"Of course," Harry replied, as that much was completely obvious.
Later that evening, after Hermione left to catch the train, Harry was meditating again, in an attempt to reach out for his magical core.
Despite the fact that he hadn't found his core just yet, Harry was still extremely surprised by his current level of improvement. According to all of the books that he'd read so far, his thoughts should already have rudimentary shields in place just because of the meditation practices he'd been performing. Of course the barriers he'd built until now wouldn't be enough to stop a skilled Leglimancer, but they should allow him to feel it when someone is rooting around in his head.
That much wasn't the most dramatic achievement of the last couple of hours however…
At this point, Harry's consciousness was drifting around inside of his spiritual center. He'd managed to reach such a profound state of meditation; he was free floating deep within himself and looking around. There was a problem that was keeping him from advancing however… He was supposed to be on the lookout for what other people claim looks like a light off in the distance. He was wondering just how you'd tell where to go when the whole damned place is blindingly bright...
Ah... shucks...
Harry was suddenly grateful that he was alone within his own spiritual center, because he was feeling pretty damned embarrassed... As it turns out, he'd found his core a long damned time ago, it was just absolutely enormous.
With this new realization, Harry was able to successfully embrace his center and move on to the next step.
Very suddenly, Harry found himself standing in an empty, rock strewn plain, with overcast skies and very little else to catch one's attention. Despite the grimness of his current surroundings, Harry knew not to be upset at what he'd found. This was what he'd been aiming for after all. He'd been meditating for days to clean up all of the trauma and emotional clutter that was waiting for him inside of his head. If he hadn't done all of that ahead of time, he probably would've hated the garbage heap he'd have found in here instead. It probably would've looked like his cupboard back at the Dursleys or something.
Ugh...
So now Harry had found himself in a kind of desolate but relatively clean environment... excellent! A person's Mindscape when they first see it usually has some emotional significance to the person, which is why most people generally build around it as a central figure or a core. Harry had read all of Hogwarts's books on Occlumency and had come to the conclusion that for the best results, you should build from the bottom up.
What Harry really wanted to do first is organize his memories and emotions. Too bad a book called MIND over MATTER said that doing so was a bad idea. According to the book a defenseless and orderly mind is just an easily read and exploitable one. What that meant was that Harry needed to get Hermione to defend her mind as soon as possible. Her brain was like a computer, so she was probably the most easily mind-read person on the face of the planet.
Harry's idea was to start with the very basics, but in new and creative ways. His plan was to make a vast sphere encompassing everything for as far as he can imagine… Since he was muggle-raised, Harry had no problem picturing the world as a sphere and that was what he was going to try and do.
From what Harry had been told, he had an absolutely gigantic magical core so there shouldn't be any harm in aiming for a much larger than normal Mindscape. He wanted his Mindscape to have absolutely enormous shields, under which he'd have a lot of space for further development. Then, as time goes by, he'd add layers of defenses inwards at his leisure.
To start with however, Harry was going to keep things simple. He pictured a rock globe beneath his feet approximately the size of the Earth and with a similar density. About a minute later and for seemingly no reason, Harry knew deep down that the deed was done. It was time to move on... Next, he imagined an unbelievably vast sphere completely encompassing his new world. This sphere was made of five-meter thick stainless steel and was as high as the ozone layer on earth.
Almost immediately, Harry's mindscape became pitch black, causing him to smile in triumph. The darkness let him know that his efforts were getting results. After picturing a radiant ball of light, Harry made it travel across the sky relative to real time on earth. It wasn't a real sun, but rather a humongous warm light attached to the inside of his steel ozone layer. Soon enough, his imagery worked once again, and he knew it because suddenly Harry was standing in a sunlit field.
As hard as it was to believe, Harry had pulled off the fantastical. Defying all common sense, and every book he'd ever read on the subject, he'd officially succeeded in creating an entire planet to use as a Mindscape. "Just try to find my important memories," Harry growled, with a somewhat feral smile on his face.
