipient of many stinging hexes. He'd only blocked three, even with his vast experience and honed reflexes. He'd also winced at the stings.
"That is… quite impressive." Dumbledore said, as he rubbed his chest, where the first stinging hex had hit. "I'm assuming you used this against Quirrell?"
"His shield spell only stopped some of the stunning spells." Poppy said. "He didn't even notice that there were more, that hit him almost simultaneously. To be fair, Harry had done something to make that spell much faster than I could normally cast it on my own."
Dumbledore frowned at that. That was actually a large clue. "He… modified it?" he asked.
"That's enough." Poppy said, thinking she'd said too much already. Somehow, she didn't think Harry would mind that much, but any more and she'd start to push the edges of his trust in her. "The point is, you can understand that this can be abused, so I've explained to him my worries, as has the hat. He'll be working on a way to ensure only people under binding oaths get access. He mentioned something about possibly one day needing staff to monitor things, too."
"So, he wants to share his magic, but because of the possibilities of abuse, he-" Dumbledore started, only to be interrupted by the door of the abandoned classroom swinging open.
"Hey Poppy." Professor Babbling said, as she strolled in. "Listen, I'm looking for that boy of yours. He wasn't at the station, and I have a gift for him."
"We are in the middle of a private discussion, Bathsheda." Dumbledore reprimanded.
"Same answer as before, jackass." Babbling said. "Bite me."
"You could try and be a little nicer." Poppy said, but she was fighting a smile.
"He endangered hundreds of children with his stunt." Babbling said, glaring at the headmaster. "Until he publicly admits that he put them all in danger, to lure a dark lord's follower here, he'll be getting nothing but my worst." She decided to ignore the old man, then. "And, where is he? I'm assuming the little bugger is leaving with you?"
"He is." Poppy said, smiling lightly. "We've got a place out in Kent, for the holiday."
"What a coincidence." Beth said, smirking. "So do I."
Poppy narrowed her eyes at the woman. "You're not planning on becoming a nuisance, are you?" she asked.
"No." Beth said. "I do plan to stay in contact, though. Kid's got spunk, and potential. Did you see what he did with the quidditch pitch? He turned it into a giant swimming pool! I don't even want to know where he got the power!"
"Who said he did it?" Poppy asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Oh, please!" Beth argued. "Kid's James Potter's son. He obviously knows about his father's past and decided to one-up the old man. Four-leaved clovers was impressive, don't get me wrong, but the entire pitch? He even turned the goal posts into diving boards! That's got to be some impressive magic. I want in."
Dumbledore was quiet, because somehow, he'd missed that event.
"Well, I'm not confirming anything." Poppy said, still smiling. She'd been proud of Harry for that one, and he'd never explained it properly. Nobody had gotten hurt, and it had quite a few experienced magicals scratching their heads. Apparently, he was playing with a combination of switching spells, engorgement spells and shrinking spells to achieve that feat. "And if you want in, there will be rules."
"Duh." Beth said. "Likely an oath, or something, I'm sure. Claimed magic always has a cost, and I just want to know what fun tools the kid's playing with."
"He should be in the hospital wing, by now." Poppy said, nodding. "I'll be there as soon as I'm done with the headmaster."
"Cheers." Beth said, turning and walking back out. "Check you later, Poppy. Old goat." she said in greeting.
"Her attitude of late, has been entertaining the children, but I'm afraid she's setting a poor example." Dumbledore said.
"You deserve worse, and you know it." Poppy said.
III-III
"Hey, Harry." Beth said, walking into the hospital wing.
"Professor Babbling." Harry said, smiling at the woman. He was just sitting on a bed, waiting a little nervously. He still didn't know where they were going, but he was looking forward to it.
"School's out, kid." the woman said. "Call me Beth." she said, as she flipped him a wrapped gift.
Harry caught it easily and frowned. "What's this?" he asked, looking at the round object, covered in brown paper.
"Little project of mine, a few years back." Beth said. "I was trying to artificially create a larger pool of magic for myself, but I couldn't get it connected to myself in any meaningful way. The runes for a specific function like that would make the item too big to carry."
Harry unwrapped the sphere, and found a metal ball, which had runes inscribed around it. "And you're giving it to me?" Harry asked, frowning.
Beth smirked. "Now, don't feel like you have to confirm anything, or anything, but I've seen you in action, and that there, has a property you may find interesting and which you would be uniquely qualified to take advantage of." she said. She paused, there, waiting to see what the kid would do.
Harry frowned at the orb in his hand. He opened his interface, and traced the ball into a model, as he turned the ball, carefully copying it to his interface. When it was done, as had been his intent, the ball was connected to his modelling connection system, through his physical contact with it. Then his eyes widened, as a new indicator popped up. It was another magical reserve, hosted inside the ball! Comparing his to the ball, he realised that the ball had even more power than Poppy normally did.
"That's a lot of power." Harry said, his eyes widening.
Beth smirked. She knew he'd get it. "It's been standing idle for a few years. I'm still struggling getting the thing to charge as I wanted it to, but honestly, I've not played with it in a while." she admitted. "But here's the big thing; I picked up on your little connection trick, during the whole dark lord thing, and I suspected you'd be more than capable of using this little baby. There is a possibility of my core orb being useful as a focus, too, because it's meant to store and manipulate magic. Now, who do I know who's about to spend a whole summer without being allowed to use their wand?" she asked.
