FicWad

Harry had been here for over three years now and from his experimentations, he concluded that his magic indeed reacted quite differently. Now, he didn't all of a sudden gain an unlimited amount of power or any such ridiculous notion. No, but what he did discover was no less unusual.

Certain aspects of his magic had either stayed the same, strengthened in a way, or weakened. His charms and occlumency had basically stayed the same while his legilimency had improved exponentially.

Unfortunately, his transfiguration could be described as non-existent at the moment. Harry had yet to successfully transfigure an object or conjure anything, which was beyond disheartening. He'd been trying to transfigure his teddy bear for months now with no luck and only managed in making the stuffed animal a little softer than it originally was - a disappointing but pleasant effect.

What he had deduced so far was that the intent in the magic still mattered. However, it seemed the magic was more reactive when it also involved his emotions. Another interesting thing were the incantations to his spells made no difference at all to how he casted his magic. These days, Harry found himself saying them more out of habit than a real need for them.

Though today, he was going to concentrate on runes instead of transfiguration. He wasn't giving up on it, but since no progress was made on that front, a change was desperately needed. The stability of his sanity demanded no less.

Harry stared at the sheets of paper littered on the low table. The papers contained what seemed like weird designs drawn on them as he held a crayon in his hand. While his mind remembered every single rune from his old world, his toddler hands had yet to catch up to it. So far, what he attempted to draw ended up more like a house elf's version of writing... which was not very legible if one had ever attempted to read their hand-writing.

Runes were something he learned and used later on in his life as Harry Potter. He became interested in them after he left Hogwarts to travel the world and explore beyond what was in Britain. From his travels, he learned the carving of runes were so exact that any minuscule mistake could be disastrous. Because of that, Hermione was so shocked that he was actually good at it. Even Harry was surprised at how easy it was to imbue the runes with his magic, and he hoped this skill would not weakened in this world either.

Harry tightened his grip on the crayon as he once again began another rune. His hand moved as he tried to create a sharp curve before rounding the edge at one corner. This continued until the rune was completed, and he then stared at the finished work.

'Great,' he irritably thought, 'it looks like it was drawn with an ogre's club.' It was even worse than before... maybe he should try writing with his left hand now?

"Adrian?" a voice called as they entered his room.

He immediately looked up to see the Wayne heir standing near the door.

"Bruce! You're home!" Harry yelled, running towards his brother.

Bruce had been gone for two days on a school trip to the next city near Gotham. It was also the first time they were separated from each other longer than a few hours. Harry didn't think he would miss Bruce that much since it was only for two days, but apparently, not having his brother around the manor left a very noticeable gap.

"Hey, Adrian," Bruce greeted before laughing out as Harry wrapped his arms around the taller boy. "What's this? I haven't been gone for that long."

"You're wrong," he said in a matter of fact tone. "It felt much, much longer than that."

His brother smiled and patted his head. "Well, since you miss me that much how about we play a game of hide and seek?"

His eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of beating the other boy. Bruce knew the game was a favourite of his since Harry was very good at hiding and seeking. It was actually a way for him to practice his stealth and tracking skills that he honed in his former life when he was running from the Death Eaters while searching for the Horcruxes. Besides for that, it was always fun to play with his brother.

"Okay!" Harry agreed at once, deciding to forego runes in favour of spending time with Bruce as he released his brother. "Remember to count to one hundred before coming."

"Don't worry, I won't cheat," Bruce said with a grin. "And this time, I will find you."

"You can try," Harry shouted as he ran down the hallway, "but you won't find me!"

Wayne Manor was not called a manor for nothing. When Harry had the chance to explore his home, he couldn't help comparing it to Malfoy Manor at first glance. Both were immensely large, exclusively opulent, and filled with so many antiques - so much history. However, that was where the comparison ended. While Malfoy Manor exuded an aura of dark elegance, Wayne Manor was the complete opposite. His home had a majestic warmth that was very similar to Hogwarts in welcoming its occupants.

Going down the staircase and passing the many rooms in the manor, Harry knew the perfect place to hide. It was such an obvious location that Bruce would search for it last. Arriving at his destination, he discreetly snuck into the kitchen where Alfred was preparing for dinner.

"Master Adrian?" Alfred questioned, pausing in chopping the vegetables to look at him.

"Shh," he whispered with a finger towards his lips, indicating a need for silence. "I'm hiding from Bruce."

"Ah," the older man let out. "I see that Master Bruce is 'it' this time. Very well then, I shall remain oblivious to your whereabouts."

Harry smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Alfred."

Even though Alfred was their butler, to the Wayne children he was more like their uncle. The older gentleman had a light but sarcastic sense of humour that he enjoyed; it was something that Harry came to slowly appreciate after the battle at Hogwarts. In a way, he was finally able to understand Professor Snape's dry and dark humour since it was a way to cope with the harsh and violent life the man experienced.

"If I may suggest, the food pantry seems like a good spot," Alfred commented.

He nodded his head and went to open the door of the food pantry. "If Bruce comes, remember that I was never here," Harry reminded the older man.

"Of course, Master Adrian," Alfred easily acquiesced with a twitch of the lips, the only sign of the man's amusement.

It seemed like a lot of time had past as Harry continued to hide away in the pantry. By now, Alfred had already left the kitchen to do some other work. He was beginning to wonder when Bruce would give up so he could leave his hiding spot until a noise from the kitchen alerted him to another presence.

He tried to quiet his breathing before stretching out his senses in order to identify the person's aura. This was a very useful ability when he was trying to find or avoid a specific person, and the wizard who taught him this neat trick was actually Ollivander. The old wand maker wanted to repay him in a way for his rescue, even though it was Dobby who did the deed. None the less, Harry was still happy to learn from Ollivander.

Aided by his magic, Harry felt the aura of the person, instantly recognising who was there. It was Bruce.

'Finally,' he thought in relief before frowning. Though Harry was tired of hiding, that meant he had to lose if he wanted the game to end.

From the other side of the door, Harry could hear Bruce opening and closing the cupboards in his search, getting closer to his location. He now had only a few seconds left until his brother would go look in the pantry.

'I guess Bruce wins this one.' Harry decided to accept the lost since his brother was so tenacious in his search. Honestly, he was really impressed that Bruce had finally found him for the first time. As the door handle moved, Harry closed his eyes but couldn't help but think, 'I should have chosen the library.'

He waited for Bruce to say something and when nothing happened, Harry opened his eyes and instantly widened them in disbelief.

Before him was not his brother nor the inside of the pantry. Right in front of him, in all its glory, was the Wayne library, filled to the ceiling with books and reaching two floors high. Harry rubbed his eyes to insure he wasn't imagining this, only to confirm that it was indeed real.

'How...' he thought in confusion before another question entered his mind. 'Wait, did I just apparate?'

o-O-o

'Huh, I thought I heard something,' Bruce wondered as he closed the pantry door, disappointed that Adrian wasn't in there.

He had already spent the last hour searching the entirety of the manor, looking into every place that his brother could hide. Usually, their game would last around ten to fifteen minutes, with him giving up in the end because he couldn't find Adrian or with Adrian finding him. This time though, Bruce was determined enough to keep searching no matter what.

The result of that left him very exhausted and irritated. Bruce had to be doing something wrong if he had yet to see a sign of his brother anywhere.

Deciding to sit at the kitchen table for a brief respite, Bruce released a sigh. 'Where on earth can Adrian be?'