Despite his successes so far, Harry knew that he'd need to be methodical while bolstering his metallic barrier shields. While he knew that the barriers were in place, he wanted to confirm their strength for himself. According to all of the books on the subject, building defenses is the easy part. Checking the defenses for weaknesses and firming them up is the hard part. Over the next minute and a half, Harry mentally designated portions of his planet with latitude and longitude lines, so that problem areas could be marked and located later. Next, Harry pictured a vast army of Fawkes lookalikes as a workforce. He had a mental picture of them all flying around and checking his defenses. When next he opened his eyes, Harry found himself standing in front of hundreds of thousands of phoenixes.
"Okay Fawkes," Harry began in a loud but friendly voice. "I need you all flying patrol and checking my defenses. If you find a weakness in the barrier or anything else that might be troublesome, mentally prompt me and I'll deal with it."
For a few moments following Harry's instructions, the entire clearing was basked in the beautiful sound of thousands of phoenixes singing. Then, the moment ended and the phoenixes were flying off in every direction.
Okay. Let's see what I can build for myself now that it won't be completely defenseless. Harry looked down at his feet and smiled. The best part of having an entire planet to work with as a Mindscape was that the very earth at his feet could become a natural defense against intruders. With that in mind, Harry decided to steal some security ideas from the real experts, the goblins.
Out of nowhere, a hatch opened at Harry's feet and he started descending into a newly revealed underground room. After taking the time to make the hatch an extremely large yet inconspicuous looking boulder, Harry closed the hatch and then headed down the rest of the stairs. The room he found himself in wasn't large or ostentatious because it didn't need to be. It was just a small whitewashed room with a single elevator in the back wall.
Standing in front of this elevator, Harry took his time imagining what he needed in his mind. He poured his entire focus into creating an elevator shaft going straight down for over five-thousand kilometers, until it was near the planet's core. Even as he worked, a grin formed unbidden on Harry's face, because he appreciated how literal he was being. The planet's core was also where he'd housed his magical core, and the idea was just as amusing as it was cool. The lion's share of Harry's memories and emotions would be organized at the bottom of this elevator shaft, below multiple levels of protection and fail safes just in case. Then, when he was ready, he'd travel even deeper to gain control of his magic within the planet's core.
Over time, Harry started getting mental prompts from his Phoenix army to strengthen or thicken areas of his ozone layer defenses. He was relieved to find that he could firm up these areas to the Fawkes army's satisfaction without too much effort and the progress was extremely satisfying. For perhaps the first time in his entire life, Harry felt like he was gaining control of his own destiny and circumstances. In fact, Harry was finding this whole process just as empowering as it had been to find out he was a wizard.
While smiling at his own out of character optimism, Harry bounced on his toes and shook out his hands. "Okay, it's time to finally get my brain sorted out. Bring it on."
Around midnight, a very miffed Madam Pomfrey brought Harry out of his meditation. She was frustrated with him for sitting cross legged on his bed all night when he had perfectly adequate covers.
What this meant for Harry was that it was time to attempt a state of meditative sleep. The books he'd read so far stated that if he practiced, he could go to his Mindscape in his sleep, and there'd be very little difference then when he was awake. According to the books, entering his Mindscape in his sleep would increase the quality of his rest and he could also get some work done while he was at it. He'd also read that if you're magically powerful enough, your perception of time would even move slower while inside your Mindscape. Harry didn't think he was being arrogant when he assumed that time within his Mindscape was going to end up moving quite slow indeed.
Smiling up at the school Healer, Harry apologized for his poor sleeping habits, lay down under his covers, and fell asleep while utilizing his meditation practices.
The next day was officially the first day of summer vacation, which of course meant that the school was completely empty of students. Now that he wouldn't be magically rubbing up against everyone, Harry was really looking forward to some freedom from the Hospital Wing. When he woke up just before breakfast it was to find Madam Pomfrey standing over him and carefully scrutinizing his body.
"Harry, have you noticed that your scar is a little less red and angry? It looks like it's already beginning to fade." Madam Pomfrey's question was asked as she poked and prodded at him with her wand. This had become a daily ritual since three days earlier, so her charge didn't make a fuss about it.
The truth was that Harry hadn't been paying any attention to his physical body for the last couple of days. He'd been preoccupied with his emotional and spiritual well-being rather than his looks, so he hadn't noticed his scar at all. Now that it was being brought to his attention however, Harry was happy to hear that he'd stand out less in public places.