Harry's smile grew. "Oh, I can think of someone." he said. He really liked the woman. "But first, this is your project. Are you sure you want me to have it?"
"Well, 'have' is a strong word…" Beth said. "I was thinking, a trade?"
Harry narrowed his eyes. "You want my magic? That's a big ask."
"Once you finish Hogwarts, you can always give it back, and revoke a grant." Babbling said. "For now, I just want to know. You don't need to give me anything, either. And if you need it, I'll swear an oath, too. I get that a magic item and an actual claimed magic are vastly different, and yours probably has more applications than a project of mine that I can't even use properly, but I've been noticing you getting up to some fun things, and I wanted to figure it out, so that I could claim my own form, but I simply can't figure you out. Therefore, I've conceded victory and lowered myself to begging."
"Well, I do want to protect my claimed magic." Harry said. "I think I like you, but I don't know you." he said, apologetically.
The woman smiled. "That's smart, but you'll be seeing more of me, over this holiday. I've told Poppy that I'll be going to where you are, because I have this holiday free, and no urgent projects in the works." she said.
"Why?" Harry asked. This seemed a little sudden, to him. Sure, he knew that she and Dumbledore had heard some things, while they observed the imprisonment of Voldemort, but he didn't know that he'd done anything that would make a person choose to spend more time with him, just for that.
The woman seemed to understand. "Okay, let me try to explain." she said, as she conjured a stool, and sat down. "When you're working with ancient runes and want to create a function, like that orb, for example, you need to specify a lot of things, depending on the functions. The more specific a function, the more complicated the runes can get, or the simpler, in other cases. You'll learn more about that as you go.
"Now, here's the problem; If you want to make something that does something for a specific purpose or person, there's only so many ways by which you can target the magic that's directing the runes. Blood magic, for example, could work, but there's contra-indicators to that, too. Firstly, blood magic could forge a permanent connection, something that you don't always want, if the runes end up affecting the link it creates. I wouldn't want one of the functions to permanently drain my magic, for example, something that may be possible, since I can't connect to it temporarily, to test it."
"It's not." Harry said, looking at the orb. "It's got a lot of stored magic, but it seems that it's not pulling at my own." He tried connecting the reserves in the orb to his own, and monitored closely, putting a volume control between the two, to limit how quickly it could either give or take magic. Nothing seemed to happen. He opened the volume up, and still nothing happened. He tried sending magic to the orb, and it started moving there. The reverse seemed to work as well. He removed the connection, before looking at the woman, again. "I connected it to my reserves, quickly, and no magic moved between the two, without my conscious direction. I was able to pull from it, which is pretty cool. I don't have a lot of magic yet, so this could be very useful to me."
The woman's smile just grew. "Now, that, is what I want access to your magic, for." she said, pointing at him. "Normal people can't just make connections like that. I need to know how you did that. How you directed it and observed the results so easily."
"What would that knowledge allow you to do?" Harry asked. He had a few ideas, but he didn't know almost anything about rune magic.
"If I made an item with a specific function, I might be able to skip a lot of the runes, if I could interact with it directly, cutting down on time and allowing me to focus on adding more functionality, maybe even after creation." she said. "With an item like that orb, connected to myself, I could, for example, maybe even set up a form of magic pooling and collection, which might allow a person to recharge their magic more quickly. Currently, something like that would be impossible. The runes would take way too long to set up to specifically target a person, and, once again, the opposite could be true. It could try and charge from the person it's supposed to be feeding magic to. Without the ability you have to connect, and disconnect, it could end up killing me, before I could resolve the issue, even if I didn't end up using a large array to perform a simple function like that."
"So, you want my magic, so that you can protect yourself, and do more with runes? Things that are currently impossible?" Harry asked. He'd be tempted, because he liked helping, and it seemed runes could be useful, considering it doesn't necessarily require a wand, or at least, he didn't think so.
"This connection, thing, would be useful, yes." the woman said. "I have a suspicion that your ability is capable of more, though. You cast two, near simultaneous levitation spells on those crystals, without moving your wand, nor saying the incantation, in less time than anyone I've ever seen have been able to do it. That could be skill, but somehow, I doubt it. You obviously have some way of pre-casting the spell, and just activating it, or you have a way to streamline spell-casting. That would be very useful to me, too. Pre-establishing a control mechanism, without runes or verbal casting… That would be scarily powerful, to some people, but also dead useful for research and an advantage that I might be willing to do a hell of a lot for."
Harry considered that. The woman had come very close to saying exactly what he had done. Nobody had done that before, which meant that this woman was quite insightful and intelligent. Given a few ideas and time, she may have discovered this on her own. She couldn't now, though, because he had claimed it. Still, if he didn't share with her, she might make her own version, anyway. She did seem to have enough information, after all.
Securing his method was paramount, and having talked to Poppy about it enough, he knew that this method could make, or break, the wizarding world's existing power-structures. It would be best to share with her, if only to ensure that she didn't accidentally invent something that wasn't protected, like he intended to.
She didn't know how close she was to the answer, though, so Harry had an idea of how he could use that to his own advantage.
'I should have put you in Slytherin.' the hat said, a smirk in his tone again. 'You are going to go far with that mind of yours.'
'Thank you.' Harry said back, sending a mental smirk. "Okay, so I have an idea." he said, out loud.
"Oh?" Beth asked.
"I will allow you access to my magic, under three conditions." Harry offered. The woman just nodded, wanting to hear the conditions. "Firstly, I want you to start teaching me about ancient runes. If what you say is true, I'll likely have a few ideas I'd like to try at some point, too."
"Done." the woman said, instantly. "In fact, I'll teach you runes, even if you don't share your magic with me. For one, you could just join class in third year anyway, so there's no way I could stop you, and for two, I'd like to see what you come up with, if you start learning it earlier."
Harry nodded. "Second, if you discover anything new, using my magic, I want partial credit for it, and the ability to claim majority ownership. This means that I get veto rights, if you make something that you can share, without sharing my magic, but that still needed it to make it. I don't want to find out later that you designed something that could draw negative attention to yourself, using my means, which will lead people back to me."
"That's a tough bargain." the woman admitted. "I think I can see why that is necessary, though, so I'll agree, for now, with the proviso that you hear me out, and we come up with solutions to any issues, so that I could still profit from original ideas, even if it is not financial gain. Deal?" she asked.
"Deal." Harry said, nodding. He'd not just veto her ideas just because he was being difficult. He just had a suspicion that it would be prudent. Poppy had warned him that if he did something too eye-catching, it could bring bad people to him, hoping to interrogate and kill him, and claim the magic for themselves. Currently, the plan was to set up the magic, so that it goes to someone impartial, who shared their vision of protecting the magic from being abused and designating them as the person who the claimed magic defaulted to, like perhaps, the hat.
"Lastly, I will need assurances that you can protect your methods, when they include mine." Harry said. "You'll need to learn, or know, and practice, occlumency, to the point that people can't enter your mind, without your knowledge, and if you only have them to that point, I need you to start working on it, to the point where you can easily reject any attempt to read your mind."
The woman nodded, understanding. Then she smiled. "I know enough, to know when someone is trying, already." she admitted. "I'm no occlumens in practice, but I know, and can quickly think of other things. I use a trick, though."
"A trick?" Harry asked, interested.
Her smile turned into an evil smirk. "I've taken the time to see some truly disgusting things in my life. Things that would make any normal person puke, just to think about. The last legilimens that tried to read my mind, never looked at me again, and often lost some colour, when I got near them. I just think of those things, when they try."
Harry smirked, as well. "Well, it's not how occlumency is supposed to work, but in practice, I suspect it is a good deterrent." he allowed. Then he sighed. "Very well." he said. "I, Harry James Potter, claimed owner of the Systemised form of magic, hereby allow Professor Bathsheda Babbling use of my system, until such a time as our association ends, and the grant is revoked, or we decide to change the agreement, at which point it will also be revoked, until a new agreement is in place."
Beth and Harry both glowed for a second, as the grant connected her to the system, in a way that Harry had been considering doing it, while the hat played remote third party. He smiled, when he noted that he could see her interface. It had been an idea he'd discussed with the hat. If it was his system, he should be able to do that. Poppy had gotten it when being invisible to everyone was still an asset. Now, it would be more advantageous if he could always see other people's system, in use.
As for Beth, she blinked her eyes a couple of times, as something appeared in front of her. "What?" she asked. Then her eyes focussed on the time, and an image that Harry had ensured to include. "Is this… systemized magic?" she asked.
"What you're seeing, is what I refer to as the interface." Harry said. "From our research, mine and Madam Pomphrey's, it seems that it is routed in the brain. It starts working in an unused section of the brain, or at least, space that is not yet in use, between other information. What the system does, is allow you to 'program' functions, including my ability to cast spells more quickly, and allows people who are connected to the system, to create links between information and other people."
"This is like a computer!" Babbling exclaimed. "You've invented magical computing!"
"Well, not really, and sort of." Harry allowed. "I don't know enough about computers to know all there is to know, but it seems that your mind, and magic, can adapt more easily, after repetitious use of the system. I don't think computers do that, but don't know. My mind creates links automatically, now, after I focussed on automating things for quite a while. Madam Pomphrey's mind started doing that, too, but with medical things, since she's spent a long time working with medical things. It seems that what you focus on, is what you have an affinity for, and your mind and magic starts focussing on that, and adapts more easily in that subject."
Babbling was looking at the dimensions of the interface, and moved her head, noting that it was standing still, in front of her. "So, it stays in front?" she asked.
"Mine didn't at first." Harry said. "I just noticed that Madam Pomphrey was struggling with using her thoughts to manipulate things, sometimes. I tend to indicate, loosely, when I do things. She likes to be able to feel like it stays in one place, likely a habit due to being used to using documents in a certain way. It allows for her to move things, and manipulate models in her interface, with her hands, if the interface doesn't move with her eyes."
Beth reached out and flicked a finger through the image that was there, which looked like a small legal pad. A blank document opened up, her view showing a pencil and eraser, on the side. "What's this?" she asked.
"A shared notebook." Harry said. "I have one, too. One for Madam Pomphrey, and one for you. If you write in yours, you're technically writing in mine, because your image is just a representation of one on my side. The idea is to send quick messages, this way. I'll always feel when someone does write in it, because it's on my side, but you should work on setting up a notification, on your side, for when I reply. That should start you out on programming your interface. Next, I suggest trying to make one for Madam Pomphrey, and then sharing it with her. You'll need to speak with her, and she'll need to allow it. It's part of how this works. You can't add things on someone else's interface, without permission. I can, technically, but I don't do that without permission, normally.