Smiling cheerfully, Harry rose out of bed and gave the elderly healer a good morning hug. For obvious reasons, Harry hadn't been able to hide how important Madam Pomfrey had become to him. His aura screamed 'family' to her, and although his feelings of attachment had surprised her at first, she'd soon started treating him as such in return. After pulling away from the hug, Harry slowly drew a hand along his scar. "No, I hadn't noticed Poppy. To be honest I've been focusing more on my interior than my exterior for the past few days. I've been building a Mindscape."
Poppy, as Harry had started calling her, looked startled at first, but then she arched an eyebrow in her curiosity. "Am I to believe, Harry, that in just four days' time you've advanced your Occlumency to the point that you're developing a Mindscape?"
Harry smiled mischievously even as he shook his head in the negative. "I'm not making just any old Mindscape, Poppy. It's a world... It's an entire damned planet."
"Language Harry," Poppy replied automatically, in a low voice. Truly she hadn't really even noticed his swearing. She was far too busy staring at him as if he had two heads. "Harry... That kind of scope in a Mindscape would take an ordinary wizard half a century to build. They'd have to build outward from a focal point and it'd be extremely demanding to accomplish."
While Harry was well aware of how things would work for a so-called "normal" wizard, he also knew that he just didn't fall under that category anymore. Neither his thoroughly ingrained low self-esteem nor his desire for modesty could deny the reality of his current situation. Case in point, what he was about to describe to Poppy was about as far from normal as it is possible to become.
"Well... I did build my Mindscape out from a focal point, just like you described Poppy. I just did it all at once and very, very quickly. My focal point right now is just an empty field, in the middle of nowhere, on a facsimile of a planet... Using the idea of a planet as my inspiration, I've created an ozone layer made of ten meter thick high grade stainless steel that I'm using as my Occlusion barriers. I figured that there's no such thing as overkill when my goal is to protect both my mind and my magic. I was even thinking of having an armada of star wars and star trek spaceships orbiting my planet. It sounds like fun..." Having completely forgotten about Poppy in his enthusiasm, Harry was happily monologging his plans all by himself.
For a little over a minute, Poppy just stood there, as Harry Potter described the most fantastically absurd Mindscape in the entire history of wizardkind. When he was finally finished rattling off his future plans for orbiting laser platforms and Ocean bottom Military bases, she shook her head and palmed her face with her hands.
An entire damned world indeed…
A very long time ago, Poppy had come to understand that it was best to just go with the flow when encountering situations beyond mortal understanding. With that idea in mind, Poppy decided to return to business as usual, which of course meant medicine. Walking over to a table, Poppy returned with a large bottle filled with a vile green looking liquid. "It's time Harry... Drink this." When she caught Harry's look of foreboding, Poppy's face became extremely stern in response. "Listen carefully Harry. I can't stress enough how much strain your body's going to be put under this summer. You are going to need way more than just the average nutrition to fuel it all."
Despite the look that had slipped onto Harry's face, he hadn't actually intended to give Poppy a hard time about taking the potion. He was no stranger to aches and pains but he'd noticed his body beginning to feel a little tender yesterday afternoon, and he had every reason to believe that it was going to continue getting worse. Without another word, he stepped forward, took a hold of the green sludge, pounded it down his throat with a noticeable wince, and then waved at Poppy for her continued attention. He knew he needed to be as honest as possible if poppy was going to help him get the best results. "Truth be told Poppy, I think it's already started. I can feel the beginnings of strain in most of my joints, but no really significant pain quite yet."
With a small jump of extreme surprise, Poppy launched towards Harry and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. "Wait! Are you serious, Harry?! You're already feeling strain on your body!? Holy Gods! We need you up and feasting as soon as physically possible! If it's happening this quickly, you're going to be getting noticeably taller and thicker with every day that passes.
"Okay, I understand, but why do you think my growth is happening this dramatically?" Harry didn't mind the idea of growing and healing, but at the same time he was already feeling pretty tender and he didn't like the alarmed look on Poppy's face.