"You should also know that I can view your interface, from my side." Harry continued. "That's a new feature, which Madam Pomphrey and I discussed. If we ever share with many people, someone needs to be able to check that it's not abused and knowing that someone's interface can be accessed by someone else, should add a layer of protection against abuse. I'm still working on an emergency system, where you can alert someone that you are in trouble, so that the person in charge, me in this case, can either disconnect your system, or can send help."
"You gave her access?" Madam Pomphrey asked, as she walked in. She was frowning.
"Bugger set rules and everything." Beth said, smirking. "You've taught him well, it seems."
"That was mostly the hat." Poppy said, rolling her eyes. She was relieved that Harry had thought of that and realised that she should have expected it.
"The hat?" Beth asked.
"The sorting hat." Harry said. "It was the first person I shared the interface with. He's been connected since the beginning of the year. He can actually talk to me, though, since he uses legilimency through it. He wanted to protect me and my magic, too, so he was permanently in my head, when I was near the headmaster, or Snape."
Babbling's eyes widened, as she considered that. She hadn't known about Snape being a legilimens. "Bastards." she finally said, frowning. "I'll have to up my game."
"Occlumency?" Poppy asked.
Harry nodded. "Apparently she's got tricks." he said. Then he lifted the orb, to show it to Poppy. "Beth gave me this." he said. "It's basically an external power-source, and possibly a focus."
"Merlin." Poppy said, sighing and shaking her head. "Not only didn't you even leave school, before you got your alternate, but you've possibly got more power?"
"Yup." Harry said, smiling. "I'm going to see if I can get the runes on the model to work, and maybe see if I can duplicate it, in the interface."
"Don't!" Babbling said, instantly. "I don't know how this system works yet, but runes are not just images with power. You can't just copy them as you see them. There's an order to things, and you need to learn them, first, or you could have the runes explode. You don't want something that's in your head exploding…" she finished, leadingly.
"But-" Harry started.
"Listen to the woman." Poppy interrupted. "She is a master of the art. I'm assuming you'll be learning from her, but for now, don't experiment. If you blow up your head, I'm going to kill you." she threatened hollowly.
Harry let out a snort of laughter at her statement, before he nodded. "Fine." he said. "I think I'll work on this core orb first, now, anyway. Then I'm going to need to go to a library. I want the communications system working, next."
"Communications?" Beth asked. Everything she was hearing and learning, made her just want to jump into this new research.
"Harry thinks he can set up a system that allows people to use his system to communicate, like legilimency, but with only projected thoughts becoming an audible form of communication." Poppy said. "I told him I'd help, but considering how he thinks it's going to work, there will be a lot of redundant testing, and I suspect we'll need to get a few test animals, like rats, or something."
"Can you show me how you make connections, currently?" Beth asked Harry.
"Not now." Poppy said. "We're about to leave."
"Where are we going?" Beth asked, standing up and vanishing her stool.
"We?" Poppy asked, lifting an eyebrow.
"Harry wants to start learning runes, and I'm going to be following you wherever you go anyway, so why not?" Beth asked.
"We never discussed that." Poppy said. "I'm still not sure I like that you know about the system, let alone letting you come with us."
"Poppy, you know I'm going to win this argument." Beth said, lifting an eyebrow. "Harry's way too much fun, for me to stay away. Best to stick around, anyway, while he learns about the orb. He'll likely need to run things by me, too, before he tries anything."
III-III
In the end, Beth had won that argument. She'd convinced Poppy with cold, hard logic, not something that was too common in the magical world. The fact that Poppy didn't have the youth to keep up with someone like Harry, anyway, meant that she'd likely appreciate the help, in keeping an eye on Harry. There was also the fact that it was her holiday, too, and she had a few things she tended to want to do, like visit a few friends, and she didn't necessarily want to drag Harry around.
Poppy had not told the headmaster where the flat was that she'd rented. It was actually something she'd already done, before she became Harry's guardian. Her plan, then, was to simply kidnap Harry, if he somehow still ended up with his relatives, and take him there. The place wasn't in her name, and there were quite a few flats, and muggles, so using magic would be difficult, if they were out in the open. That, and the camera security system. The place boaster 24/7 surveillance. Magicals knew about that, and they tended to avoid places like that, simply because if they outed the secret of magic, they'd likely either be fined heavily, or actually earn some prison time. Especially if done, regardless of the security.
Fortunately, the place was large enough for two of them, and that didn't even take into consideration the fact that when they arrived, Beth went about expanding a room, which was then separated into two, so that she and Harry had their own.
That first night, just before settling in, a disgruntled looking Hedwig flew into Harry's room, through a window, dropped something, went right to Harry, and started pecking and hooting at him, because he'd apparently forgotten her at school.
"Hey!" Harry objected as the bird bit his ear, hard enough to draw blood. "I'm sorry, okay! I thought you'd prefer to come on your own!" he lied. He really had forgotten. He'd gone to visit her a few times, and he'd been happy when she showed up to drop off a newspaper, something Harry had signed up for once he knew about the magical paper. It was dead useful in learning about the magical world, after all.
The bird hooted and pecked his head, one more time, before flying to land on the back of a chair, and then just stared at him. "Hoot." she hooted.
In Harry's head, the Hedwig system piped up with a, 'Don't do it again.' Harry still didn't know if that was his imagination filling in what he thought she was trying to say, or if there really was intelligent speech coming from the owl.