"Start getting dressed and I'll explain," Poppy replied, with a look of barely concealed impatience on her face. When Harry didn't immediately move, she refused to continue talking until he started throwing on some of his ill-used and poorly fitted workout clothing. "Here's the deal Harry. Yours is a simple and yet extremely rare situation. Now that your magic has unlimited access to your body, it's running roughshod all over you because it doesn't like what it's found. Right now it's making up for all the delays and damages its absence has caused you throughout your life. Up until this point, you've manually, albeit subconsciously, grown and maintained your body, but even though you've managed to survive that doesn't mean you're anything even resembling healthy. Your entire body is about to explode with physical changes, and trust me when I say that there'll be nothing the least bit subtle about it. We need you extremely well fed and then you need to start a running routine ASAP. I'm concerned that you're going to be off balance if you don't train, because of your new height and body shape. There isn't much I can do from a magical standpoint, to counteract the fact that your center of gravity will be changing drastically this summer."
Nodding his head, Harry looked up at Poppy as he tied his shoes. "Sounds rough. I assume then that I'll be camped out here this summer (Harry tried but failed at keeping the hope out of his voice)."
"I haven't been informed of any alternative plans," Poppy allowed with a small but triumphant look upon her face. "What I do know is that you're never going back to Privet Drive ever again." When Harry completed several overjoyed fist pumps in the air, Poppy kept to herself how hard she'd had to fight to keep him from going back to his relatives. That Dumbledore was a real piece of work. Internally, Poppy fumed at the man... Blood wards my ass… Finding out that Harry's hard won magic had been fueling protective wards around an entire house and family all those years had pissed Poppy off like nothing she'd ever heard in her entire life! How was the boy supposed to spare the magic for that kind of grand undertaking when he was fighting for his own survival and trying not to become a vegetable!
When Harry caught the elderly Healer going all maternal on him again, he walked over and pulled Poppy into yet another hug. He really was completely overjoyed and he knew exactly who to thank for his newfound freedom. "Well then Poppy. You own me, just like you said. I'd do just about anything to stay here with you for the summer. Do you have the facilities for working out? I've always liked the idea of weight lifting, but it's never been possible with my body type and housing situation. I clocked how much slower time is in my Mindscape, and I've got it up to three times faster in there so far. I can probably create an obstacle course and run it in my sleep using whatever body type I have at the time."
For the second time in less than ten minutes, Poppy was completely floored by the latent magical ability of the boy standing in front of her. A normal mindscape might make it up to one and half times faster, but that's only if you're an absurdly strong wizard like an Albus Dumbledore. After she spent several silent moments recollecting her calm, Poppy turned back to Harry and smiled. "After you complete a lap around the lake, I'll show you one of Hogwarts' best kept secrets. It's a utility room that can become whatever you need it to be. The only reason I even know about it is because I've worked here for fifty-seven years, and I stumbled upon it by mistake. Before that though. Let's go harass one of the school elves to take care of your food for the summer."
After taking a half dozen steps towards the door, Harry stopped in place as a smile formed on his face. "Dobby," Harry quietly called out.
POOF!
A small body was now firmly wrapped around Harry's right leg, hugging him as hard as it could. "Great Wizard Harry Potter calls Dobby," he exclaimed, in what sounded like total rapture.
"Hey there Dobby," Harry offered, feeling a little awkward but happy to see the little elf. "I didn't expect to see you so fast. Where are you staying these days?"
"Dobby be staying at Hoggywarts," Dobby called out joyfully. "Thays say that free elfeses are welcoming here."
Harry smiled down at Dobby again, both because he was safe and because he was nearby. "That's great to hear Dobby. Poppy here claims I'll need a very large diet for the summer with a lot of different elements involved. I'll need triple servings of fats, proteins, carbs and vegetables of all varieties. Judging by my projected growth we're really concerned that I'll end up deficient in essential stuff like iron, protein and calcium. Do you think you can help me take care of all that Dobby?"
"Dobby be serving Great Harry Potter Sir," the little elf exclaimed, while completing a bunch of very muggle looking fist pumps. "I be overjoyed sir!" Turning back towards Harry, Dobby suddenly adopted a bashful look upon his face. "I be wanting to ask you something as well, great Harry Potter Sir."
The little elves' new nervous demeanor was quite the surprise, so Harry kneeled down to get closer to his level. "You've always been there for me Dobby. How can I help you?"
"I be overjoyed beings free sir, but eyes not the healthiest of elfeses because of it. Dobby fear bad masters and was waiting for trusted wizard to be ins need of an elf." Dobby looked up at Harry with perhaps the most sanity he'd ever had in his little brown eyes. "Would great Harry Potter Sir bind Dobby to his service?"
Out of a reflexive dislike of servitude, Harry almost immediately rejected Dobby on the basis that he should be free. At the very last instant, something Dobby had just said stopped him in his tracks. Leaning even closer towards the little elf, Harry's face started reflecting concern. "Dobby... Is being free bad for a house elves' health?"
After slowly nodding his head, Dobby looked at the floor and clicked his heels together bashfully. "House elves be gaining their magical power and abilities from masters sir. We be magical creatures sir and without Master's magic we start to waste away... Right now, Dobby taking what he can straight from castle Hoggywarts, but he is not bound to the headmaster. It is not best arrangement for Dobby's health sir."
After hearing all of that, Harry didn't have to think long before he made up his mind. "Dobby, if I bind you to my family I want you to call me Harry and remain a close friend of mine. Do you understand?"
Immediately, Dobby's eyes started leaking huge amounts of tears but he nodded solemnly.
"Tell me how I would bind you to my service Dobby," Harry ordered, while smiling at the little elf.
At Harry's words, Dobby started bouncing around the room with a completely ecstatic look upon his face. Then, when he finally collected his calm again, he scampered back to Harry's side and began his explanation. "Just hold on to Dobby's shoulder and channel some magic into him. Eyes be doing the rest, healing Dobby's body and declaring that magic is Dobby's master's."
At the mention of healing, Harry took a really careful look at the little elves' body. Sure enough, he did look a little more run down and shabbier than he had just a year earlier. There was no need to hesitate anymore. Dobby needed the help and there was no reason not to give it to him. Dropping both of his hands onto Dobby's shoulders, Harry looked the little elf in the eyes. "Dobby you've been a good friend to me. I would very much appreciate having you in my family." With that said, Harry started channeling his magic into the elf with an ease that he'd never felt before. While he was momentarily startled by the immensity of it all, his magic sang happily as it rushed out of him and into the little elf's body.
In no time at all, Dobby's body started glowing, and then as the process continued he began trembling violently under Harry's hands. Under normal circumstances Harry would've let go in alarm by now, but his magic seemed to be screaming at him to go on for just a few seconds longer.
Off on the sidelines Poppy shook her head as she stared at the hugely exaggerated power transfer happening right in front of her eyes. She rolled her eyes at the grandiosity of it all, because she, like most wizards, knew exactly what a normal binding was like. Under normal circumstances, all it would've taken to bind the elf was enough power to fuel a Wingardium Leviosa. What Harry was doing right now was not a normal binding ritual...
After several more moments spent channeling a large amount of power directly into the elf, Harry's magic was finally satisfied and he started easing his hands away from Dobby's shoulders. Just before he let go however, he felt some of the power he'd released rush back throughout his body. The magic appeared to create a connection of some kind between master and servant that left both Harry and Dobby staggering away from each other.
After regaining his balance, Dobby the house elf shook out his body and then looked himself over in a moment of complete amazement. He was taller, healthier and younger than he'd ever been in his entire existence. He also looked somehow more... dignified, graceful, if that's a word that can be applied to a house elf wearing a tea cozy and mismatched socks. Another immediately noticeable change was that Dobby had a capacity for complex, abstract thought that he'd barely even known existed before...
When Harry's new house elf finally looked back up at him, he was surprised by how sharp his friend's eyes had become. Before the elf even said a single word, it was obvious that he was far, far more intelligent than he'd been just a few moments earlier.