"Sorry, Hedwig." Harry said, anyway. "I'll not do it again." he promised.
"If you're quite done having a conversation with your bird, would you mind picking me up?" a familiar voice asked.
"Gryff?" Harry asked, as he went to the thing the bird had dropped. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I couldn't connect to you anymore, after you left, and I think I'm going to have more fun, here." the hat admitted. "I have a friend, now, after all. Why not go away for the holiday?"
"Can you do that?" Harry asked. "I mean, this is a long way away from Hogwarts."
"I'm not a fixture, Harry." the hat said. "And I'm still technically connected to the school. I'm just not in it. I've been to more than Hogwarts, in my life, you know. Previous Headmasters have been known to wear me, quite often, when they leave the school. It's a useful way to know what's happening in the school, when they are away. The current headmaster just dislikes sharing his mind with me."
"Oh." Harry said, not having heard about that, before, but thinking it made sense, with the current headmaster's normal personality. "How did you get Hedwig to come pick you up?" he asked.
"I asked her." the hat said, simply.
"How?" Harry pressed.
The hat actually smirked. "Through our connection." it said.
Harry frowned, first, and then his eyes opened wider. "Did you give her an interface?" he asked, shocked.
"She got it from you, actually." the hat said. "From her memories, it seems it happened while you were attempting to change her colour. Something about her familiar needing to speak to her."
"Her familiar?" Harry asked. "Wait, wouldn't it be the other way around? She's my familiar, if she's even that much."
"In her mind, you're the child she's decided to protect. Her familiar." the hat said. "When Hagrid bought her, she considered it payment for the right to her company, not a purchase. You really should spend more time with her, you know. She misses you, when you don't. She's quite proud of having a smart familiar. Apparently, the other owls think she's lucky for having you. I didn't even know owls knew about such things, or really talked to each other."
"Hoot!" the owl objected. 'Hey!' it translated in Harry's head.
"Yes, your Hedwig system was right in that translation, and yes, it seems that most of the time, it's pretty accurate. Though, not because of pitch or tone, as you'd thought, as much as it's picked up on your connection, and Hedwig wants you to know what she tries to communicate. The translation comes from her side. She's really smart for a bird, and her own magic, limited as it is, was able to accommodate that."
"Hoot!" the owl hooted. 'I am smart!"
"Yes, I know you're cleverer than the other owls!" the hat objected. "The boy thought he was imagining things, okay! I needed to tell him, so that he knows to listen when you talk!"
"Hoot." Hedwig hooted. 'Oh.'
"This is a bit much for me." Harry admitted, as he went to his trunk, to pull out a few owl treats. He'd not known that owls were that aware. He'd thought Hedwig was a little weird and more demonstrative than other owls, but knowing she was sentient, was a little bit scary, to him, and the owl apparently had an interface too?
"She's been using the interface to mark good hunting spots, mostly." the hat said. "It's a pretty early version, and she only benefitted from the time and the emotion reading function, which she can read, by the way. She can understand you, as well, but she only needs her ears for that, since she knows English. She likes exploring and has been tracking her own flightpaths, with lines and dots. It's just how she thinks. I think it's an owl thing. Her bond with you also showed up visually, when she was on her way, here."
"Hoot, hoot!" the owl hooted angrily. 'Secrets! Don't share!'
"Sorry, Hedwig." the hat said. Fortunately, it wasn't bound from sharing the secrets of birds, but it liked the owl. Hedwig was quite gentle, when she came to pick him up, after he requested it. The harshest he'd gotten, was when she dropped him to attack Harry, in reprimand for forgetting her.
"How did you know she had one?" Harry asked.
"Oh, that's simple." the hat said. "She came by shortly after you gave me an interface. She thought I was your familiar. Now she thinks that you own me, and since you're her familiar, I'm her familiar's familiar. She thinks she owns the both of us, to a degree."
"Hoot." Hedwig hooted, smugly. 'I do own you.'
"See?" the hat asked. "Her familiar is so smart, it's got a familiar of its own."
Harry couldn't help a small smile and a chuckle, as he finally went to give Hedwig a handful of treats.
She took them and happily ate them up. "Hoot." she hooted. 'That's a good familiar.' "Hoot, hoot." 'Time for bed, chick.'
"You do know that I'm on holiday, right?" Harry asked her.
"Hoot, hoot-hoot." the owl replied. 'Day is for sleep, for me. Night is for sleep, for you.'
"Owls don't do holidays." the hat added.
"Harry, who are you talking to, in there?" Poppy's voice came through his door.
Harry walked to the door and opened it. "Hedwig showed up, and she brought Gryff." he said. "Apparently he decided to have a holiday, too, and apparently Hedwig can talk, through her interface, which I apparently gave her accidentally, and she thinks I'm her familiar." he reported, a smirk on his lips.
Poppy's eyes widened, as she took all that in. She seemed to stall, then. "Wait…" she said, as she shook her head. "She'd got an interface? One would think only sentient magical beings could have one of them?!" she asked, incredulously.
"Hoot! Hoot!" the owl responded angrily. 'I think! Sleep time for chick!'
"She's intelligent, and she's reprimanding you for keeping Harry from bed." the hat said. "She doesn't think in full sentences. Not the way we do, but she has more thoughts than the ones she sends to Harry, and her translation system translates only what she sends to him."