Despite his newfound intelligence, Dobby opened and closed his mouth several times as if he didn't know exactly what to say. Finally, he took a very deep breath and smiled. "Harry Potter Sir has just flooded me with thousands and thousands of times more power than was necessary for such a binding ritual." Laughing softly, Dobby shook his head as he rapidly pieced together a more human grammar set. "Suffice it to say, we have a very strong bond Mas... Harry, but I'm also... more than I was. Not only that... I have taken in your history Harry... Your deeds and bravery are inside of me now... Thank you... Harry..." By the end, the elf was choking out his words through an outpouring of tears, and he was very clearly overwhelmed with emotion.
Nodding his understanding, Harry patted the elf softly in the shoulder. "I'm happy for you Dobby. Now, onto the next order of business. How do I change up your uniform without freeing you by accident?"
While he offered a somewhat watery smile in his amusement, Dobby didn't look surprised in the least that Harry was being so accommodating. "I would suggest you just tell me how you'd like me to look and I will take care of the rest."
Once again, Harry nodded his understanding. "Any elf that serves with the Potters will wear a uniform. Black is probably best, official looking, comfortable, complete with a house crest if I have one."
In response to Harry's ignorance, Dobby smiled in a rather rakish way. "Harry... It appears I know more about your family history than you do. You, of course, have a family crest as well as a family history dating back to before Merlin himself." Over the next few seconds, Dobby laughed at both his new brain capacity and the fact that for the moment at least he was more knowledgeable about the magical world than his master was. Then he beamed at Harry again because the boy was so inherently kind. "Oh Harry... I'm going to enjoy making and owning a uniform. I can wear my colorful socks without clashing or tarnishing your family's honor... It'll have to wait however because I must first make sure that you're well fed."
While he hadn't actually intended to supercharge Dobby when he'd completed the binding, Harry couldn't help but smile at the elves' newer vocabulary and intelligence. "Take what time you need to design the uniform to your satisfaction."
"I will do so sir. Now, do you want to dine up here or in the Great Hall?" The elf looked like the question was merely rhetorical as he was already preparing to leave.
"I'd like to be out of this room as soon as possible," Harry exclaimed. "The Great Hall would be perfect."
With a snappy salute, Dobby nodded his head and then was gone. Unlike when other elves Apparate, there was no pop to even signify that he'd left the room.
For the Gods' only know what time that morning, Poppy was left just staring at Harry while shaking her head. "Hermione was right. Nothing is ever ordinary with you Harry. That was a very good thing you just did for Dobby. Now let's go. I want you using your body as much as possible, as soon as possible."
Three Weeks Later...
Biting the bullet Harry dropped himself into the bath along with an inarticulate gasp. As the ice swirled around his body, Harry was forced to grit his teeth to keep them from chattering. "A magical world," he breathed to himself. "Magical healing and charms for every ache and pain imaginable. Still... Both the common cold and growing pains are an unsolvable problem?"
Well... Contrary to all of his bitching, Harry was actually allowed to take two pain potions a day. Any more than that however and they'd start interfering with the rest of the magical tonics and fortifying potions that he was forced to ingest every single day. The only problem with his current pain potion intake was that two of them were nowhere near enough, even when taking into consideration Harry's more than impressive pain tolerance.
Slowly but surely over the past couple of weeks, Harry's body had officially transformed into a torture rack of different aches and pains. It felt like every time he sat down, he was lurching and vibrating with new cell division and rapid growth. If the process didn't hurt like a shot to the balls taking place all over his body, Harry would've been pleased that he no longer looked like a ten year old. He officially looked eleven now... Too bad he was really almost fourteen.
Ugh...
Well, whether Harry appreciated the discomfort or not, he was growing fast and that was for the best.
As it turns out, movement and adrenaline is a good way to ignore a person's aches and pains, so Harry was almost always moving these days. For the fifth day in a row, Harry had just finished his ten mile run around the Black lake in record time, and he'd most likely break his newest record again tomorrow.
Now that he was finished with the running, Harry was due in the Room of Requirements to lift weights for the rest of the morning. The activity was a good distraction, but it also meant that Harry was tearing up his muscles in new and creative ways on a regular basis. Despite the fact that ice baths suck, Harry found himself taking several of them a week, in order to soothe constantly torn and rebuilt muscles.
POP!
Appearing completely unprompted to save the day like a superhero, Dobby suddenly handed Harry a dark brown smoothie. At first the elf had been completely silent while performing the elves's form of Apparition (teleportation). It was only after Harry was nearly startled off of his feet a few times that he'd started entering rooms with a small but cheerful popping sound.
Dobby smiled as he watched Harry enjoy the smoothie that he'd invented. "I think I've perfected it with this one," he announced, while gesturing proudly at the drink. "It should taste more like a normal gym goer's protein smoothie than the liquid death that it actually is."
About a week earlier, Harry had expressed how much he hated Poppy's magical Nutrition tonics, and doing so was one of the best things he'd ever done…. While at the time, he hadn't actually expected Dobby to do anything about the problem, the elf had immediately dedicated all of his new and prodigious intelligence towards improving the tonic's taste. As Harry took a sip of the new and improved magic/body fortifying tonic, he sighed in satisfaction. It was delicious. "It's official, Dobby. You're a genius and I have no idea how I ever lived without you."
When the graceful elf bowed, he somehow conveyed all of his newfound confidence, without drifting too far into arrogance territory. "You forget Harry. I know your life thus far. I'm surprised that you're walking and talking, let alone capable of being concerned about the taste of anything. I will never allow your life to resemble what I found when I studied your past in my memories."
The elf looked completely vengeful for a second, to the point that Harry wondered about the Dursley's continued health.
"It appears I have an apology to make by the way." Suddenly Dobby looked nervous, which had become out of character ever since the binding.
Canting his head to the side in his confusion, Harry gestured for his house elf friend to relax. "Apologize for what Dobby? You've been a fantastic help to me."
Very suddenly, Dobby looked like he might just cry or maybe even hit himself, despite the fact that he was no longer in the habit of punishing himself. "I... I had the best of intentions and it was hard to work within the bounds of my old master's orders, but... I wasn't a help to you last year. Quite the opposite in fact. I was a hindrance to you on several different occasions..."
Reaching out, Harry took a hold of Dobby's shoulder because he understood what his friend was referring to and he didn't want him to worry. Dobby was talking about the floating cake, the barrier at Kings Cross Station and the rogue bludgers hunting him down during one of last year's Quidditch matches. Over the next couple of seconds, Harry stared into Dobby's eyes to impress upon him how serious his next words were going to be. "In all honesty, Dobby... I forgave you long ago for all of those things, for one very important reason. You are one of perhaps three people that I've met since coming to the magical world that have only ever acted in what you thought was my best interest. There was no way that helping me would benefit you and yet you tried to do so anyway. I saw you hurting yourself every single time you came to see me, and I could never hold those events against you. You're a valued friend to me Dobby..."
Tears were slowly leaking down the elves face, as he nodded slowly and seriously to his new master's words. "I didn't have the intelligence at the time to better circumvent my old master's orders. I am glad I will be better capable of serving you... Harry."
Harry was extremely pleased with both Dobby's attitude as well as the fact that he was calling him Harry now. On the other hand there was a problem with Dobby's last statement that he needed to address. "Dobby... I expect us to have an open exchange of ideas from now on. There will be no need to circumvent me. Just act as you think is necessary and then explain the whys to me after the fact. Are we understood?"
The house elf smiled and bounced around in his enthusiasm. "Ohhhhh, Harry. I'm so fortunate to have you."
After cheering the elf in return with his smoothie, Harry drained the drink in one large chug. He smacked his lips exaggeratedly and lay back in the water for a few more seconds to ease his shoulder pains a bit. "And I'm lucky to have you, my friend. I'm freezing to death now, do you think you can pass me a towel?"
After his bath, Harry quickly made his way towards the room of requirements. As he entered the hallway it was hidden in, he ran into a man that he hadn't seen in quite a while.
"Harry, my boy! I was waiting for you here. I have a new article to add to your already burdensome daily schedule." Dumbledore was leaning against the wall exactly where the Room of Requirements would open.
While walking up to his Headmaster, Harry smiled in greeting and rolled up his sleeves. "Okay sure, but first I want you to test out my Occlumency shields." Truth be told, Harry had been waiting for a chance to try out an intrusion attempt for at least a week now.