Poppy was still not sure how all these random things seemed to happen to Harry, but she heard Beth's laughter from her own room, meaning she'd heard all of that, and found it funny. Finally, she huffed, but walked to the bird, and looked her in the eye. "My Harry." she insisted. "I'm taking care of him, now."
The owl looked at the woman, narrowing her eyes for a moment, before nodding. "Hoot." she hooted. 'Good.'
"She likes hearing that." Harry said. Frankly, so did he.
"I'll expect a connection to her translation, tomorrow." Poppy said. "I don't want to have you be the only one that understands her."
"Me too!" a muffled voice came from Babbling's room.
"I'll ask Hedwig." Harry said. "She should get a say, I think."
"Fair." Poppy said. "And she's right. It's time for bed. It may be holiday, but I don't want you up at all hours, playing on your interface."
Harry nodded, accepting that. "I am a little tired." he allowed. "Goodnight, Madam Pomphrey." he said.
"Poppy, dear." she said. "Or, Aunt Poppy, if you prefer. We're going to be a family, now. I can't have you calling me 'Madam', when we're away from school."
Harry smiled a small smile at that. "Okay. Goodnight, Auntie Poppy." he said.
The woman smiled at him, gave him a quick hug, and then scooted him towards the bed. "Go. We've got a bit of exploring to do tomorrow, and we need to go shopping. You're in need of a new wardrobe, and our kitchen needs to be stocked."
Harry nodded, and went to his bed, flopping down and pulling a cover halfway over him. Poppy would have covered him properly, were he in the hospital wing, but decided to leave him as is. She couldn't start smothering the boy, already. She left, closing the door behind her.
"He's fun." Beth said, from where she was standing in her door.
"I'm hoping he'll have a lot of fun, this holiday." Poppy said, nodding. "And you'd better keep that in mind. I know you get caught up in your experiments, too. I've heard that you can go days without sleep, when you get up to your normal work. No dragging Harry into that sort of thing, okay?"
"I am a teacher, Poppy." Beth said. "I know what children need."
"You're quite familiar with him." Poppy noted.
"He's a smart kid, like I was. I want him to treat me like a friend. I'd have appreciated it, and Filius did try, but he was already quite old, when I was a student, still." Beth said. "I'll obviously try and encourage him to enjoy his studies, just like he'll likely amaze me with his capabilities, but I'll also suggest that we do things like going to a beach, or an amusement park. I hear the kid's not had a real childhood, so there's much he should be allowed to experience."
"Agreed." Poppy said, before nodding and going to her own bedroom.
III-III
Dumbledore had obviously sent a letter and had shown up two days after they'd moved in, so that he could secure their place. Then, he'd stayed for dinner, and chatted with Harry for a bit, trying to talk about normal things, and not just the burning question about why Professor Babbling was there, or what projects he'd be working on. He did ask after those, but Harry seemed quite capable of ignoring questions that he didn't want to answer.
After that, he'd gone back to his other duties.
Babbling had started asking questions, the moment Harry sat down and started tinkering with his interface. She asked why she couldn't see it, and he'd replied that it was a feature. Hers would be invisible to other people, too. Just Harry could see it, currently. He did show her how to light it up for other people, and helped her add the feature, not that she should share it with other people, but so that she could show what she was working on to Poppy.
She'd quickly learned the basic functionality, and had added every single ancient rune, with all the functionality she knew about, within the first week, taking it one at a time, and in every way that it could be drawn and applied. This had given her the ability to play with them, arrange them, and plan them, without needing to even use a single instrument. Then, she'd started playing with transfiguring temporary runes, using the functionality to draw the runes perfectly, every time.
Her extreme pace was in part thanks to the interface, and in part, thanks to her own understanding of and experience with runes. When she wasn't busy with runes, she was giving Harry instruction on them, using their ability to share their interfaces. For her, it was a dream, for two reasons. Firstly, Harry's systemized magic allowed for programming of rune script, which meant that he could skip a lot of security and learning the correct ways to draw and apply said script.
Secondly, Harry was a wonderful student. With his focus completely on the interface, along with hers, it went really fast. They ended up using written text, between the two of them, because it was faster than talking aloud. Harry had explained the concept of perceived time, and how doing things in the interface seemed to speed things up. In fact, to her, it seemed that at times he was waiting for her to catch up, while he continued working on constructing the runes, as she was teaching them to him.
He was a joy to teach, because he shot through the information very quickly. Apparently, a part of his magic was dedicated to his occlumency system, a system that had used part of his system's unique automation functionality to apply occlumency and sorting and storing his memories and experiences. This meant that he could learn as quickly as she could teach, and despite Poppy's insisting that they still have fun, taking them out on picnics and trying to encourage Harry to have fun with other children, they were studying more often than not.
Poppy was both impressed, and unsurprised when Beth informed her that Harry had gone through three of the five years' worth of studying in two weeks, due to his system. He was already considering applications that he could achieve with the knowledge he had. He could achieve mastery, let alone finishing all five years of schooling, by the end of the holiday, even if he spent most of his time simply having fun, which it turned out, he considered learning to be.
Beth knew what that meant, of course. He was hyper-focussed, due to doing something he enjoyed. He was also looking forward to application. Hyper-focus, or hyper-awareness, like that, tended to happen in some situations, where a child spent too much time trying to understand things. Things that shouldn't be difficult to understand.
Harry had taken the orb and experimented in his own time. He'd only asked a few questions about it from Beth. He surprised the hell out of both women, when they walked into the kitchen one morning, a mere week after the holiday started, and found Harry floating in the middle of the kitchen, while objects and foodstuffs floated around him, preparing breakfast for them.
"What the hell did you do now?" Beth had asked.
"Put the orb in my interface." Harry said, shrugging. "Don't worry, I experimented with much smaller things. Didn't want the orb to manifest in my brain, after all. I think it's stored in whatever the make-up of the interface itself is. We all know it's physically there, after all, even if it's just a representation of the systemized magic."
"You experimented on something that may have manifested in your brain?!" Poppy exclaimed.
"A hair, aunty Poppy." Harry had said. "Something that's only a few microns thick, and since we know the system manifests in unused space in the brain, I knew the only risk was to the system itself, with that big an object."
"It's still a risk!" Poppy exclaimed.
"My magic would hardly allow me to hurt myself, after all the security features were added." Harry said. Poppy had been worried, once they found out that it actually did something to the brain. She'd insisted that Harry focus on that for a while, and he had. Anything that could have a negative effect on the physical brain, itself, would be rejected. That one had been a little difficult to figure out, but putting in an unused and disconnected model of a brain, and repeatedly and purposefully letting the brain in the model get hurt, and applying a denial to that, had taught the magic quickly enough. That idea had been both hers and his since she insisted on it.
"How does putting the orb in your system allow you to do this?" Beth asked.
"I still have to create connections, for the magic to work, but after a bit of tweaking, I don't need to have internal models for everything I want to affect. I just had to modify the targeting system that I attached to the orb-system. Now I've got magical throughput control and targeting all sorted out." Harry said, proudly. "The only problem is that doing this much is taking more power out of the orb than I'd like. Fortunately, I was able to set it up so that when my stores are charged, they automatically switch over to charge the orb's magic, by sending magic to the orb, once I'm near fully charged. It basically means that I added a battery to my magical core."
"That's what I wanted to achieve with the orb." Beth said, smiling. "Any chance you can help me do the same? I was never the strongest magical."
"Sure thing." Harry said, smiling at her, as breakfast completed, and a plate floated over to each of them, along with a cup of tea for himself and Poppy, and a cup of coffee for the runes teacher. Harry set himself down easily and disconnected the targeting system from everything he'd been working with.
"How did you float?" Beth asked, as they walked to the living room.
"Levitation charm." Harry shrugged, knowing that the woman would have more questions.
"He's trying to get you to ask more questions." the hat said. He was now usually placed in the living room. Hedwig had found a perch inside a cabinet which normally housed a television, but which was empty now, because of how magic tended to affect technology like that. With the property hidden, some things were impossible to have. Hedwig could pull the doors of the cabinet closed, so that she could rest in the dark, but it usually had a small open sliver, so that she could look out. She apparently liked spying on people.
(AN: Apparently, owls aren't nocturnal creatures, as I've always believed. They can't see in the dark, any better than we can. They will hunt in areas where humans live, at night, because we have things like streetlights, but in nature, they will hunt, whenever they can find prey. I only recently learned this, so for the purpose of this story, let's say that Hedwig figured out a form of low-level lighting, and decided to hunt at night, so that she could protect Harry at night.)
"I know." Beth said. "Still, how?" she asked Harry. "Levitation charms are bound to the caster as the point of origin."
"Well, I was playing with levitation in school, shortly after that class, and figured out that what we call a levitation charm, should actually be called the movement, or telekinesis charm, considering it can move things in any direction. Think about it; if it was only levitation, it should only go up, defying gravity. You can move things sideways and away from you or to you, from any location, power permitting."
"So… how did you apply it to yourself, then?" she asked.
"I cast the spell through my model of myself." Harry said. "That means that the spell-effect isn't just connected to my wand-arm, or focus. It applies to my whole body. Then, I apply the levitation charm on the ground below me, and push it away, in essence, pushing myself up, rather than compressing the earth. It's the path of least resistance for the magic to fulfil its purpose."
Beth considered that, and nodded, after a sip of coffee. "So, you're telling me that you can fly, using this?" she asked. The idea wasn't new, but the kid seemed to have found a way to apply it without a visible tool. Obviously multiple principles were involved, along with an actual tool, the interface, but it would still seem to be unassisted flight, for the uninformed, the informed all being in the room with them at that moment.
"For short periods, and not too high, sure, considering distance would take more power." Harry said. "I suspect that if I could fit my broom into my interface, the same way as I can fit the orb, I'd be able to rather direct that, than having to use directed magic, like I did earlier. It's not what I'd call power-intensive, but levitation and flight aren't really the same thing and speed and height will always be an issue, using my current form."
"Let's not start playing with putting more items in your interface, just yet." Poppy said. "We need to understand where the orb actually is. Chances that it has limited storage is quite large, considering the principles of storage and space changing magics. You don't want to find out that the available space is limiting your other abilities, or that your interface breaks, if you add too much, either."
"Good idea." Harry said, nodding. "I'm thinking I'll spend some time on that. Maybe if I figure out how brooms are made, I can just add that functionality to the interface, instead. After all, I already know that that should work."
"Kid, you scare me in the best way." Beth said, smirking at him. "Just warn us before you decide to take over the world, or something, yeah?"
"It's not in the plans. Yet." Harry joked.
"Well, just let me know." Beth said. "If you ever take over, I want Scotland."