"Are you sure Harry? The usually enigmatic Albus Dumbledore was unable to hide the surprise from entering his face. "Surely it's too soon for you to have built up any true defenses."
While his first instinct was to laugh like a lunatic, Harry just smiled guilelessly instead. If Dumbledore's mind was blown than it was his own fault for underestimating him. "Well... I have been working pretty hard on this after all... Humor me please?"
After nodding his head with just trace amounts of condescension on his face, Dumbledore became serious and stared into Harry's eyes. After about ten seconds spent like that, he shook out his head, smiled, nodded, and agreed that yes the boy's shields were strong... "I'm extremely impressed Harry. Passive Leglimency is useless to me now. Care to try the real spell?"
Without a trace of hesitation, Harry nodded his agreement.
After pulling out his wand, Dumbledore pointed it between Harry's eyes. "Leglimens," he quietly intoned.
Harry immediately felt Dumbledore's consciousness free floating in space outside of his mental shields.
Ten seconds later, when Dumbledore's consciousness finally returned to his body, he looked at Harry with a completely stunned expression on his face. "Harry... Was I orbiting a completely shielded planet just now?"
With his prank a success and a mischievous smile on his face, Harry nodded towards his Headmaster. "Yes sir. As you just saw, I have a very large Mindscape. I imagine it'd take a Leglimancer quite a while to find anything of note in my mind, and I'd be causing them pain the whole entire time." Harry was extremely pleased at this point and there was just no way of hiding it. Then he remembered something that he needed to consult his Headmaster about so he wiped the self-satisfaction off of his face. "I do need your help with something though. I keep finding a wormhole of sorts inside of my barriers that I've repeatedly had to close off. I don't know where it leads to except that I know it's not of my making. I currently have it suspended inside the center of a small black hole, inside a stainless steel vault, inside several more creative traps. Containing it isn't the problem. It just refuses to disappear completely sir."
For just a split second Dumbledore looked extremely troubled, but then the expression was gone and he was smiling again. "I completely agree that we'll need to look into the matter Harry. In the meantime however, I'm going to take you somewhere off Hogwarts's property to meet a friend of mine. I met him while I was doing some organizing for an event taking place at Hogwarts this year. His family's situation is rather unique. So unique in fact that they may be able to help you with the rather incredible aura shroud I'm standing in. While he wasn't using a lecturing tone, there was still a mild sense of rebuke in Dumbledore's words.
Sighing his understanding, Harry looked down at his feet and shrugged in a defeated fashion. "Headmaster, I've been trying a lot of different things so far, but I've had no luck whatsoever at keeping myself to myself. I've been building my Mindscape lately and I'm almost ready to sort my memories into a more useful form. All of the books I've read so far agree that true magical mastery in your core is dangerous to attempt until you've first mastered both your memories and your emotions."
Dumbledore looked impressed at first, but then all of the sudden he looked very sad instead. "Harry... I think that process is going to be extremely hard on you in particular. To properly sort out your memories you are essentially forced to relive them. I am sorry that my negligence allowed it to happen, but I've become aware that your life hasn't been an easy one... We all know how you react to Dementors Harry... This will be of several magnitudes worse than that..."
"Oh... Crap." Harry hadn't really thought about how he was going to have to interact with his awful back history if he wanted to master his memories. As the true scope of what he had waiting for him truly dawned on him, Harry began to feel a sick sense of impending doom, as well as an intense desire to avoid the task altogether. Then, he suddenly realized just how badly he was freezing up, and his hands squeezed into white knuckled fists at his sides.
Shaking his head at his own weakness, Harry resolved himself to doing whatever it took to gain control of his life. Then, when he looked back up at his Headmaster, it was with a deadly serious expression upon his face. "Headmaster. I won't be welcome in magical society or any society, the way I am right now. I gather you just felt me lose my nerve and then pull myself back together. I cannot, I will not continue broadcasting myself to the world like this!
Smiling gently down at Harry, Dumbledore patted the boy on the shoulder. "You're a very special boy Harry. I don't think I've ever met someone as brave in all my years... Now, if you will follow me to my office, we have a Floo trip to undertake."
To Be Continued
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