"Bathsheda!" Poppy exclaimed.
"Just saying." Beth said, unrepentantly.
"Honestly, I have no interest in taking anything over." Harry said. "Actually, I'm more interested in starting something new."
"Oh?" Poppy asked. This was the first time she was hearing about this.
"Yeah." Harry said. "I heard that muggleborns tend to leave the magical world, if they don't find employment in it. I was thinking… that's a lot of potential magical people that are turned away from a world that feel they don't need them, and it's quite a waste of the skills they spend seven years to learn. If there was another magical village, like Hogsmeade, but for muggleborns and half-bloods only, and select purebloods, of course, then we could start something new. We just need to figure out logistics, like what money to use, and stuff, and we can likely start a small city in just a few years, as long as we can secure a location."
"There are a few of those already." Beth surprised him, by saying.
"Really?" Harry asked.
"Australia has a lot more tolerance, and there's a large hidden community there." Poppy said. "There's also quite a few in Italy, but they tend to be quite territorial, and I've heard that they tend to turn to lives of crime. Magical crime families and the like."
"The reason more people don't just go to Australia, is because of needing to leave their families behind. They also can't tell their families about those communities, as the Australian magical government tries to keep exposure to a minimum. It's a reasonably well-kept secret." Beth said.
"How do you know?" Harry asked.
"I spent a lot of time with a wizarding band, when I was younger." Beth said. "They were quite famous and were invited all over the world. You learn some interesting things travelling with famous people."
"So, they wouldn't mind you telling me?" Harry asked, frowning.
"What are you talking about?" Beth scoffed. "You're more famous than that band was. They'd probably ask me to bring you, for a visit. They'd put on a parade and everything."
"Please don't." Harry said, shying away from the mention of that much attention.
"Of course, I wouldn't!" Beth laughed. "How would I get my time with you, if you're constantly hiding from fanatic fans and girls throwing themselves at you?"
"Fanatic fans?" Harry asked, his face showing disgust.
"Harry, I'm sure you've heard by now that people have been writing Harry Potter Adventure books, ever since you were a baby." Poppy said. "Most people know it's fiction, but there are a few that read those books like gospel. It is for that reason, and the threat of Death Eaters and pureblood supremist empathisers, that we keep you mostly hidden. When the dark lord was stopped, a threat to the whole world's magical communities was stopped."
"Save the world, get fans." Beth simplified.
"But I didn't." Harry said. "Dumbledore even said so. It was my mother's sacrifice that saved the world."
"People like a living hero more than a martyr." Beth said. "Face it, kid, even if you convinced the world that your mom was their ultimate saviour, they'll likely still look up to you, and most would just call you humble, and your following would get that much more fanatic."
Harry rolled his eyes at that. "Idiots." he said.
"That's what I say." Beth agreed. "Not everyone's a sheep, but there are very few people with new ideas, in the magical world."
"You have to understand, the magical world has a rich culture and a long history." Poppy said, reasonably. "Most people never stop discovering new things that are already there. You could learn about the ancient magicals, or newer ones, like Nicholas Flamel. We've got music, and sports, and festivals and traditions that keep most people pretty occupied. Very few people feel the need for change."
"That's also the reason why the magical world has become stagnant." Beth said. "Everything is always the same, and the purebloods try and keep it that way. There's a reason why I loved exploring when I was younger. I got to broaden my horizons. There are many magical cultures out in the world. They all have their own traditions and ways of doing things. When I was done exploring and learning what there was out in the world, I came home and found that everything was just the same. Instead of feeling like I'd come home, I felt like I hit a brick wall. It frustrates the living shit out of me."
"Beth." Poppy said, in warning. She liked to swear in front of Harry or did it without thinking.
"Why do you think I wanted in, with whatever you're doing?" Beth asked. "You've got something new. Something fun. Something exciting."
"Until someone finds out, and outlaws his magic." Poppy said, sighing. That was always a possibility, and one of the big reasons for why they were being so cautious. If people realised he had something they all wanted, but he refused them access, they could outlaw it, and every iteration of everything he ended up doing, one skill at a time. That was one of the ways by which they applied pressure on people to share.
If they could only study it, to ensure it was safe, they'd allow you to use your own magic again, or so they'd say, while stealing ideas from it. Being from a pureblood family, though, meant that Harry had some protections. Having a healer that knew the secrets, was an even bigger deterrent. With an ancient runes mistress, a well-respected prodigy, too, it meant that they were reasonably safe on that front.
There was a bit of silence after that, as they considered it.
"Then… I'll buy an island." Harry decided. "Can't outlaw anything if I'm the ruler of my own island."
"Damn, kid." Beth smiled at him. "Nothing ever breaks your stride, does it?"
"I don't get stuck on problems." Harry said. "I solve them, avoid them, or make it someone else's."
"Make it someone else's?" Poppy asked.
"You know more sorts of connections than I do." Harry said. "I left getting proper connection to extract Voldemort to you, didn't I? You got Beth to build a container, which I left with you, too. I am only a first year, after all. I can't be expected to solve everything." he smirked.
"That was us working together." Poppy said. "A collaboration. I left part of that to you, too. Needed your methods, actually."
"Did you ever figure out a way to keep someone alive indefinitely?" Harry asked, then, as his mind went back to that day.
"It is possible." Poppy said. "I was going to spend some time on that this holiday, with your help."
"Cool." Harry said, smiling at the woman.